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LSE news wrap: BP, Pace, Connaught, Tomkins, Daily Mail & General Trust, ARM Holdings, Centrica

31st Jul 2010, 3:41 pm LSE news wrap: BP, Pace, Connaught, Tomkins, Daily Mail & General Trust, ARM Holdings, Centrica

Shares in BP (LON:BP) rose almost 3 per cent after the oil major began to lay the groundwork for the departure of gaffe prone boss Tony Hayward.

Tullow Oil (LON:TLW) has announced that its Owo-1 exploration well in Ghana in the Deepwater Tano license offshore Ghana has intersected a “significant column of excellent quality light oil,” establishing Owo as a “major new oilfield requiring further appraisal.”

Oil and gas producer and FTSE 250 constituent Dana Petroleum (LON:DNX) has announced the commencement of drilling at the Anne Marie exploration well at its 25% owned Anne Marie prospect and license area.

Set-top box manufacturer Pace (LON:PIC) is tapping into the internet TV market and broadening its customer base in the US after agreeing to acquire broadband equipment maker 2Wire for £308 million.

Shares in British social housing group Connaught (LON:CNT) cdropped over 80% and wiping approximately £115m from its market value

, after the company revealed that it will breach its banking covenants.

William Hill unveiled plans to move its telephone betting offshore and said it was mulling whether to close a number of loss-making branches.

A buyout firm and a pension fund have agreed a £2.9 billion deal to buy the British car parts maker Tomkins (LON:TOMK, NYSE:TKS) Onex and the Canadian Pension Investment Board have tabled a knock-out 325p a share cash bid, which has been accepted by the Tomkins board.

Daily Mail & General Trust (LON:DMGT) revealed that trading for its financial third quarter was ahead of forecast with the B2B and consumer businesses driving the revival.

Croda International (LON:CRDA) benefited from the cyclical recovery in the chemicals industry as it reported a more than doubling of interim profits. The specialty chemicals group said underlying pretax earnings advanced 108 per cent to £96.2 million in the six months to June 30.

Chipmaker ARM Holdings (LON:ARM) has benefited from boom in smartphones and the launch of iPad as it revealed a sharp rise in second quarter earnings. The group said pre-tax profits jumped 167 per cent in the three months to June 30 to £43.5 million.

For its first quarter, British motoring accessories and outdoor retailer Halfords (LON:HFD) reported a 1.9% drop in like-for-like sales. The company blamed “consumer nervousness” before May’s general election, and its decision to delay the ‘Summer Leisure’ promotional campaign due to the World Cup. Despite the drop, the company said it is still on track for earnings growth in line with its previous guidance.

British Gas owner Centrica (LON:CNA) will face accusations of profiteering after revealing a 65 per cent jump in first-half earnings. Operating profits advanced to £1.56 billion from £945 million previously.

A day after taking control of Heritage Oil’s (LON:HOIL) assets in Uganda, Tullow Oil (LON:TLW) has unveiled a large strike at one of its prospects in the landlocked African nation.

Dunhill cigarette maker British American Tobacco (LON:BATS) delivered a forecast-busting set of interim results and passed on the gains in the form of a bumper dividend payment.

Prime Minister David Cameron was on hand to witness the signing of a formal agreement between London-quoted Xchanging (LON:XGH) and government officials from the Indian state of Karnataka to build an outsourcing centre.

Accounting software

specialist Sage Group (LON:SGE) reported ‘improving organic growth trends’ as it said it was on target to meet City earnings forecasts for the full year.

Having seen its position as the king of the supermarkets usurped by great rival Tesco during the 1990’s, the focus now for J Sainsbury (LSE, SBRY) is to expand its UK food and non-food offering and try and reclaim some lost ground.  Rising taxes and unemployment will provide obstacles for the sector as a whole however increasing margins, product mix and floor space at J Sainsbury suggest that whilst difficult economic conditions may slow profits, long term earnings continue to look robust.

Specialist engineering group and FTSE 250 constituent Lamprell (LON:LAM) has secured a US$317 million contract from Abu Dhabi’s National Drilling Company (NDC) for the construction and delivery of two jackup rigs with an option to build two further jackup rigs worth US$158.5 million each.

UK-based wealth manager, St James's Place (LON:SJP) reported a third consecutive quarter of record figures as the company’s Q2/H1 interims showed a 60% increase in operating profit to £162.1m (H109: £101m). Chief executive David Bellamy expects the company to deliver further growth over the rest of the year, despite the uncertainty in the economy and stock market

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Education and information company Pearson PLC (LON:PSON) said it is acquiring the Wall Street Institute from an affiliate of the Carlyle Group and Citi Private Equity for US$92 million in cash.

Safety, health and sensor technology group Halma PLC (LON:HLMA) said trading since the start of the financial year has been strong and is in line with the board's expectations.

HomeServe PLC (LON:HSV) said continued to grow and develop its membership businesses in the first four months of the financial year, with increasing policy numbers and retention rates remaining high across all territories.

Melrose Resources PLC (LON:MRS) announced an exploration discovery in the Galata block offshore Bulgaria, a new agreement to farm-down its interests in the Rhone Maritime concession offshore France and the commencement of seismic acquisition operations in the South East Mansoura concession in Egypt.

Dana Petroleum iPLC (LON:DNX) the Fin-1X exploration well has discovered a new oil field, in the North Zeit Bay Production Sharing Contract (PSC) area onshore in the Gulf of Suez, in Egypt.  This follows the discovery of the Lorcan oil field, made just last month in the same PSC area.

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