London open: Barclays divestment sinks Footsie

2nd Jun 2009 08:33

London has opened lower in the wake of the decision by Abu Dhabi's International Petroleum Investment Company to bank profits on its Barclays stake.Barclays is down by 13%. Khadem Al Qubaisi, managing director of IPIC, adding that the sale did not represent a lack of faith in Barclays, its management or current strategy. Lloyds and HSBC are also off the pace.Retailers are taking up some of the slack as doubled profits at B&Q helped Kingfisher's first quarter profit jump by 40%. The retailer is also hopeful on prospects for the rest of the year. Total sales in the three months to end April rose by 9.6% to £2.64bn with like-for-like sales down by 1.7%. Home Retail is also going well. Water company Pennon posted a 7% rise in underlying operating profit to £259.0m. Its final dividend has been boosted by 5.1% to 14.25p, giving a full-year dividend of 21p, up 6% on the preceding year.Gas supplier Centrica took another step in its plan to reduce its dependence on the wholesale markets by agreeing to buy a stake in a gas development block in Trinidad.Talvivaara Mining said it will place up to 22.2m shares to raise funds to expand and increase the capacity of its metals processing facility. The placing represents 10% of the existing share capital. The price of the shares will be agreed at the close of the book-building process.Mezzanine finance specialist Intermediate Capital is "disappointed" to post a loss for the year as net provisions surged. Pre-tax losses came in at £67m against £229.5m profit last year due to net provisions of £273m.Heavy write-downs on its stake in rival Aer Lingus sent Ryanair deep into the red last year, with underlying profits also sharply lower. The Irish no-frills carrier posted a loss of €180m after taking a €222m hit of its stake in Aer Lingus.