Thursday March 27, 12:21 PM
London midday: Footsie keeps head above 5700
LONDON (ShareCast) - A few more leading chips are now on the downturn but the Footsie (news) is holding above the 5700 level by the skin of its teeth, helped by solid performances by banks and
commodity plays.HBOS (LSE: HBOS.L - news) leads a buoyant banking sector on hopes that the Bank of England will lend more support to money markets. Barclays (LSE: BARC.L - news) is also wanted after being added to Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER - news) 's most-preferred list. Strong oil and metal prices boost the likes of Cairn Energy (LSE: CNE.L - news) , Tullow Oil (Dublin: TQW.IR - news) , Vedanta, Anglo American (LSE: AAL.L - news) and Rio Tinto (Frankfurt: 855018 - news) while Xstrata (LSE: XTA.L - news) recovers some of yesterday's losses. Food caterer Compass said trading in the first five months of the year is ahead of expectations as it sees operating profit rising by £6m, benefiting from the favourable currency movements. The shares are on a lot of investors' menus after Merrill Lynch rated the stock a "buy" and set a price target of 410p. Bus and train company FirstGroup (LSE: FGP.L - news) expects to report full year results in line with its expectations following a strong performance in the second half. Hedge fund manager Man Group (LSE: EMG.L - news) said pre-tax profits for the year to March will be ahead of consensus market expectations. Kingfisher (LSE: KGF.L - news) is lower after the DIY retailer saw full year adjusted profit before tax fall 2.8% and said that the "internal background and the external economic environment" had prompted it to halve the final dividend. Overall trading at London Stock Exchange (LSE: LSE.L - news) remains very strong, the stock exchange operator said Thursday, with a good outcome expected for the full year. British Gas owner Centrica (LSE: CNA.L - news) has announced plans to create the UK's first offshore gas storage facility for over 25 years in partnership with Gaz de France (Paris: FR0010208488 - news) and First Oil. Plumbing supplies company Wolseley (LSE: WOS.L - news) is wanted after Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS - news) changed its stance on the stock to "neutral" from "sell", saying that the tough operating environment in which the company operates is now reflected in the share price. Rentokil (LSE: 647054.L - news) also benefits from positive broker comment as it has been added to Merrill Lynch's "Europe 1" list. Private equity giant 3i said realisation proceeds for the year have fallen as expected but added that it has not seen any "material changes" from the economic downturn. Among the FTSE 250 (news) , power supply protection firm Chloride (LSE: CHLD.L - news) said full year results will be ahead of management's expectations with operating profit expected to rise around 50%. Northern Foods (LSE: NFDS.L - news) ' trading performance continued to meet expectations and the ready meals group said it now sees full-year profit before tax and restructuring items ahead of the median consensus of £47.5m. Food equipment manufacturer Enodis (LSE: ENO.L - news) said first half sales are expected to be up 7% on a like-for-like basis and added that it will cut jobs to deal with any weakness in North America. Cleaning and maintenance firm Mitie said it has performed well in the second half, in line with expectations, and continues to seek acquisitions in 2008. Clothing and furniture retailer Laura Ashley has reported a 62% surge in full year pre-tax profit, but like for like sales fell almost 9% and the firm remains cautious about general trading conditions. Irish newspaper publisher Independent News & Media lifted adjusted pre-tax profit by 7.7% in 2007 and said the business has traded well through the first three months of 2008. Drug firm Ardana (LSE: ARA.L - news) doubles in price after confirming it has received a number of approaches which may or may not lead to an offer for the company. Shares in Wolfson dropped after the semiconductors group said it had not been selected by a major customer for inclusion in the customer's new portable media players.
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