London pre-open: Flat start expected

24th May 2011 07:33

After yesterday's shake-out London looks set to steady the boat at the outset, with City traders expecting the blue-chip index to open a dozen or so points higher.High street stalwart Marks & Spencer said it was winning market share in both clothes and food sales as it posted pre-tax profits in line with expectations for the year to 31 March. Underlying pre-tax profits totalled £714.3m, up from £694.6m the previous year. Revenue rose to £9.7bn from £9.5bn.The UK economy is recovering, albeit slowly, if the experience of self-storage barns owner Big Yellow is anything to go by, but the company is still waiting for the pace of recovery to change gear. Revenue in the 12 months to 31 March rose 7% to £61.9m from £58.0m the prior year. Adjusted profit before tax surged 22% to £20.2m from £16.5m a year earlier.Cable & Wireless Worldwide saw underlying profit before tax jump 23% to £143m in the year to 31 March from £116m the year before. The board said it intends to hold the annual dividend at 4.5p until it is covered by free cash flow. ---jh