London open: Profit taking clips Footsie

3rd Aug 2010 08:49

London's top stocks have run into some profit taking after yesterday's big gains both here and on Wall Street.Banks are mixed after confusing figures from state-owned Northern Rock. Now split into its "good half" and "bad half", the "bad half" bounced back into profit while the supposedly "good" retail bank lost money. The quoted banks have drifted lower with the exception of Royal Bank of Scotland, which is said to be near to a sale of 300 branches to Santander.Specialist banking group Investec is to increase its issued ordinary share capital by around 4.3% through a placing of up to 22m shares. The money raised will allow the company to take advantage of opportunities in credit and other markets while improving Investec's tier 1 capital without reducing the total capital adequacy ratio.Anglo-Swiss mining leviathan Xstrata saw profits soar in the first half as the company remained on track to hit its production volumes and cost cutting targets. Revenue in the first half of 2010 rose 43% to $13,608m from $9,541m in the first half of 2009. Attributable profit soared 153% to $2,299m from $909m, as demand from China grew rapidly and the US economy continued its recovery.New ITV chief executive Adam Crozier has unveiled a five-year transformation plan for the embattled TV broadcaster involving a move in to Pay-TV to halve its dependence on advertising. Crozier also revealed a sharp upturn in ITV's financial fortunes over the past six months. Engineering firm Rotork notched up record half year sales and profits in the first six months of 2010 as market conditions improved. "We remain cautious with regard to currency movements, commodity price increases and the resulting impact these may have on the competitive landscape. However, our lean business model, strong balance sheet and existing order book provide us with confidence in achieving further progress in the full year," said chief executive Peter France.GKN, the engineer that serves the automotive, aerospace and off-highway markets, moved up another gear in the first half of 2010. Sales in the six months ended 30 June 2010 improved to £2.54bn from £2.06bn in the first half of 2009.Coal-fired plant operator Drax announced a 23% increase in earnings but said it remains cautious in its outlook for the commodity markets in which it trades. Drax also said that development work to convert one of its units to burn biomass-only will now continue into 2011 before an investment case can be proven, citing regulatory uncertainty. The group was originally targeting the end of 2010 to prove the investment case for the plant.Engineering group Weir said it expects profit for the second half to be "significantly ahead" as it reported a 24% jump in order input in the first half. Order input, in constant currency, rose to £863m in the 26 weeks ended 2 July from £694m last time. Housebuilder Taylor Wimpey crept back into profit in the first half of 2010, but is concerned over the possible impact of government spending cuts going forward. The Anglo-US group posted a pre-tax profit of £19.6m in the six months to June against a loss of £673m last time. Underlying profits rose to £79m from £2.8m, while sales rose to £1.23bn from £1.13bn.EnQuest, the North Sea oil group spun out of Petrofac, has made its first acquisition with an agreed all share deal for Aim-listed Canadian group Stratic Energy.