Sunderland can't play Footsie

UNABLE to climb back into the Premier League last season, football club

Yesterday Sunderland admitted that exchange costs are too great to justify a stock market presence. The club will delist its shares on 5 August. 'A cancellation of its listing ... would enable directors to devote more management time to running the business,' said a statement. Sunderland lost one-third of its value, plummeting 20p to 40p.

As part of the reorganisation, chairman Bryan Sanderson will step down - though he will remain on the board - to be replaced by board member Robert Murray. City tipster Jim Slater also joins the board.

The move shocked no one and analysts believe other clubs will follow. League squads Sheffield United (unchanged at 7.75p), Watford Leisure (unchanged at 70p) and Scottish side Hearts of Midlothian (unchanged at 31 1/2p) are ripe for delisting, say analysts.

All share Sunderland's quandary: the poor performance of football clubs limits the potential to raise money through the market. A listing is 'costly without any real benefit', said an analyst.

With the exception of Manchester United (up 1/4p to 252p), few of the listed clubs post regular profits. 'The criteria investors are looking for are playing in the Premiership and preferably in Europe,' said another analyst.

There was gloom on the big board, as well, as the FTSE 100 index slumped for the seventh straight day to finish

12.3 points lower at 4358.4. The benchmark spent much of the day in positive territory, moving into the red just as rain began to bucket down on central London.

Sterling jumped a penny and a half to $1.8561, but was little changed against the euro at 66.6p.

Drug companies accounted for much of the malaise. ABN AMRO caused pain and suffering for AstraZeneca (down 47p to 2387p), recommending that clients reduce their holdings of the drug giant.

The broker is afraid that US regulators will delay approval of the anticlotting drug Exanta for stroke prevention. There are fears that Exanta may adversely affect liver function. The Americans could request further evidence of its safety.

European regulators have approved Exanta for short-term use to prevent blood clotting following surgery. Furthermore, ABN fears that AZ's blockbuster anti-schizophrenia drug Seroquel will soon lose its patent protection.

GlaxoSmithKline (down 12p to 1083p) was also poorly despite placing its Boostrix vaccine in the queue for US regulatory approval. The jab - already available in parts of Europe - protects against diptheria, tetanus and whooping cough.

Going the other way, Man Group (up 109p to 1465p) led the big board after reporting a large increase in funds under management. Merrill Lynch told clients to buy.

Caterer Compass (up 10 1/4p to 342 1/2p) was also in demand after a strong trading statement from French rival Sodexho Alliance.

Vodafone (up 1 1/2p to 119 1/4p) surprised the market with less disappointing results than usual from its Japanese unit. Dealers were pleased that Japanese market share slipped only slightly last month. Vodafone also announced the repurchase of 45m shares at an average price of 118.26p.

Some dealers are mulling a switch from Vodafone and mmO2 (up 1/2p to 92 1/2p) into Virgin Mobile, which joins the London market later this month. The brainchild of Richard Branson announced a price range of 235p to 285p - lower than expected.

Barratt Developments (down 1/2p to 569 1/2p) predicted that house price inflation will fall to 4% this year. However, the homebuilder expects to exceed analysts' forecasts of a 22% rise in annual profits to £353m.

Over on Aim, nightclub operator Urbium slumped 30p to 570p after revealing a fall in turnover in units outside London.