London midday: BT jumps after court ruling

21st Oct 2010 12:10

There are some big movements in both directions today, but the mood is optimistic overall and Footsie has been trading at its highest level in nearly six months.TUI Travel, owner of the Thomson travel agent brand, is sharply lower as it restated results for 2008/09 and took an extra £88m charge linked to the integration of IT systems in its UK mainstream business following the merger with First Choice Holidays in 2007. Oil explorer Tullow is also down, after its Onyina-1 exploration well in the Deepwater Tano licence offshore Ghana hit water.Shares in BT are higher after it announced a court ruling that its pension holders would be covered by the government if the company went bust.Defence giant BAE expects to see a reduction in growth in 2010 due to the Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) that was announced on Tuesday, it said today. While it can help the government to achieve efficiency targets, the company expects the SDSR to have a "modest impact" on its UK business, resulting in a reduction in earnings of about 1p a share.In the FTSE 250, Debenhams is going well after reporting full year results. In the year to August 28, pre-tax profits climbed by 20.6% from the previous year to £151m. Gross transaction value climbed to £2.56bn from £2.34bn, with the acquisition of Danish department store Magasin du Nord accounting nearly allof the rise.Afren moves ahead after buying a stake in a Nigerian oil field from Shell and Total, helping cement its position in the country.Britvic is fizzing after the soft drinks group served up a 33.4% rise in fourth quarter revenue after a robust performance particularly from its French division.Bookmaker William Hill is wanted after a strong third quarter as a string of football results went in its favour. Sporting results have continued to go its way since the end of the period.Colt Group, the business communications and IT managed services firm, grew third quarter earnings by 5% despite a 2% dip in revenue and is spending up to €40m on simplifying its business. It's expected the idea will increase efficiencies to about €35m in a full year, with 35% to be invested in new customer facing roles, providing recurring annual cost savings of around €20m. Colt is "on track to deliver improved profitability for the second half of the year".Car dealer Inchcape expects results for 2010 to be ahead of expectations after a better than expected performance in the third quarter. Revenues in the nine months to September 30 were up by 7.6% from the same period the previous year, the company said.