London afternoon: G4S locked out of market rally

The Footsie stopped just short of dipping into negative territory over the lunchtime session before buyers moved back in just before 2pm.

Banks and miners continue to provide many of the bright spots, with the latter benefitting from higher metal prices.

In banking, Royal Bank of Scotland is wanted on reports that it is mulling a buy back of at least £10bn (EUR11bn) of the bank's £28bn of debt at a premium to current prices. Sector peer Barclays, meanwhile, gets a lift from Morgan Stanley, which has lifted its price target for the bank to 440p from 370p.

Oil giant Shell has outlined a strategy which it says will increase production by 11% in three years' time. Upstream production is expected to reach 3.5m barrels by 2012, an 11% increase from current levels, Shell said. Further ahead, the company is assessing more than 35 new projects which should underpin upstream growth to 2020.

Department store Debenhams said it saw a strong performance in the six months to 27 February as it continues its strategy of lifting margins and expanding market share. Gross transaction value was 1.7% higher than in the same period the previous year, Debenhams said, adding that like-for-like sales were up by 0.3%.

International service company Serco announce the appointment of Alastair Lyons CBE as non-executive chairman. He joins the board of Serco with immediate effect as a non-executive director, and will take up the chairmanship of the company after the Annual General Meeting on 11 May 2010.

Cost cutting helped security group G4S lift underlying earnings by 10% last year, though organic sales slowed and are expected to remain subdued. Organic turnover growth was 3.7% in 2009 down from 9.5% the previous year.

Merchant bank Close Brothers reported a 50% jump in half year profits thanks to a strong performance in its Banking and Securities divisions. Operating profit before tax from continuing operations rose to £62.3m in the six month ended 31 January from £41.5m last time. Broker Numis Securities forecast that the group would announce a pre-tax profit of £54.6m.

The Competition Commission has formally cleared Sports Direct's acquisition of 31 stores from JJB Sports. The Commission decided the acquisition will not lead to a substantial lessening of competition, a ruling that confirms the last month's provisional findings.

Underwriter Hiscox said it expects a combined net loss of around £100m from the recent Chilean earthquake and windstorm Xynthia which struck France.

Mezzanine finance specialist Intermediate Capital has appointed Christophe Evain as is new chief executive replace Tom Attwood, who will remain on the board and focus on fund investors. The switch is part of a change in emphasis with a greater focus on fund management.

Wellstream, which designs and manufactures flexible risers and flowlines for the oil and gas industry, reported lower than expected profits in a tough year that saw activity in the oil and gas sector tail off. Pre-tax profit fell to £42.8m in the year ended December compared with £77.5m last time, with pre-tax profit excluding restructuring costs dropping to £47.8m.

Business software supplier Workplace Systems has warned that it is unlikely to meet current year market forecasts due to delayed finalisation of orders in the second half.

Private jet firm Air Partner said half year pre-tax profit fell 77% after tough trading conditions both within the group and the wider aviation sector.

Marine services group James Fisher saw a rise in revenues and profits in 2009 as its specialist technical division helped it shrug off the effects of the global economic downturn. Investors proved hard to please, however, and the shares sank despite a rise in pre-tax profits to £24.7m from £23.6m in 2008 as revenues climbed to £249.6m from £233.6m.

Shares in marketing services group Cello surged as it said trading since the start of 2010 has been good. Headline pre-tax profit for 2009 fell to £5.1m from £7.3m the year before.

Photo booth operator Photo-Me thinks profits for the full year will exceed expectations after benefiting from improvements in management in the second half.

News of a successful drilling result in Chile sent oil and gas group Geopark's share price to a new 52-week high.

Shares in WIN are on the rise after the mobile phone services company returned to profits and raised its dividend.