London pre-open: Retreat continues

18th Oct 2011 07:23

Yesterday's weaker trend is set to continue, with investors waiting for further developments on the Eurozone bailout front.City sources predict the FTSE 100 will open down 47 points from yesterday's close of 5,437.Costa Coffee and Premier Inn owner Whitbread saw group like-for-like sales rise by 3.3% in the six months to the start of September. Total revenue was up 10.7% to £891.3m from £805.4m the year before, while underlying profit before tax was up 15.2% to £174.9m from £151.8m. "The first half performance puts us on track to deliver full year results in line with expectations," said Whitbread's chief executive, Andy Harrison.Bellway, the house builder, saw full-year profit before tax of £67.2m exceed market expectations of £63.8m. Turnover was also higher than expected, at £886m, versus the £859m expected by the market. Completed sales of 4,922 homes were made at an average price of £175,613, a shade above the £175,000 predicted by broker Peel Hunt. The final dividend has been increased by just over 30% to 8.8p.Engineering group IMI has bought TH Jansen Armaturen, a German business specialising in severe service valves and related flow control products, for an enterprise value of €17.5m, including around €5.2m of assumed debt.--jh