By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch
Lloyds, Tullow Oil pushing higher
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.K. stocks rose Friday, with shares of
CRH PLC and Lloyds Banking Group PLC gaining on the FTSE 100, as
the benchmark heads further into record territory.
The FTSE 100 picked up 0.2% to 6,973.66, above its all-time
closing high of 6,962.32 notched on Thursday. The blue-chip
benchmark was on track for a weekly gain of 3.5%, which would be
its best weekly rise in about two months.
But capping the FTSE 100's advance were shares of consumer-goods
and utility companies. Centrica PLC , which was dragged down 1.5%
after Moody's Investors Service downgraded its ratings on British
Gas' parent company to Baa 1 from A3. The move came "primarily
because lower energy prices and generally poorer trading conditions
have hurt the company's profitability and weakened its financial
profile," said Moody's.
Deal moves: Lloyds shares picked up 0.6% after TSB Banking Group
agreed to a GBP1.7 billion ($2.54 billion) takeover bid
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/sabadell-agrees-to-254-billion-takeover-of-tsb-2015-03-20)
from Spain's Banco de Sabadell SA . Lloyds is the largest
shareholder in TSB, and would still have a 40% stake in that
company if a deal is approved.
TSB shares were up 2.2% at GBP3.34 each on the midcap FTSE 250
index . Sabadell's offer was for GBP3.40 a share.
Sabadell's offer appears "very likely" to be accepted by the
majority of shareholders, but risk remains the European financial
regulator or the U.K.'s Prudential Regulation Authority blocks the
deal, said Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Laith Khalaf and Richard
Hunter in a note Friday. "This risk looks remote, but the market is
clearly still wary, which explains why the [TSB's] stock is trading
as far below the offer price as it is."
Meanwhile, the apparent revival of a merger agreement between
cement companies Lafarge SA and Holcim Ltd. aided London-listed
shares of CRH . The shares gained 3.6% after Lafarge (LFRGY) and
Holcim (HCMLY) drafted new terms for their $44 billion merger
proposal
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/holcim-lafarge-agree-new-terms-for-44-billion-merger-deal-2015-03-20),
which had recently appeared to be on the verge of collapse. CRH had
planned to purchase assets from the French and the Swiss companies
as part of their merger proposal.
Tullow Oil: Tullow shares climbed 1% after the oil producer said
it landed an extra $450 million in financing under its existing
credit facilities. The additional funding came despite the recent
slump in oil prices, said Tullow.
The funding marks "a rare piece of good news to help continue to
lift the shares away from their recent bottoming out earlier this
week around [GBP2.80]," wrote Lewis Sturdy, dealer at London
Capital Group, in a note.
The recent slide in oil prices contributed to a drop in Tullow's
market capitalization below what's required to stay on the FTSE
100. After the market close, Tullow shares will move into the FTSE
250 index, with trading of shares to start there on Monday.
Hikma Pharmaceuticals PLC shares will begin trading on the FTSE
100 on Monday. Its shares on Friday were down 1.5%.
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires