London open: Footsie still on the rise

8th Sep 2009 08:40

London's blue chips are on the rise again this morning ahead of Wall Street's return following Monday's public holiday.Kingfisher is going well after it mistakenly circulated some draft figures on Monday afternoon. That has foreced the DIY retailer to admit this morning that adjusted pre-tax profit for the six months to 1 August will be between £285m and £290m.Cadbury is up again as the bid from Kraft looks unlikely to succeed at its current level. 800p seems to be the minimum figure mentioned by fund managers, while there is still talk that Nestle might get involved. Strong food sales helped pub group and Abbot Ale brewer Greene King post a healthy rise in like-for-like sales in the 17 weeks to 30 August, up 4.6%. Food operations grew 8.1%, while sales at Scottish business Belhaven were up 10.9%. Greene King added that margins have stayed strong across its pubs. Soco International has plugged and abandoned the Liyeke Marine 1 well, offshore the Republic of Congo, after the target reservoir was found to be water saturated. 'A 62 metre heavy oil column was encountered in the overlying sediments, but the log and sample data indicated that the oil would not flow,' Soco said. Cardboard and paper supplier DS Smith enjoyed a better than expected first quarter's trading, but is still concerned about the level of demand overall while input costs are rising. Industrial equipment rental firm Ashtead saw pre-tax profits plunge in the quarter to July 31 as tough economic conditions forced customers in the US and UK to scale back spending.National Express is working on a daring last-ditch plan to offer its UK bus and rail franchises directly to Stagecoach in a side deal that could save it from a takeover by CVC. The transport group was weighing up last night whether to accept a £765m joint bid from CVC and Stagecoach or to sell assets, the Times reports.