By Carla Mozee and Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch Hargreaves Lansdown
PLC fell after Citi cut it to sell
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Shares of Petrofac were slammed in
London on Monday, weighing on the benchmark FTSE 100, after the
oil-services firm cut its profit outlook.
The FTSE 100 shed 0.3% to end at 6,729.79, with losses led by a
27% slide in Petrofac Ltd. . The shares logged their worst session
in a year, according to FactSet data, as the company said it now
expects 2014 net profit to come in at the lower end of its previous
forecast of $580 million to $600 million. It also foresees 2015 net
profit of around $500 million, with the outlook reflecting lower
oil prices and on a shortfall in execution on a "small number" of
projects.
Miners also fell after staging a solid rally on Friday, when a
surprise rate cut from the People's Bank of China spurred hopes
that looser monetary policy would boost demand for commodities.
Tony Cross, market analyst at Trustnet Direct, said in a note on
Monday that "cheaper borrowing may offer some demand stimulus, but
it's a drop in the ocean against the over-supply issue that's now
in play, especially for products like iron ore."
Shares of Anglo American PLC dropped 1.9%, BHP Billiton PLC
(BHP) lost 2.5% and Rio Tinto PLC (RIO) gave up 2.2%.
Also ending lower, stock in Hargreaves Lansdown PLC fell 5.3%
after Citigroup cut the investment manager to sell from
neutral.
On a more upbeat note, shares of BT Group PLC (BT) climbed 3.7%
after the firm said it's in talks to buy the U.K. mobile business
O2 from Telefonica .The British telecoms company said it has
received expressions of interest from O2 and another U.K. mobile
network operator about possible takeover by BT, but that
discussions are at a "highly preliminary stage."
Shares of Friends Life Group Ltd. rallied 5.9% after a GBP5.6
billion ($8.8 billion) buyout approach from Aviva PLC , which fell
5.5%.
London Stock Exchange Group PLC added 3.3% after Citigroup
lifted the company to buy from neutral.
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