17:00 – It was a bloodbath on the FTSE 100 (UKX) at the start of the week, as investors took their cure from fresh concerns in the eurozone.
London’s leading share index finished 112 points down at 5835, with John Wood Group (WG.) the heaviest faller, shedding over 5%.
Meanwhile, only two companies, Capita Group (CPI) and Next (NXT), made it on to the winners’ board.
At a glance…
Commodities
Gold: $1,512.80
WTI crude oil: $96.50
Currencies
GBP/USD: 1.6124
GBP/EUR: 1.1523
EUR/USD: 1.3992
16:33 – There was no sign of improvement as trading progressed across the Pond on Monday, with the three major indices remaining mired in the red.
With investors fleeing on the back of a downgrade for Italy’s credit outlook, and nerves jangling ahead of local elections in Spain, the Dow Jones slumped 149 points to 12363.
Elsewhere, the Nasdaq stood 48 points lower at 2755 and the SP 500 dropped 18 to 1316.
16:06 – Network Group Holdings (NGH) has acquired Procurement People Recruitment Ltd (PPR) for £80,000.
This is the fourth acquisition since 11 April for the AIM-listed recruitment firm, adding that it injected £119,226 towards the working capital requirements of PPR.
Chief executive Tim Watts said the deal was “another targeted acquisition, operating in a market that complements the existing NGH operations and has a presence in a sector that NGH has identified as offering exciting opportunities.”
15:42 – The New Zealand arm of Millennium and Copthorne Hotels (MLC) said today that it was still suffering from the closure of its hotels in Christchurch following the earthquake at the start of the year.
FTSE 250-listed Millennium said it was unable to accept future reservations at Millennium Hotel Christchurch until May 2012, while the Copthorne Hotel Christchurch Central was unable to accept future reservations for the rest of this year and the whole of next year.
It added that the Copthorne Hotel Christchurch City is to be demolished and should be done so “as soon as possible”.
15:15 – North Sea oil explorer EnCore Oil (EO.) has cancelled plans to spin off its exploration business, blaming the tax hike on operations in the region by Chancellor George Osborne.
Chief executive Alan Booth said the move was undertaken in the wake of diminished market appetite for UK North Sea exploration due to “current market conditions”, which have been “exacerbated” by tax changes unveiled in March’s Budget.
For the full story, read: EnCore scraps plans for exploration spin off.
14:51 – US markets were struggling on Monday, as renewed fears over sovereign debt in the eurozone and a slowing in China’s manufacturing dented sentiment at the week’s start.
The Dow Jones slumped 132 points to 12380, the SP 500 slipped 16 to 1317 and the Nasdaq dropped 47 to 2757.
14:27 – Security solutions firm G4S (GFS) today announced the acquisition of Argentine firm Detcon by its G4S Applied Security operation.
The value of the deal was not revealed by the FTSE 100-listed firm, but Detcon notched up sales revenue of $4.5 million (£3.8 million) in 2010.
13:54 – Pre-tax losses at point-of-care diagnostics provider EKF Diagnostics (EKF) leapt in the 12 months to end-December, due to “the high level of exceptional items associated with acquisition costs” and the impact of investments.
AIM-listed EKF posted a pre-tax loss of £2.08 million, up from £568,000 in the same period the previous year.
Chairman David Evans remained upbeat: “I am pleased that progress to date in 2011 has been very strong with revenues up 28% in the first quarter when compared to the equivalent period of 2010.”
13:26 – Oil and gas explorer Leed Petroleum (LDP) said that it has sold all of its oil and gas assets to a private company for $16 million (£9.9 million).
The AIM-traded company said the sale constitutes substantially all of the assets of the company.
All the proceeds will be used to satisfy debt owed to Unicredit Bank.
13:02 – The FTSE 100 (UKX) remained in dire straits at the start of the week, as fears over sovereign debt in the eurozone dented sentiment.
London’s top share index was down 88 points at 5860, with John Wood Group (WG.) heading losses as commodity firms struggled.
Also in the doldrums was Anglo American (AAL), while interdealer broker ICAP (IAP) remained top of the pile with the only worthwhile gains.
12:34 – Inhaled pharmaceutical developer Vectura (VEC) enjoyed “strong revenue growth” in the year to end-March, as it narrowed its post-tax loss.
AIM-listed Vectura grew revenue 7% to £42.9 million, while its post-tax loss was reduced by 14% to £8.8 million.
Chief executive Dr Chris Blackwell was upbeat: “With a reduced risk profile, strong balance sheet and multiple key catalysts expected in the short-term, Vectura continues to be innovative while moving closer to becoming a self-sustaining cash-generative company.”
12:12 – Full-year pre-tax profit and revenue were on the rise at MITIE (MTO), as the outsourcer continued to enjoy a strong pipeline of business.
The FTSE 250-listed firm notched up 10% growth in revenue to £1,891.4 million, with pre-tax profit up 8.9% at £86.8 million.
MITIE also cheered investors with a 9p total dividend – up from 7.8p last year.
11:49 – AIM-listed exploration firm Orogen Gold (ORE) has clinched landowner agreement for work at a shallow underground gold mine in Serbia.
The deal will mean Orogen can start work at the Rusman mine, while it also announced the purchase of 39 acres of land at the Gindusa mine.
This means work can commence before the end of this month.
11:26 – FTSE 250-listed engineering firm Kier (KIE) has completed the sale of two Private Finance Initiative (PFI) projects in Oldham and Norwich.
The sale – to a joint venture between HICL Infrastructure Company (HICL) and Kajima Partnerships – was for a total cash consideration of £9.2 million.
Separately, HICL also announced the further acquisition of a Sheffield schools PFI project.
11:00 – The six-month loss widened at Sunrise Resources (SRES), but the firm said it had “made excellent progress on all three of [its] key mineral projects” in the period.
Its loss grew from £115,858 to £405,112, including impairments to net assets of £268,002.
On the drilling front, AIM-listed Sunrise said it has extended its option-to-purchase agreement at Long Lake in Canada, while its hopes for the Derrginagh project in Ireland were given a lift by a positive Concept Study that reported it could develop at least 50,000 tonnes of barite per year.
10:35 – Deputy chairman of easyJet (EZJ), David Michels, has decided to step down from the board at the end of this year.
It will mark the end of his second three-year term with the FTSE 250-listed company.
The budget airline said it has already started the process of recruiting his successor.
10:12 – Brazilian-focused gold explorer Serabi Mining (SRB) said the geophysical survey conducted at its Jardim do Ouro project earlier this year has discovered further anomalies.
The AIM-listed company said the results had generated a further 47 anomalies for follow-up work, in addition to the 66 anomalies noted during the 2008 airborne survey.
It plans to begin its follow-up work this year.
09:51 – Shares in Kazakhstan-focused Max Petroleum (MXP) took a tumble on Monday, after technical difficulties forced it to change its plans for the ASK-1 well.
The oil explorer said that due to ongoing performance issues with the drilling rig and contractor – first announced earlier this month – coupled with the deteriorating conditions of the uncased wellbore below 2,000 metres, it has decided to complete the well as a Jurassic producer.
For the full story, read: Max tumbles as technical hitch hits plans.
09:28 – Haulage firm Stobart (STOB) saw a dip in pre-tax profit for the year to end-February, as rising fuel costs offset a rise in revenue from continuing opeartions.
FTSE 250-listed Stobart posted revenue of £500.4 million, while pre-tax profit dipped from £33.3 million to £29.5 million.
The final dividend of 4p took the year’s total to 6p per share, while chief executive officer Andrew Tinkler said its diversification would see the firm grow going forward.
09:02 – The FTSE 100 (UKX) was spiralling downwards at the start of the new week, as eurozone debt concerns reared their head once more.
London’s leading share index retreated 78 points, with John Wood Group (WG.) the worst-performing of the pack after shedding over 5% early on.
Only one company, ICAP (IAP), made it on to the winners’ board, with a marginal 1.1% gain.
On the corporate news front, British Land (BLND) unveiled a rise in underlying pre-tax profit in the year to 31 March as demand for its retail and office properties remained strong.
The property giant said underlying pre-tax profit rose 2.8% to £256 million, while new asset value per share jumped 12.5% to 567p.
British Land said the company had enjoyed a very active year, having outperformed the market.
For more, read: Profit and NAV rise for British Land.
At a glance…
Asian markets
Nikkei 225: 9460 (down 146)
Hang Seng: 22698 (down 500)
Shanghai Composite: 2774 (down 83)
Commodities
Gold: $1,508.30
WTI crude oil: $98.36
Currencies
GBP/USD: 1.6192
GBP/EUR: 1.1509
EUR/USD: 1.4086
08:00 – The FTSE 100 (UKX) opens at 5948.