SERVICES

Shares in Hays were up on the FTSE 100 in afternoon trading after the recruitment company reported a surge in pre-tax profit in the half year ended 31 December 2010.

Shares in Hammerson were up on the FTSE 100 in morning trading after the real estate company reported a return to profit in the full year ended 31 December 2010.

Shares in Go-Ahead Group were up on the FTSE 250 in morning trading after the transport company reported a rise in revenue and pre-tax profit in the half year ended 1 January 2011.

Shares in Bellway were up on the FTSE 250 in afternoon trading after the housebuilder issued a trading statement on the six months ended 31 January 2011.

Shares in ICAP were down on the FTSE 100 in morning trading after the interdealer reported a rise in revenue of nine per cent in the third quarter ended 31 December 2010.

Shares in Mouchel were soaring on the FTSE All Share after the outsourcing company was presented with a beefed up takeover offer from construction firm Costain.

Shares in Robert Walters were up on the FTSE All Share in morning trading after the recruitment firm reported strong profit growth in the fourth quarter ended 31 December.

Shares in Hays were down on the FTSE 250 in morning trading after the recruitment company reported net fee growth of over 20 per cent in the quarter ended 31 December.

Royal Mail has said it will be delivering 14,000 items to around two million homes with evening deliveries for the last four days before Christmas Eve.

Shares in National Express were up on the FTSE 250 in afternoon trading after the transport group said it expected full year pre-tax profit for 2010 to be "a little above current market expectations".

Shares in Rentokil Initial were up on the FTSE 250 in afternoon trading after the company said that the Managing Director of its City Link business had resigned by "mutual agreement".

Shares in Stagecoach were up on the FTSE 250 in morning trading after the transport group reported a rise in revenue and pre-tax profit in the half year ended 31 October.

Shares in Stagecoach were up on the FTSE 250 in afternoon trading ahead of the transport groups half year results expected tomorrow.

Shares in Mouchel were soaring on the FTSE All Share in afternoon trading after the consulting company confirmed that it had received a takeover bids thanks to the declining value of its share price.

Londoners are due to face another day of tube disruptions after talks broke down between Transport for London and the TSSA and RMT unions.

The media empire of Rupert Murdoch has found itself a new foe in the form of the Church of England. Rather than say "render unto God what is God's and to Murdoch what is Murdoch's", the CoE has expressed its opposition to the takeover of BSkyB by News Corporation, as such a move could undermine impartiality at Sky news.

BAA, the owner of Heathrow and Stanstead airports, has reported a rise of 3.4 per cent in passenger numbers in October, thanks to a recovery in the number of business travellers.

Shares in Northern Foods were down on the FTSE All Share in afternoon trading after the company reported a decline in profit in the half year ended 2 October.

Shares in InterContinental Hotels were down on the FTSE 100 after the group reported falling operating profit and higher net debt in the third quarter ended 30 September.

BAA, the owner of Heathrow and Stansted airports, has drastically cut its losses but increased its debt in the nine month period ended 30 September.

Shares in BSkyB were up on the FTSE 100 in morning trading after the broadcaster reported double-digit rises in revenue and profit in the first quarter ended 30 September.

Shares in Stobart dived on the FTSE 250 in morning trading after the logistics company reduced its full year profit forecast due to concerns about government cuts.

Shares in National Express were up on the FTSE 250 in afternoon trading after the group reported revenue growth in its interim management statement for the third quarter ended 30 September and said it expected to resume the payment of dividends.

Shares in Yell Group were up over 10 per cent on the FTSE 250 in afternoon trading after the directories company said it had appointed Tony Bates to be its new Chief Financial Officer.

Shares in Compass Group were down on the FTSE 100 in morning trading after the company issued a trading statement ahead of its full year results, due out on 24 November.

Shares in First Group were up on the FTSE 250 after the transport group said that its trading for the six months ended 30 September was "in line" with expectations and that it was "on track to deliver moderate earnings growth for the full year".

Shares in United Utilities were up on the FTSE 100 in morning trading after the company said that it was on track to deliver half year results in line with expectations, for the period ending 30 September.

The Communication Workers Union has said it will oppose plans to privatise the Royal Mail, saying the offer of 10 per cent of shares to the workforce is "patronising".

Connaught PLC is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. Its two pence ordinary shares were trading in October 2009 at over 400 pence per share but on 10 April 2010, these shares traded at a 52 week low of only 9.20 pence and last week, before the company went into administration closed at 16.65 pence. That last share price valued this leading company in its field, with about a six percent share of an annual sector £10 billion, at only £23.27 million - and that includes the parts still fully oper...