Sector movers: BT lifts telecoms sector

3rd Feb 2011 15:57

Fixed line telecommunications is on the rise boosted by sector titan BT after its third quarter results cheered investors.Strong growth in broadband subscribers and a pick-up by its global services operation helped BT lift profits by almost a third over the past three months. Pre-tax profits in the quarter to December jumped by 30% to £531m from £408m, even though sales fell slightly to £5.04bn from £5.2bn. BT added 188,000 new broadband subscribers in the three months to take its market share to 53%. Wind turbine gears manufacturer Hansen Transmissions International is over 7% lower, bringing down the alternative energy sector.Hansen has been downgraded from 'neutral' to 'sell' by UBS. Its target price is cut to 35p, from 45p.Top performing sectors so far todayFixed Line Telecommunications 2,366.62 +2.52%Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology 8,605.63 +2.05%Automobiles & Parts 4,594.30 +1.39%Tobacco 27,633.58 +1.27%Health Care Equipment & Services 3,991.81 +0.69%Bottom performing sectors so far todayAlternative Energy 3,511.85 -6.64%Oil & Gas Producers 8,570.66 -2.52%Software & Computer Services 725.87 -1.60%Forestry & Paper 5,520.32 -1.44%Industrial Metals & Mining 8,541.92 -0.99%