London pre-open: Positive start likely

7th Jul 2009 07:34

London's blue chips look set to open slightly higher after spending most of the day firmly in negative territory yesterday. Traders are expecting Footsie to open up 18 points.Housebuilder Persimmon said it has seen both volume and revenues improve recently and expects that trend to continue against the weak conditions experienced throughout the second half of 2008. The group also said unless there is a substantial change in current market conditions, it does not expect to make any further land writedowns. Recruitment firm Michael Page saw gross profit in the second quarter fall 45% and warned of a challenging third quarter. Operating profit from trading activities was similar to the first quarter at around £3m. The group also said headcount has been decreased by 429 (10.4%) in the quarter to 3,705 at June 2009, which is 33.1% lower than the peak at 30 June 2008. Self-storage group Big Yellow reported a 6% drop in quarterly store revenues but said trading conditions have continued to show an improvement. Total store revenue for the first quarter ended 30 June was £13.5m compared with £14.3m for the same quarter last year, but revenue rose 1% from the quarter to 31 March 2009. JJB Sports has rallied around chief executive Sir David Jones after allegations of a conflict of interest as it confirmed he has a £1.5m loan outstanding with Mike Ashley, the owner of JJB's main rival Sports Direct. JJB today said the £1.5m business loan was used for investment in Advanced Network Technologies, a private technology company in which Sir David and his family are majority investors.Home shopping company N Brown Group saw turnover increase by 5.1% in the 18 weeks ended 4 July, with contributions from all major customer and product groups.In the Press, the Telegraph writes that the centrepiece of the Government's plan to overhaul financial regulation has been delayed, perhaps until after the election.