HSBC, Imperial, 888, Intertek, Sage: U.K., Irish Equity Preview

By Andrew Shepherd and Sarah Thompson

Aug. 4 (Bloomberg) -- The following is a list of companies whose shares may have unusual price changes in U.K. and Irish markets today. Stock symbols are in parentheses and prices are from the last market close.

The benchmark FTSE 100 Index fell 57.2, or 1.06 percent, to 5,354.70. The FTSE All-Share Index fell 0.95 percent and Ireland's ISEQ Index decreased 6.45 percent.

U.K. Companies:

888 Holdings Plc (888 LN): The second-largest U.K. online gambling company said second-quarter sales rose 33 percent. 888 shares rose 5.8 pence, or 3.4 percent, to 153.75 pence.

British Energy Group Plc (BGY LN) Centrica Plc may revive a 22.5 billion-pound ($45 billion) all-stock merger plan with British Energy, the Sunday Telegraph reported. The share price dropped 30 pence, or 4 percent, to 700 pence.

Fidessa Group Plc (FDSA LN): The financial software developer said results would be at the ``upper'' end of analysts' estimates. Fidessa advanced 17.5 pence, or 2 percent, to 886 pence a share.

HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA LN): HSBC is in talks to cut the price for Korea Exchange Bank after Asian financial stocks tumbled 18 percent since the $6 billion purchase was announced in September, two people familiar with the matter said. HSBC slipped 2 pence, or 0.24 percent, to 837 pence a share.

Imperial Energy Corp. (IEC LN): The U.K. oil and natural- gas explorer developing deposits in Russia said it has received another approach in relation to a possible cash offer. The shares rose 34 pence, or 3.3 percent, to 1074 pence.

Intertek Group Plc (ITRK LN): The world's largest tester of consumer goods said first-half profit gained 17 percent on rising demand from toy, oil and mineral clients. Intertek shares fell 4 pence, or 0.39 percent, to 1,009 pence.

Morgan Sindall Plc (MGNS LN): The U.K.'s biggest supplier of office interiors said first-half profit rose 22 percent, buoyed by acquisitions at its construction unit. The stock added 16 pence, or 2.9 percent, to 560.

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS LN): RBS will probably report a pretax loss of between one billion pounds ($1.97 billion) and 1.7 billion pounds for the first half of the year, the Sunday Times cited unidentified analysts as saying. Such a loss would be the biggest in U.K. banking history, five times higher than that of Barclays Plc during the 1992 recession, the newspaper said. The shares advanced 3.5 pence, or 1.65 percent, to 215.25 pence.

Sage Group Plc (SGE LN): The U.K.'s largest software maker said nine-month results were consistent with the company's forecasts. Sage shares advanced 2 pence, or 1 percent, to 198 pence a share.

SDL Plc (SDL LN): The U.K. provider of translation software posted first-half net income of 6.59 million pounds, up from 5.01 million pounds.

Separately, Investec Securities cut its recommendation to ``hold'' from ``buy.'' SDL shares rose 1.8 pence, or 0.5 percent, to 375 pence.

Senior Plc (SNR LN): The U.K. maker of air ducts for Boeing Co. and Airbus SAS planes said first-half profit rose 59 percent after higher demand at its automotive and industrial units. The shares lost 1.5 pence, or 1.4 percent, to 103.5.

Ultra Electronics Holdings Plc (ULE LN): The world's largest supplier of submarine detection buoys reported first- half net income of 17.52 million pounds, up from 17.16 million pounds. The shares rose 7 pence, or 0.5 percent, to 1314 pence.

To contact the reporter on this story: Sarah Thompson in London at sthompson17@bloomberg.net.