Pace plc drops 40 percent on profits warning

European markets were higher Tuesday as earnings reports turned positive.

The FTSE 100 was up 1.28 percent to 1,149.39 in London, with only for decliners on the session, while the FTSE 250 added 1.34 percent to 12,055.2, although its biggest decliner dropped nearly 40 percent.

Pace plc (LSE: PIC) which makes pay-tv set-top boxes and software for pay-tv, satellite, and broadband services, was down 39.18 percent on a profit warning after supplies were interrupted by the 11 March earthquake in Japan.

The best performer on the 250 was chipmaker CSR (LSE: CSR), which added 6.36 percent, while the biggest gainer on the 100 was asset management specialist Schorders (LSE: SDR, SDRt) as its voting shares added 5.61 percent and its non-voting shares were 4.72 percent higher to take the two top winner’s spots on that index.

Oil and gas explorer BG Group (LSE: BG) was the worst performer on the 100, down 1.6 percent as it lead the three decliners in a mostly higher energy sector after it reported that net income was down by 38 percent in the first quarter, while the best performer in the sector was fellow oil and gas explorer EnQuest (SLE: ENQ) with a gain of 5.23 percent.

The travel and leisure sector was mostly higher, although the three decliners in the sector were led by Domino’s Pizza UK & IRL (LSE: DOM), which dropped 3.17 percent while pubs operator J. D. Wetherspoon (LSE: JDW) added 4.62 percent for the best day in the sector.

Travel agents were mixed as TUI Travel (LSE: TT) was up 1.81 percent but Thomas Cook Group (LSE: TCG) was down 2.23 percent, while hotels did better as InterContinental Hotels Group (LSE: IHG) added 3.92 percent after it reported that profits were up 28 percent in the first quarter on more travel in the United States and Millennium & Copthorne Hotels (LSE: MLC) gained 3.14 percent.

Still in the travel and leisure sector, air carrier easyJet (LSE: EZJ) was up 2.94 percent despite reporting a doubling of losses in the first half of its fiscal year.

Homebuilders were higher, led by Berkeley Group Holdings (LSE: BKG) with a gain of 3.59 percent after the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors said home prices in the UK were at their highest in nine months in April, on stable demand.

The only decliner in the mining sector was Kenmare Resources (LSE: KMR), which was down 0.48 percent, while Anglo Pacific Group (LSE: APF) added 3.54 percent for the best result of the day in the sector.

Retailers were mostly higher after the British Retail Consortium said that retail sales advanced in the UK last month.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up 0.8 percent to 1,149.39 while the IBEX added 0.75 percent to 10,474.4, the CAC-40 was 1.13 percent higher to 4,052.51 and the Dax gained 1.23 percent to 7,501.52.

Markets in the Asia-Pacific region were mixed on the session.

The Nikkei 225 added 0.25 percent to 9,818.76 in Tokyo, while the Topix index was up 0.38 percent to 856.46 and the Mothers market gained 1 percent to 478.22 on corporate results, although some businesses that get a significant portion of their revenue from Europe were lower on concerns about debt there after Standard & Poor’s reduced Greece’s credit rating yesterday from B to BB minus.

Game maker Nintendo (TYO: 7974), which gets a third of its revenues from Europe, was down 1.6 percent, while camera manufacturer Nikon (TYO: 7731) dropped 0.3 percent.

Toyota Motor (TYO: 7203) added 1.72 percent on media reports that it could return to normal production between two and three months ahead of schedule as more parts become available.

Sumitomo Heavy Industries (TYO: 6203) gained 12 percent after its full-year profits exceeded estimates by 27 percent and on a statement that this year’s profits will rise by 7.4 percent.

In the semiconductors sector, conglomerate Toshiba (TYO: 6502) was 3.7 percent higher after it predicted record earnings on demand for the flash-memory chips it makes.

Other gainers in the region included the Straits Times Index, which was up 0.62 percent to 3,156.26 in Singapore, while the Shanghai Composite was 0.63 percent higher to 2,890.63 and the Hang Seng gained 0.76 percent to 23,336 in Hong Kong.

India’s Sensex was down 0.09 percent to 18,512.8, the Taiex fell 0.14 percent to 9,023.28 in Taiwan, and Australia’s markets declined ahead of the release of the country’s new budget, with the Sydney Ordinaries down 0.58 percent to 4,803.6 while the S&P/ASX200 dropped 0.65 percent to 4,725.8.

South Korea’s markets were closed in observance of Buddha’s Birthday.

Wall Street advanced in midday trade after China reported a trade surplus of $11.4 billion on record exports, raising optimism about economy growth globally, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.37 percent to 12,731.2 while the S&P 500 had gained 0.51 percent to 1,353.19 and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.53 percent higher to 2,858.38.

Crude oil prices were higher at midday, with West Texas Intermediate up 64 cents per barrel while Brent crude had added $1.50 per barrel.

Among metals futures, gold was up $13.80 to $1,517 per troy ounce while silver had gained $1.39 per troy ounce and copper was up by 2 cents per pound.

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