London open: Unspectacular start for blue chips

8th Nov 2010 08:40

After the tumultuous events of last week London has paused for breath, with Footsie making only slight gains early on.The G20 summit will make headlines later in the week, but for now investors are bracing themselves for a deluge of blue chip announcements over the next few days.Warming up for the week, satellite operator Inmarsat saw strong growth in its aeronautical and leasing services in the third quarter. Total revenue in the three months ended 30 September rose 18.8% to $308.8m from $260.0m the year before.Security services firm G4S saw signs in the third quarter that developed markets have stabilised while it continued to see strong trading in new markets. Overall revenues in the first nine months of 2010 were 5.6% higher than in the corresponding period of 2009, or 4.2% higher using constant exchange rates.Satellite broadcaster BSkyB has reached its target of 10m TV customers, with 36% of households in the UK and Ireland now taking its service.BAE Systems is going well on a weekend report that it could pick up a huge order from India for Eurofighters. Rolls-Royce, though is going the other way after more criticism over the Qantas engine problems and reports of possible litigation for patent infringementFund manager Gartmore is the largest mover, but the wrong way. Roger Guy, its star investment manager is stepping down from day-to-day fund management and will leave next May, while Dominic Rossi, the firm's chief investment officer, has also decided to quit and move elsewhere. The company has launched a strategic review of its whole business.Oil group Afren says a security breach has occurred on the High Island VII jackup rig, which had recently arrived on location, preparing to commence infill drilling at the Okoro field. Two crew members are stable after receiving wounds to the leg, and have been evacuated by helicopter to a shore-based clinic. It is believed that five crew members have been taken hostage, Afren said. Aussie coal miner Caledon Resources has received a firm cash bid worth almost two-thirds more than an approach earlier in the year. The offer, from Guangdong Rising Asset management (GRAM), is worth 112p cash per share and values the company overall at £252m. Estate agent Savills expects underlying pre-tax profit for the year to 31 December 2010 to be in excess of £40m helped by a particularly strong performance in Asia and the UK. Transactions at its Prime London Residential business have continued at a healthy level, the group said, albeit fourth quarter will see lower volumes than the very strong final quarter of 2009. Housebuilder Bovis expects market conditions to remain challenging over the next few months but remains confident it can sell more homes in 2011. "Whilst there remains uncertainty concerning the near term direction of house prices, the fundamental demand and supply drivers of the housing market remain positive which should support volume and prices in the medium term," the group said in Monday's interim statement.