London pre-open: Astra defies expectations

27th Jan 2011 07:41

London is set to open modestly higher despite yesterday's late swoon in the US. After the US market closed yesterday the Federal Reserve Open Markets Committee retained its cautious stance on the US economic recovery. Interest rates were unchanged near historic lows, with the additional $600bn bond buying programme staying in place. City traders expect the FTSE 100 index will open around 10 points higher. Anglo-Swedish drugs firm AstraZeneca beat market expectations despite strong competition from generic versions of its drugs in the USA last year. Revenue for the full year was unchanged on a constant exchange rates (CER) basis at $33,629m. Core earnings per share (EPS) for 2010 rose by 5% on a CER basis to $6.71, versus expectations of $6.60. Reported EPS rose 7% (CER) to $5.60. BSkyB has demonstrated why newspaper group NewsCorp is so keen to take over the satellite broadcaster, with a strong rise in profits in the six months to 31 December. Pre-tax profits climbed to £237m from £185m over the same period the previous year on revenues that rose to £1.66bn from £1.44bn.Oil firm Tullow said group working interest production for 2010 averaged 58,100 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), in line with the 2009 average, and is expected to average 86,000 to 92,000 boepd in 2011.