FTSE in-depth: Sage chief looks to a future fight
It could be a baptism of fire for Guy Berruyer who takes over from Paul Walker as chief executive of Sage Group on Friday.
Geoff Foster: As October approaches, superstitious dealers decided to trouser profits.
His first job in the hot seat will be, according to red hot rumours, to fend off takeover approaches from two international predators.
Shares of the UK's largest software maker surged 8.1p to a year's peak of 266.2p as punters responded to gossip that SAP, the world's largest business software company, is lining up a cash bid worth £5.1bn or 390p a share. US computer giant Microsoft is also believed to be sniffing around.
SAP is said to be sitting on a pile of cash, even after splashing out £3.7bn on database software maker Sybase earlier this year.
It plans to continue its buying spree with a move for major rival Sage, which remains a big player in Western European and other advanced economies.
Berruyer would surely have his work cut out to defend a bid of around £4 a share. Major shareholders led by Blackrock would find it difficult to say no to an offer of that magnitude.
Berruyer was heavily involved in Sage's recent abortive offer for Polish software firm Teta. He will continue the board's acquisition strategy which is expected to be a key driver for the business both in Europe and in other regions.
Meanwhile, sentiment in the stock was also helped by bullish comments from broker BarCap.
Autonomy, sponsors of Spurs, jumped 29p to £18 as speculators continued to dream about a possible £6bn, or £25 a share, bid from across the pond.
As October approaches, superstitious dealers decided to trouser profits accrued in recent weeks. The month has been known to produce quite spectacular falls, so why tempt fate. The mood in the US was much the same as September has seen some hefty investment gains. Awaiting today's final reading of the UK gross domestic product data, the Footsie relinquished 25.06 points to 5,573.42. Wall Street opened 16 points lower.
Household goods giant Unilever rose 23p to 1817p after analysts gave the thumbs up to its £2.3bn purchase of Alberto Culver, which owns shampoo maker Tresemmeé.
Ignoring the Potash Corporation bid situation for a time, investors nibbled away at BHP Billiton, flat at 2010.5p, ahead of an analysts visit this week to its South American copper operations. The feedback should be bullish.
Part nationalised Lloyds Banking Group eased 0.81p to 75.86p despite a buy recommendation from Execution Noble. The broker says given better leverage and mix shift towards retail banking, investors may come to regard Lloyds along the lines of a Swedish bank, on which basis, the shares could be worth 200p-215p a share.
In the wake of retail industry research house Verdict's forecast of a material deceleration in the rate of growth of online sales, broker Shore Capital reiterated its bearish stance on Ocado, 1.2p cheaper at 136.7p. The broker believes the shares are still materially overvalued as it does not yet have positive earnings.
Cash rich private equity group 3i eased 1.5p to 286.5p after announcing the £18.3m acquisition of debt management specialist Mizuho Investment Management from one of Japan's largest banks. Evolution Securities' target price is 340p.
Sellers dragged non-life insurer Jardine Lloyd Thompson 5p lower to 572.5p. Chairman Andrew Agnew resigned suddenly last week and dealers heard rumours that a profits warning could soon follow.
Lloyd's insurer Novae Group advanced 4p to 335p following consent to the transfer of insurance liabilities from Novae Insurance Company Limited to the group's Lloyd's Syndicate 2007. The move will improve its return on equity.
Camco International soared 3.5p to 18p after announcing a joint venture with the investment holding arm of the Malaysian government, Khazanah Nasional. KN acquires a 5.3% stake in Camco at 20p in the deal which broker KBC Peel Hunt describes as 'transformational' for the Jersey-based developer of emission reductions and clean energy projects.
Responding to a press recommendation and an upbeat progress report from its two gold recovery operations in South Africa and Ghana, buyers chased gold producer Goldplat 3.25p, or 30%, higher to 14p.
Demand ahead of the interims next month lifted Software Radio Technology, the software developer of marine tracking equipment, 2.75p to a two-year high of 31p.
Strong annual results helped Netcall improve 1.5p to 14p. The provider of telephony software saw adjusted operating profits rise 23% to £1.02m and gross profit margin increase 1% to 91%. It has a debt-free balance sheet with £2.45m cash in the bank.
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