Marconi suffers on rough day for Footsie

Telecoms equipment giant Marconi is suffering on the London Stock Exchange after news emerged that merger talks between international rivals Alcatel and Lucent had broken down.

Sentiment has also been hurt by a profits warning from French group Alcatel, and shares in Marconi are down more than 7% or 29½p at 364½p.

The Footsie index of 100 leading shares has endured a tough morning, falling by nearly 70 points at one stage. It is down 48.5 points at lunchtime to stand at 5815.4.

Other telecoms firms which are suffering include Colt Telecom, down 55p at 710p; Energis, down 12¼p at 269p; and Vodafone, off 5¼p at 183¼p.

Computer services group Logica is down 60p at 870p; chip designer ARM Holdings is off 21¼p at 346¼p; and software firm Misys has fallen 21½p to 576½p.

Shares in International Power are up 5% or 15½p at 330p after it unveiled a jump in first-quarter profits from £54 million to £81million. Scottish & Southern Energy is also riding high, up 20p to 644p, after posting a rise in year-end profits.

Other power and energy firms on the up include Scottish Power, rising 16¼p to 517½p; Lattice Group, up 1p to 135p; and Centrica, rising 3¾p to 243¼p.

Sainsbury's shares are up 1p at 427p after it reported a drop in profits and said it was showing signs of a recovery after a difficult couple of years.

Footsie 250-listed glassmaker Pilkington is down nearly 8% or 9¼p at 112½p after warning that the global economic slowdown and rising energy prices could hit home over the next 12 months. The comments came as the group reported a 23% rise in pre-tax profits for the last year.

Toy distribution firm Character is down 18% or 7p to 32p after the group, which has distributed Star Wars and Chicken Run toys, warned it was unlikely to make a profit this year after being hit by a tough retail environment and the lack of a blockbuster product to sell.