Breaking News in association with Money AM

Friday, 20th November 2009

FTSE enjoys a firm start as mining stocks recover ground

9:17am
MORNING REPORT: Headline shares made a firm start in quiet trade, on a day bereft of news, with a recovery in mining stocks underpinning gains and Cable & Wireless heading the leaderboard following a broker upgrade.

At 8:30am, the FTSE100 was up 32.73 points at 5,300.43 with the FTSE250 ahead 52.59 points at 9,289.49 and the FTSE Smallcaps 3.98 points better at 2,808.6.

US & ASIA

In the US last night, the Dow lost 93 points at 10,333, the Nasdaq fell 36 points at Composite...

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Nationwide in profit

7:47am
Nationwide Building Society said despite challenging market conditions, it has delivered an underlying half-year profit of £117m, with costs down 6% on a like-for-like basis.

The BS said it maintained a well capitalised and liquid balance sheet with a Core Tier 1 capital ratio of 12% and showed a core liquidity ratio of 12.9%.

Nationwide said reported profit before tax shown of £143m has been adjusted for the movement in the value of derivatives and hedge accounting of £15m, a credit of £1m in respect of the provision for Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS)...

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Anite profits tumble

7:32am
Anite said trading in the first half-year to end-October has been in-line with expectations, with adjusted operating profit expected to be about £3.5m, compared to £12.4m in 2008.

The software solutions company said overall, Wireless revenues were down around 20% year on year. In Network Testing, customer capital expenditure budgets have been reduced and although gross margins have remained stable, less favourable exchange rates have reduced operating margins.

In Handset Testing, the division broke even, as anticipated, reflecting declining demand for older technology combined with the increased planned development spending on 4G...

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Staffline says earnings to be ahead of current expectations

7:32am
Staffline said that following a number of new business wins since June and a cost cutting programme implemented throughout 2009, it now expects earnings for the year to end-December to be ahead of expectations.

The recruitment firm said the current market conditions continue to be extremely challenging but it has had a more successful first ten months of the year than originally anticipated despite the tough economic backdrop in many of its trading sectors.

Operational savings have included rationalisation of the branch network, headcount reduction of 20% and a reduction in central costs....

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Rotork expects profit at top end of forecasts

7:17am

Story provided by Business Financial Newswire...

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Fuller's first-half sales and profits bubble up

7:17am
Brewer and pubco Fuller, Smith & Turner said revenue rose 10% to £116.9m in the half-year ended 26th September.

Adjusted profit before tax was up 18% to £14.1m (2008: £12m) and gross profit before tax up 26% to £15.1m (2008: £12m).

EBITDA rose 9% to £22.7m (2008: £20.9m).

Adjusted earnings per share were up 17% at 17.95p (2008: 15.29p), with basic earnings per share up 46% at 19.21p (2008: 13.13p).

The company increased its interim dividend to 4.5p, comprising two elements – underlying 5% growth from 2.85p to...

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