London open: Bright start after BHP record

16th Feb 2011 08:47

London shares have pushed on strongly despite a lukewarm response to blockbusting results from mining titan BHP Billiton.In Europe, French drugs giant Sanofi-Aventis has agreed to pay $20.1bn (£12.4bn) for American biotech firm Genzyme.Genzyme shareholders will get $74 in cash per share and may get more further down the line if three of the US company's drugs do well.Rocketing commodity prices meant record profits for BHP Billiton in the first half, bankrolling a huge investment programme and share buyback scheme. Profit attributable to shareholders jumped 71.5% to US$10.5bn (£6.5bn) on revenue up 39% to $34.2bn. The group announced an ambitious investment programme that's expected to top $80bn over five years, and a $10bn share buyback programme, expected to complete by the end of 2011, BG Group has announced yet another new discovery of oil in its highly prospective Santos Basin acreage, offshore Brazil but Tullow Oil has plugged and abandoned its Gharabi-1 well, located in Block 6 offshore Mauritania after poor drilling results. Full year revenue rose to $309.5m from $229.6m in 2009 as African Barrick put in a strng finish to the year. Profit before tax tripled to $104.9m from $34.4m the year before.Engineering group Morgan Crucible has set itself a target of doubling underlying profits by 2013 after a strong performance in 2010. The firm, which specialises in engineered metals and thermal ceramics, saw profits in the year just ended jump by 115% to £67.7m on revenues up 8% at £1.02bn. Underlying profits rose by 59% to £75.7m.rEngineering contractor WS Atkins is trading in line with expectations, but government spending cuts mean hundreds of jobs are likely to go by the end of the year. The highways business has been hardest hit by the coalition's spending review, forcing Atkins to axe staff despite a strong forward workload of long term contracts in highway services. Trading at specialist chocolate retailer Thorntons has turned down since January with trading through its High Street stores described as weak. "As a result the board is now more cautious about Own Store trading for the remainder of the current financial year and including the important trading periods of Mothers' Day and Easter," chairman John von Spreckelsen said. Corporate travel services firm Hogg Robinson said full year profit is expected to be slightly ahead of expectations, despite travel disruption caused by freezing weather conditions, as businesses increase travel budgets. The group issued an upbeat outlook as the group benefits from a recovery in corporate travel budgets as firms lift executive travel bans imposed during the financial crisis.