London opening: FTSE 100 opens lower

4th Aug 2009 08:46

Blue chips have opened lower despite good performances overnight in the US and Asia.Insurer Legal & General has set the tone, by slashing the interim dividend by 45% after posting a loss of £1bn on a European embedded value (EEV) basis. The half-year dividend has been cut to 1.11p a share from 2.01p a year ago.Asia-focused bank Standard Chartered is to raise £1bn through a placing after a solid first half with profits up by 10% despite a more than doubled bad debt charge. Interim profits to end June rose to $2.84bn, from $2.59bn, on operating income up 14% to $7.96bn, from $6.98bn this time last year. RBS is going well on confirmation it is to sell its banking operations in seven Asian countries to Australia's ANZ Group for $418m. It will sell its retail and commercial banking operations in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Indonesia and its onshore global banking and markets and global transaction services operations in the Philippines, Vietnam and Taiwan. Barclays and Lloyds are also strongly ahead. Sharply lower metals prices resulted in a steep drop in sales and earnings at the diversified miner Xstrata in the first half. Operating profit in the six months to June 30 fell to $1.67bn from $4.50bn over the same period the previous year as revenue slid to $9.87bn from $16.09bn. Xstrata said continuing strong coal prices helped to mitigate the impact of lower metals prices.Bookmaker William Hill has confirmed it is to shift its online betting and gaming business, William Hill Online from the UK to Gibraltar. "As a result of the move, William Hill Online will benefit from cost savings already being achieved by other offshore operators, which have previously put it at a commercial disadvantage," today's statement said.Tullow Oil has made its tenth discovery in the Victoria Nile Delta play after striking oil at the Ngara-1 exploration well in Uganda. It encountered over 8 metres of net oil pay in a 17 metre gross reservoir interval after drilling a total depth of 741 metres. Engineers Cookson and GKN are both up on hopes there is recovery on the way in their respective markets.