The FTSE 100 (FTSEINDICES: ^FTSE) has clawed back a bit today, gaining 18 points to reach 6,455 by early afternoon, after BP won an important legal victory and Tesco continues its rebound.
But the index of top UK shares is still 58 points down on the week and looks like it’s heading for its second week of losses in a row, having now fallen back to August levels.
Some individual shares are beating the FTSE in the race down. Here are three that are not doing so well today:
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Intertek
Quality and safety expert Intertek Group (LSE: ITRK) announced an acquisition today, and saw its share price fall 40p (1.2%) to 3,226p — although 15p of that can be put down to the company’s ex-dividend date with respect to an interim 15p per share payment.
The subject of the takeover is American firm Global X-Ray & Testing Corporation (GXT), which provides testing services for the oil and gas business.
The acquisition cost Intertek $73m in cash, with chief executive Wolfhart Hauser telling us that “GXT has a well-established presence across all stages of the oil and gas supply chain in the U.S. which fits well with our existing portfolio of Industrial inspection services“.
William Hill
A third-quarter update from bookmaker William Hill (LSE: WMH) led to a 2.9p (0.7%) drop in the share price to 408p, with progress sounding mixed.
Although Sportsbook wagers were up 42% and mobile gaming revenue soared by 126%, retail trading was weak during July. And though revenue was up 10% on the quarter and up 17% year-to-date, operating profit fell by approximately £24m (31%) in the quarter and by 4% year-to-date.
William Hill shares have slipped from an August peak of 495p, but they’re still around a third up over the past 12 months.
Falkland Oil and Gas
Falkland Oil and Gas (LSE: FOGL) shares crashed late last year after disappointing exploration news and have remained depressed evcer since, with a 1.65p (5.8%) fall to 26.9p this morning really not helping.
Today’s news concerned the takeover of Desire Petroleum (LSE: DES), in an all-share transaction providing 0.6 Falkland Oil shares for each Desire share. The deal values Desire at £61m, and gave its shares a 30% boost to 16p on the day.
Falkland will now have an interest in the Sea Lion oil field, which is the only one in the Falklands area where oil has actually been found so far — Falkland Oil has yet to find any oil itself.
