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Yesterday's trading: Byotrol cleans up on flu fears

By Geoff Foster for MailOnline
Updated: 05:19 EDT, 6 August 2009

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It's not just the pharma giants that are benefiting from the outbreak of swine flu.

Geoff Foster: The Footsie fell on profit-taking.

AIM-listed Byotrol jumped 4p to 25p after revealing that the outbreak of the H1N1 virus has led to an increase in inquiry levels for its hygiene products.

Interest was translating into a rise in actual orders. The company produces sanitising products, generally a residue which is coated on work surfaces to keep them clear of viruses and bacteria for around three months.

The arrival of swine flu – for which their products are particularly strongly placed to discourage – could be a godsend for Byotrol.

Back in June trials of its ground-breaking disinfectant on wards at Manchester Royal Infirmary proved that it cut levels of MRSA by around 33%, compared with other cleaning agents used by the National Health Service. Remember, around 300,000 patients, that's 1-in-12, contract an infection in an English hospital every year.

Dealers are now aware that there could be considerable upside in the share price if the company begins to see decent orders coming through. The stock traded at 80p back in 2006 and could easily retrace that level should orders for its products post swine-flu accelerate.

Drugs giant GlaxoSmithKline cheapened 2.5p to 1145p on profit-taking. On Monday the group said that it had received orders for a further 96m doses of vaccines for swine flu in the past two weeks from nine governments as they seek to stockpile medicines. The new contracts bring the number of swine flu vaccines orders so far to 291m.

Although 43%-government owned Lloyds Banking Group jumped 8.9p to 93.125p after it reported losses lower than the £5bn feared in the City and the £9.5bn reported in the second half of last year, the Footsie fell a further 24.24 points to 4,647.13 on profit-taking. Royal Bank of Scotland firmed 2p to 48.75p ahead of tomorrow's results.

Wall Street's early 83-point loss was a drag as traders in New York ran for the exit following higher-than-expected private US job losses in July. It prompted renewed concern about the strength of the US economic recovery.

British Airways cruised 11.5p higher to 161.75p after its American peers reported robust July traffic figures and Hong Kong's airline Cathay Pacific posted a profit in the first-half. BA also announced that it carried 1% more passengers in July than the same month a year ago.

Persisting Middle East stake-building rumours accompanied a 37.5p gain to 579p in Land Securities.

Housebuilders erected good gains after a Halifax survey showed house prices rose 1.1% in July. Barratt Developments rose 13.4p to 213.5p and Bellway 19p to 779p. Taylor Wimpey (1.25p off at 38.75p) also said that trading conditions had improved significantly in the first-half of the year.

Nervous selling ahead of today's interims saw bookie Ladbrokes touch 166p before closing 0.5p dearer at 167.5p. Dealers are certainly not expecting good news after William Hill (1.25p off at 166.75p) said on Tuesday that punters had stayed at home to watch Wimbledon and the Ashes rather than visit their betting shops for a punt. Ladbrokes will probably sing from the same song sheet.

National Express accelerated 12p to 366.75p after broker Investec said it is likely that the transport group is broken up and that should yield significant value for shareholders. The risks lie on the upside and it raised its target price to 460p.

Rival Stagecoach, which is strongly tipped to be the one that puts NatExpress out of its misery, firmed 1.5p to 140.5p.

Shares of software group StatPro, in which SVG Capital owns 6.6%, jumped 12.5p to 98.5p following better-than-expected interim results. Shop broker Cenkos upgraded full-year earnings per share estimates by 6.4% to 8.8p, stating that 'these results demonstrate the strength of the business model and balance sheet'.

Following a strong performance in estate agency and resilience in surveying during the first six months of the year, LSL Property Services rose 13p to 193p. The leading provider of residential property services reported a 39% rise in pre-tax profits to £9.4m.

Independent power producer Rurelec edged up to 19.5p on an Ambrian tip and target price of 45p.

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