London open: Footsie starts lower

16th Apr 2010 08:18

Footsie has fallen back in early dealings Friday morning but is so far still trading above the 5,800 point mark.Temporary power and heating specialist Aggreko is the worst performer after it said it performed in line with expectations in the first quarter of the year, with healthy revenue rises from both its divisions. Aggreko, which rents out generators used in industry and for events such as concerts, said revenues at its International Power division grew by 8%, with order intake hitting a new record. The division also provides staff to operate the equipment it rents out.Miners are also among the main fallers, with Rio Tinto, Randgold Resources, Lonmin and Antofagasta all down.The Office of Fair Trading has fined two tobacco manufacturers and ten retailers £225m in total after a seven-year investigation into price fixing. The watchdog said it found that the firms engaged in unlawful practices in relation to retail prices for tobacco products in the UK. Each manufacturer had a series of individual arrangements with each retailer whereby the retail price of a tobacco brand was linked to that of a competing manufacturer's brand in different periods between 2001 and 2003, according to the OFT.The tobacco manufacturers involved are Imperial Tobacco, which was slapped with a £112.3m fine, and Gallaher, as well as the retailers Asda, The Co-operative Group, First Quench, Morrisons, One Stop Stores (formerly T&S Stores), Safeway, Sainsbury's, Shell, Somerfield and TM Retail.Fund manager Hargreaves Lansdown is one of the best FTSE 250 risers after it said it has had its best quarter ever with 'unprecedented' business volumes. Total assets under administration have grown by 12.8% from £15.6bn as at 31 December 2009 to £17.6bn as at 31 March 2010.Engineering data and IT systems provider Aveva said its full year results will be marginally ahead of market expectations. The company said that the trends outlined in its late January interim management statement have continued, with progress made in the Oil & Gas and Power markets, although the Marine market remains in the doldrums.Property company British Land has bought 2 - 14 Baker Street in London from McAleer & Rushe. British Land is paying £29m for the 1950's built property which sits on the corner of Baker Street and Portman Square.Temporary power and heating specialist Aggreko said it performed in line with expectations in the first quarter of the year, with healthy revenue rises from both its divisions.Property investment group Hansteen is to buy a portfolio of 61 freehold and leasehold assets from two companies in receivership and one in administration.FTSE 100 - RisersRoyal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 47.90p +4.24%ARM Holdings (ARM) 242.30p +0.96%Man Group (EMG) 273.80p +0.92%BT Group (BT.A) 132.90p +0.76%Smith & Nephew (SN.) 698.00p +0.58%Barclays (BARC) 384.75p +0.42%Serco Group (SRP) 623.00p +0.40%Cable & Wireless Worldwide (CW.) 92.40p +0.27%Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,145.00p +0.26%Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 296.40p +0.17%FTSE 100 - FallersAggreko (AGK) 1,166.00p -1.93%Home Retail Group (HOME) 282.10p -1.91%Fresnillo (FRES) 852.50p -1.45%Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,896.00p -1.44%Randgold Resources (RRS) 5,245.00p -1.41%British Airways (BAY) 239.20p -1.40%Lonmin (LMI) 2,071.00p -1.15%Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,030.00p -0.87%Compass Group (CPG) 525.00p -0.85%Invensys (ISYS) 338.00p -0.82%