ENRC, Persimmon, Prudential, RBS: U.K., Irish Equity Preview

By Andrew MacAskill and Sarah Jones

Oct. 27 (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 dropped 204.47, or 5 percent, to 3,883.36. The FTSE All-Share Index declined 5 percent, and Ireland's ISEQ Index fell 2.2 percent.

BG Group Plc (BG/ LN): The third-largest U.K. oil and natural-gas producer will pay about A$5 billion ($3.1 billion) for the whole of Queensland Gas Co., the Australian Financial Review reported, without citing anyone. The shares slid 57 pence, or 7.4 percent, to 717.

British Airways (BAY LN): Europe's third-largest airline may have to part with at least 40 percent of the combined group when it merges with Iberia Lineas Aereas de Espana SA, the Sunday Telegraph said, citing analysts and bankers. The shares declined 6.5 pence, or 4.7 percent, to 132.

Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC LN): Merrill Lynch & Co. downgraded the world's third-largest ferrochrome producer to ``neutral'' from ``underperform.'' The analysts lifted their recommendation for Kazakhmys Plc (KAZ LN), Kazakhstan's largest copper producer, to ``neutral'' from ``underperform.'' Kazakhmys rose 0.5 pence, or 0.2 percent, to 239.5, while ENRC dropped 64.5 pence, or 16 percent, to 329.

GKN Plc (GKN LN): The U.K. maker of car parts and aircraft components expects full-year profit before tax to be about 20 percent lower than 2007 after experiencing a ``significant'' further deterioration in demand in global automotive markets. The shares declined 22 pence, or 16 percent, to 117.5.

HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA LN): HSBC Rail could be sold in a 2 billion-pound ($3.2 billion) deal after HSBC appointed two sets of advisers to auction it, the Sunday Times reported, without saying where it got the information.

Abbey National Plc, the U.K. lender owned by Spain's Banco Santander SA, is also set to sell its train-leasing arm Porterbrook to Deutsche Bank AG for 2 billion pounds, according to the newspaper. HSBC sank 109 pence, or 14 percent, to 696.

London Stock Exchange Group Plc (LSE LN): The London-based company, which operates Europe's oldest independent market, has hired a recruiting firm to find a successor to Chief Executive Officer Clara Furse, according to a person familiar with the matter. The shares fell 47 pence, or 9 percent, to 477.5.

Persimmon Plc (PSN LN): The U.K.'s biggest homebuilder by market value said it will book 600 million pounds in land writedowns after house prices fell during the U.K.'s worst housing slump in 25 years. The provision represents about 19 percent of the company's land stock value as of the end of June and is the biggest of all publicly traded U.K. housebuilders so far in the current slowdown. The shares dropped 19.25 pence, or 8.1 percent, to 217.25.

Prudential Plc (PRU LN): JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its recommendation for the insurer to ``overweight'' from ``neutral.'' Analysts also upgraded RSA Insurance Group Plc (RSA LN) to ``overweight'' from ``underweight.''

Prudential shares dropped 43.5 pence, or 13 percent, to 286.5, while RSA lost 1.6 pence, or 1.3 percent, to 122.5.

Royal Bank of Scotland Plc (RBS LN): Britain's second- largest bank before this year's 84 percent decline may need to write down the value of assets by between 4 billion pounds and 5 billion pounds in the second half of the year, the Financial Times reported, citing analysts it didn't identify. The shares fell 6.2 pence, or 9.3 percent, to 60.8.

To contact the reporter on this story: Andrew MacAskill in London at amacaskill@bloomberg.net; Sarah Jones in London at sjones35@bloomberg.net.