London midday: Inmarsat hit by stake sale talk

4th Oct 2010 12:02

Resource stocks remain a drag on the Footsie which ended the morning in arrears after a moderately firm start. BP, Cairn Energy and Melrose Resources are among the big hitters in the oil sector nursing losses, while in the mining sector Xstrata, Lonmin and Antofagasta are under the cosh. Anglo-Swiss outfit Xstrata's weakness has been attributed to rumours that Singapore firm Sin-Tang Developments is mulling a rival bid to Xstrata's $416m offer for Australia's Sphere Minerals.The biggest faller in the morning session, however, was satellite operator Inmarsat on news that US hedge fund Harbinger, which holds a 28% stake in the company, is reviewing its options in respect of the holding. Reports in this morning's papers reveal RSA, Resolution, Switzerland's Zurich Financial Services and Germany's Allianz discussed mounting a multibillion-pound break-up bid for Aviva. Its shares are among the strong performers.Among second liners investors are tucking into Hovis bread and Branston Pickle owner Premier Foods after it confirmed reports in the weekend papers that offers have been made for its meat free business that includes Quorn.Another stock in the news over the week-end was Wellstream, the oil services firm. US industrial holding company General Electric is reportedly the company that fired the starting pistol on the race to buy the Newcastle-based company, and is still the leading contender, despite other bidders expressing an interest.Yell has also given investors something to shout about. The struggling Yellow Pages publisher is higher after saying it has brought in Tony Bates, former chief operating officer at telecoms operator Colt Group, to run its finance function. Bates, who becomes finance boss when Yell reports second quarter results on 9 November, replaces John Davis who announced his departure along with chief executive John Condron in May.Among smaller companies, shares in financial services software group Focus Solutions soared after it said it had won a £10m contract with an unnamed 'major global bank.'East Midlands bus route operator Trentbarton has named bus and coach builder Optare as its preferred supplier for the next three years in a deal worth £8.1m.African Diamonds is backing an all-share bid from Canada's Lucara that values the AIM listed miner at C$82m (£51m), or 51p a share.Copper miner Weatherly International posted an annual pre-tax profit compared to a loss the year before as it warned of a busy and challenging time ahead.FTSE 100 - RisersWolseley (WOS) 1,623.00p +2.59%National Grid (NG.) 549.50p +1.57%Aviva (AV.) 400.00p +1.39%Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,860.00p +1.36%Man Group (EMG) 218.70p +1.16%3i Group (III) 286.80p +1.02%British Land Co (BLND) 477.70p +0.84%BT Group (BT.A) 143.90p +0.77%Amec (AMEC) 1,017.00p +0.69%HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 657.50p +0.60%FTSE 100 - FallersInmarsat (ISAT) 649.00p -2.92%Cairn Energy (CNE) 448.10p -1.97%Xstrata (XTA) 1,221.00p -1.65%BP (BP.) 434.10p -1.45%Invensys (ISYS) 300.10p -1.35%Lonmin (LMI) 1,693.00p -1.34%Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 1,743.00p -1.30%Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,232.00p -1.28%Compass Group (CPG) 514.50p -1.25%British Airways (BAY) 239.90p -1.24%