London open: Dull start for blue chips

21st Apr 2010 09:00

London's blue chips have fallen back as a string of big names going ex-dividend weighs on the index. British Airways is higher on the ending of the UK flight ban. ARM is the best performer after the stupendous results from Apple last night driven by iPhone sales, which ARM reportedly designed the chips for. Tesco is also picking up after yesterday's strong results. BHP Billiton has held up so far after a statement this morning that it may have broken US anti-corruption laws in some of its its exploration projects. Lisa Morgan has stepped down as the chief executive of Game Group after the video game retailer revealed a sharp fall in profits in the year to January 31. Pre-tax profits totalled £84.2m, which was below expectations and sharply down from £117.4m the previous year, on turnover that slid to £1.77bn from £1.97bn. Software giant Autonomy reported record revenues and profits in the first quarter as clients loosen their purse strings after scaling back in the downturn. The firm, which uses technology borne out of research at Cambridge University, saw revenues in the three months to March 31 climb by 50% from the same period the previous year to $194.2m. Adjusted pre-tax profits climbed by 47% to $85.3m.Aerospace and defence systems group Meggitt said trading since the start of the year has been in line with its expectations of a challenging first half followed by a return to growth in the second half of the year. The group said it remains well placed to take advantage of an upturn in the civil aerospace markets which is anticipated to start benefitting the group in the second half of the year. Distribution and outsourcing group Bunzl said trading in the period since 31 December has been in line with expectations. Underlying revenue in the first quarter was up 2% on last year led by North America which was 5% higher.Bookmaker Ladbrokes said it expects to receive £80m from the UK tax authorities after reaching a settlement covering substantially all the outstanding items in the tax years through to December 2007.Car and aeroplane parts supplier Senior expects profits for 2010 to exceed expectations after trading in the three months to March 31 got a lift from favourable currency movements and cost control and efficiency improvements. Wealth manager St James Place enjoyed record sales of single products and a strong inflow of new money in the three months to March, as ISA and unit trust sales took off.