London midday: Back in the blue, Tate & Lyle leads the rise

3rd Nov 2011 12:10

The Footsie was back in the blue by midday after an up-and-down morning, as investors keep a close eye on developments in the Eurozone. However, dampening sentiment closer to home has been a study by National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) which suggested that the UK economic faces a 50% chance of sliding back into recession even if the Eurozone does find a solution to its problemsGREEK ROWS ONGOING It's now make-or-break time for Greek prime minister George Papandreou, after German chancellor Angela Merkel and French president Nicolas Sarkozy told him that Greece would not receive the next €8bn tranche of aid unless the referendum on the bail-out is passed. Angela Merkel told reporters last night before today's summit: "We would rather achieve a stabilisation of the euro with Greece than without Greece, but this goal of stabilizing the euro is more important." Chairman of ECOFIN and Luxembourg's prime minister Jean-Claude Juncker said that leaders are now discussing whether Greece should leave the euro: "We are working on the subject of how to ensure there is not a disaster for the people in Germany, Luxembourg, the euro zone. We are absolutely prepared for the situation," Juncker said on a German TV show.The European affairs minister for France, Jean Leonetti, meanwhile said in a radio interview that the Eurozone will be able to survive after a Greek exit as the nation only accounts for 2% of the bloc's total gross domestic product. "Greece is something we can get over, something we can manage without," he said.TATE & LYLE, RSA, BT, MAN ADVANCE AFTER UPDATES.Tate & Lyle reported stronger than expected first half results with adjusted pre-tax profits of £180m. The sweeteners group said the numbers, which were 10% ahead of what analysts expected, came as a result of strong demand across a number of markets. Sales were up 19% to £1.54bn. Ireland popped up as an unexpected bright spot in the interim management statement of insurance behemoth RSA, which appears to be firing on all cylinders. Net written premiums rose by 11% from the year before to £6.1bn in the third quarter, with all regions said to be delivering good growth. Canada and Ireland, however, were singled out as especially strong performers, supported by acquisitions made last year. Telecoms titan BT was a high riser after a strong second quarter performance reinforced its confidence of hitting its full-year targets. Adjusted profit before tax, which excludes the effects of a retrospective regulatory ruling in Germany, rose 15% to £570m in the three months to 30 September from £496m in the corresponding period of last year.Hedge fund manager Man Group also rose strongly as it announced a $150m share buy-back programme. The firm also revealed adjusted pre tax profits of $195m for the six months to the end of September were down 14% on the same period of 2010. Leading the fallers was consumer products giant Unilever. The firm behind brands such as TreSemme, PG Tips and Brylcream, fell lower despite seeing underlying sales grow 7.8% in the three months to September.Insurance giant Aviva fell after seeing a decline in worldwide sales in the nine months to the end of September. As of the end of the third quarter, total sales stood at £30,597m down 5% on the same period of 2010.Savings, investments and insurance group Old Mutual edged higher after seeing life sales grow by 8% in the three months to 30 September, helped by strong growth in emerging markets.Cable & Wireless Communications jumped on the FTSE 250 after seeing revenues rise by 24% in the first half. BCFTSE 100 - RisersITV (ITV) 64.00p +4.15%Tate & Lyle (TATE) 672.00p +3.86%RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 109.30p +3.80%BT Group (BT.A) 193.80p +3.42%Weir Group (WEIR) 1,905.00p +3.25%Aggreko (AGK) 1,752.00p +3.18%Meggitt (MGGT) 391.20p +2.87%Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,267.00p +2.84%Fresnillo (FRES) 1,833.00p +2.80%Man Group (EMG) 145.10p +2.69%FTSE 100 - FallersUnilever (ULVR) 2,027.00p -2.17%ICAP (IAP) 368.30p -1.60%Lonmin (LMI) 1,081.00p -0.73%HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 538.30p -0.46%G4S (GFS) 252.20p -0.39%AstraZeneca (AZN) 2,950.00p -0.39%Intertek Group (ITRK) 1,938.00p -0.21%BP (BP.) 451.80p -0.18%BG Group (BG.) 1,389.50p -0.18%Aviva (AV.) 324.70p -0.12%