- Telecoms group BT was a bright spark on the market today, rising 4% after issuing upbeat full-year figures.
Shares dialled up a 10p rise to 266p after the group posted fourth-quarter figures in line with expectations and showed it had now halved net debt.
However the rise came in a subdued session on the London market, where the FTSE 100 Index was down 6.6 points at 5252.5 after an hour trading.
A poor performance from the Dow Jones Industrial Average last night weighed on shares, while news in London that Punch Taverns had pulled its float hit sentiment.
Punch cancelled the float – scheduled for today – after sentiment was hurt by the poor reaction to HMV’s listing last week.
Analysts said the move puts doubt on other flotations. GUS, which is aiming to float its Burberry prestige brand, fell 11p to 655.5p. Other fallers were B&Q owner Kingfisher, which slid 4% after it emerged French DIY firm Castorama had rejected its £3.2bn offer for a 45% stake.
Castorama rejected the approach after the London market closed last night. Shares fell 16p to 367p.
Among smaller stocks, EasyJet slid 10p to 450p after announcing plans to buy rival Go for £374m. It is to finance the deal through a £276.7m rights issue. Venture capital group 3i, which bought Go from British Airways for £110m last year, rose 23p to 745p.
3i also announced full-year results today, and said there had some signs of improvement in the market following the difficult autumn conditions.
EGi News 16/05/02
