London midday: Shares still under a cloud

19th Apr 2010 12:28

UK shares remain under a cloud, with travel stocks coming under selling pressure as the disruption from the Icelandic volcano cloud continues to disrupt air travel. IATA, the international air transport association, has estimated that the airlines industry has lost $250m per day from the grounding of aeroplanes in Europe.Travel agent TUI, the First Choice owner, said about 100,000 of its customers due to return home yesterday were left stranded by the flight ban imposed after the eruption of the volcano in Iceland last week.TUI estimates the cumulative cost to the group, up to and including yesterday, is about £20m. Estimated daily costs thereafter will run at about £5m to £6m, it adds. The company's shares are joined in the red by those of British Airways, which has had to cancel all flights in and out of London today, and which is estimated to be losing £10m a day as a result. Travel agent and tour company Thomas Cook is the worst performing blue-chip in the travel sector while airline easyJet is the biggest loser among second-liners in the sector. Taking collateral damage is eateries group The Restaurant Group, which has a number of its biggest earning restaurants located in airports. While the shares of companies that operate up in the air are buffeted, the situation is not a lot better for the shares of companies that operate underground. Kazakhmys, Vedanta, Antofagasta and Lonmin are the worst hit in the mining sector.Sage Group has confirmed that its chief executive, Paul Walker, is to stand down "in due course" after 16 years at the helm of the accountancy software company.Cairn Energy subsidiary MedOil has plugged and abandoned a well offshore Tunisia in the Louza block after finding only minor evidence of light oil.Set-top box maker Pace expects another good year with margins higher and sales growth in single mid-digits though the World Cup will bring forward some revenues into the first half. The company is sticking with its full year guidance, however, which disappointed some traders used to outperformance from the company.Construction and property consultancy firm Cyril Sweett said 2010 revenue is expected to be £67m as it cuts its cost base. "Revenue for the period is expected to be £67.0m, delivering pre-exceptional PBT of approximately £3m," the group said in a company statement. The performance of Alliance Trust last year was in the lowest quartile of its peer group after the investment trust made a slow start to 2009. Net asset value in the year to 31 January 2010 improved by 16.8% to 377.7p, while the total return advanced 22.2%.Speculation that state-owned transport group Deutsche Bahn is putting the finishing touches to an agreed bid has lifted bus and train group Arriva.FTSE 100 - RisersRoyal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 49.75p +3.00%Autonomy Corporation (AU.) 1,772.00p +1.84%BT Group (BT.A) 132.60p +0.91%Associated British Foods (ABF) 956.50p +0.68%Home Retail Group (HOME) 288.10p +0.63%British American Tobacco (BATS) 2,162.50p +0.58%Randgold Resources (RRS) 5,150.00p +0.49%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 64.97p +0.42%Shire Plc (SHP) 1,475.00p +0.41%ARM Holdings (ARM) 237.90p +0.38%FTSE 100 - FallersThomas Cook Group (TCG) 250.10p -4.21%TUI Travel (TT.) 280.80p -3.74%British Airways (BAY) 227.20p -3.32%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 1,458.00p -2.67%Vedanta Resources (VED) 2,730.00p -2.36%Aviva (AV.) 378.00p -2.33%Old Mutual (OML) 118.00p -2.16%Land Securities Group (LAND) 661.00p -1.86%Antofagasta (ANTO) 982.00p -1.80%Lonmin (LMI) 1,991.00p -1.78%FTSE 250 - RisersArriva (ARI) 758.50p +2.99%Britvic (BVIC) 475.50p +2.61%Senior (SNR) 108.70p +2.35%FirstGroup (FGP) 378.30p +2.08%Atkins (WS) (ATK) 679.00p +1.57%Yell Group (YELL) 57.00p +1.24%Telecity Group (TCY) 408.50p +1.19%Brewin Dolphin (BRW) 139.90p +1.16%Shaftesbury (SHB) 391.20p +1.03%Genus (GNS) 702.50p +1.01%FTSE 250 - FallersPace (PIC) 188.10p -4.52%easyJet (EZJ) 457.60p -4.23%Restaurant Group (RTN) 230.00p -4.17%St. Modwen Properties (SMP) 187.00p -3.51%Hochschild Mining (HOC) 279.00p -3.13%Filtrona PLC (FLTR) 204.20p -3.04%Bodycote (BOY) 204.60p -2.94%Petropavlovsk (POG) 1,204.00p -2.90%Lamprell (LAM) 269.10p -2.68%Travis Perkins (TPK) 795.00p -2.63%