Market report: Friday close

By Mickey Clark for MailOnline
Updated: 07:25 EDT, 8 July 2007

Millionaire Tottenham Hotspur fan and property developer Paul Kemsley is reckoned to be the man building up a big stake in property developer Quintain Estates as the prelude to a full bid.

Quintain was one of the best performing second-liners today as the shares touched 870½p before settling to trade 49½p higher at 879½p on talk that a large stake had changed hands at 900p outside of the market.

More than 1.5m shares were traded this morning. That compares with the normal market size of just 5000 shares. A line of 306,450 went through on the ticker at 860p.

Quintain plans to build 3000 homes on a 22-acre site on the Greenwich Peninsula, hard by the O2 Dome. Dealers say this could be the project that has attracted Kemsley, who runs his business Rock Properties and is a director of Spurs.

He is the brains behind plans to expand Spurs' White Hart Lane stadium and sprang to prominence a few years back when he became embroiled in a takeover battle for control of Countryside Properties, of which he was a major shareholder.

Shares generally ticked better in thin trading as City traders shrugged off yesterday's latest rise in interest rates and a lacklustre performance overnight on Wall Street. In thin trading the FTSE 100 index rose 54.9 to 6690.1.

Takeover target ICI has appealed to the Takeover Panel to issue Dutch rival Akzo Nobel with a 'put up or shut up' order on whether it intends to make a bid.

The ICI board last month rejected a 600p offer from Akzo Nobel but has had no formal contact with the company since. ICI shares dipped 1p to 619p.

ICI's biggest shareholders, which include Invesco Asset Management with 8%, Legal & General (6%) and Standard Life (5.5%), have already said any offer for the company should be above 700p.

But some analysts have warned that may prove too pricey for Akzo, which recently sounded out shareholders about a higher offer.

Mining giant Rio Tinto closed up 2p to 4003p amid mounting speculation that it wants to gatecrash the proposed £14bn takeover tussle between Alcan and Alcoa. Word is it has appointed Credit Suisse as financial adviser.

At the same time, Credit Suisse has raised its target for Rio Tinto from 4000p to 4500p after jacking up its forecast for commodity prices by as much as 50%. It has also raised Anglo American, up 76p at 3267p, from 3000p to 3300p, Xstrata, 96p better at 3266p, from 3000p to 3500p and Kazakhmys, up 24p at 1305p, from 1300p to 1600p.

Citigroup has downgraded Home Retail Group, ¼p off at 459¾p, which was spun out of GUS, from buy to hold with the price target reduced from 525p to 500p.

Citigroup made its move to reflect the fact that postdemerger forecast upgrades had produced a de-rating of the shares. The broker says: 'Despite reasonably attractive metrics for a financial bidder, little was priced in. Home Retail Group has tracked the market, buoyed by bid speculation.'

Jetion Holdings, a China-based maker of solar panels, made its debut on the big board following a placing of 25m shares by broker Collins Stewart at 151p, valuing the company at £112m. The price touched 159p before settling at 153p.

TAKING STOCK: Market news at a glance

BANKING & FINANCE
Standard Life will hand out bonus shares worth about £230m next week in celebration of its first anniversary on the stock market. Those 1.7m shareholders who have held shares since it listed will receive one bonus share for every 20.

BUILDING & PROPERTY
As interest rates rose another quarter point, housebuilder Persimmon said its full-year performance was on target. Forward sales were up 6% at 2148 with the average house selling at £160,000. Bridgewell continues to rate the shares overweight.

CONSUMER
Property website Rightmove, buffeted by on-off plans for home information packs, said it is on track for full-year profits of £29 .9m. The first half saw big increases in estate agents, housebuilders and lettings specialists joining the site.

ECONOMY
The euro hit record highs against the yen as traders bet on further interest rate rises by the European Central Bank after yesterday's hints fromGovernor Jean-Claude Trichet. Japanese investors, faced with 0.5% rates at home, are seeking higher-yielding currencies.

ENGINEERING
Kaupthing says yesterday's trading update from Cookson adds nothing to last month's AGM statement. It adds that the ceramics division doing well but this will be offset by a weak dollar and falling car sales, which will hit its chemical side.

HEALTH
Aim-listed dental equipment maker Astek Group almost doubled in price after narrowing full-year losses last year. It increased worldwide sales and signed two major global distribution deals for its Pro-Tip and Alma Alginate products.

INDUSTRY
Marshalls, maker of concrete paving blocks, today reported a 6% rise in first-half revenues to £210m, but chief executive Graham Holden said: 'Weather conditions in June have held back sales during this important month.'

LEISURE
Coffeeheaven, the coffee-bar chain that specialises in eastern and central Europe, is proving the benefits of being the first western chain in many of its targeted towns. Like-forlike sales in the last three months rose 28% in the Czech Republic, 20% in Poland and 10% in Latvia.

MEDIA
Video-streaming technology specialist Vividas has secured business in online entertainment, signing software licence agreements with HandMade Films International and for the documentary Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West.

NATURAL RESOURCES
Tanzania Gold climbed to a twoyear high of 115p as the African gold miner gathered support after a meeting with brokers. There is a 4p spread between bid and offer and the normal market size is in 2000 shares. Yesterday, 320,000 changed hands.

RETAILING
Seymour Pierce reckons the wet weather has helped Woolworths, with entertainment products selling well. It does not appear overstocked, or worried about a margin hit on the clearance of outdoor merchandise. It continues to rate Woolies a hold.

SUPPORT SERVICES
Favourable trading conditions are continuing to drive employment consultant Michael Page forwards. So says Evolution Securities following yesterday's trading update. The broker has repeated its buy call and says the group is setting spectacular growth rates.

TELECOMS
BT has expanded its broadband customer base with the £15.8m acquisition of the internet service provider business of listed company Brightview. Brightview operates ISP services under the Madasafish and Global Internet brands.

TECHNOLOGY
Vodafone pulled out of the race to launch the iPhone in Britain because of excessive demands by Apple. The mobile phone giant was favourite to win the contract but Apple wanted a large proportion of revenues generated by the iPhone.

TRANSPORT
Deutsche Bank repeated its hold rating on British Airways but has cut its target from 523p to 487p. It says the airline will be prevented from making a strong second-half recovery by infrastructure and security issues.

UTILITIES
Shares of Renewable Power & Light have been suspended pending clarification of its financial position and because of supply problems from Safari Group, its main provider of palm-oil feedstock. RP&L is a green renewable power provider.