Unilever, the Flora-to-Findus group, may be about to shake off years of sluggish growth. Under previous chairman, Niall FitzGerald, the company tried a so-called Path to Growth, which turned out to be the Path to Slow Growth. Sales were flat in 2004 and showed an improvement of just 3% in 2005, as opposed to the planned 5%-6%.
But yesterday, in an interview in Paris, the consumer group's chief executive, Patrick Cescau, said the company would finally start seeing some improvement in future years.
"We are moving from a 3% growth company to one that grows at 4%-5%," he said, although he was careful not to put a timeframe on this.
He also indicated that Unilever would be more aggressive in seeking bolt-on acquisitions as it recovered. Investors liked the sound of this and the shares climbed 25p to £11.71, making it one of the top 10 risers in the FTSE 100 index
Leading shares made a bright start yesterday, with the FTSE 100 up around 70 points at one stage. But an uncertain start on Wall Street took the shine off, and by the close the index was just 19.1 points ahead at 5684.1. Wall Street's weakness was put down to continuing strength in the oil price and worries about its effect on corporate profits.
Rentokil Initial, the pest control to cleaning group, was 6.5p better at 149.75p as Morgan Stanley turned positive on the stock, saying the market had failed to appreciate the scale of the turnaround at the company.
The housebuilder Persimmon added 47p to £11.93 after Williams de Broe advised clients to buy. Its rival Crest Nicholson edged up 0.75p to 516p despite a fall in half-year profits. The company issued an upbeat statement on its prospects but the shares have also been supported by bid speculation.
Gerald Ronson's Heron Corporation made an indicative offer last year of between 345p and 430p. This was rejected, but Heron still has a 23.4% stake in Crest. Traders have suggested Heron may return with another offer or sell its stake to another potential predator such as Bovis Homes or Barratt Developments.
Analysts at Bridgewell said: "The company is performing satisfactorily but if a bid is not forthcoming then the stock is vulnerable to profit-taking."
The consultancy group WS Atkins was the biggest riser in the FTSE 250, up 67p to 840p after a rise in annual profits and a positive outlook statement. Analysts were generally positive on the figures, with Evolution advising clients to add and Panmure Gordon issuing a buy note. But both said Metronet, the Tube company where Atkins is part of a consortium, was a concern. Its contribution to the profits fell from £15m to £4.6m, said Evolution.
The higher oil price lifted the exploration group Cairn Energy 41p to £19.75, but miners were mixed after a late sell off in gold which saw the precious metal fall 2.6% in Europe. Copper, aluminium and zinc were also lower after a bright start. But Lonmin shook off the declines to close 44p higher at £26.85, while fellow FTSE 100 newcomer Vedanta Resources added 23p to £13.32.
British Airways was one of the biggest movers, and not in a good way. It shares slumped 21.75p to 346p - a 5.9% fall - after it said British and US authorities were investigating both it and other airlines for alleged cartel activity involving pricing and fuel surcharges.
The mortgage bank Bradford & Bingley lost 12.5p to 446.5p as it revealed that it may have to take another charge to cover liabilities related to past mis-selling of endowments.
But Alliance & Leicester rose 13p to £11.46 on hopes that potential bidder Credit Agricole would return to the fray. The French bank had bid for Greek lender Emporiki, which some dealers said might put a takeover attempt for A&L on the back burner. But yesterday Credit suddenly faced the prospect of a rival bidder for Emporiki, and now has to decide whether to raise its offer or walk away. That means a bid for A&L may soon be back on the agenda.
The IT equipment and services business Computerland jumped 15p to to 187.5p after profits rose 5% and it announced a special 20p-a-share dividend, using £2m of the company's £9m cash pile. Corporate Synergy started coverage of the company with a buy recommendation and a 224p target.
Aga Foodservice lost 1.75p to 372p after Credit Suisse turned negative on the cooker company and set a 350p target price.
The wooden spoon on Aim went to Adamind, down 43p to 49.5p after the mobile phone software company warned revenues for the first half of 2006 would be "substantially below market expectations".
Meanwhile, shares in financial services and accountancy firm Millfield were suspended at 1.25p after a 23% fall. The company admitted there was no appetite for a placing of its shares and it said it was highly likely the company would be placed in administration.
Finally, Geong, which supplies software and services to businesses in China, is due to join Aim tomorrow with a placing of shares at 30p. Dealers said the offer was 2.5 times oversubscribed.
Seeking security
Croma Group, the surveillance and security products business, was unchanged at 4.5p yesterday. The company's last results at the end of March showed half-year turnover down from around £1m to just over £900,000, but losses reduced from nearly £400,000 to just under £300,000. At the same time it raised £75,000 by placing 1.5m new shares at 5p each with one of its existing institutional investors. Chairman John French said then that the company's priority was to continue growing its existing business and to find suitable acquisitions, with several possible targets already identified. But dealers are now hearing whispers that current trading is not going well, so the shares may come under some selling pressure.