London pre-open: Modest recovery expected

15th Apr 2011 06:52

Stocks are set to open modestly higher with City traders predicting the FTSE 100 index will start around 17 points higher at 5,980.Betting shops and casinos operator Ladbrokes says the potential marriage with online gaming firm 888 is off. The two parties had been engaged in preliminary merger discussions but these has been terminated. The announcement accompanied a first quarter trading update in which business showed a marked pick up towards the end of the reporting period. For the first quarter overall, group net revenue - excluding high rollers - was 2.3% higher than a year earlier, with the period from 16 February showing a 4.2% year on year increase. This was despite a poor Cheltenham festival where the group's net revenue was down £10.7m on the 2010 festival. Paper and packaging firm Mondi has signed a new €750m five-year revolving multi-currency credit facility to refinance its existing €1.55bn credit facility that was due to mature in June 2012.Outsourcing firm The Capita Group has acquired Right Document Solutions Holdings for a consideration of £30m on a cash-free, debt free basis, plus a deferred consideration of up to £10m. RDS provides document consultancy and managed print services through long term contracts with a range of public and private sector clients. ---jh