London pre-open: Stocks to pull back again

29th Jul 2009 07:39

London looks set to slip at the start of trade despite a partial recovery in the US last night that saw Wall Street end with just a small loss.Futures are currently indicating an early 10-point drop for the FTSE 100.The slump in oil prices knocked a third off BG Group's second quarter profit, although the numbers were at the top end of forecasts. Operating profit before tax, including share of joint ventures, fell 32% in the three months ended 30 June to £972m. But it won't hit its 2009 production target of 680,000 boed until 31 March 2010, one quarter later than originally planned. Underlying profit before tax in the first half of 2009 at chocolate and gum maker Cadbury came in ahead of expectations, despite difficult trading in mainland Europe. Underlying profit before tax rose to £262m from £212m, up 24% in actual terms and 11% on a constant currency basis. Some brokers had been predicting a figure of around £255m. Rexam's well -flagged rights issue has been launched with the packaging giant looking to raise £351m at a big discount to the current share price. The interim dividend has also been cut. Terms of the cash call are 4 for 11 at 150p. First half losses of £30m compared to a profit of £140m last time.Detergent maker Reckitt Benckiser continues to shrug off the economic downturn with ease, posting profits and dividends up by a third and raising its estimates for both sales and earnings growth for the full year. Pre-tax profits for the quarter to June jumped to £415m from £315m making a total for the half-year of £816m, up by 40%. Sales rose by nearly a quarter in the latest three months to £1.87bn and by 23% over the half to £3.78bn.