London pre-open: Footsie to fall back

13th Nov 2009 07:43

Footsie is expected to slip back slightly in early dealings following a dip in Wall Street last night.British Airways and Spanish airline Iberia have outlined the terms of their merger after agreeing on a tie-up after nearly a year and a half of talks. BA will own 55% of the enlarged company and Iberia 45%. The merger is expected to save £360m per year with jobs to go both companies' head offices in London and Madrid.Oil giant BG has confirmed the appearance of hydrocarbons at a new well in the Santos Basin, offshore Brazil, called Tupi North-East on block BM-S-11. Tupi North-East is located about 265 km from Rio de Janeiro and 18 km to the north-east of the Tupi discovery well.Business at inter-dealer broker Tullett Prebon has continued to be "robust" since the end of June, although revenue fell 9% to £302m during the past four months. The firm blamed the drop in revenue between July and October, which rises to 15% at constant exchange rates, on tough comparatives.Can maker Rexam has appointed Graham Chipchase as its new chief executive to replace Leslie Van De Walle, who will retire at the end of the year. Chipchase has been at Rexam for some time having been director of plastic packaging since 2005 and previously finance director.Bus group Go-Ahead has been selected as the preferred bidder for Plymouth CityBus. Completion is subject to final due diligence and full council approval, expected at the end of November.