London midday: Stocks edge higher despite Ocado slump

27th Jun 2011 12:14

Stocks are clinging onto gains overall on a quiet start to the week, but Ocado, the grocery deliverer, has slumped following negative broker coverage after its half year results.Ocado said the only limit on its growth is capacity as it moved into profit in the half year to 15 May and announced a deal to supply products from French supermarket Carrefour. The company edged into the black during the period, posting a pre-tax profit of £0.2m against a loss of £6.7m over the same period the previous year. Revenue increased to £276.6m from £230.3m.Broker Espirito Santo homed in on the negatives, saying that capacity limits are a concern. Brokers are also still worried about Ocado's dependence on Waitrose.Things are going swimmingly today for Salamander Energy after it said it has discovered oil at one of its projects in Thailand. A well drilled in the East Terrace block "encountered 35 metres of net oil pay within three zones", Salamander said.Global banking titan HSBC said its Saudi wholesale and investment banking business is to merge with a subsidiary of the Saudi British Bank (SABB).UBM, the FTSE 250 business events organiser and publisher, has signed an agreement to sell its UK entertainment and technology product portfolio to Intent Media Ltd for £2.4m.Turning to smaller companies, the chips are down for Wolfson Microelectronics, which makes semiconductors for smartphones and other electronic devices. It said today that it expects 2011 revenues to be at the lower end of previous guidance. Revenues will come in at about $37m (£23m) to $39m "as a result of lower customer end product sell through and delays in some key customers' new product introductions," the company said. A rise in profits and a contract win helped Cohort narrow what its chief executive sees as the unjustified gap between the share price and the real value of the defence technology group. Pre-tax profits excluding exceptional items in the year to 30 April climbed to £4.9m from £4m the previous year even as revenues slipped to £65.1m from £78.1m. The full-year dividend was lifted to 2.4p from 2.05p. An exploration update from Noricum Gold has sent shares in the Austria-focused gold group sharply higher. Fieldwork has started at Rotgulden and Kliening in the south of the country, Rotgulden said. Regional drilling company Voest Alpine has been appointed to complete operations on both projects. Shares of Madagascar Oil, which were suspended since last December, slumped 48% on its first day of trading following its resolution of the dispute on its Tsimiroro Block with the Government of Madagascar. FTSE 100 - RisersBG Group (BG.) 1,301.00p +2.04%InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 1,235.00p +1.90%Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 588.50p +1.47%Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,540.00p +1.38%Essar Energy (ESSR) 390.80p +1.32%Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,872.00p +1.30%SABMiller (SAB) 2,122.50p +1.26%ICAP (IAP) 434.00p +1.24%Shire Plc (SHP) 1,896.00p +1.23%Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 720.00p +1.19%FTSE 100 - FallersMan Group (EMG) 229.30p -2.59%Inmarsat (ISAT) 542.50p -1.81%Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 1,878.00p -1.62%ARM Holdings (ARM) 580.00p -1.36%AstraZeneca (AZN) 3,023.00p -1.18%Capita Group (CPI) 705.50p -1.12%Aviva (AV.) 417.90p -1.11%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 35.30p -0.98%Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 1,501.00p -0.86%Barclays (BARC) 235.35p -0.82%FTSE 250 - RisersCable & Wireless Communications (CWC) 39.98p +6.56%Salamander Energy (SMDR) 265.20p +5.20%Berkeley Group Holdings (BKG) 1,312.00p +4.63%Renishaw (RSW) 1,655.00p +3.50%Devro (DVO) 275.30p +2.72%Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 2,813.00p +2.48%Domino's Pizza UK & IRL (DOM) 391.30p +2.35%Bunzl (BNZL) 766.00p +2.13%Micro Focus International Plc (MCRO) 333.20p +2.08%Premier Foods (PFD) 25.51p +2.04%FTSE 250 - FallersOcado Group (OCDO) 169.20p -9.52%Kenmare Resources (KMR) 55.60p -4.14%Premier Oil (PMO) 434.20p -3.85%Brown (N.) Group (BWNG) 265.20p -2.61%Betfair Group (BET) 728.00p -2.02%Dixons Retail (DXNS) 15.68p -2.00%Hochschild Mining (HOC) 423.40p -1.74%Yule Catto & Co (YULC) 223.10p -1.63%Exillon Energy (EXI) 395.20p -1.45%Invensys (ISYS) 308.40p -1.41%---RG