London open: Subdued start as Libya weighs

2nd Mar 2011 08:49

Blue chips have made a subdued start with the ongoing situation in the Middle East/North Africa and possible impact on oil prices weighing heavy.Some shares are making progress. Profits in 2010 from Asia-focused bank Standard Chartered were bang in line with forecasts at $6.12bn, while 2011 got off to a flying start, with the group enjoying a record January, both in terms of income and profit.Outsource giant Serco expects "headwinds" in 2011 as the government's austerity measures bite, but still expects to make progress towards its 2012 targets. Serco posted strong figures for 2010 with profits up by 21% to £214m, from £177m, on sales up 9% to £4.33bn. Underlining the performance, the dividend for 2010 rises by nearly 18% to 7.35p. Wm Morrison is preparing to announce next week that it is returning about £1bn to shareholders in full-year results that are also expected to outline a pick-up in trading at the retailer over the past month, the FT reports.ITV has promised an interim dividend after cost cutting and an upturn in the advertising market allowed the terrestrial broadcaster to ramp up profits by almost 200% in 2010. Profit before tax and one-off items leapt to £321m from £108m in 2009 on revenue up 10% to £2.06bn. Net debt fell to £188m from £612m a year earlier.Revenue growth at hotel, coffee shops and pubs group Whitbread slowed sharply in the past four months, though it still made steady headway. In a seventeen week period that included the blizzards of December, like-for-like sales growth slowed to 3.9% from 6.7% over a fifty week period. Small cap promotional products producer 4imprint reported a strong rise in revenue and almost doubled underlying profit for the year as it experienced some recovery in its markets. Group revenue rose 19% to £200.77m for the year ended 1 January 2011 while underlying pre-tax profit jumped to £9.98m from £5.14m previously.Student accommodation manager Unite Group said adjusted fully diluted NAV per share rose 11% to 295p as it underlined its confidence in future trading with the reinstatement of a dividend payment this year. "2010 has been an excellent year for UNITE and as we continue to work with our partners in the sector we look forward to 2011 and beyond with confidence," the group said in a company statement.