Market report: Wednesday close

By MALCOLM WITHERS
Updated:

 

MARKS & Spencer chairman Luc Vandevelde received the first all-share part of his unusual remuneration package today, as the stores group acted on his behalf to buy stock. But 'Lucky Luc' may not be feeling so fortunate as the shares dipped 1/4p to 310p.

M&S spent nearly £42,000 on buying 13,500 of its shares to take his holding to 894,257 shares - worth some £2.7m at the current price. From this month, Vandevelde is to take his salary in shares. So, every month, M&S will be buying on his behalf.

Also today, executive director Vittorio Radice sold 15,000 shares at 311.195p. The former Selfridges chief executive, poached by M&S six months ago to head its homeware side, has sold the shares to 'fund part of the income tax liability arising from the contractual award of 67,479 shares on 1 July'.

Elsewhere, the mining sector came under pressure as Dresdner turned negative, sending BHP Billiton down 6 1/2p to 430p. The Germans were joined by Merrill Lynch which advised a sell on Xstrata, down 14 1/2p at 503p.

Profit-taking still dominated and the FTSE 100 slipped 11.8 points to 4252.1.

Retailers were under early pressure on news of an Office of Fair Trading probe into store cards that have been issued to some 10m customers. The cards are good business for the High Street retailers that issue them, with some £2.5bn of debt run up throughout the year ensuring customer loyalty. What worries the OFT and MPs is the rate of interest they charge. The average seems to be 30%, nearly 10 times base rate.

Not only that but throughout the long period of low interest rates, store rates have been kept at this level. US bank GE Capital finances most of the schemes but the stores depend on it for business with special discounts for customers holding cards.

Debenhams fell as much as 11p before recovering to end level at 435p. House of Fraser dipped 1/2p to 94p while GUS was off 2p to 710p.

Hopes that BAT will make that long-predicted bid for America's second-largest tobacco company, RJ Reynolds, prompted a revival in its price and the sector. BAT's Lucky Strike cigarettes, combined with Reynolds' brands, would control 34% of the US market and inevitably attract regulatory interest, but it shares rallied 13 1/2p to 642p. Gallaher, the Benson & Hedges group long seen as a BAT bid target, rose 9 1/2p to 555p.

Deutsche Bank raised its target price for BOC to 1075p from 875p but the gases group dipped 15 1/2p to 893 1/2p. The Germans also upgraded ICI to a hold from a sell, setting a target price of 216p from 135p. But in today's uninspired market, it slipped 9 3/4p to 188 1/4p.

• Prices and indices in this section are supplied from various sources and calculated at different times and may not always match those listed on the site.

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