STOCKS NEWS UK-Afren up, Ebok drill exceeds expectations

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09:15GMT 12Jan2010
Afren up, Ebok drill exceeds expectations

Shares in Afren climb 3.4 percent after the Africa-focused oil and gas company says an appraisal well at the Ebok-6 complex off the coast of Nigeria exceeded pre-drill expectations.

'This is an excellent result for the company and is a classic example of its strategy of under-promising and over-delivering,' says Arbuthnot analyst Dougie Youngson, reiterating a 'strong buy' recommendation.

Credit Suisse keeps an 'outperform' rating and increases its target price to 121 pence from 116 pence.

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09:09GMT 12Jan2010
Computacenter up, co sees year beating mkt view

Shares in Computacenter rise 7.0 percent, second on the FTSE350 leaderboard, after the IT services firm says 2009 adjusted pretax profit will be 'materially ahead' of Reuters consensus of 48.4 million pounds, helped by cost cuts and customer demand for IT outsourcing.

Panmure Gordon analyst George O'Connor, who has a 'buy' rating on the stock, moves his target price to 351 pence from 343, saying Computacenter is now better configured as a business, selling higher-margin products and services.

'While we remain cautious about the macroeconomic backdrop it is improving and, in time, further progress should lead to a triple whammy of improving earnings, improving visibility, and a continued re-rating of the shares,' he says,

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08:54GMT 12Jan2010
Tesco up; UK sales smash forecasts

Shares in Tesco, the world's fourth-biggest retailer, rise 2 percent after the company smashes Christmas sales growth forecasts in its main British market, boosted by its loyalty scheme and demand for premium foods and adding to signs of healthy festive spending.

The company says sales at British stores open at least a year rose 4.9 percent, excluding gasoline and VAT sales tax, in the six weeks to Jan. 9.

'The Tesco juggernaut is firmly back on track,' says Richard Hunter, head of UK equities at Hargreaves Lansdown Stockbrokers.

The update prompts Deutsche Bank, Seymour Pierce and Shore Capital to repeat their 'buy' recommendations.

'We believe that Tesco stock may react well to this update given unwelcome myopia on the UK performance at times,' Shore says in a note.

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08:40GMT 12Jan2010
UK smallcaps up 0.1 pct in early trade

The FTSE Small Cap Index is 0.1 percent higher in early trade, taking its cue from the blue chip index which also rises 0.1 percent, while the mid caps gain 0.2 percent.

British chemicals maker Yule Catto & Co Plc adds 5.4 percent after announcing its full-year adjusted pretax profit will be well ahead of 2008 and top market estimates, following a slight improvement in trading profitability in the second half over the first half.

Havelock Europa, the educational and retail interiors and point of sale printing group, falls nearly 29 percent after issuing a profit warning for the full-year 2009, saying severe weather caused significant disruption to trading, resulting in a slippage in programmes forecast to complete in 2009.

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08:20GMT 12Jan2010
Galiform up, Christmas trading strong

Shares in Galiform rise more than 8 percent to their highest level in almost two months after the kitchen supplier upgrades profit guidance for the year following strong trading in the Christmas period.

Investec analyst David Jeary says he expects the consensus forecast for pretax profit to rise to between 63 million and 64 million pounds.

'The statement was very good, much stronger than expected in terms of sales and gross margin,' he says.

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08:10GMT 12Jan2010
Game Group down on poor Xmas sales

Shares in Game Group fall 8.3 percent after the computer games retailer reports a sharp fall in Christmas sales and lowers its full-year profit forecast after being hit by growing competition from supermarkets and a slowing video games market.

'The trading update over Christmas was worse than expected. The stock will remain under a cloud until we start to see some positive momentum in revenues,' says Seymour Pierce analyst Freddie George.

The broker cuts Game's 2009/10 pretax profit forecast to 90 million pounds from 100 million.

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