London midday: London lethargy lingers

With the glut of end-2009 results announcements out of the way London looks in the mood to put its feet up and take a rest.

In terms of hard news relating to FTSE 100 companies that is restricted to distribution group Bunzl and mining stock Rio Tinto.

Distribution and outsourcing group Bunzl has bought Switzerland-based consumable products supplier Weita Holding for an undisclosed sum. In 2009, the Swiss company's revenue was SFr.70.9m while at the end of the year the company had gross assets worth SFr.47m.

Rio has been cleared by an internal Chinese investigation of wrong doing over the collapse of its proposed tie-up with aluminium group Chinalco. The investigation instead blamed naivety, poor PR and soaring metal prices for the breakdown of the deal.

The shares are lower, however, with investors more concerned about a slide in base metal prices on worries about the global economy. Elsewhere in the mining sector there is speculation that Vedanta is contemplating demerging its aluminium division.

Broker coverage provides some interest. Centrica moves higher after expectations of strong growth in the UK and the US prompted Nomura to raise its rating on the British Gas owner to 370p from 340p.

Telecoms leviathan BT is better after Citigroup upgraded the stock from 'hold' to 'buy' and hiked its price target from 145p to 150p in the belief that the negative reaction to the group's recent results was overdone.

Investment trust giant Witan's investment performance beat its benchmark index in 2009 after calling the bottom of the market a month early in February. The Trust achieved 25.9% total return in net asset value in 2009, versus a 24.5% return from the company's benchmark measurement. The total dividend for 2009 is 10.5p, up from 10.2p the year before.

Sensor and electronic components firm TT Electronics has been hit hard by the recession, but put in a "creditable" performance in 2009 and has continued a better fourth quarter performance into the new year.

French Connection said it will close the majority of its loss making operations in the US and sell its Nicole Farhi brand. The changes, which include exiting the Japanese market, are part of a restructuring of the business aimed at returning it to profitability, it said in a company statement.

West End retailer Liberty has agreed a £41.5m sale and lease back of its world famous Regent Street store. The freehold of the 125,000 sq ft shop, officially on Great Marlborough Street, London W1, has been sold to Sirosa Liberty Limited.

Composting and energy plant operator TEG Group has concluded a four-year contract with local authorities in Essex to process co-mingled food and garden waste.

Property adviser DTZ said it's still on track to report full year earnings in line with market expectations and expects £70m of cost savings for the year. Property investment group Raven Russia is lower, however, even after it narrowed full year losses and said it well positioned to provide solid returns.

For the year ended 31 December 2009 the group posted a pre-tax loss of $148.3m compared with a $189.4m loss a year earlier.

Shares in Kurdistan-focused oil and gas explorer Gulf Keystone fell back after the company announced a discounted share placing. Gulf Keystone raised in the region of £16m through the placing of 20.92m shares at 76.5p.


FTSE 100 - Risers
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 43.95p +3.24%
Centrica (CNA) 295.00p +1.72%
BT Group (BT.A) 124.80p +1.22%
Admiral Group (ADM) 1,252.00p +1.13%
Shire Plc (SHP) 1,465.00p +1.10%
British Land Co (BLND) 468.70p +1.03%
Standard Life (SL.) 213.40p +0.85%
SEGRO (SGRO) 334.30p +0.84%
Old Mutual (OML) 124.50p +0.81%
National Grid (NG.) 655.50p +0.77%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
Xstrata (XTA) 1,164.50p -2.39%
Prudential (PRU) 540.25p -2.22%
Wolseley (WOS) 1,645.00p -1.85%
Kazakhmys (KAZ) 1,490.00p -1.78%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,015.00p -1.74%
Petrofac Ltd (PFC) 1,220.00p -1.61%
Lonmin (LMI) 1,966.00p -1.60%
Eurasian Natural Resources (ENRC) 1,155.00p -1.53%
Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 250.40p -1.49%
Fresnillo (FRES) 834.00p -1.42%