London pre-open: Retailers in focus

10th Jan 2011 07:34

A subdued start to the week is in prospect, with Friday's disappointing US jobs data still casting a shadow over proceedings. City traders expect the Footsie will open around 12 points below Friday's closing level.The Christmas trading updates from retailers are starting to come through, and the divide between those grumbling about the effects of the weather and those maintaining a stiff, if frozen, upper lip, is becoming more apparent.Supermarket chain Wm Morrison has kept its forecasts for the full-year unchanged after growing like for like sales excluding fuel by 1% in the six weeks to January 2. In his first Christmas as chief executive, Dalton Philips reported total sales excluding fuel rose 3.1%, or 4.7% including fuel, while like for like sales were up 4% when fuel is included.December's bad weather clipped department store Debenhams' sales growth by 2.5%-3%, though underlying sales still picked up slightly thanks to strong online growth and market share gains. Online grocer Ocado said gross sales in the final quarter of 2010 increased 27.4% as it delivered nearly all its orders despite the extreme weather conditions. The group, whose main customer is Waitrose, said fourth quarter sales increased to £178.9m from £140.5m in the same period a year before. International recruitment firm Michael Page saw organic growth in all regions in the fourth quarter of 2010, with fourth quarter gross profit up 32.2% to £119.8m from £90.6m a year earlier. Tullow Oil had mixed news on Monday morning with success on one well in Ghana but a disappointing outcome on a prospect in Mauretania.