London pre-open: Firmer start expected

7th Sep 2009 07:51

London is set to open higher, though trading volumes are expected to be low with the US market closed for Labor Day today. Traders expect the FTSE 100 will open around 39 points higher at 4,891.Chocolate maker Cadbury has rejected a merger proposal from the US food giant Kraft. Kraft, whose brands include Dairylea cheese and Toblerone chocolates, said its proposed offer of 300p a share and 0.2589 Kraft shares for every Cadbury share values each share in the Dairy Milk firm at 745p.Associated British Foods said it expects some improvement in adjusted earnings over the full year despite a much higher interest charge. Trading in the second half of the year has been strong. Sales and profit at Primark will again top the preceding year’s figures. Like-for-like sales growth of 7% is expected for the full year driven by a very strong performance in the UK.Leisure group Whitbread expects profits this year to be at the higher end of forecasts as the rate of decline at hotel chain Premier Inns steadied in the three months to 13 August, while coffee chain Costa continued to push ahead. Overall, sales rose by 2.4%, but Whitbread said the like-for like sales, down by 2.6%, were hit by tough comparatives this time last year.Balfour Beatty, the engineering, construction and services group, is to be involved in six construction frameworks in Devon. Its contracting subsidiary, Mansell, is one of 11 contractors to be appointed by Devon County Council on the Construction Framework South West (CFSW).Industrial conveyor belt maker Fenner expects to meet profit forecasts this year after trading picked up in the last two months.Industrial unrest continues to hamper production at Aquarius Platinum’s Kroondal and Marikana operations in South Africa with the replacement of sacked workers likely to take longer than expected. Production restarted at the Marikana operations on 31 August as planned, with some production at Kroondal only resuming on 3 September. The estimated production ramp-up period will now take longer, and the total production loss attributable to Aquarius Platinum is now expected to amount to between 15,000 and 20,000 ounces of Palladium group metals (PGMs) for the financial year.