By Polya Lesova, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- London's benchmark stock index ended
higher on Monday, boosted by gains for Royal Bank of Scotland
Group, while retailers and airlines were pressured by worries that
a round of severe winter weather will hurt business.
The FTSE 100 advanced 0.3%, or 19.86 points, to close at
5,891.61. The index gained 1% last week.
One of the top gainers in the benchmark was Royal Bank of
Scotland (RBS) , with shares rising 1.7%. The Wall Street Journal
reported that RBS is in discussions with U.K. Financial Investments
Ltd. to permit the bank to pay cash bonuses to staff this year.
Shares of Petrofac Ltd. , the oil and gas facilities service
provider, advanced 2.5%, extending gains from Friday when it issued
an upbeat trading update. Petrofac expects order intake for the
year to be around $4.4 billion, resulting in a year-end backlog
position of $8.4 billion -- figures that exclude the potential
award of the South Yoloten project in Turkmenistan.
Utilities also gained, with shares of Severn Trent PLC gaining
1.1% and National Grid PLC moving up 2%.
In the beverage sector, shares of Diageo PLC gained 1.4% after
UniCredit Bank upgraded the stock to buy from hold. The broker also
raised its recommendation on Diageo rival Pernod Ricard to hold
from sell.
"Our preference ... is to be buyers of Diageo where we believe
the valuation is more attractive and the risks to growth
significantly lower," UniCredit wrote in a note to clients.
Weather disrupts flights, shopping
Frigid weather in Britain and Europe disrupted hundreds of
flights over the weekend. Shares of British Airways PLC fell
1.9%.
In a statement, the airline said that "severe weather continues
to cause significant disruption to our operation." Heathrow
Airport, one of the busiest in the world, currently has only one of
its two runways operational, and many parts of the airfield remain
unusable, British Airways said.
Shares of low-cost airline easyJet PLC also gave ground, falling
1.6%.
Retailers posted losses as well, on concerns that the weather
may have prevented people from shopping in the final weekend before
Christmas.
Seen as particularly susceptible, shares of HMV Group PLC
slumped 9.5%. The company sells music, video, electronic games and
books.
Next PLC dropped 0.9% and Marks & Spencer Group PLC fell
0.7%.
Outside the top index, shares of online gaming firm 888 Holdings
PLC rallied nearly 18% after Ladbrokes PLC said it's in very
preliminary discussions with 888 about a possible deal. Shares of
Ladbrokes fell 1.2%.
In a statement, 888 Holdings said "there can be no certainty
that these discussions will result in a formal offer being made for
the company."
Meanwhile, shares of fund manager Gartmore Group Ltd. tumbled
8.6% after the firm said late Friday it's in talks with Henderson
Group PLC about a conditional offer by Henderson to acquire the
entire share capital of the company.
"These negotiations are on the basis of a proposal at a slight
discount to the Gartmore share price at the close of trading" on
Dec. 16, Gartmore said.
Henderson confirmed the talks on Monday but said that no terms
have been agreed yet.
Asset-management firm Schroders PLC rose 2.7%, helping lift the
FTSE 100 index.
Shares of Songbird Estates PLC rallied 2.7% on news that J.P.
Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) has acquired 25 Bank Street in Canary
Wharf for 495 million pounds (around $770 million) from Canary
Wharf Group PLC, the main operating subsidiary of Songbird.
The building will become the new European headquarters of J.P.
Morgan's investment bank in 2012.
