London pre-open: Quiet start on the cards

19th Jan 2010 07:38

There's no lead from Wall Street this morning as US markets were closed for a public holiday yesterday, meaning a flat start for stocks over here.Investors are hoping for news from Dairy Milk maker Cadbury today, which is reported to have fallen to an £11.7bn takeover by US food conglomerate Kraft last night. Kraft is thought to have agreed to pay 840p for each Cadbury share and dish out a 10p-per-share dividend, making 850p in total.FT publisher Pearson has raised its forecasts for 2009 for the second time in three months after strong growth in US higher education and a better than expected result from the FT. Pearson now expects headline growth in adjusted earnings per share of around 10% (against adjusted EPS of 57.7p in 2008), which is "ahead of our previous guidance and the current consensus of market expectations of 61p", it said.Land Securities continued to perform well in the third quarter, it said today. The firm will begin three development projects in London this year with a total development cost of around £655m, including incremental capital expenditure to completion of about £345m. "Our financial strength allows us to be first off the block with our London development programme,' said chief executive Francis Salway.Drinks giant SABMiller says lager volumes on an organic basis were flat in the third quarter versus the year before and down 1% for the first nine months of the financial year. Soft drinks volumes grew 2% in the quarter on an organic basis. Overall, the financial performance during the quarter was in line Luxury fashion label Burberry expects profits for the full year to be at the top end of expectations after seeing strong sales in the last three months of 2009. Total sales during the quarter were up by 12% to £380m. The retail arm saw sales climb by 16%, or 10% on a like-for-like basis, helped by strong sales of outerwear and non-apparel items. Wholesale revenues were up by 5%.Carphone Warehouse expects its full year earnings to be at the top end of expectations after seeing strong trading at both its divisions in the third quarter. At its retail arm, the firm expects its share of joint venture Best Buy Europe's net income in the year to March 2010 to be £40m-£45m, versus previous guidance at the top end of the £30m to £40m range. Best Buy Europe is a joint venture between Carphone Warehouse and the US electricals Broadband arm TalkTalk's customer base is seen at the top end of guidance of 4.1m to 4.2m.Spread bet firm IG Group upped its interim dividend by 25% after another record first half for sales and profits as bad debts fell sharply. Trading revenue in the six months to 30 November 2009 rose 14% to £143.8m, (10% on a constant currency basis), while adjusted profit before tax was £78.0m, up 34%. Pre-tax profits were 26% higher at £69m.