Monday April 14, 03:37 PM
Sector movers: Bradford & Bingley denies rights rumour
LONDON (ShareCast) - Mortgage lender Bradford & Bingley (LSE: BB.L - news) has denied weekend reports that it is planning an emergency
rights issue. "Bradford & Bingley has a strong capital base, above its regulatory requirements, and as a result of the board's conservative approach, has funded its business activities through 2008 and into 2009," said the group in a short statement. "In the current market environment, the board will naturally continue to monitor closely the balance sheet strength of the business and its funding plans," it added. Bradford & Bingley shares fell by 7% this morning despite the group's denials, but have since recovered. The statement comes after the Sunday Telegraph reported that Bradford & Bingley is likely sell shares after the mortgage market deteriorated, citing people close to the company. The paper also said that the lender had asked Citigroup (ASFZ.PK - news) to assist with the potential rights issue. It (Frankfurt: A0MLX5 - news) 's a big day for the retail sector tomorrow with final results due from supermarket Tesco (LSE: TSCO.L - news) and interims from department store Debenhams (LSE: DEB.L - news) . Tesco saw underlying like-for-like sales rise 3.1% for the six weeks to January 2008 but the figure was below analysts' estimates. Last month Debenhams blamed tough trading conditions in January and February for a 0.7% fall in like-for-like sales in the first half. In the beverages sector, JP Morgan expects SABMiller (LSE: SAB.L - news) 's fourth quarter trading statement this week to show beer volume growth of 2.8%. The broker said that the brewer's share price might fall on this statement and the full-year 2008 results. However, it thinks long term investors will be rewarded for buying into any such dips.
Top performing sectors so far today
Beverages 6,662.90 +0.95%
Food & Drug Retailers 4,590.90 +0.94%
Real Estate 3,419.80 +0.41%
Industrial Metals 9,287.80 +0.31%
Forestry & Paper 4,637.10 +0.23% Bottom performing sectors so far today
Software & Computer Services (CSVI.PK - news) 424.20 -2.39%
General Retailers 1,471.00 -2.17%
Mining 25,658.30 -1.77%
Personal Goods 6,888.50 -1.76%
Banks 7,896.90 -1.68%
|
Send Article by Email
