Friday morning business bulletin

May 9 2008 By Andrew Mernin

Nuclear power provider British Energy was in the spotlight on the London market today as speculation swirled over the group’s takeover saga.

The group’s shares were under pressure in early trade, down more than 2% amid a flurry of reports over which the suitors were left in the acquisition race.

The wider FTSE 100 Index was also on the back foot despite a strong overnight finish on Wall Street, down 43.8 points at 6227 in the first hour of trading.

British Energy was one of the top share fallers, off 17p at 698p following yesterday’s declines after reports of bids being prepared at the lower end of analyst expectations.

Meanwhile, Germany’s RWE - Europe’s fourth-largest utility - has reportedly decided not to bid for the group, while market talk suggested that EDF of France was poised to table a £9 billion bid.

Magners maker C&C today put hope in a good British summer to help revive its UK cider sales after a torrid previous year saw earnings plummet by 37%.

The Dublin-based group reported underlying operating profits of £99m in the year to February 29, down from £157.9m after last year’s damp summer hit sales.

It said that its current year had also got off to a lacklustre start amid "weak" trading conditions in both its domestic and Great British markets due to poor spring weather and low consumer confidence.

But C&C said a "normal" summer in Great Britain this year should see premium cider sales return to growth, with new initiatives, such as the launch of draught Magners later this month, also set to shore-up demand.

Entertainment retailer HMV today confirmed it was one of the high street winners from the past year after a group-wide overhaul saw like-for-like sales lift 7.3%.

The group, which runs the same-name music and games stores as well as the Waterstone’s book chain, said its turnaround plan was ahead of schedule as same-store sales growth at its UK and Ireland HMV stores was even further ahead at 11.4%.

Total group sales in the 12 months to April 28 were up 10.3% on the year before, with a 4.7% improvement for Waterstone’s.

In a trading update, management said they were confident that underlying pre-tax profits for the year would be towards the upper end of expectations.

In the previous year, the group - which operates around 700 stores in the UK and Ireland - saw like-for-like sales dip 3.5% as sales struggled amid tough high street and digital competition.

The pound at 9am was US$1.9529 compared to US$1.9548 at the previous close while the euro at 9am was £0.7916  compared to £0.7883 at the previous close.