News

London open: Blue chips open lower

19 November 2008 08:33:00

London's top stocks have ignored the decent rally on Wall St overnight annd opened lower with miners again under pressure.

Lloyds TSB shareholders meet to vote on the proposed merger with HBOS having been warned yesterday by chancellor Alistair Darling that if does not go through, Lloyds will have to pay a lot more to borrow money from the government.

Property giant British Land upped its interim dividend by 7% despite a big write-down on its property portfolio that sent it deep into the red and reduced net assets by over 20%.

Credit checking firm Experian said it is adapting to market challenges, which is expects to persist into next year, as it posted a rise in half year profits.

PartyGaming reported flat quarterly revenues due to a 15% decline in poker and said the challenging economic environment and strengthening US dollar continue to affect its revenue performance.

Regus' performance in the year to date continues to be in line with expectations, but the outsourced workplaces provider said 2009 is likely to be a challenging year. Revenues rose 24.7% in the four months to 31 October to £367m, with total capacity up 2.3% to 168,908.

Engineering conglomerate Melrose said current trading remains in line with expectations and the integration of FKI is proceeding ahead of plan. The group also said current conditions in the financial markets have delayed the sale of Logistex.

Engineer IMI said it is confident of delivering on expectations for 2008 but warned that it is cautious about the outlook. IMI said it has maintained its revenue momentum of the first half through to the end of October and added that further weakening of sterling has had a positive impact on the its translation of revenues and profits.

Life insurance sector consolidator Resolution has confirmed its intention to float next month and to focus on opportunities in the life assurance and asset management sectors.

In the press, the Times reports that Woolworths is in talks to sell its entire high street business to Hilco, the specialist distressed fund.

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