London pre-open: Slovakian hangover

12th Oct 2011 07:26

Slovakia's government became the first to topple over opposition to bailing out indebted Eurozone economies after the country's parliament voted down approval for enhancing the bloc's rescue fund last night.Although the outcome was expected, it has still unnerved markets a little, with the result that City sources predict the FTSE 100 will open down 20 points from yesterday's close of 5,396. On the corporate side, fashion firm Burberry has released second quarter trading figures which have topped market forecasts. The global luxury goods group saw second quarter total revenue rise to £463m from £382m the year before. The Retail side of the business saw revenue rise by to £283m from £195m last year, an underlying rise of 42% with foreign exchange fluctuations stripped out. The Wholesale business saw an underlying increase in revenue of 8% to £153m from £139m in the corresponding quarter of last year. Six monthly revenue rose by an underlying 45% and 9%, respectively, in Retail and Wholesale. With the effects of the September 2010 Chinese acquisition stripped out, underlying growth rates for the half-year were 31% (retail) and 20% (wholesale).Defence specialist BAE Systems has traded in line with expectations in the second half of 2011, and continues to expect that full-year underlying earnings per share will be similar to 2010's restated earnings.Precious metals miner Fresnillo is lowering its full-year production guidance for silver but upping it for gold. Silver output this year, previously expected to be around 44m ounces, is now expected to be 41m ounces, while gold production is now expected to be around 430,000 ounces, versus a previous projection of 400,000 ounces. --jh