Hanson is last man standing

By Geoff Foster for MailOnline
Updated: 02:38 EDT, 14 September 2006

Hanson stands alone as the only major British-owned company in the aggregates sector. All the others have been swallowed by hungry foreigners.

Rumours that Mexican group Cemex, the world's third largest manufacturer of cement and the world's leading supplier of ready-mix concrete, has approached the Hanson board with a view to an agreed takeover lifted the shares to 691½p before they closed 27p up at 677½p on hefty turnover of 19.5m.

Cemex is no stranger to the UK market, having bought RMC for £3.1bn in March 2005. It increased its exposure to European markets and raised its annual cement production to 97m tonnes. Acquiring Hanson would put it above Lafarge and make it the world's numero uno aggregates group.

Better than expected interim results from fashion group Next (129p higher at 1834p) and defence group BAE (2¾p off at 3822¾p) prompted an early 17-point gain in the Footsie.

It later retreated on lack of follow-through support to close 3.3 points lower at 5892.2. Wall Street retrieved an initial 21.9-point loss to trade 15 higher.

Next's impressive figures and vague rumours of a property revaluation saw Marks & Spencer chased up to 617p before closing 15½p up at 611p. M&S last revalued its properties in April 2004.

Michael Spencer's money broker ICAP advanced 18½p to 493½p on buying ahead of next month's interims.

Selling by tracker funds ahead of its relegation from the Footsie on Monday left international asset management group Schroders 10p lower at 914p.

Hedge fund Man Group, which has announced that Stanley Fink will quit as chief executive next April and become non-executive deputy chairman, shed 10¾p to 432¾p. Its flagship AHL fund gave a disappointing return to investors last week.

Investment management and private banking group Rathbone Brothers, in which Caledonia Investments holds 11.7%, jumped 70p to 1165p on vague takeover gossip.

ICI firmed 2¾p to 378½p on a Collins Stewart recommendation for clients to buy up to 425p.

Well-received interim figures helped Hikma Pharmaceuticals feature the FTSE 250 with a gain of 34¾p to 400p.

Department store Debenhams rallied 6¾p to 192p on hopes that Monday's trading update provides no shocks.

Sold down to 278p after Germany's SGL Carbon said it is not interested in making an offer for the company, Morgan Crucible rallied to finish 6p off at 291p. MC said takeover discussions with an unnamed party are continuing.

SHL, the employment consultancy services provider, jumped 9¾p to match the agreed 180p-a-share cash bid terms offered by Surrey 4 Ltd, a company headed by chief executive John Bateson and finance director Emma Lancaster and backed by private equity firm HgCapital. Analysts said the company had been sold very much on the cheap.

Acambis added 8p at 144p on hearing that the group has won another contract to supply the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with an additional 10m doses of its ACAM2000 smallpox vaccine as part of an existing supply contract.

Nomura Code's Chris Redhead upgraded to neutral from sell. He said Acambis' cash burn has been a major concern but the £10m cash settlement repayment from Novartis and the £16m order for ACAM2000 in 2006 provides the company with some room to manoeuvre.

Excellent interim results and analyst upgrades to current year and 2007 forecasts lifted Omega International 32½p to a record 280p.

The leading UK manufacturer of branded kitchen furniture saw first-half pretax profits rise 54pc to £3.1m, well above city forecasts of £2.5m. Shareholders received a special dividend of 8p.

Chocolates group Thorntons put on 4½p to 141p after chairman John von Spreckelsen bought 300,000 shares at 136p. Director Paul Wilkinson acquired 25,000 at 135p.

Character Group, designer and developer of Doctor Who, Scooby Doo and Peppa Pig toys and games, improved 2½p to 75p following an upbeat pre-close trading statement.

The new financial year has started strongly. The order book is healthy and its major product lines are performing well at retail. Broker Charles Stanley believes the shares are significantly undervalued.