Tonight:
4°c
Wednesday December 24 update
Two years ago the fortunes of private-equity companies were riding high, but not any more. The credit crunch and subsequent stock market crash have made life difficult for the likes of 3i Group, which saw its shares slump to yet another new low today.
The price nosedived 13¼p to 241p amid talk that the private equity provider may eventually be forced to go cap-in-hand to shareholders for extra dosh. 3i has plenty of debt on its balance sheet compared with other companies in the sector. At the last count it was reckoned to be around 50% geared, and that figure was likely to grow as its portfolio of assets was marked lower with the group unable to find an exit from its ongoing investments as the stock market continued falling.
Shares retreated across the board during today's shortened Christmas Eve session. The overnight sell-off on Wall Street and the lack of turnover combined to provide a lacklustre performance which left the FTSE 100 index nursing a loss of 41.37 at 4214.61.
One of the biggest fallers among blue-chips was BT Group, which lost 8p at 131.8p after going ex-dividend.
Another dull market was Thomas Cook, down 11.7p at 164.6p, as investors waited nervously to find out about this year's winter bookings and look forward to any early indications about summer holidays.
Drugs giant AstraZeneca says the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has requested further information relating to a supplemental new drug application for its schizophrenia treatment Seroquel. The Anglo-Swedish group said it will continue discussions with the FDA and provide a response in due course. The shares responded to the request with a fall of 49p at 2662p.
Investec remains a seller of Kingfisher, the B&Q DIY retailer which also has big interests in France. Investec has cut its pre-tax profit forecast for 2009-10 by 4% to £330 million to reflect lower profits at B&Q and losses in China. The shares slipped 2p to 131.6p.
The parlous state of the US economy remained the main talking point on Wall Street overnight, leaving share prices nursing sizeable falls. The Dow lost an early lead to end a nervous session down 100.28 at 8419.49. The third-quarter GDP number was left unrevised, squashing lingering hopes that the extent of the problems with the economy had been overstated.
Trading was thin in Asia. Tokyo shares fell 2.4% as investors sold Toyota and other motor-related stocks. Tyremaker Bridgestone skidded more than 5% after cutting its operating profit forecast for the year to 31 December to 118 billion yen (£878 million) from 155 billion yen, citing slumping sales in the US and Europe. The Nikkei 225 ended down 206.68 points at 8517.10.
Hong Kong shares traded above their worst levels of the day with the help of bargain-hunters. Early losses were recouped as investors took advantage of a three-day, 8% slide by the Hang Seng index and snapped up property counters. But the index still ended down 36.5 points at 14,184.14.
