Date: Thursday 14 May 2015
LONDON (ShareCast) - UK stocks rebounded from early losses by mid-afternoon, but recovery remained capped by concerns of Greek instability. Sector-wise, miners and computer services provided the biggest drag, while property stocks and insurers provided a welcome boost.
At 2:30 BST, the FTSE 250 was trading 50 points higher at 17,911.3.
Keller Group was among the fallers after it said slow construction market in the US, intense competition in the Middle East and project delays have hurt profits and revenues during the last quarter. Heavy snowfall in the US in February and March also had an impact in the group's results.
Restaurant Group, owner and operator of Garfunkel's, Frankie & Benny's and Chiquito brands, was in the red despite posting an 8.5% rise in headline sales for the 19 weeks to 10 May. The company added that plans to expand its property portfolio were on track as the company gears up to open between 42 and 50 new restaurants in the current financial year,
Metal flow engineering group Vesuvius dipped after revealing a decline in first-quarter revenues, despite reiterating that it expects full-year results to remain in line with market expectations.
Euromoney Institutional Investors was trading lower as it warned that challenging market conditions were likely to continue. The group warned that its advertising business had declined in the first half and that its investment banking arms would continue to face adversity in the second half.
SIG registered losses after underwhelming investors with flat like-for-like revenue in the first fourth months of 2015, as a solid performance in the UK and Ireland was offset by weakness in Europe.
Meanwhile, TalkTalk surged as it raised its growth targets for 2017, following accelerating revenues in the fourth quarter. "British consumers and businesses increasingly appreciate TalkTalk's value for money products, and we are focused on improving our customers' experience still further and growing our already flourishing quad play business," said chief executive Dido Harding.
Property stocks including Crest Nicholson Holdings, Zoopla, Berkeley Group Holdings and Countrywide dominated the risers, bolstered by post-election stability.
Risers
Zoopla Property Group (WI) (ZPLA) 225.50p +4.40%
Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 497.00p +3.56%
Drax Group (DRX) 432.90p +3.47%
Countrywide (CWD) 596.50p +2.93%
TalkTalk Telecom Group (TALK) 373.50p +2.84%
Dechra Pharmaceuticals (DPH) 1,045.00p +2.75%
RPS Group (RPS) 221.80p +2.64%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 2,887.00p +2.63%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 677.00p +2.58%
Workspace Group (WKP) 873.00p +2.52%
Fallers
Restaurant Group (RTN) 682.50p -5.14%
Keller Group (KLR) 991.00p -3.69%
Fidessa Group (FDSA) 2,298.00p -3.24%
Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 1,211.00p -3.12%
Telecity Group (TCY) 1,081.00p -3.05%
Carillion (CLLN) 329.40p -2.80%
SIG (SHI) 205.90p -2.51%
AL Noor Hospitals Group (ANH) 829.00p -2.47%
Inmarsat (ISAT) 993.00p -2.07%
Vesuvius (VSVS) 448.00p -1.71%
Email this article to a friend
or share it with one of these popular networks:
1,208.00p
