London midday: Triple-digit losses despite fightback

5th Aug 2011 12:32

Stocks are still posting nasty losses after resuming the slide this morning, though the top share index has come off earlier lows, with Royal Bank of Scotland in particular staging a strong recovery.The stock is down about 5% now, having previously been 20% lower. Exposure to Greek government bonds and a charge for mis-selling of Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) meant the part-nationalised bank posted an attributable loss of £897m in the quarter to 30 June, against a profit of £257m in the same period the previous year. It was hit by a £850m charge for PPI claims and £733m provision related to Greek government bonds.Software provider Logica is sharply lower even after it reported a 5% rise in interim revenues in the six months to 30 June but pre-tax profits were lower after its exposure to the squeezed public sector pushed it to an underlying loss in the Benelux countries. Full-year revenue growth is expected to be at a similar level to the first half, but margin improvement now depends on progress in Benelux, the company said. RM, which supplies educational IT services, is also sharply lower.Food manufacturer Premier Foods's 29% drop in trading profits from ongoing operations has left a bad taste. It was hurt by higher raw material costs and a temporary pricing dispute with its major customer, sending its shares lower. For the half year ended 25 June, the company, which makes Hovis bread and Hartley's jams, saw profits fall 29% to £69m, down from £94m, in the corresponding quarter a year earlier. In other company news, medical devices firm Smith & Nephew reported higher revenues and profits in the quarter to 3 July, but said margins were "disappointing" due to higher sales of lower margin products and other factors. Revenue climbed to $1.077bn (£659m) from $959m over the same period the previous year, while operating profit rose to $236m from $226m. First half profits at insurance titan Prudential jumped by a quarter to top expectations, driven by strong growth in Asia. Operating profit, on an International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) basis, rose 25% from £0.85bn to £1.06bn, ahead of expectations of £0.96bn.Housebuilding company Bellway saw a slight improvement in operations in the year to 31 July. The group has legally completed 4,922 homes, an increase of 7.1% compared with the previous year's total of 4,595, while the average selling price of homes sold has increased by 7.2% from £163,175 to around £175,000.International energy services company Hunting saw its share price plunge 11% after announcing that it has placed 13,175,838 new ordinary shares in the company, the placing of which is fully underwritten and represents approximately 9.9% of the company's existing issued share capital. It has also agreed to acquire TSI Acquisition Holdings and its subsidiaries, including Titan Specialties, for a total consideration of $775m (around £475m). Not all stocks are struggling today though. Defence products group Cobham, which after the close yesterday posted a rise in pre-tax profits for the half year to 30 June, is on the attack. FTSE 100 - RisersGlencore International (GLEN) 411.50p +5.24%Inmarsat (ISAT) 401.20p +1.70%Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 333.60p +0.94%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 35.31p +0.91%Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,014.00p +0.80%Carnival (CCL) 1,927.00p +0.78%Unilever (ULVR) 1,972.00p +0.77%Smith & Nephew (SN.) 567.50p +0.62%Intertek Group (ITRK) 1,895.00p +0.48%InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 1,052.00p +0.48%FTSE 100 - FallersBT Group (BT.A) 184.70p -4.94%Tullow Oil (TLW) 1,025.00p -4.56%British Land Co (BLND) 537.50p -4.53%Capital Shopping Centres Group (CSCG) 333.10p -4.25%Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 635.00p -4.22%Cairn Energy (CNE) 297.60p -4.15%Weir Group (WEIR) 1,784.00p -4.09%John Wood Group (WG.) 564.00p -4.00%IMI (IMI) 842.00p -3.77%Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 1,212.00p -3.66%FTSE 250 - RisersOcado Group (OCDO) 150.50p +4.51%Amlin (AML) 334.20p +2.86%Debenhams (DEB) 62.45p +2.55%Bodycote (BOY) 321.90p +2.06%Cobham (COB) 177.70p +2.01%Enterprise Inns (ETI) 45.05p +1.97%Heritage Oil (HOIL) 204.80p +1.94%Invensys (ISYS) 265.50p +1.69%Betfair Group (BET) 576.00p +1.59%Fenner (FENR) 330.50p +1.57%FTSE 250 - FallersLogica (LOG) 89.50p -13.02%Premier Foods (PFD) 13.95p -12.15%Afren (AFR) 104.90p -11.55%Sports Direct International (SPD) 220.00p -9.35%Hunting (HTG) 654.00p -9.17%Regus (RGU) 82.35p -9.06%New World Resources A Shares (NWR) 630.00p -8.96%Pace (PIC) 90.55p -8.49%Grainger (GRI) 100.40p -8.48%JPMorgan Russian Securities (JRS) 570.50p -8.28%