The FTSE 100 (FTSEINDICES: ^FTSE) ended yesterday with a 25-point loss, and it’s started today with a further dip of 16 points to 6,682 after ITV shares were downgraded following on from yesterday’s third-quarter update. But the index of top UK shares is only down 11 points on the week so far, and has gained 13% since the start of 2013 — could we be in for a late December surge to push us closer to that record 6,876 level from May?
There’s very little news of individual shares today, but here are three from the various indices that look set to beat the FTSE:
GlaxoSmithKline
Shares in GlaxoSmithKline (LSE: GSK) (NYSE:GSK.US) picked up 9.3p (0.6%) in early trading — not a big rise, but still welcome on a day when the FTSE is falling.
The news today is that the pharmaceuticals giant has completed the sale of part of its stake in Aspen Pharmacare Holdings, having agreed the sale of 28.2 million shares at a price of 250 rand per share. Following the sale, which will net about £425m, Glaxo will sill hold 56.5 million Aspen shares, or 12.4% of the company.
Glaxo shares have been erratic since the Spring, but they’re up around 22% over the past 12 months.
Telecom plus
We need to look outside the FTSE 100 for bigger rises today, and we see Telecom plus shares up a very nice 226p (15%) to 1,733p after the multi-utilities supplier released interim figures and announced an acquisition and share placing.
First-half revenue climbed 17% to £245.8m, with pre-tax profit up 10.1% to £13.7m. Adjusted earnings per share gained 11.5% to 15.5p, and the interim dividend was lifted 23% to 16p per share. These nice figures were made possible by a rise in customer numbers of 33,908, to 494,940.
Telecom Plus has also conditionally agreed to acquire Electricity Plus Supply and Gas Plus Supply from Npower, for a total price of £218m. The deal will be funded by a combination of a new share issue and £100m of borrowing, and will get Telecom plus a 20-year energy-supply deal.
Kentz Corporation
Our third riser for today is Kentz Corporation (LSE: KENZ), whose shares put on 16p (2.9%) to 558p after the company announced a $190m engineering contract with Qatar Petroleum for well-head control systems and corrosion protection for approximately 775 wells in the Dukhan Oilfield in Qatar.
Kentz shares have climbed strongly since the summer, and are now 47% ahead over the past 12 months.