Telecoms group Cable & Wireless is in the bid spotlight, two days after it reported better than expected first half profits.
Its shares climbed 3.9p to 184.7p as word went round of a possible bid from France Telecom. Traders pointed out that the French group had been linked with C&W before, but would not rule out further consolidation in the sector. C&W said this week it might look at a demerger of its international operations from the remaining businesses, but not until next year at the earliest. If a predator pounces, it may not have that long.
Barclays is still looking volatile, as investors looked beyond the better than expected headline write-off of £1.3bn and expressed caution over the details of what is a complicated statement. Other banks are still lower, notably Royal Bank of Scotland, down 4.5%, and Northern Rock, down 4.45%. Alliance & Leicester is also struggling, off 3%.
Scottish & Newcastle did indeed rejected the improved 750p a share offer from rivals Carlsberg and Heineken, saying it substantially undervalued the company. Dealers believe the bidders would have to offer closer to 850p a share to get any positive reaction from S&N.
