Positive results boost Footsie
The London market was on the front foot today led forward by a strong performance from Next as investors cheered first-half results.
With BAE Systems also pleasing the City, the FTSE 100 Index gained 12.5 points to 5908 by mid-morning.
Fashion chain Next reported a 3.6% rise in profits as an “excellent performance” from its website and catalogue offset disappointment at its high street stores.
The retailer posted pre-tax profits of £178.9 million for the six months to July compared with £172.6 million in the same period last year. Analysts had been predicting profits to come in between £154 million and £167.6 million and shares lifted 106p to 1811p – a gain of more than 6%.
Rival Marks & Spencer also benefited from the positive sentiment in the sector and lifted 17p to 612.5p.
BAE Systems added 3.5p to 389p after posting a 34% surge in profits after a strong performance at its defence division in the United States. BAE said operating profits for the first half of 2006 jumped from £488 million to £653 million as it benefited from last year’s acquisition of US defence group United Defense Industries.
Over in the FTSE 250, insurer Provident Financial rose 10.5p to 633p despite posting a 20% fall in pre-tax profits after it said the medium term outlook for UK home credit had improved.
And the Restaurant Group, which owns Garfunkel’s and Frankie & Benny’s, cheered 3.25p to 217p after showing like-for-like sales growth of 3% for the first half.
Going in the opposite direction, MyTravel shares tumbled after it warned profits would be hit by the recent security alert in the UK and terror attacks in Turkey and Jordan. Shares were down almost 6% or 11p to 189.75p. Rival First Choice was also on the slide – down 8.25p to 208.5p.
