London pre-open: Dull start to short week in prospect

26th May 2009 07:40

London looks set to make a slow start to the week after the long week-end in both the UK and the USA.Traders expect the FTSE 100 will start around 28 points lower, echoing the weaker trend seen in Japan.Half-year losses have doubled at short break specialist Holidaybreak, but are in line with the firm’s expectations. The pre-tax loss for the six months ended 31 March 2009 jumped to £36.6m from £18.2m a year ago on revenue down to £153.2m from £156m. The underlying loss tax grew to £18.1m from £14.9m.Hard times are driving people towards pawnbroker Albemarle & Bond with results for the year to June now predicted to be "significantly ahead of market expectations". The core pawwnbroker business has been boosted by the higher price of gold, which has enhanced the yield on unredeemed loans, A&B said.Spread betting firm IG Group said it expects rule changes being contemplated by the Financial Services Agency of Japan will probably only affect a minority of the group’s Japanese clients, measured both by number of clients and by trading volume. The financial impact of the possible introduction of limits on the amount of gearing that can be offered to retail foreign exchange speculators in Japan is therefore likely to be limited, especially as IG’s Japanese subsidiary already offers standard gearing levels that are much lower than some competitors.Homeserve has extended its reach in continental Europe through the acquisition of electrical appliances warranty provider, Société Française de Garantie (SFG). The UK home emergency insurance cover specialist is paying April Group SA £24m for SFG, though as the acquired company had £6.9m in cash at the time of acquisition, the net cost of the acquisition is £17.1mAveva's profits surged forward again last year, but the computer aided designer cautioned that the slowdown in global shipping and oil markets is now having an impact on orders.Scottish soft drinks giant AG Barr has had an “excellent” start to its financial year, with like for like revenue in the first 15 weeks “well ahead” of the same time last year.