Economy

Friends, Resolution marginally down on FTSE

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Economy
Written by Gary Howes   
Tuesday, 21 July 2009

Both stocks are down by similar margins after Friends rejects latest Resolution bid.

 

The FTSE 100 (INDEXFTSE:.FTSE) is up again this morning by 0.60% at 8:54am.

While the general index is up financial stocks are down in the region of 0.25% this morning with both Friends Provident and Resolution down.

Friends Provident (LON:FP) has rejected the enhanced takeover proposal unveiled by Resolution (LON:RSL), entrepreneur Clive Cowdery's investment vehicle, dubbing it "totally inappropriate" on corporate governance grounds.

After meeting Resolution representatives yesterday, management of the life assurance group said its concerns were "so fundamental" that any progress in talks was unlikely until they were addressed, the Telegraph writes.

Elsewhere on the FTSE supermarket chain Wm Morrison (LON:MRW) has surged by over 7% in early trade after it said it is confident full year results will be ahead of its earlier expectations due to continuing customer growth and the successful implementation of its cost cutting plans.

The group said the strong start to the year has been maintained through the second quarter. Tesco and J Sainsbury are up in sympathy.

Car catalyst provider Johnson Matthey (LON:JMAT) expects second quarter results to be similar to those in the first quarter as the downturn in the car industry continues to hits demand for autocatalysts.

Water firm Severn Trent said trading has been in line with its expectations and prior guidance, though decline in consumption will hit revenues slightly. The group said the decline in consumption across its measured income base has continued at similar levels to 2008/09 and it estimates this will impact revenues by around £15-£20m the current financial year.

Hot weather in June prompted Next to bring forward its latest trading update by a week and to increase its profit estimate for this year by £30m. The high street giant reported total Next Retail sales in the 25 weeks to 18 July were up 1.4% excluding VAT, with like-for-like sales down by 1.9%.


 

 
 
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