London midday: FTSE 100 on course for record quarter

30th Sep 2009 12:13

Footsie still looks on course for a record quarterly gain, but early strong rises have been whittled away ahead of the US open. Hedge fund manger Man is the best performer after a bullish trading update. "Investor sentiment is continuing to improve across the industry, the performance outlook is healthy and the prospects for sustained industry inflows are very promising," chief executive Peter Clarke said. Engineer Smiths is also going well despite pre-tax profits dipping to £371m from £380m in the year to July on sales up 7% to £2.67bn. The figures were a little better than forecasts, while it held the dividend. Fashion and food retailer Marks & Spencer posted a 0.5% fall in like-for-like sales in the 13 weeks to 26 September as recession-hit shoppers stayed frugal. Chairman Sir Stuart Rose said he remains cautious on the company's outlook and expects 2010 to be a tough year. M&S shares fall back, taking sector peer Next with them. In what may not be an entirely coincidental piece of timing, George Davies, the founder of Next and the mastermind behind Marks & Spencer's successful Per Una clothing line, has launched a new clothing label today, GIVe. Davies plans to open 25 stores selling the new clothes line.A rush of last-minute bookings helped Thomas Cook trade well over summer, the travel company said. The firm added that winter bookings have improved since August. 'Summer trading is finishing in line with expectations underpinned by a strong lates market and the popularity of the package holiday,' chief executive Manny Fontenla-Novoa said.Shares in Dairy Milk maker Cadbury are barely changed after the Takeover Panel gave US potential bidder Kraft Foods until 5pm on 9 November to make a bid for the UK confectionery company or walk away for at least six months.Insurers remain in favour, buoyed by persistent rumours of sector consolidation, though Deutsche Bank has poured cold water on suggestions that investment vehicle Resolution will bid for Legal & General; nevertheless, the German bank has upgraded the stock to 'hold' from 'sell' and also suggested that sector peers Aviva and Old Mutual are underpriced.Support services specialist Babcock has lost its contract with Network Rail for High Output Track Renewal operations, but trading overall is as expected. Network Rail told it today that its Babcock SB Rail joint venture with Swietelsky Baugesellschaft had lost the contract, it said. Travis Perkins, the leading UK builders' merchant, said sales trends for the last three months are ahead of expectations but its current market consensus for 2010 remains unchanged. The group said turnover for the nine months to the end of September is down 11%. Its larger rival, Wolseley, joins Travis Perkins on the upturn.Recruiter Hays Group is marked down after being named by the Office of Fair Trading as one of six recruitment agencies involved in a price-fixing cartel. Care group Care UK could be on the end of a management buy-out after private equity firm Bridgepoint confirmed this morning it was in talks.Online clothes retailer ASOS results to date are in line with management's expectations and it expects the first half outcome to be marginally ahead of the prior year. Sales are up 47% for the 6 months to 30 September 2009, with international sales rising 110% for the period, which represents around 25% of total sales.Greyhound bus operator FirstGroup said overall trading remains in line with management expectations but warned the transport industry faces a challenging year ahead. The shares shifted into reverse, along with sector peers Go-Ahead and Stagecoach. Like for like revenues eased in the three months to end-August at financial services and healthcare software provider Misys, but order intake was strong. On a pro-forma like for like basis, which excludes the effect of currency movements and adjusts for the acquisition of Allscripts, group revenues declined by 2% in the three months to 31 August, while adjusted operating profit rose by more than 15%.