London open: Householders' gloom hits equities

19th Dec 2011 08:38

Economic data is proving a drag on sentiment in London, with gloomy news on consumer sentiment from the Bank of England and bad news for house sellers in England and Wales from the Rightmove property listings web site.The Bank of England's Quarterly Bulletin revealed that 56% of households surveyed reckoned that income available after tax, insurance, housing costs, loan repayments and bills has declined over the past year. A lucky 13% said their income had risen over the same period.House sellers in England and Wales cut their asking prices during the month of December by 2.7% to an average of £225,776 pounds, according to the latest data from Rightmove. Of some consolation to those with properties for sale is that the average asking price was 1.5% higher than in December 2010. Sellers might also be heartened by Rightmove's assertion that there is likely to be a shortage of properties for sale next year; the web site estimates that about 1.2m homes will be marketed for sale next year, a third of the amount available before the credit crisis hit in 2007. Prices are forecast to rise by 2% in 2012, although the situation is described as "uncertain".On the corporate front, online grocer Ocado is on offer after it said progress on sorting out capacity constraints had not been as swift as it hoped. The group said its full year profits would be up on last year but had been hampered by distribution issues. Earnings are expected to be in the range of £27.5m to £28.5m in the year to 27 November, compared to £22m in 2010.After raising its profits forecasts twice already this year, Aggreko has informed that full-year profits are expected to slightly ahead of the previous guidance given in October. The temporary power and temperature control provider now anticipates generating around £324m in profit before tax and amortisation for the year ended 31 December, up 5% on last year's figure and just ahead of previous expectations of £320m.Shares in Yellow Pages publisher Yell Group roared higher on Monday morning after its lenders agreed on amendments to financing. Yell had been in talks with its lenders since November to increase the headroom under its net debt-to-EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) covenant, as well as other debt-related and administrative amendments.The news was not so bright for HMV, the gift-seller of last resort for people who have left their Christmas shopping to the final minute. Total sales from continuing operations were £364.9m in the six months to 27 October, down 17.6% on the year before. Sales at HMV Retail were down 19.4%, including like-for-like sales down 11.9% on 2010. The company's live music business, HMV Live, saw profits increase to £3.4m from 1.5m the previous year, but this still left the group with a pre-tax loss of £36.4m.FTSE 100 - RisersImperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 2,354.00p +1.25%Capital Shopping Centres Group (CSCG) 293.60p +0.86%SABMiller (SAB) 2,159.00p +0.40%Admiral Group (ADM) 805.00p +0.37%Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 3,159.00p +0.29%Severn Trent (SVT) 1,469.00p +0.27%Land Securities Group (LAND) 615.00p +0.24%Shire Plc (SHP) 2,114.00p +0.19%Hammerson (HMSO) 350.00p +0.17%Essar Energy (ESSR) 185.20p +0.16%FTSE 100 - FallersBarclays (BARC) 168.70p -1.60%Tullow Oil (TLW) 1,310.00p -1.43%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 24.16p -1.41%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 19.73p -1.35%BP (BP.) 440.15p -1.26%Man Group (EMG) 126.10p -1.18%CRH (CRH) 1,142.00p -1.13%Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,159.00p -1.11%Old Mutual (OML) 124.70p -1.03%Schroders (Non-Voting) (SDRC) 1,015.00p -0.98%FTSE 250 - RisersHeritage Oil (HOIL) 180.50p +5.49%Go-Ahead Group (GOG) 1,394.00p +4.03%Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 2,710.00p +3.51%Booker Group (BOK) 71.15p +2.52%Dixons Retail (DXNS) 10.25p +2.50%Stobart Group Ltd. (STOB) 117.50p +1.82%JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 607.50p +1.59%UK Commercial Property Trust (UKCM) 66.10p +1.54%Ashtead Group (AHT) 212.40p +1.34%Melrose (MRO) 326.30p +1.24%FTSE 250 - FallersOcado Group (OCDO) 62.80p -11.80%Laird (LRD) 138.60p -5.71%Barratt Developments (BDEV) 88.65p -4.27%Bovis Homes Group (BVS) 419.80p -4.26%Allied Gold Mining (ALD) 142.00p -3.66%AG Barr (BAG) 1,194.00p -3.08%Bankers Inv Trust (BNKR) 364.80p -2.98%JPMorgan Russian Securities (JRS) 485.00p -2.81%Shanks Group (SKS) 92.45p -2.79%Ophir Energy (OPHR) 260.00p -2.73%--jh