London pre-open: Pause for breath

9th Feb 2011 07:43

London looks set to pause for breath after a couple of days of decent gains. City traders expect the blue-chip index to open around 17 points down from last night's close.London Stock Exchange is locked in merger talks with Canadian peer TMX that could lead to the creation of the world's largest stock exchange by numbers of companies listed. "London Stock Exchange Group confirms that it is in advanced discussions with TMX Group regarding a possible merger of equals to create an international exchange leader," it said in a statement. The combined group, which jointly would be worth about £5.5bn, would also be the home for most mining company listings. The two groups have roughly equal market values at present.Reckitt Benckiser, the company that makes Dettol and Cillit Bang, enjoyed strong profit growth in 2010 as developing markets offset a decline in Europe. The company posted a profit before tax for the 12 months of £2.14bn, up 13% from £1.89bn in 2009. Revenue was up 9% at actual exchange rates, or 7% at constant rates, to £8.45bn. Both were a touch below consensus estimates.Newspaper publisher and exhibitions organiser Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) said underlying revenue in the final three months of 2010 was up 5%. "Trading in the first quarter has been in line with our expectations, despite our consumer businesses being hampered by the poor weather in December," said chief executive Martin Morgan.