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Which 3 Stocks Would Warren Buffett Buy?London close: Footsie recovers
26-08-2010 16:48
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Mining shares pushed up the market and, despite a dip at lunchtime, Footsie ended the session just off its high for the day.
This gain was achieved even though Wall Street turned lower as the London market was coming to a close. The Dow had opened higher because of positive US employment news but the rise proved short-lived. The only index that bucked the trend in London was TechMARK which was slightly down on the day.
Fresnillo is the top performer in the mining sector but Kazakhmys is not far behind after a strong set of interim results. An improvement in copper prices helped it post a sharp rise in half year revenues and earnings. This news also gave fellow copper miner Antofagasta a boost.
Xstrata is also higher after Glencore, the world's largest commodities trader and owner of a 34% stake in the Anglo-Swiss firm, reported a 42% jump in first half net income.
The first half saw a record operating performance from engineering and project management group AMEC with growth in the second quarter ahead of expectations. That was enough to make it the best performer in the Footsie.
Security firm G4S is another blue-chip seeing positive reaction to its results. Sales and underlying profits in the first half of 2010 were slightly ahead of market expectations, despite the trading environment remaining challenging. Group turnover was up 4% at to £3.63bn from £3.49bn. The market had pencilled in a figure of £3.6bn for sales.
Figures from SEGRO and Diageo have disappointed, however. SEGRO, the industrial property owner still labouring to make people forget it used to be called Slough Estates, is the biggest faller despite edging up interim net asset value. Broker Panmure Gordon remains a buyer of the shares, but Evolution Securities is playing down the prospect of NAV growth in the second half.
Brokers called full-year numbers from Diageo "lacklustre". Developing markets drove overall growth at the Guinness brewer, but North America and Europe remained weak. The group, famous for brands such as Smirnoff, Johnnie Walker and Baileys, said US volumes fell 2% in the year to 30 June. Organic sales growth of just 2% failed to impress.
Moving on to the second tier, Hikma Pharmaceuticals shares are higher after the group saw profits and revenues rise in the half year to June 30 as it strengthened its position in its core region of the Middle East and North Africa.
Property adviser Savills was the worst performer in the FTSE 250 even though its profits recovered in the first half of 2010. Management warned that the recovery is likely to flatten off and it is cautious about the outlook.
Betting firm William Hill only posted a small rise in half year profits as gains from the football World Cup were partly offset by poor horseracing results. Pre-tax rose to £105.7m in the 26 weeks ended 29 June 2010 compared with £103.1m.
Russian gold miner Petropavlovsk fell into the red in the six months to June 30 after problems at its main mine led to a shortfall in production.
Student landlord Unite posted an 8% rise in adjusted fully diluted NAV per share and said it is well placed to build on progress over the remainder of 2010 and into 2011.
Revenues at oil and gas group Soco International fell back in the first six months of 2010 as production declined, but the company expects development activities to lead to much higher output in coming years. Average daily production totalled 5,191boepd (barrels of oil equivalent a day), down from 6,734boepd in the same period the previous year.
Profits soared at Premier Oil in the six months to June 30 as the Asia-, Middle East-, North Sea- and West Africa-facing oil group ramped up output and benefited from higher prices.
International energy services group Hunting is optimistic about its prospects despite the suspension of deep water drilling in the Gulf of Mexico . The company increased revenue to £214.2m from £209.0m the year before. Profit from operations before exceptional items was unchanged from last year's first half figure of £22m, but represented an uplift on the £13.8m seen in the second half of last year.
Fund manager F&C Asset Management halved its interim dividend as part of a plan to rebuild its financial strength after another six months of heavy losses and shrinking funds under management.
Credit card and identity protection specialist CPPGroup reported a rise in first-half profits thanks to an increase in new revenues and a steady renewal rate.
Marketing literature and direct mail specialist Communisis held profits and boosted cash flow in the six months to June but shares took a tumble as the interim dividend was halved to 0.43p.
The share price of AIM-quoted architect Archial Group halved after it said that several projects have been cancelled or delayed due to reductions in government spending and it warned that its 2010 figures will be significantly below expectations.
AIM-quoted electric vehicles manufacturer Tanfield says that it needs to raise cash through a share issue while it waits for the consolidation of its electric vehicle businesses to be completed.
This gain was achieved even though Wall Street turned lower as the London market was coming to a close. The Dow had opened higher because of positive US employment news but the rise proved short-lived. The only index that bucked the trend in London was TechMARK which was slightly down on the day.
Fresnillo is the top performer in the mining sector but Kazakhmys is not far behind after a strong set of interim results. An improvement in copper prices helped it post a sharp rise in half year revenues and earnings. This news also gave fellow copper miner Antofagasta a boost.
Xstrata is also higher after Glencore, the world's largest commodities trader and owner of a 34% stake in the Anglo-Swiss firm, reported a 42% jump in first half net income.
The first half saw a record operating performance from engineering and project management group AMEC with growth in the second quarter ahead of expectations. That was enough to make it the best performer in the Footsie.
Security firm G4S is another blue-chip seeing positive reaction to its results. Sales and underlying profits in the first half of 2010 were slightly ahead of market expectations, despite the trading environment remaining challenging. Group turnover was up 4% at to £3.63bn from £3.49bn. The market had pencilled in a figure of £3.6bn for sales.
Figures from SEGRO and Diageo have disappointed, however. SEGRO, the industrial property owner still labouring to make people forget it used to be called Slough Estates, is the biggest faller despite edging up interim net asset value. Broker Panmure Gordon remains a buyer of the shares, but Evolution Securities is playing down the prospect of NAV growth in the second half.
Brokers called full-year numbers from Diageo "lacklustre". Developing markets drove overall growth at the Guinness brewer, but North America and Europe remained weak. The group, famous for brands such as Smirnoff, Johnnie Walker and Baileys, said US volumes fell 2% in the year to 30 June. Organic sales growth of just 2% failed to impress.
Moving on to the second tier, Hikma Pharmaceuticals shares are higher after the group saw profits and revenues rise in the half year to June 30 as it strengthened its position in its core region of the Middle East and North Africa.
Property adviser Savills was the worst performer in the FTSE 250 even though its profits recovered in the first half of 2010. Management warned that the recovery is likely to flatten off and it is cautious about the outlook.
Betting firm William Hill only posted a small rise in half year profits as gains from the football World Cup were partly offset by poor horseracing results. Pre-tax rose to £105.7m in the 26 weeks ended 29 June 2010 compared with £103.1m.
Russian gold miner Petropavlovsk fell into the red in the six months to June 30 after problems at its main mine led to a shortfall in production.
Student landlord Unite posted an 8% rise in adjusted fully diluted NAV per share and said it is well placed to build on progress over the remainder of 2010 and into 2011.
Revenues at oil and gas group Soco International fell back in the first six months of 2010 as production declined, but the company expects development activities to lead to much higher output in coming years. Average daily production totalled 5,191boepd (barrels of oil equivalent a day), down from 6,734boepd in the same period the previous year.
Profits soared at Premier Oil in the six months to June 30 as the Asia-, Middle East-, North Sea- and West Africa-facing oil group ramped up output and benefited from higher prices.
International energy services group Hunting is optimistic about its prospects despite the suspension of deep water drilling in the Gulf of Mexico . The company increased revenue to £214.2m from £209.0m the year before. Profit from operations before exceptional items was unchanged from last year's first half figure of £22m, but represented an uplift on the £13.8m seen in the second half of last year.
Fund manager F&C Asset Management halved its interim dividend as part of a plan to rebuild its financial strength after another six months of heavy losses and shrinking funds under management.
Credit card and identity protection specialist CPPGroup reported a rise in first-half profits thanks to an increase in new revenues and a steady renewal rate.
Marketing literature and direct mail specialist Communisis held profits and boosted cash flow in the six months to June but shares took a tumble as the interim dividend was halved to 0.43p.
The share price of AIM-quoted architect Archial Group halved after it said that several projects have been cancelled or delayed due to reductions in government spending and it warned that its 2010 figures will be significantly below expectations.
AIM-quoted electric vehicles manufacturer Tanfield says that it needs to raise cash through a share issue while it waits for the consolidation of its electric vehicle businesses to be completed.
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