London pre-open: Stocks set to fly

8th Jul 2010 07:57

London is set to follow Wall Street's lead and get off to a flying start, with traders predicting the FTSE 100 will open around 58 points higher.AB Foods is on course to deliver "very good progress" on earnings for the year after its Silver Spoon sugar business and discount clothes chain Primark put in a solid performance during the third quarter. Revenue in the 16 weeks to 19 June is up 13%, aided by a 44% surge in sugar revenues and 15% increase at the retail business. It's up 14% for the first 40 weeks of the financial year.Fund manager Henderson said recurring profit for the six months ended 30 June is expected to rise to between £47m and £49m compared with £27.1m last time. This is after recognising deal costs of £3m after Henderson scrapped its planned acquisition of fund boutiques run by US asset manager RidgeWorth Capital Management.Under pressure social housing firm Connaught is looking for a new chief executive after current boss Mark Tincknell stood down to recover from recent health issues. Finance director Stephen Hill has also decided his time is up at the company and will be leaving at the end of October this year.