London midday: Shares little changed

13th Jan 2011 12:01

Today's stream of updates from the retail sector has failed to give the top share index much of a jolt in either direction.The Bank of England left interest rates at 0.5% and the asset purchase programme unchanged, as expected.Tesco falls after the snow and ice meant UK like for like sales were weaker than expected and lagged rivals. Like for like sales in the UK for the six weeks to 8 January were up just 0.6% - about half the figure analysts had predicted - and total sales grew 4.2%.Group sales rose 7.6% during the period though, with international sales up 14.2%. Asia leapt 24.2%, led by China and Thailand.Electrical retailer Dixons is lower after it said wintery weather ahead of Christmas kept some shoppers away, but saw strong trading from Boxing day as customers stocked up on 3D TVs and other must have gadgets ahead of the January VAT rise. The owner of Currys and PC World said sales in the 12 weeks to January 8 were down by 1% from the same period the previous year, or by 2% on a like-for-like basis, excluding the impact of new stores.Home Retail Group is in demand after it said expects full-year pre-tax profits to come in at the mid-point of its previously guided range of £250m to £275m after both of its brands performed in line with expectations. Sales at the catalogue-based chain Argos fell by 3.2% to £1.861bn in the 18 weeks to 1 January, or by 4.9% on a like-for-like basis, stripping out the benefit of new stores. Kingfisher, the owner of the B&Q chain, climbs in sympathyBike and car parts seller Halfords saw the fall-off in like for like (LFL) sales accelerate in the final quarter of 2010 in its retail estate, and the group now expects full year profits will be at the lower end of market expectations. In the 13 weeks to 31 December retail revenues fell by 6.6% on a LFL basis, taking the decline in the final 39 weeks of 2010 to 5.2%. Guidance that full year gross margins will be broadly flat has been maintained. Game Group has jumped after reporting an improving sales trend over Christmas 'despite a difficult pc and video games marketplace and adverse weather.'Fashion retailer Jacques Vert unveiled a 7% rise in half year pre-tax profit, aided by progress at its online business, but it remains cautious for the remainder of the year. Pre-tax profit rose to £3.1m for the 26 weeks ended 23 October 2010 from £2.9m the same a year before. Sales for the period increased to £56.5m from £55.8m while like for like sales were up 3.1%.There was only a little griping about the poor weather from Booker, as the cash and carry wholesale group saw continued healthy growth in like for like (LFL) sales in the final 16 weeks of 2010. In the 16 weeks to 31 December 2010 total sales rose by 7.2% and LFL sales rose by 5.4%, driven by strong demand for fruit and vegetables. Non-tobacco LFL sales rose by 5.5%, while LFL tobacco sales increased by 5.1%. Self storage firm Big Yellow grew annualised store revenue by 7% during the third quarter and has made a good start to 2011. Revenue rose to £58.9m at its 51 wholly owned stores in the last three months of 2010, up from £55.1m the year before. Total store revenue rose to £15m from £14m, but is down from £15.5m at the end of September. Estimated average production for Premier Oil declined in 2010 as the oil and gas producer saw increased maintenance activity in the North Sea, particularly in the second half of the year. Estimated average production for the full year was 42.8 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day (kboepd), down from 44.2 kboepd in 2009. Group production for the current year is expected to be in the range of 45,000 to 50,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.Infrastructure contractor Balfour Beatty said 2010 trading was in line with expectations. The Professional Services division's performance has exceeded expectations despite the continuing delay in the re-authorisation of the Highways Bill in the US, which has limited the progress of the award of larger projects. The Construction Services division is still waiting to see "a discernible recovery in the parts of the UK market which have been weak."The flooding in Queensland, Australia that has caused widespread disruption to Rio Tinto's coal operations has also hit its aluminium activities, the mining giant has reported. It said its aluminium arm Rio Tinto Alcan has experienced a force majeure event, impacting the supply of the aluminium from Boyne Smelters near Gladstone.Filtrona is one of today's best performers. The speciality plastic and fibre products supplier said performance was 'consistently strong throughout 2010'. Since the company made its interim management statement on 20 October the company has continued to trade in line with expectations.FTSE 100 - RisersIMI (IMI) 951.50p +4.50%Resolution Ltd. (RSL) 252.10p +3.74%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 42.49p +3.13%ICAP (IAP) 557.50p +1.73%Cairn Energy (CNE) 456.70p +1.53%Aviva (AV.) 427.40p +1.45%Admiral Group (ADM) 1,547.00p +1.44%Sage Group (SGE) 285.60p +1.20%Legal & General Group (LGEN) 110.00p +0.92%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 68.32p +0.90%FTSE 100 - FallersWeir Group (WEIR) 1,745.00p -3.16%Rexam (REX) 347.70p -2.36%British American Tobacco (BATS) 2,354.50p -2.34%Tesco (TSCO) 413.80p -2.34%National Grid (NG.) 526.50p -2.32%Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 2,000.00p -2.20%Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,097.00p -1.88%United Utilities Group (UU.) 569.50p -1.81%BT Group (BT.A) 185.00p -1.75%Serco Group (SRP) 555.50p -1.68%FTSE 250 - RisersProvident Financial (PFG) 1,014.00p +12.29%Filtrona PLC (FLTR) 277.90p +9.58%Home Retail Group (HOME) 224.40p +8.93%Avis Europe (AVE) 225.00p +4.70%Ashmore Group (ASHM) 358.40p +4.64%Yule Catto & Co (YULC) 212.50p +3.41%SIG (SHI) 140.20p +2.94%Greggs (GRG) 478.30p +2.86%Drax Group (DRX) 389.90p +2.61%Aquarius Platinum Ltd. (AQP) 355.50p +2.54%FTSE 250 - FallersDixons Retail (DXNS) 21.68p -8.64%Fenner (FENR) 373.40p -3.44%Ashtead Group (AHT) 164.70p -3.12%Lamprell (LAM) 328.10p -2.96%Stagecoach Group (SGC) 209.00p -2.88%Imagination Technologies Group (IMG) 380.50p -2.83%Halfords Group (HFD) 408.50p -2.74%JPMorgan Indian Inv Trust (JII) 456.10p -2.73%ITE Group (ITE) 235.80p -2.72%National Express Group (NEX) 249.10p -2.62%