FTSE holds firm

Lloyds TSB shares were 4% lower today after analysts began digging into the detail of the company’s annual profits haul of £3.7bn (€5.5bn).

While the headline figure was in line with expectations, growth in the bank’s retail arm was a concern, particularly after a sharp surge in bad debt charges.

The update dragged a number of other banking stocks lower, but the wider market held firm with a drop of 6.6 points to 6374.3 for the FTSE 100 Index by mid-morning.

Mining stocks and gains for oil giants Royal Dutch Shell and BP propped up the market after a strengthening in commodity prices.

Xstrata was up 47p to 2619p in the mining sector, while BP lifted 6.5p to 527.5p and Royal Dutch Shell gained 10p to 1684p.

Power station Drax set the pace in the top flight, up 15p at 731p amid speculation that it could attract private equity bid interest.

And signs of a strongly performing property market buoyed shares in blue-chip housebuilder Persimmon and building materials firm Hanson – up 15p at 1413p and 15p at 860p respectively.

DSG International also featured on the risers board after it said it was consulting on plans to shut its loss-making PC City stores in France. Analysts said the move would cure a major headache for the Currys owner, while adding 6% to profits forecasts for 2008.

Shares were up 1.25p at 179p today.

For Lloyds, shares were 22p lower at 591p, followed by HBOS with a drop of 16p to 1151p as investors worried the sluggish retail growth at Lloyds could be reflected in the lender’s full-year results next week. HSBC was down 3.5p at 903.5p.

Meanwhile, advertising and marketing giant WPP was ahead 6p at 773p after posting a 14.5% rise in annual profits to £766.3m (€1.1bn).