Bus and rail group Go-Ahead is accelerating after an upbeat trading statement, despite all the current talk about recession.
The company, which runs 400 buses and the Govia rail operation, said in remarks prepared for its annual meeting that demand was "robust" despite the current economic turmoil. Its financing is secure until 2012, and its trading in the first quarter was in line with expectations. Its fuel costs are hedged at 43p a litre for the current year, and it claims it is doing well at recovering the increased cost of petrol by putting up fares and becoming more efficient at consumption.
Go-Ahead is ahead 42p at £15.75p, while larger rival Stagecoach has added 5p to 214p.
Overall, despite another plunge on Wall Street and in Asia, the FTSE 100 has managed - so far - to keep in positive territory. At the moment it is up 8.43 points at 4049.32.
And this despite another drop in mining shares on continuing concerns about a decline in global demand. Anglo American, down 5p to £12.70, contributed to this with news it plans to review capital expenditure due to market uncertainty, after a near 13% drop in copper output in the third quarter.
Simon Toyne at Numis said:
"Substantial cutbacks in capex seem inevitable across the sector but the extent to which production can be curtailed is more questionable. We concur with Anglo American's comments that current commodity prices imply a potentially significant impact on the number of small cap miners remaining post the current downturn though we doubt that this alone will restore commodity markets to balance before demand recovers."
Elsewhere in the sector, Lonmin lost 71p to £11.62 and Antofagasta fell 10.75p to 277.75p.
But consumer goods Unilever is sharply higher. Its shares have climbed 51p to £14.08 after rival Nestle's nine-month sales beat forecasts.
And it's a rare day when DSG International, the electrical retailer formerly known as Dixons, is among the top mid-cap risers. Today is such a day, however. The company is up nearly 7.5% at 25.25p despite reporting a like-for-like sales drop of 7% in the first half. There was some relief these figures were not worse, and DSG also reassured on its banking covenants and said it was cutting capital expenditure by £30m this year. The company has been hit by fears of a severe consumer downturn, and growing competition from the link-up between Carphone Warehouse and US group Best Buy.
This optimism may not last of course. September retail sales figures are due shortly, and despite the recent massive and unexplained monthly fluctuations, it is hard to see how they will not make grim reading for high street operators. Analysts are expecting a 0.6% month-on-month decline.
