London pre-open: Greek delays expected to weigh on stocks

16th Feb 2012 07:25

City sources predict the FTSE 100 will open down 42 points from yesterday's close of 5,892 as the Greek bailout deal continues to be hampered by delays.BAE Systems, the FTSE 100 defence contractor, saw headline sales fall by 14% in the 12 months ended December 31st and said that "little sales growth" is expected for 2012 in the current market conditions. Sales fell from £22,275m last year to £19,154m in 2011 due to a number of factors, including the lower level of Bradley reset/remanufacturing activity and completed Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles (FMTV) programme in the Land & Armaments business, as well as the impact of the UK government's spending review. BAE also experienced a delay in securing some of the contract changes to the Saudi Typhoon programme.Oil and gas market services group Petrofac has acquired UK-based subsea pipeline consulting and engineering services firm KW Limited for an undisclosed sum. KW Limited, based in Fetcham, near Working, is said to have an established reputation in the subsea pipeline market and has gross assets valued at £2.7m at March 31st 2011. DIY retailer Kingfisher saw sales growth in all three of its geographic regions in the 13 weeks to January 28th, though, as expected, like-for-like (LFL) sales in the UK and Ireland were lower than the year before. Total sales were up 2.2% year-on-year, or 4.0% in constant currency terms, while LFL sales were up 0.9%, despite the UK & Ireland's LFL sales being down 1.9% on the corresponding period of the prior year.