London pre-open: Stocks to slip back

13th Apr 2010 07:36

Stocks are expected to be broadly lower in early dealings, with the retail sector coming into focus following upbeat March sales figures and a rise in profits from Debenhams.UK retail sales in March rose at their fastest rate in almost four years thanks to the earlier timing of Easter this year, new figures from the British Retail Consortium show. Total retail sales rose 6.6% against only 0.6% growth in March 2009. On a like-for-like basis, sales rose 4.4% from last year when sales had dropped 1.2%.Department store Debenhams posted a healthy rise in profits in the half year to 27 February as it shifted its emphasis to sales of higher margin own bought clothing from designer labels. Pre-tax profits rose to £114.5m from £102.2m, with revenues climbing to £1.19bn from £1.06bn.Residential property owner Grainger expects to report a 42% jump in completed sales from its core and retirement solutions portfolio to about £78.5m in the six month ended 31 March. These completed sales include £5.2m of investment sales (sales with a tenant in place) and £14.9m of one-off sales of land and associated assets from its agricultural portfolio.Oil Explorer Tullow has announced another find. Tullow Oil said the Kasamene-3 and Kasamene-3A wells in the Butiaba region of Uganda Block 2 have successfully delineated the extent of oil in the Kasamene field and discovered oil in the Wahrindi North fault block.