Market report: Thursday close

By NICK GOODWAY FOR MAILONLINE
Updated:

 

DIRECTORS came under fire today after two of them appeared to have cashed in leaving other investors carrying the can.

William Hill chief executive David Harding made more than £5m yesterday by exercising options at 10p and selling 947,000 shares at 555p to pay for his divorce settlement. Today the share price slumped 18 1/2p to 540p as broker Seymour Pierce told clients to 'follow the leader'.

Meanwhile, investors were spitting blood over Landround, the travel promotion company whose shares crashed by a third or 120p to a 15-month low of 222 1/2p. Announcing results for the six months to the end of March, the group revealed that a big contract was booked last year but the expenses fell in this one so it will not hit City forecasts for the full year.

Aggrieved investors pointed out that Janet Crompton, wife of then chairman Michael Crompton, sold 10,000 shares at 360p each on 5 March.

Interest rate fears on both sides of the Pond drove investors to the spectators' seats today. The Bank of England duly delivered its quarter-point rise but the odds on a significant rise from the US Federal Reserve shortened considerably overnight.

An evacuation of Capitol Hill last night ahead of President Reagan's funeral tomorrow, another short spike in oil prices and the US government's decision to postpone its producer prices index until it can get its calculator to work properly all helped to spook American investors.

In London the mood was sombre with meagre turnover, allowing the FTSE 100 to slip 4.30 points to 4485.20.

WPP came under pressure, falling 5p to 563p on suggestions that Sir Martin Sorrell's advertising giant may lose some of its Coca-Cola business to rival Interpublic following the departure of Coke's number two man Steve Heyter, who was passed over for the top job last month. He was a marketing man who knew WPP well. Surviving executives are said to know and like Interpublic.

Royal Bank of Scotland sold an extra £145m worth of shares at 1620p each after demand for last month's £2.5bn offering to pay for Charter One easily outstripped supply. Its shares rose 3p to 1667p.

Sportech hopes to cash in on Euro 2004, kicking off in Portugal this weekend, with the launch of its Littlewoods Bet Direct service on ITVi, the commercial broadcasters' interactive platform. The shares rose 1.4p to 12 1/2p.

Melrose Resources, the oil group with interests in Egypt, Bulgaria and the US, is raising £13.95m through a share placing and open offer at 210p a share. It is also applying to the court to reduce its capital, allowing it to start paying dividends. The shares were unmoved at 220p.

Two new issues joined Aim today, both pitched as penny stocks. Property trader Peter Lewin, who founded Newport Holdings which he left in 2002, is back with Real Estate Investors. He plans to use its shares primarily to buy mixed retail and commercial properties.

It raised £2.27m with a share placing at 10p to value the company at £2.64m. It has bought a restaurant site let to Cafe Rouge in Battersea and shops in Crawley. The shares began trading at 12p.

Hambledon Mining is planning to mine gold in East Kazakhstan, where it reckons it can extract 2m ounces cheaply. It raised £2.5m via a placing at 5p to value the group at £10m. The shares hit 6.87p.

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