London pre-open: FTSE up on Greek austerity support

28th May 2012 07:32

City sources predict the FTSE 100 will open up 35 points from Friday's close of 5,352, boosted by reports of greater support for Greece to keep its place within the euro following recent polls which indicated pro-austerity parties may secure enough voters to form a coalition. Rolls-Royce, the global power systems company, has secured contract extensions with the Royal Air Force worth almost £100m. The deal will see the company provide ongoing support for engines on the UK's C-130 Hercules transport and VC10 tanker fleets. The extension will mean the Hercules Integrated Operational Support (HIOS) contract, which covers the servicing of the C-130 fleet and is delivered jointly by Rolls-Royce, Marshall Aerospace and Lockheed Martin, will continue until 2015. Salamander Energy, the upstream oil and gas company focused on Thailand and Indonesia, has announced a successful appraisal of the Tutung gas-condensate discovery in Indonesia. The firm drilled the Tutung Alpha-3 (TA-3) well to a depth of 3,351 metres and found stacked sequences of deltaic sandstones in the target section. These sandstone intervals were evaluated using logging while drilling log data and wire-line pressure testing and gas and fluid sampling.Drinks giant Diageo is set to buy Ypioca, one of Brazil's largest cachaca brands in Brazil, the company announced on Monday. Diageo, which already owns well-known brands such as Smirnoff and Guiness, said it has reached an agreement with Ypioca Agroindustrial Limitada to purchase its white rum brand for 900m Brazilian real, or £300m, in cash.