London pre-open: Bright start expected

14th Jul 2009 07:40

Footsie is expected to rise after last night's good showing on Wall Street.Engineering conglomerate Melrose is trading in line with expectations for the full year and said cash generation during the first six months of 2009 has been 'excellent'. Net debt has reduced by £127m since 31 December 2008 to £416m as at 30 June 2009, with net debt to EBITDA leverage further reducing to 2.15x, down from 2.65x as at 31 December 2008.Soft drinks maker Britvic's profits this year will beat the top end of market forecast as demand in the UK has soared. So strong are the numbers, Britvic brought forward today's trading update by ten days. Total revenues were £249.1m for the 12 weeks to 5th July 2009, an increase of 5.9% on the prior year. For the full 40 weeks to 5th July 2009, total revenue increased by 6.1% to £732.3m.Iron ore firm Ferrexpo said it produced at full capacity and traded profitable in the second quarter. Total pellet production in the second quarter rose by 21.1% compared with the previous three month period and was up by 3.8% compared to the equivalent quarter last year. Higher grade 65% Fe pellet output increased by 4.3% in the first half of 2009 compared to the same period last year.Construction and regeneration group Morgan Sindall has announced that its construction division Morgan Ashurst has won a £71m contract with plane maker Airbus to build a wing assembly factory. The factory is expected to be completed by October 2010.Flooring group Headlam continues to struggle in tough market conditions with first half sales to June down by 8.2%, a slight improvement on earlier in the year. Like for like revenue in the UK fell by 10.7% and by 9.7% in Continental Europe, though the impact of currency translation increased revenue on translation by 14.8%. This, combined with a first half contribution from Silvester, led to overall revenue growth from the Continental businesses of 7.4%.Accountancy services group Tenon expects underlying full-year profits to be in line with forecasts and said its prospects for the next financial year are 'encouraging.' The group said excellent growth has been generated in its Recovery and related service lines, with revenue ahead by more than 30% over the prior year.