London pre-open: Greek draft deal to boost FTSE 100

9th Feb 2012 07:29

City sources predict the FTSE 100 will open up 19 points from yesterday's close of 5,876, after a draft financing deal from Athens was leaked to the press which detailed tough austerity measures including a 20% reduction in the Greek minimum wage.Mining giant Rio Tinto has hiked its full-year dividend by 34% after reporting record underlying earnings in 2011, however net earnings were held back by a massive $5.8bn impairment charge relating to its aluminium business. Underlying earnings grew 11% from $14.0bn to $15.5bn in the 12 months ended December 31st, while net earnings sank 59% to $5.8bn, from $14.2bn in 2010. As such, basic earnings per share from continuing operations also took a hit, falling 58% from 731 cents to 303.5 cents.Occupancy, income, estimated rental value and, most importantly of all, underlying profits all rose in the third quarter of property group British Land. Underlying profit before tax in the October to December quarter rose 6.3% to £68m from £654m the year before. The met asset value per share climbed 8.2% to 593p from 548p a year earlier. The company declared an unchanged third quarter dividend of 6.5p, as previously indicated. "Of course, the current economic outlook is uncertain, but overall our business is defensively positioned today and will benefit further as economic growth returns," claimed Chris Grigg, the real estate investment trust's Chief Executive Officer.Earnings before tax shot up by four-tenths from last year in the fourth quarter at gas and oil giant BG Group, as the group benefited from higher prices. Earnings before tax rose to $1,477m in the final quarter of 2011 from $1,056m the year before, pushing up earnings per share to 43.5 cents from 31.2 cents in the corresponding period of 2010. The fourth quarter dividend has been hiked to 12.96 cents from 11.78 cents a year earlier.NR