London open: Ocado and Salamander updates impress

27th Jun 2011 08:26

Shares have edged higher in early dealings with some company news updates whetting investor appetite. Grocery deliverer Ocado is flying off the shelf after it said the only limit on its growth is capacity as it moved into profit in the half year to 15 May and announced a deal to supply products from French supermarket Carrefour. The company edged into the black during the period, posting a pre-tax profit of £0.2m against a loss of £6.7m over the same period the previous year. Revenue increased to £276.6m from £230.3m.Salamander Energy is swimming near the surface after saying it has discovered oil at one of its projects in Thailand. A well drilled in the East Terrace block "encountered 35 metres of net oil pay within three zones", Salamander said.Global banking titan HSBC said its Saudi wholesale and investment banking business is to merge with a subsidiary of the Saudi British Bank (SABB).UBM, the FTSE 250 business events organiser and publisher, has signed an agreement to sell its UK entertainment and technology product portfolio to Intent Media Ltd for £2.4m.Turning to smaller companies. The chips are down for Wolfson Microelectronics, which makes semiconductors for smartphones and other electronic devices. It said today that it expects 2011 revenues to be at the lower end of previous guidance. Revenues will come in at about $37m (£23m) to $39m "as a result of lower customer end product sell through and delays in some key customers' new product introductions," the company said. FTSE 100 - RisersBritish Land Co (BLND) 576.50p +0.79%Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,373.00p +0.73%SABMiller (SAB) 2,110.00p +0.67%Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 3,365.00p +0.66%Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,860.00p +0.65%Pearson (PSON) 1,142.00p +0.62%British Sky Broadcasting Group (BSY) 840.00p +0.60%Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,527.50p +0.56%Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 715.00p +0.49%Diageo (DGE) 1,266.00p +0.48%FTSE 100 - FallersMan Group (EMG) 232.10p -1.40%Inmarsat (ISAT) 547.50p -0.90%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 43.02p -0.85%AstraZeneca (AZN) 3,035.00p -0.78%Aviva (AV.) 419.40p -0.76%Tesco (TSCO) 395.00p -0.58%Capital Shopping Centres Group (CSCG) 380.00p -0.55%Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 1,899.00p -0.52%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 35.48p -0.48%Rio Tinto (RIO) 4,229.00p -0.44%FTSE 250 - RisersSalamander Energy (SMDR) 263.90p +4.68%Regus (RGU) 108.90p +3.81%Carillion (CLLN) 376.90p +1.81%Bwin.party Digital Entertainment (BPTY) 131.20p +1.71%UK Commercial Property Trust (UKCM) 82.40p +1.54%Supergroup (SGP) 851.00p +1.37%Berkeley Group Holdings (BKG) 1,270.00p +1.28%Laird (LRD) 201.00p +1.26%Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 773.50p +1.24%Charter International (CHTR) 582.00p +1.22%FTSE 250 - FallersPremier Oil (PMO) 438.00p -3.01%Renishaw (RSW) 1,556.00p -2.69%JKX Oil & Gas (JKX) 251.80p -2.67%F&C Asset Management (FCAM) 72.95p -2.21%Fidessa Group (FDSA) 1,874.00p -2.09%Anglo Pacific Group (APF) 295.10p -1.63%Talvivaara Mining Company (TALV) 400.30p -1.62%Computacenter (CCC) 450.00p -1.62%Hochschild Mining (HOC) 424.10p -1.58%F&C Inv Trust (FRCL) 305.70p -1.45%---RG