London midday: Autonomy cuts revenue guidance

6th Oct 2010 12:01

With metals prices on the rise mining stocks were the shares to hold in a morning session that saw Footsie make an assault on the 5700 level before falling away in the hour before noon.Antofagasta, Anglo American, Kazakhmys and Xstrata are still sporting handsome gains. Metals prices have strengthened in line with a weaker dollar, which comes amid speculation the Federal Reserve will implement more monetary stimulus measures.Gold is also on the up, attracting buyers to African Barrick Gold.The mining sectors two leviathans, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton, are also wanted, even though doubts persist about their iron ore joint venture. Late last night Rio said it has not made any decision about the $116bn collaborative project in Western Australia. There are reports Rio has killed the deal off after failing to get regulatory approval.Airlines have taken off after no-frills airline easyjet forecast profits this year will be more than £150m, better than the top of its previous forecast range, after lower volcano ash costs and better demand for European short-haul flights. British Airways is up in sympathy. Supermarket chain Sainsbury's slips back after reporting a 2% increase in like for like sales excluding fuel for the first half, in line with market expectations. Britain's number three supermarket grew like for like sales, ignoring petrol, by 2.9% in the second quarter. It was 1.2% in the first three months. Tesco managed just 0.3% in the first half, 0.4% for the second quarter and 0.1% for the first.The trading update from search software giant Autonomy saw the shares take a tumble. The corporate infrastructure software specialist expects to report record third quarter results, with revenues towards the top end of the guidance range of $206m to $211m. However, the company is taking "a prudent approach to forecasting" full year revenue which it now thinks will be around 3% behind the market consensus expectation. Midlands-based pub group and brewer Marston's reports improving trends in each of its divisions compared to last year. Earnings before tax and exceptional items in the year to end September are also in line with expectations, the firm added. The brewing arm's turnover and operating profit will be slightly ahead of last year. Punch Taverns, due to update the market next week, move forward in Marston's slipstream.Hungry Britons have been tucking into the bacon rolls sold by Greggs, contributing to continued sales growth for the savoury snacks seller. Total sales for the 39 weeks ended 2 October increased by 2.6%, while like-for-like (LFL) sales grew 0.5%. Sales growth slowed some in the third quarter to 0.2%. "We anticipate that like-for-like sales in the final quarter will be broadly flat and therefore marginally positive over the year as a whole," said chief executive Ken McMeikan. General Electric today confirmed it was behind a 750p a share cash bid for Wellstream, turned down by the oil services group last month. The US conglomerate was responding to press reports that it's preparing to raise its offer to 800p, said to be the level at which Wellstream chairman John Kennedy might start to talk. Broker Westhouse Securities said that "while there is a possibility of further corporate action, the shares had risen from 550p to 767p on expectations of a bid," and now is a good time to get out of the shares.Unlike the England football team, online sports betting firm Sportingbet had an excellent World Cup, taking in more than £50m of wagers on the tournament. The World Cup bonanza enabled the company to finish its financial year with a flourish. The total amount wagered in the year to 31 July jumped 25% to £1.97bn from £1.58bn the year before.Fast growing homewares retailer Dunelm is finding it hard to match last year's rapid like for like sales growth rate but management was still encouraged by the company's first quarter performance. Total sales in the 13 weeks to 2 October rose 11.6% to £126.7m from £113.6m in the corresponding period of last year.Shareholders in voltage optimisation product developer VPhase were feeling drained after the share price slumped in the wake of a placing of the company's shares at just 2p. The company raised £2m through the placing which it will use to commercialise its VX1 product.FTSE 100 - RisersAntofagasta (ANTO) 1,323.00p +4.26%Anglo American (AAL) 2,745.50p +3.94%British Airways (BAY) 264.20p +3.77%Xstrata (XTA) 1,285.00p +3.63%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 1,478.00p +3.57%African Barrick Gold (ABG) 635.50p +3.17%Man Group (EMG) 234.30p +3.17%Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,905.00p +2.98%BHP Billiton (BLT) 2,127.00p +2.53%Lonmin (LMI) 1,764.00p +2.38%FTSE 100 - FallersAutonomy Corporation (AU.) 1,624.00p -12.31%Admiral Group (ADM) 1,594.00p -4.21%TUI Travel (TT.) 221.00p -2.17%Kingfisher (KGF) 226.40p -1.78%Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 385.40p -1.08%Sage Group (SGE) 282.10p -1.05%ARM Holdings (ARM) 395.90p -1.02%Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 388.60p -0.99%Centrica (CNA) 323.80p -0.98%Next (NXT) 2,240.00p -0.93%