London pre-open: Assault on 6,000 expected

18th Jan 2011 07:38

A small improvement back towards 6,000 is predicted for Tuesday following a strong performance in Asia this morning where banks did well.Over here, brewer SABMiller helped more drinkers in Africa and China quench their thirst during the third quarter, sending organic lager volumes up 3%. The owner of Peroni and Grolsch says volumes, stripping out the effects of acquisitions and disposals, were up 2% in the first nine months of the financial year, helped by better economic conditions in many of its emerging markets. Lager volumes jumped 12% both in Africa and in Asia. Group revenue for the three months to December on an organic constant currency basis rose 6%. State-owned lender Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has sold its majority stake in care homes operator the Priory Group. Private equity firm Advent International is buying the business, best known for providing rehabilitation facilities to celebrities such as Amy Winehouse and Pete Doherty, for an enterprise value of up to £925m. After the settlement of outstanding debt, RBS expects to receive gross equity proceeds of up to £133m in cash from the sale of its minority equity stake in the Priory Group.Fast expanding engineer Meggitt has taken another leap forward with agreement to acquire Pacific Scientific Aerospace (PSA) from US firm Danaher $685m in cash. A placing of 69.8m new shares will help fund the deal. PSA specialises in fire suppression, sensing, electric power, electric actuation and security products, with a revenue split of roughly 60:40 between civil aerospace and military markets.Spread betting firm IG Group saw strong growth in active client numbers in the first half, though it fell into the red after taking a £143.1m write-down in the value of its Japanese business. Net trading revenue in the six months to 30 November rose 9% to £156.7m from £143.74m the year before. Adjusted profit before tax rose 5% to £81.6m from £78.0m, but on a statutory basis the group posted a loss of £69.1m, as against a profit of £69m at the interim stage the year before.