13th Mar 2015 10:30
LONDON (Alliance News) - London stocks are trading flat-to-higher mid morning Friday with little in the way of economic data to drive sentiment, while JD Wetherspoon shares are among the leading FTSE 250 losers after reporting a fall in operating margins.
The FTSE 100 is a touch lower at 6,758.04, the FTSE 250 is up 0.3% at 17,105.22, and the AIM All-Share is up 0.2% at 717.93.
In Europe, the French CAC 40 and German DAX 30 are both up 0.1%.
JD Wetherspoon shares have fallen 4.1% after the pub chain reported strong sales growth in the first half of its financial year but a lower operating margin owing to higher rates of pay for pub staff and higher utility costs.
The group led by Chairman Tim Martin said revenue was up 9.0% at GBP744.4 million in the 26 weeks to 25 January from GBP683.2 million a year earlier. Like-for-like sales were up 4.5%. However, operating margin narrowed to 7.4% from 8.2%.
However, it is struggling oil and gas company Afren which leads the FTSE 250 fallers, trading down 21%. The company, which is due to be relegated from the FTSE 250 on March 23, said it has reached an agreement in principle to address its short- and longer-term funding needs and recapitalise its capital structure, but also warned it will be making significant impairments in 2014 followed by significant budget cuts in 2015. A debt-for-equity will dilute existing shareholders to just 11%, but the company warned that without approval of the agreement "existing shareholders would be unlikely to see any return on their current investment".
SOCO International, down 6.6%, and Cairn Energy, down 4.5% are also two of the heaviest fallers in the FTSE 250, continuing their losses following updates earlier in the week.
SOCO reported a huge reduction in profit in 2014 and slashed its dividend due to weaker oil prices Thursday.
Cairn revealed Tuesday that it will dispute a USD1.6 billion tax order by the Indian government, a situation on which Vedanta Resources, down 2.2%, also provided an update Friday.
Diploma is one of the best midcap performers, up 3.4%. The technical products and services company said it has struck a deal to buy the Kubo Group for up to CHF39.9 million in cash before acquisition costs. Kubo is a seals, O-Rings, gaskets and moulded rubber parts company with operations in Switzerland and Austria.
SSE, down 1.8%, and Centrica, down 1.6% are the two biggest fallers in the FTSE 100. Labour Party leader Ed Miliband is expected on Friday to outline plans to give energy regulator Ofgem greater powers to force energy companies to cut bills should Labour come to power after the General Election, Sky News reports.
Miliband is expected to say that one of his first acts in government would be to push through a bill which gives Ofgem more powers to force the so-called Big Six energy companies - EDF Energy, Centrica-owned British Gas, SSE, Scottish Power, E.ON and Npower - to reduce or freeze prices. It is estimated that gas and electricity bills could be cut by up to 10% this year under a Labour government, Sky said.
Blue-chip oil stocks are also amongst the worst performers in the blue-chip index as oil prices resume their slide. Brent oil currently trades at USD56.50 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate trades at USD46.61 a barrel.
BG Group, down 1.5%, BP, down 1.0%, and Royal Dutch Shell 'A', down 0.8% are amongst the worst performers in the index.
On the forex front, the dollar has resumed its rise against major currencies sending the pound to its lowest value against the greenback since July 2013. Sterling fell to a low of USD1.4808, its lowest since June 2010, while the euro hit a low of USD1.0564.
Still ahead in the economic calendar US producer price index is at 1230 GMT, and the Reuters/Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index is at 1355 GMT.
By Neil Thakrar; [email protected]; @NeilThakrar1
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