Rentokil walks on the Wilde side

ROYAL rat catcher

Not only was the annual general meeting statement bullish, but dealers heard that a replacement had been found for Sir Clive Thompson, who steps down as chief executive at the end of the year. Thompson becomes chairman following the recent death of Henry King.

Thompson is a hard act to follow. But news that James Wilde, currently development director, will replace him was given the thumbs-up in City circles. Buyers also responded to the upbeat trading statement, showing turnover in the four months to end-April rose 6.9% and pretax profits gained 10.5%. Rentokil said strong organic growth in turnover and profits will continue throughout the year, leading to growth in earnings per share, which were 13.3p in the first four months of the year.

Other defensive stocks came into their own. Still reflecting a recent upbeat circular from JP Morgan, tobacco stocks fared well. BATrose 25 1/2p to 818 1/2p and Imperial Tobacco 25 1/2p to 1120p. Gallaher, amid revived talk of a possible bid from BAT, closed 10 1/2p dearer at 628 1/4p.

Utilities, always a safe port in a storm, featured United Utilities at 660p, up 19p. Scottish & Southern Energy fizzed 11p higher on revived talk of a merger with Scottish Power (4p dearer at 385p) before closing 1 1/2p better at 685 1/2p.

The fragile FTSE 100 traded within a whisker of 5000 before closing 42.2 points down at 5040.8. Continuing worries about a possible Pakistan-India war and accounting problems in the US kept buyers on the sidelines.

Still reeling from UBS Warburg's downgrade and fears that it will be kicked out of the Footsie on 12 June, tech group ARM collapsed 15 1/2p to 172p. Sage, also staring relegation in the face, dropped 6 1/2p to 173 1/2p. Old Mutual fell 5 1/2p to 108 1/2p after insurer St Paul placed its 5% stake in the financial services firm at 105p with various institutions.

A Goldman Sachs downgrade left drugs giant GlaxoSmithKline 53p lower at 1437p. The stock has fallen 174p since US patents for its antibiotic treatment Augmentin were ruled invalid. Rival AstraZeneca fell 30p to 2987p, despite Nomura advising clients that the recent sharp fall offered a buying opportunity.

Speculative buying on revived bid hopes lifted Chubb 14 1/4p before a close of 178 1/4p, up 3 1/4p. Plasterboard company BPB collapsed-49p to 355p after scrapping a planned 15% price rise in the US. Full-year pretax profits rose 6.1% to £146.3m. Merrill Lynch and ABN Amro believe the fall has been overdone.

After confirmation of the agreed all-share £92.1m merger with Aim-listed niche broker Evolution Group (6 1/2p down at 63 1/2p), Beeson Gregory touched 117 1/2p before closing unchanged at 110p. Hedge funds sold Evolution to buy Beeson.

Collins Stewart dipped 10 1/2p to 431p after a cautious annual general meeting. Chairman Keith Hamill said revenues this year will be 'broadly similar' to last year and in line with expectations.

Engineer Jarvis lost 26p and fell to a low of 320p, still plagued by the Potters Bar rail disaster. In demand following the sale of its First Sports retail chain to JD Sports (unchanged at 352 1/2p), Blacks Leisure eased 1/2p to 265p after director Terry Maynard sold 60,000 shares at 265p. Caravan park operator Parkdean touched 155 1/2p following its Aim placing at 100p, and closed at 112 1/2p for an opening premium of 12 1/2p.

Engineer-based support services company Semple Cochrane plummeted 4 3/4p to 6 3/4p after announcing a major reorganisation. Shareholders will get one share in Teesland, a new holding company, in exchange for every 10 currently held. Teesland will also buy £7.75m of new SC shares. The cash will redeem outstanding 'A' preference shares.

Pressac lost 3 1/2p to 31 1/2p on a £4.3m disposal. Bid discussions with a number of parties are continuing.