London pre-open: A lot riding on the Italian job

10th Nov 2011 07:43

The top-share index looks set to open with a triple-digit decline as investors continue to fret about the Italian debt situation. Yields on Italian bonds have surged way past the 7% mark, generally regarded as the highest level at which governments can sustainably issue new debt.The Italian Senate is expected to rush through new legislation aimed at stopping the current crisis in Italian debt markets from snow-balling. By the end of the week the Senate is expected to approve an increase in the retirement age and asset sales, among other measures. Furthermore, the Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is expected to resign immediately, in an effort to appease the market. On the corporate front, mining group Vedanta's revenue rose 43% to $6,553m from a year earlier in the half-year ended 30 September. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation were up 27% to $1.7bn but underlying earnings per share were down 35% to 68 cents, due to lower attributable profit from Vedanta's subsidiaries.Credit checking specialist Experian said revenue rose 15% to $2.3bn in the six months to the end of September from $2.0bn the year before. Profit before tax rose to $343m from $283m the year before, while what the company terms "benchmark" profit before tax was up 20% to $539m. "For the second half, we expect organic revenue growth at least as strong as the first half," revealed chief executive officer Don Robert. Supermarket group Morrisons said like-for-like sales in the 13 weeks to 30 October were 2.4% higher than in the corresponding period of last year, or up 5.8% including fuel. Total sales. excluding fuel, were up by 4.6% (7.6% including fuel) from a year earlier. "Our good performance in the third quarter was in line with our expectations and the board's financial outlook for the year remains unchanged," the company said.--jh