May 12 (Bloomberg) -- U.K. stocks rose, led by Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance Group Plc after the insurer reported that profit almost tripled. BOC Group Plc climbed after its net income rose 66 percent.

Imperial Chemical Industries Plc and British Airways Plc gained after oil prices slid below $50 a barrel, easing concern that rising costs for crude will hurt earnings.

Buoyant earnings helped demonstrate that ``maybe there's been too much doom and gloom out there and things aren't as bad as people thought,'' said Richard Robinson, a fund manager at Ashburton Ltd. in Jersey, Channel Islands, whose company oversees about $1.9 billion.

The FTSE 100 Index added 19.1, or 0.4 percent, to 4894.5 as of 3:07 p.m. in London, its first gain in four days. About eight of every 10 stocks in the benchmark advanced. The FTSE All-Share Index climbed 0.6 percent to 2442.79.

Benchmarks extended gains after a government report showed retail sales in the U.S., the world's biggest economy, rose more than forecast in April and by the most in seven months.

U.S. retail sales climbed 1.4 percent last month, the Commerce Department said. The median estimate of 71 economists in a Bloomberg News survey was for a 0.7 percent increase.

Royal & Sun Alliance, the U.K.'s second-biggest property and casualty insurer, increased 4.25 pence, or 5.8 percent, to 77.75 pence, its biggest gain this year. Net income rose to 122 million pounds from a restated 44 million pounds a year earlier.

BOC

BOC, Europe's No. 2 maker of industrial gases, rose 3 percent to 994 pence. The company said profit rose 66 percent in the fiscal second quarter, boosted by demand in Asia at higher prices and a gain from the sale of a unit. Net income in the quarter rose to 122 million pounds from 73.6 million pounds a year earlier.

Crude oil fell to less than $50 a barrel for the first time in seven days after a report showed U.S. oil stockpiles rose last week, easing concern supplies will be strained during the second half of the year.

``The oil price is something which filters through to every part of the economy in terms of a cost, so the lower that cost is, the better is it for the economy in terms of growth,'' said Henk Potts, who helps manage about $45 billion at Barclays Private Clients in London.

``That's hopefully what we're going see the benefit of over the next few months with this lower oil price.''

Crude for June delivery lost 83 cents to $49.62 a barrel in New York. Oil futures reached a record $58.28 on April 4.

British Airways

British Airways rose 5.75 pence, or 2.3 percent, to 252.5 pence. Europe's third-largest carrier is expected to report its first loss in seven quarters tomorrow after soaring fuel prices and declining fares eroded cost savings, according to the median estimate of seven analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News.

Imperial Chemical, the largest U.K. specialty-chemical maker, rose 5 pence, or 2.1 percent, to 248.5 pence. Chemical companies use oil-derived raw materials.

3i Group Plc gained after announcing plans to return about 500 million pounds to shareholders. 3i rose 1.2 percent to 668 pence. Europe's biggest publicly traded buyout company plans to return about 40.7 pence a share in a special dividend. The company also plans to buy back about 250 million pounds worth of stock. 3i's assets, including stakes in 1,700 companies, rose 9 percent to 603 pence a share in the year to March 31, a second straight yearly increase.

Man. United

Manchester United Plc, the world's biggest soccer club by revenue, jumped 34.25 pence, or 13 percent, to 299.25 pence after U.S. billionaire Malcolm Glazer offered 790 million pounds for the club after boosting his stake to 57 percent by buying out its biggest investor.

Glazer, the 76-year-old owner of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, offered 300 pence per share, 13 percent more than yesterday's closing price, after purchasing the 28.7 percent stake of Irish investors J.P. McManus and John Magnier.

Lastminute.com Plc jumped 9 percent to 167 pence, adding to yesterday's 45 percent gain. Sabre Holdings Corp., operator of the Travelocity.com online travel service, agreed to acquire the U.K.'s largest Internet travel business for 577 million pounds. The offer is worth 165 pence a share.

``It's a pretty decent valuation, but if someone else came in it could go for up to 200 pence a share,'' said Tim Roberts, a fund manager at Cavendish Asset Management in London whose fund bought 120,000 Lastminute.com shares earlier this year.

`This will shake out any other interested parties.''

The following stocks are making gains or losses. Symbols are in parentheses after the company names.

Chelford Group Plc (CHR LN), an owner of software companies and distributor of Oracle Corp. products, rose 24 pence, or 14 percent, to 194 pence. The company said new orders are ahead of last year's pace.

Findel Plc (FDL LN), a stationery and educational-supplies business, rose 7.6 percent to 452 pence. The company said fiscal full-year profit rose 4.1 percent on higher sales in its home shopping and educational divisions. Net income in the year ended March 31 rose to 28.6 million pounds from 27.5 million pounds a year earlier.

Homestyle Group Plc (HME LN), a U.K. bed and furniture retailer, rose 8.1 percent to 61.5 pence. The company said it plans to raise 100 million pounds in a share sale that may hand majority control to Steinhoff International Holdings Ltd., South Africa's largest furniture maker. Steinhoff will own a Homestyle stake of between 45 and 73.7 percent after the sale.

ISoft Group Plc (IOT LN), whose software helps administration at surgeries and hospitals, rose 12.25 pence, or 3.3 percent, to 378.75 pence. The company said fiscal-year pretax profit was at the high end of analysts' estimates after it sold more high-margin services and benefited from cost savings from its 2004 merger with Torex Plc.

Pretax profit in the year ended April 30 was at the upper end of a range of 64 million pounds to 68 million pounds.

Trafficmaster Plc (TFC LN), a U.K. maker of navigation software, rose 2 pence, or 4.7 percent, to 44.75 pence. The company said it won a contract with Honda Motor Co. to provide live traffic information for the carmaker's vehicles in the U.K. Honda cars equipped with satellite navigation will use Trafficmaster's radio data system.

Yule Catto & Co. (YULC LN), whose products include the active ingredient for Schwarz Pharma AG's generic copy of an AstraZeneca Plc ulcer drug, rose 12.75 pence, or 5.4 percent, to 249.75 pence. The stock was raised to ``equal-weight/in-line'' from ``underweight/ in-line'' by analyst Paul Walsh at Morgan Stanley. His price target is 240 pence per share.

-- With reporting by Paul Jarvis in London. Editor: Kirkland, Campbell, Kirkland.

To contact the reporter on this story: Sophie Hares in London at shares@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: May 12, 2005 10:11 EDT