London open: Stocks ease after surge

28th Sep 2011 08:35

Shares have fallen back a little in early dealings, unsurprisingly given yesterday's surge.Hedge fund manager Man Group took investors by surprise though and the shares are sharply lower. It said statutory profit before tax on continuing operations for the six months ending 30 September 2011 totalled $145m, down from $180m at the interim stage last year. Total funds under management at the end of September stood at $65.0bn, down from $71.0bn at the end of June and $69.1bn at the end of March 2011. Its flagship fund, AHL, generated $1.5bn of positive investment movement in the firm's second quarter, taking the half year total to +$0.9bn.Oil firm Cairn Energy also falls back after its Greenland venture continues to disappoint. It has plugged and abandoned the Delta-1 exploration well in the Napariaq block of the West Disko Area. Meanwhile, drilling work has commenced on the AT2-1 well in the Attammik block, in the South Ungava area.Sector peer Tullow is having better luck off the coast of Ghana, where the Enyenra-3A appraisal well, in the Deepwater Tano licence, has successfully encountered oil in high quality sandstone reservoirs. Pressure data indicates that the Enyenra-3A well has confirmed an up-dip extension of the Enyenra oil field.Investors have no appetite for Domino's Pizza, which shrugged off weak economic conditions to post a 9.8% rise in sales in the 13 weeks to 25 September. The pizza deliverer's sales during the period climbed to £127m from £115.7m, bringing sales for the year to date so far up to £385.4m, a 9.2% rise from £352.8m the previous year.