Serco Group led the blue chips on the FTSE this afternoon, having announced a significantly expanded order book of £17.1 billion, up 0.8 billion on the previous year.

The transport-to-outsourcing company, which runs the Docklands Light Railway (pictured), declared new awarded service contracts valued at £5.8 billion after extending its operational sectors into several different markets.

This news translated into a rapid share price ascent, with the company’s price trading up by 6.8 per cent at 557.00 pence (1415 hrs).

Christopher Hyman, chief executive of Serco Group, said that the company had entered 2010 with a record order book and significant new opportunities both in the UK an internationally.

He said, ‘Fiscal pressures are increasing in all of our global markets, presenting even greater opportunities for the efficient delivery of essential services.

‘The breadth of our capabilities and our track record, enables us to be selective in pursuing the best opportunities to deliver results for all of our stakeholders.’

London’s FTSE 100 levelled out in afternoon trading despite certain stocks making some early gains. The group’s free cash flow increased by a whopping 45.8 per cent to £137.3 million while revenues grew by 27.1 per cent (20.8 per cent excluding currency).

Investors engaged in buying activity, however, focused their attentions elsewhere. Forte Energy, the Australian minerals company entered this morning’s top trades for the first time this year.

The company recently reported some decent results from its first bath of laboratory results taken form its diamond core drill holes at its Bir En Nar project in West Africa, triggering a stampede of investor interest.

At just under 3 per cent, it sneaks into today’s top ten buys.

TD Waterhouse
Top ten trades (morning session, to 1200hrs)
Friday 26 February

Buy
1. Lloyds Banking Group, 40 per cent
2. Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), 19.2 per cent
3. Xstrata, 12.2 per cent
4. Barclays, 6.3 per cent
5. Desire Petroleum, 4.2 per cent
6. Rockhoppar Exploration, 4 per cent
7. Taylor Wimpey, 4 per cent
8. Solo Oil, 3.6 per cent
9. Barratt Developments, 3.6 per cent
10. Forte Energy, 2.9 per cent

Sell
1. Lloyds Banking Group, 53.8 per cent
2. RBS, 20.3 per cent
3. Barclays, 8 per cent
4. Xstrata, 4.2 per cent
5. Aviva, 3.2 per cent
6. Rio Tinto, 3.1 per cent
7. Dragon Oil, 2 per cent
8. Kazakhyms, 1.9 per cent
9. Vedenta Resources, 1.8 per cent
10. Taylor Wimpey, 1,7 per cent