London open: S&N unnerved by rivals' bid talks

18th Apr 2011 09:06

Expectations of a flat start proved wide of the mark as financial stocks lead the market lower. Banks such as Barclays, Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland are off the pace, as are insurers such as Resolution, Standard Life, Aviva and Old Mutual.Medical devices maker Smith & Nephew is the worst performing blue-chip, however, on fears that one of its rivals, Swiss company Synthes, could soon become part of the empire of Johnson & Johnson, the massive US healthcare conglomerate.Reports suggest that the two companies are in preliminary bid talks. If the merger goes ahead it could not create a more powerful competitor to Smith & Nephew but would probably eliminate any possibility, in the short term at least, of the UK company being acquired by Johnson & Johnson.Upstream exploration and production company Heritage Oil has been slapped with a $313.45m lawsuit by Tullow Oil related to the sale of Heritage's 50% interest in Blocks 1 and 3A in Uganda.Tullow is claiming that Heritage should foot the tax bill that Tullow has paid relating to the sale of Heritage's Ugandan interests to Tullow, while Heritage is claiming that Tullow had no right to pay the Ugandan's tax demand on Heritage's behalf, and questions whether the tax liability is legal in any case.Engineering software firm Aveva said it expects full year results to be in line with expectations after a good performance in Asia Pacific Oil and Gas and Power sectors. "The group has continued to perform well in its key vertical markets and geographies, consistent with the trends identified in January 2011," the group said in company update.Irish mining firm Kenmare Resources said its Moma titanium minerals mine is producing in line with expectations, while plans to increase total production by 50% in 2012 are on schedule. The company said revenue picked up in 2010 to $91.6m from $26.7m in 2009, while losses before tax narrowed to $16.33m from $30.35m, as prices for the company's products recovered rapidly during the course of the year.Banking software firm Gresham Computing reported improved first quarter pre-tax profit and revenue while it remains confident about its recently upgraded outlook. For the quarter ended 17 April 2011 pre-tax profit rose to £0.3m from £0.0m the year before. Revenue for the period rose to £2.5m from £1.9m. Adjusted EBITDA profit increased to £0.4m from £0.1m the same quarter a year earlier.FTSE 100 - RisersKingfisher (KGF) 269.90p +1.70%British Land Co (BLND) 576.00p +1.23%ITV (ITV) 74.65p +1.22%Serco Group (SRP) 561.00p +1.08%Next (NXT) 2,225.00p +0.91%Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,163.00p +0.69%BAE Systems (BA.) 336.20p +0.66%Inmarsat (ISAT) 620.50p +0.65%Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,308.00p +0.62%Capita Group (CPI) 729.00p +0.55%FTSE 100 - FallersSmith & Nephew (SN.) 668.00p -4.09%Resolution Ltd. (RSL) 300.30p -2.94%Shire Plc (SHP) 1,847.00p -2.22%Standard Life (SL.) 207.90p -2.21%Barclays (BARC) 296.20p -1.81%Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 901.00p -1.42%Man Group (EMG) 247.10p -1.40%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 59.28p -1.38%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 42.08p -1.38%Old Mutual (OML) 134.80p -1.32%FTSE 250 - RisersBwin.party Digital Entertainment (BPTY) 177.00p +35.11%Exillon Energy (EXI) 449.70p +5.49%F&C Asset Management (FCAM) 75.60p +4.06%Jupiter Fund Management (JUP) 299.60p +3.78%Punch Taverns (PUB) 78.90p +3.75%Rathbone Brothers (RAT) 1,230.00p +2.93%Micro Focus International Plc (MCRO) 300.00p +2.81%COLT Group SA (COLT) 153.90p +2.67%Home Retail Group (HOME) 217.60p +2.40%Hansteen Holdings (HSTN) 86.60p +2.18%FTSE 250 - FallersLaird (LRD) 128.00p -3.69%Heritage Oil (HOIL) 262.20p -2.89%St James's Place (STJ) 338.00p -2.17%Stobart Group Ltd. (STOB) 145.00p -2.03%Dunelm Group (DNLM) 441.60p -1.80%Computacenter (CCC) 454.70p -1.71%Petropavlovsk (POG) 874.50p -1.63%Centamin Egypt Ltd. (CEY) 149.90p -1.51%Amlin (AML) 406.40p -1.48%Carpetright (CPR) 672.50p -1.47%---jh