Thursday March 27, 07:45 AM
London pre-open: Dull start likely
LONDON (ShareCast) - London's top stocks are tipped to open slightly lower, with traders expecting Footsie (news) to shed 8 points in early dealings. DIY retailer Kingfisher (LSE:
KGF.L - news) saw full year adjusted profit before tax fall 2.8% and said that the "internal background and the external economic environment" had prompted it to halve the final dividend. The B&Q owner posted a pre-tax profit before exceptional items of £386m for the year ended 2 February 2008, down from £397m a year earlier, on revenue up almost 8% to £9.36bn. Hedge fund manager Man Group (LSE: EMG.L - news) said pre-tax profits for the year to March will be ahead of consensus market expectations. "Pre tax profits have risen substantially for the year, and will be ahead of current market expectation," said CEO Peter Clarke. Bus and train company FirstGroup (LSE: FGP.L - news) expects to report full year results in line with its expectations following a strong performance in the second half. In a trading update ahead of a series of pre-close meetings with analysts this week the firm said all operating divisions of FirstGroup America are performing in line with forecasts. Food caterer Compass said trading in the first five months of the year is ahead of expectations as it sees operating profit rising by £6m, benefiting from the favourable currency movements. "Overall, we expect a favourable impact of around £6 million on operating profit from the movement of our key currencies for the six months to 31 March 2008 compared with the same period last year," it said. Northern Foods (LSE: NFDS.L - news) ' trading performance continued to meet expectations and the ready meals group said it now sees full-year profit before tax and restructuring items ahead of the median consensus of £47.5m. In the full year to 29 March, underlying revenue grew by 3.2%, with prices up 2.4% and volumes up 0.8%. Underlying operating margin has been maintained year on year. In the press, the Telegraph reported that Barclays (LSE: BARC.L - news) president Bob Diamond was the banks' highest paid executive last year, after receiving £18.5m in cash, bonuses and share options. Legal & General again hit out at Marks and Spencer (LSE: MKS.L - news) 's decision to appoint Sir Stuart Rose as executive chairman, saying that the company's explanation for the move did not assuage the insurer's concerns about the concentration of power at the top, writes the FT.
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