London pre-open: Bright start to the week in prospect

28th Nov 2011 07:13

Having finally ended a nine-day losing streak on Friday Footsie looks set to keep the winning habit this morning, with City sources predicting the FTSE 100 will open up 64 points from yesterday's close of 5,165. There are to be changes at the top of mining colossus BHP Billiton. Alex Vanselow, Group Executive and Chief Financial Officer of the group, will retire from the end of February 2012 to pursue personal business interests. He will be succeeded by Graham Kerr, recently President of BHP Billiton's Diamonds and Speciality Products business. Mike Henry, President of Marketing, will join the Group Management Committee as Group Executive and Chief Marketing Officer, reporting to the Chief Executive Officer, Marius Kloppers.Elsewhere in the mining sector, gold digger Randgold Resources has suffered a series of setbacks at its Tongon mine in Côte d'Ivoire which will have a negative impact on its production for the fourth quarter of this year. A combination of bad weather, an industrial dispute and a change over on the country's national grid to diesel-generated power, resulted in significant down-time. The company now expects group production for the year to drop from between 740,000 and 760,000 ounces to between 690,000 to 700,000 ounces, which it says still represents a significant increase over 2010.Engine developer Rolls-Royce and the Trustees of the Rolls-Royce Pension Fund have agreed a longevity swap with Deutsche Bank that incorporates an agreed average life expectancy for the pension scheme's members. If pensioners live longer than expected Deutsche Bank will make payments to the Fund to offset the additional cost of paying pensions. If the reverse applies the cost of paying pensions will be reduced but the Fund will be required to make payments to the Bank. This arrangement enables future liabilities to be predicted with more certainty and reduces the risk on approximately £3bn of the fund's liabilities.--jh