Hambros added 10p to 310p, and SG Warburg gained 25p to 769p. This was all good news for Smith New Court, one of the City’s biggest securities houses, up 7p to 389p.Away from the financials, equities received another boost when British Petroleum waded in with half-year profits far ahead of analysts’ expectations.Despite concen about sustained pressure on profit margins in oil refining, the shares increased 7p to 418.5p – a high for this year and more than double the 185p the price slumped to in the summer of 1992.The buoyant mood was not dampened by the failure of crude oil prices to hold ground above dollars 19 a barrel. Price for Brent crude fell 55 cents to dollars 18.68.Shell, due to report interims next week, closed in on its high of 755p with a 9p advance to 746p. There are hopes that the a solution to the strike chaos in Nigeria may be in sight.Share prices recorded their biggest one-day advance since the Budget last year. Amid heavy trading of 810 million shares, the FT-SE 100 index soared 60.1 points to 3,157.5 The FT-SE Mid climbed to 3,673.4, up 32 on the day.

Gilts rose by a full point.The numbers came up yesterday for Havelock Europa, the shopfitter. Camelot, operator of the National Lottery, has signed up Havelock to build a large number of its play stations and terminal counters. About 10,000 outlets are due to be in operation when the lottery starts in November, rising to 35,000 in 1996. Shares in Havelock climbed 8p to 177p, just 2p shy of this year’s high.The runaway price of Bluebird Toys, maker of the best-selling Mighty Max and Polly Pocket miniature toys, has led to a mass conversion of the 12 per cent loan stock which has a maturity date of 2005. Some pounds 4.4m of stock, 74 per cent of the total in issue, has been converted into 11.7 million ordinary.

The shares rose 8p to 213p, against the lowly 7.5p at which they traded in 1991.(Graph omitted). A DRAFT version of a new surveyors’ ‘bible’ has been published in response to a report calling for a radical reform of the property valuation industry, writes Tom Stevenson. The publication by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors brings together the guidance notes contained in the Red and White books. It comes in response to the Mallinson Report on valuation, published in April, which warned that urgent steps were needed if the profession was to maintain its reputation.
The Mallinson Report itself followed the Queens Moat affair last year when leading surveying firms were criticised for their wildly differing valuations of the hotel company’s portfolio. The report attacked the industry for its refusal to be more candid about the uncertainties inherent in valuing properties, especially trading properties such as hotels, whose value depended on future business.Roy Swanston, president of the RICS, said the new book would extend the scope of mandatory requirements for valuations of all types of property.George Grover, chairman of the institution’s Appraisal and Valuation Standards Board, said the draft was not a complete response to Mallinson.He said some of the areas discussed in the Mallinson Report could only be changed in partnership with the Accounting Standards Board which is reviewing the role of valuations in financial statements.The new book stresses the need for surveyors and clients to settle instructions in writing so that both parties understand the client’s requirements. According to the insurance industry, almost half professional indemnity insurance claims would disappear if this were done for every valuation..

TWO senior directors of Lionheart, the troubled building products supplier, have resigned, writes Robert Cole. David Kay, finance director, and Hedley Railton, operations director, were victims of cost-cutting in an attempt to reverse the company’s disappointing performance, a spokesman said.
Lionheart said the annual head office saving was pounds 400,000. Cuts in other expenses and in jobs would reduce overheads by pounds 2m.Mr Kay’s responsibilities will be taken over by his deputy, Mark Walker. Michael Tuttle, a non-executive director, is also leaving.Each director will receive a year’s pay.

The 1993 accounts show Mr Kay and Mr Railton were paid between pounds 120,000 and pounds 150,000.Lionheart supplies home improvement retailing outlets such as B&Q, Texas, and Sainsbury’s Homebase with a range of products including paint brushes and bathroom accessories.Costs of the restructuring and results of the poor trading environment will hit profits. Albert E Sharp, the stockbroker, estimates Lionheart will make pounds 500,000 pre- tax profit for the year to December against pounds 1.7m last time.The shares fell from 8.75p to a five-year low of 7p.. BOOMING demand for new cars has brought a one-third increase in half-year profits at Cowie Group, the motor retailing and leasing company, writes Robert Cole

But Cowie shares fell 12p yesterday to close at 256p. The market had anticipated the profits advance and was concerned about narrowing profit margins.
The shares have lost 20 per cent of their value in six months.