Big trades put boot in at Cookson

DEALERS feared something nasty could be cooking at

A further three tranches totalling 4.44m were also unloaded at around 86p, a 4p discount. The deals swelled turnover to 18.4m and left a dismal close of 85p, down 11 1/2p. Cookson has rallied strongly from a post-11 September low of 36 1/2p. It was bought recently amid speculation that it has received informal approaches for its precious metals business, said to be worth £300m-£400m. Johnson Matthey (15p off at 944p) and venture capitalist Cinven have been mentioned as possible buyers.

Cookson recently sold its plastics division in four separate deals worth £38m, signalling the end of its restructuring programme. It has said it would meet market expectations for 2001 and has been quick to dismiss the idea that it might sell its precious metals business. Analysts say it would be reluctant to sell because it is a good cash generator.

Cookson has disappointed many times in the past 18 months or so. It has had to issue profit warnings galore because demand for the chips it makes for mobile phones and computers and the ceramics it produces for the steel industry has plummeted during the recession. The market is braced for more bad news today.

The rest of the market was flat. Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan's warning on Friday that significant risks still remain for the US economy made for a cautious start in London. The FTSE 100 drifted lower and was 41 down when Wall Street opened. After seeing the Dow Jones sustain an early fall of 66 points, it fell further to finish 85.1 down at 5113.5. US investors fear the forthcoming fourth-quarter corporate results season could make unpleasant reading, too.

If Granada's shares were as popular as Coronation Street, its TV soap, they would be changing hands well above 200p. Instead, they ended 7p down at 136 1/2p on hefty turnover of 18.5m, amid speculation that forthcoming ITV digital subscriber numbers, which take in the Christmas period, will disappoint. Carlton Communications lost 7p to 244 1/2p.

International bank HSBC shed 16p to 774p after broker WestLB Panmure downgraded it to 'sell' and reduced its 'fair value' price to 632p from 706p. HSBC has said it may write down up to $1bn (£646m) for bad loans in Argentina in 2001, and more this year.

Software company Marlborough Stirling, which supplies the mortgages, life and pensions markets, jumped 12p to 219 1/2p. It has won a five-year outsourcing contract by Sun Life Assurance of Canada.

Construction company Balfour Beatty advanced 10 1/2p to 197p after winning £152m of infrastructure building work in the US, taking its total order book to more than £800m.

Almost 31m shares in Aim-listed industrial abrasives group Carbo, in which Swedish entrepreneur Pehr Gyllenhammar owns 13%, were traded. The close was 1 3/4p higher at 4 1/4p after a newsletter highlighted assets of 16p a share.

Beaufort International edged up from 0.73p to 0.91p after MadWaves of Copenhagen, Denmark, appointed it to manage the launch of 'Madplayer', an advanced digital inter-active music machine.

Despite entrepreneur Bob Morton's increased stake and appointment as chairman, electrical equipment group Armour Trust eased 1/2p to 20 1/4p. With £3m-plus cash in the bank, Morton will not let the grass grow under his feet. Deals will flow.

NewMedia SPARK hardened 1p to 12p after its German subsidiary, Sputz AG, sold its stake in Deutsche Börse for £23m. Sputz retains holdings in Tullett & Tokyo Liberty (11%), Lang & Schwarz (17%) and several other small companies.

A big seller of investment minnow E-Capital was cleared and the close was unchanged at 2 1/2p on turnover of 21m. E-Capital recently acquired incubator Avanti Partners.

With planning permission finally given for its joint venture development of The Phillimores (Queen Elizabeth College) in London's Kensington, Northacre jumped 5p to 28p. Tornado Group firmed 1/2p to 23 1/2p after joining Virgin Megastore France to sell digital music on its website, www.virginmega.fr.