London open: Footsie lower on German moves

19th May 2010 08:56

Footsie is lower, but predictions of a bloodbath as investors react to last night's decision by German authorities to act against short-sellers have proved too dramatic.US markets fell heavily on the news, but the reaction from traders last night was more of bewilderment at how German authorities think they can stop a market where trades are carried out globally by imposing a unilateral ban. The news is overshadowing another big day for results in the UK. Profit before exceptional items fell 5% at interdealer broker ICAP in the year to 31 March, down to £333m from £350m in 2009. Revenue rose 1% to £1.6bn.Scottish & Southern Energy increased full-year underlying profit by 3%, in line with expectations, and added a quarter of a million new energy customers during the period. The UK's second-biggest electricity producer reported adjusted profit before tax rose to £1.29bn in the year ended March 2010 from £1.25bn last time.A "dramatic turnaround" in the UK commercial property market saw Land Securities swing strongly back into the black. In the year to March, the value of Land Securities' investment properties increased by £863m or 10.3% with basic net asset value up 17% to 750p. Shares in plant hire specialist Speedy Hire fell as it reported a full year adjusted pre-tax loss and said while it was encouraged by stable levels of recent trading, there remained many difficult months ahead.Pub owner Mitchells & Butlers posted a sharp recovery in underlying profits to £73m from £47m in the half year to March, as it fleshed out its plans to move away from drink-led outlets to food-based ones. Sales in the half-year to end April rose from £1.02bn to £1.04bn. Operating profits rose by 12% to £156m.Pearson has agreed the takeover of training group Melorio for a total consideration of 225p per share in cash or £99.3m in total. Melorio announced it was in bid talks yesterday and the price is a 31% premium to the day before that announcement. FTSE 100 - RisersCompass Group (CPG) 559.00p +0.54%Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 342.20p +0.20%Tesco (TSCO) 415.50p +0.16%InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 1,138.00p +0.09%BP (BP.) 534.10p +0.02%FTSE 100 - FallersHome Retail Group (HOME) 259.90p -5.32%Xstrata (XTA) 963.00p -4.61%Capital Shopping Centres Group (CSCG) 329.50p -4.24%Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,084.50p -3.55%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 1,177.00p -3.52%Eurasian Natural Resources (ENRC) 1,028.00p -3.20%Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 325.70p -2.92%Vedanta Resources (VED) 2,277.00p -2.86%Fresnillo (FRES) 852.00p -2.68%Aviva (AV.) 314.40p -2.63%FTSE 250 - RisersMitchells & Butlers (MAB) 311.90p +2.80%Mcbride (MCB) 188.30p +0.91%Bovis Homes Group (BVS) 397.90p +0.73%Eaga (EAGA) 138.80p +0.58%Catlin Group (CGL) 332.70p +0.39%Regus (RGU) 94.20p +0.21%Domino Printing (DNO) 415.60p +0.14%easyJet (EZJ) 397.80p +0.10%Brewin Dolphin (BRW) 139.10p +0.07%SDL International (SDL) 443.80p +0.05%FTSE 250 - FallersGKN (GKN) 127.00p -5.58%WH Smith (SMWH) 458.00p -3.70%Yell Group (YELL) 35.40p -3.70%Morgan Crucible (MGCR) 192.20p -3.66%International Personal Finance (IPF) 239.20p -3.59%Melrose Resources (MRS) 280.10p -3.41%Redrow (RDW) 123.00p -3.15%Inchcape (INCH) 310.40p -3.09%Wellstream Holdings (WSM) 543.00p -3.04%Stobart Group Ltd. (STOB) 151.10p -2.95%FTSE TechMARK - RisersVernalis (VER) 39.00p +4.00%BATM Advanced (BVC) 25.00p +2.04%E2V Technologies (E2V) 53.00p +1.92%Corin Group (CRG) 60.00p +1.69%Alphameric (ALM) 28.00p +0.90%Biocompatibles International (BII) 235.00p +0.86%Asterand (ATD) 15.25p 0.00%Innovation Group (TIG) 11.75p 0.00%Triad Group (TRD) 29.00p 0.00%Alterian (ALN) 168.00p 0.00%FTSE TechMARK - FallersParity Group (PTY) 7.00p -20.00%Vislink (VLK) 19.00p -7.32%Ricardo Group (RCDO) 270.00p -6.90%Optos (OPTS) 123.00p -5.38%Ark Therapeutics (AKT) 9.50p -3.85%Kofax (KFX) 237.00p -3.27%Oxford Biomedica (OXB) 10.00p -2.44%Sinclair Pharma (SPH) 27.00p -1.82%Oxford Instruments (OXIG) 260.00p -0.95%Wolfson Microelectronics (WLF) 176.25p -0.84%