London pre-open: Revival to continue

18th Mar 2011 07:37

London looks set to pick up where it left off yesterday, with bargain hunters sniffing around oversold stocks.City traders predict the FTSE 100 index will open around 20 points up from last night's closing value of 5,696.Bookmaker William Hill has been granted an extension to the injunction preventing Playtech from selling its stake in William Hill Online. In court yesterday, it was agreed the injunction will stay in place until a further court hearing which is expected to occur in May or shortly thereafter.London and south-east housebuilder Berkeley continues to benefit from the region's position as a pocket of strength in an otherwise gloomy housing market. "Berkeley anticipates reporting earnings at the high end of its expectations for the year ended 30 April 2011 and the investment in work in progress will enable a further growth in earnings in 2011/12 if overall market conditions permit," it said.Fund manager Jupiter, which relisted in June, enjoyed a profit burst in 2010. Profit before tax came in at £42.4m compared with £7.2m in 2009. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) grew 37% o £124.6m.Having lowered expectations in January with a profits warning building services group T. Clarke managed to beat those downgraded expectations. Revenue in 2010 rose to £179.0m versus £175.5m in 2009 and against market expectations of £169.0m. Profit before tax slipped to £5.7m from £7.3m the year before. The market had pencilled in a figure of £5.63m.