Oilfield specialist Petrofac led mid-morning gains on the FTSE 100 this morning, after declaring net profits up 33 per cent in its annual results.

The international oil and gas company said that the increase in oil and gas engineering projects was the result of record order intake with £4.2 billion ($6.3 billion) of new contract awards in 2009.

These included major lump sum contracts in Abu Dhabi, Algeria, Oman and Saudi Arabia and a £65.9 million ($100 million) FEED study in Turkmenistan.

Ayman Asfari, group chief executive of Petrofac, said that 2009 was another excellent year, which gave outstanding revenue visibility for the year ahead and beyond.

He explained, ‘While 2009 was a challenging year for our industry, we were successful in growing our capacity and capability, investing in both our people and our systems, to ensure that we maintain our focus on strong operational performance.

‘Through our differentiated and competitive offering, we remain well-positioned to benefit from ongoing investment in oil and gas projects by our key customers in our core markets.’

As a result, Petrofac raised its final dividend by 40 per cent to 16.69 per share equating to a full year pay out of 25.4 pence per share. The stock was trading up by 3 per cent to 1,104 (as at 0945 hrs).

Meanwhile, Financials continued to power up, with Royal Bank of Scotland rising yet again, this time boosted by its confirmation that it will be seeking a Chinese securities licence, allowing it to underwrite mainland Chinese share issues and trade local stocks.

Its share price was up 2.4 per cent to 40.95 pence (0945 hrs). Legal & General also formed part of the chasing pack. The Surrey-based insurer witnessed its share price rise by 2.1 per cent to 77.85 pence.

Barclays Stockbrokers
Top ten trades
Friday 5 March 2010

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Buy
1. Royal Bank of Scotland, 6.1 per cent
2. Lloyds Banking Group, 4.5 per cent
3. Prudential, 3.1 per cent
4. Barclays, 2.2 per cent
5. Aviva, 2 per cent
6. Desire Petroleum, 1.6 per cent
7. Vodafone Group, 1.3 per cent
8. Barratt Developments, 1.2 per cent
9. Rockhopper Exploration, 1.1 per cent
10. Solo Oil, 1.1 per cent

Sell
1. Barclays, 11.6 per cent
2. Royal Bank of Scotland, 6.4 per cent
3. Xstrata, 6 per cent
4. Lloyds Banking Group, 4.5 per cent
5. BP, 1.9 per cent
6. Aviva, 1.8 per cent
7. Rio Tinto, 1.7 per cent
8. BHP Billiton, 1.3 per cent
9. Standard Chartered, 1.3 per cent
10. HSBC Holdings, 1.2 per cent