London midday: Shares stuck lower after shock GDP contraction

25th Jan 2011 12:18

Shares took a dive after figures showed a shock contraction in GDP, but have recovered slightly. Gross domestic product (GDP) contracted by 0.5% between October and December according to figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), having grown by 0.7%. The latest figures are still be revised, but are still a shock given that analysts had been expecting growth of about 0.2% to 0.6%.MinersKazakhmys and Randgold are in the red, but the whole sector has run into a bout of profit taking. BSkyB is higher even though the bid from NewsCorp seems no nearer a conclusion. Culture secretary Jeremy Hunt indicated he would refer it to the Competition Commission, but will wait until Rupert Murdoch's firm gives him some undertakings over the issues raised by Ofcom. Newscorp responded to Hunt's statement saying that it "continues to believe that its proposed acquisition of the shares in BSkyB it does not own will not lead to there being insufficient plurality in news provision in the UK."Water group Severn Trent said the recent bad weather in the UK reduced the level of activity in its capital expenditure programme. For the full year 2010/11, the group now expects capital expenditure to be in the range of £400m to £410m. Water consumption levels in the second half of the financial year should be on a par with the previous year.Friends Provident, the trading business of life insurance consolidator Resolution, has appointed Lloyds Banking man Andy Briggs as chief executive with current incumbent Trevor Matthews moving to a new post of vice chairman. The investment pipeline is bulging at Intermediate Capital and the mezzanine finance specialist now expects to invest around £150m to £200m more this financial year than previously budgeted.Entertainment One, owner of the Peppa Pig franchise, says UK licensing and merchandising retail sales for the kids' television character hit a record £200m in 2010. Peppa was the highest selling pre-school toy license in Britain, knocking Thomas the Tank Engine off the top spot it had hogged for a number of years.PZ Cussons, famous for its Imperial Leather soap, has delivered interim profits slightly ahead of forecasts and thinks the full-year will meet expectations despite soaring raw material costs.Health and social care business Healthcare Locums has suspended its vice chairman and finance director after uncovering "serious" accounting irregularities and warned that results for 2010 are much worse than expected.Scalextrix and model train set maker Hornby warned annual pre-tax profit will fall short of market expectations after key Christmas sales were hurt by harsher than usual weather conditions.Elsewhere in specialist hobbies, fantasy toy soldiers retailer Games Workshop, which has already issued a profit warning for the full year, saw revenues and profits fall in the six months to November 28 after replacing staff in its stores to reduce overheads.FTSE 100 - RisersBT Group (BT.A) 176.20p +1.91%Intertek Group (ITRK) 1,754.00p +1.62%Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 1,959.00p +1.45%Resolution Ltd. (RSL) 248.80p +1.43%Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,044.00p +1.36%Sage Group (SGE) 283.20p +1.18%Rolls-Royce Group (RR.) 635.50p +0.95%Wolseley (WOS) 2,188.00p +0.92%G4S (GFS) 266.70p +0.91%Prudential (PRU) 660.00p +0.84%FTSE 100 - FallersAfrican Barrick Gold (ABG) 510.50p -3.04%Next (NXT) 2,080.00p -2.89%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 63.28p -2.72%Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 1,537.00p -2.72%Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 4,901.00p -2.66%Investec (INVP) 491.70p -2.63%Man Group (EMG) 277.70p -2.53%International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (IAG) 278.60p -2.25%Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 1,007.00p -2.23%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 1,524.00p -2.18%FTSE 250 - RisersTelecity Group (TCY) 452.70p +4.55%Logica (LOG) 140.10p +2.19%De La Rue (DLAR) 709.50p +2.09%Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 877.00p +1.74%WH Smith (SMWH) 487.70p +1.73%Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 218.90p +1.58%John Wood Group (WG.) 540.00p +1.50%Babcock International Group (BAB) 579.00p +1.49%Mondi (MNDI) 498.20p +1.43%Kesa Electricals (KESA) 127.60p +1.43%FTSE 250 - FallersPZ Cussons (PZC) 349.70p -7.78%Computacenter (CCC) 424.50p -4.54%Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 35.62p -4.35%Misys (MSY) 318.10p -4.30%Ocado Group (OCDO) 229.00p -4.18%Sportingbet (SBT) 53.10p -3.72%Exillon Energy (EXI) 400.20p -3.52%Barratt Developments (BDEV) 95.55p -3.48%Sports Direct International (SPD) 165.00p -3.40%Phoenix Group Holdings (DI) (PHNX) 565.50p -3.25%