London pre-open: Higher start expected

19th Oct 2009 07:49

Footsie is expected to edge higher in early dealings. National Express has confirmed it is considering a possible merger proposal from rival bus and train group Stagecoach but is also pressing ahead with its plans for an equity issue to relieve its debt burden.Distribution group Bunzl said it had seen a slight improvement in revenues since reporting first half results and that it was benefiting from cost-reduction initiatives.Bookmaker William Hill suffered from the absence of draws in the Premier League and an unusual run of horse racing results in the last three months despite good volumes of business. Net revenue fell 36% in the three months to end September with the successful punters cutting the net revenue margin to 3.2% compared with 7.0% in 2008.Insurance group Standard Life has announced that its finance director David Nish is to succeed Sir Sandy Crombie as chief executive. Nish joined Standard Life on November 1 2006, having held senior positions at Scottish Power.Printing group St Ives reported a full year loss as the group battles against extreme competition and an oversupplied market. The group, which prints the Economist and Vogue magazines, said loss before tax came in at £7.2m for the 52 weeks ended 31 July 2009 compared with a profit of £30.6m.Petropavlovsk, the new name for Peter Hambro Mining, remains on track to produce 500,000 ounces of gold this year even though output fell in the three months to September. Total production in the three months to September dropped from 124,300 ounces to 123,600 ounces. Total production for the year so far is 346,200 ounces, up from 268,900.