By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch Wolseley lands a buy rating
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.K. stocks rose Thursday, with shares
of the London Stock Exchange Group PLC driven higher after
financial results, while shares of SABMiller PLC reversed course to
notch gains.
The FTSE 100 index was up 0.3% to 6,634.03, recouping
Wednesday's loss of the same amount.
London Stock Exchange shares climbed 2.6%, the best performer on
the London benchmark, after the company said flotations and
fundraising activity helped push profit higher in the first half of
its financial year. The Capital Markets division logged 126 issues
of new shares, up from 79 a year earlier, and the amount of money
raised jumped 83% to GBP27.5 billion.
Pretax profit at LSE was 136.8 million pounds ($215.8 million),
up from GBP116 million a year earlier.
LSE is working to close its planned purchase of asset manager
Frank Russell Co. before the end of this year, and the completed
deal will result in about one-third of LSE's revenue coming from
North America, said BESI Research in a note Thursday. "This, we
believe, is a key facet of the investment case for the LSE -- one
of diversification, not only by business type, but also by
geography."
Other gainers on Thursday included heating- and
plumbing-products maker Wolseley PLC , up 1.8%, following an
upgrade to buy from hold at Berenberg, which said the downward
revision in consensus earnings estimates over the last 18 months is
now over.
The next earnings upgrade cycle "will be driven by upside risk
to Wolseley's U.S. business, where the group can sustainably grow
market share. Complemented by underlying market recovery in U.S.,
residential and non-residential construction, Wolseley is an
attractive proposition," said analysts Michael Watts and Robert
Muir.
SABMiller PLC had lost more than 1% earlier in the session, but
they've since turned around for a gain of 1.8%. The company said
trading conditions will be tough in many of its markets for the
rest of the financial year. SABMiller, whose brands include Peroni
and Miller Genuine Draft, said half-year profit rose to $1.97
billion from $1.71 billion a year earlier. Sales rose 2% to $11.37
billion.
Decliners included Tullow Oil PLC and Barclays PLC (BCS), down
2.1% and 1.1%, respectively. Oil major BP PLC (BP) shed 0.5%.
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