London pre-open: Strasbourg hangover

25th Nov 2011 07:16

Residual disappointment with the outcome of yesterday's meeting of German, French and Italian leaders in Strasbourg is set to dampen sentiment at the outset, with City sources predicting the FTSE 100 will open down 21 points from yesterday's close of 5,128. The markets had hoped the meeting would produce some kind of plan to reduce the pressure on bond debt yields. No such plan was forthcoming, with Germany refusing absolutely to allow the European Central Bank to start directly buying eurozone debt. Instead, Germany is emphasising tough new rules to make sure countries never borrow more than they can pay.Water firm Severn Trent has declared an interim dividend of 28.04p, up 7.7% on last year in line with its policy of increasing payments by three percentage points above retail price inflation. Interim profit before tax tumbled 35.4% to £65.3m from £101.1m the year before, but with exceptional items and losses on financial instruments stripped out, profits were more or less flat, at £155.0m, versus £168.0m last year.Contract caterer Compass is looking to clean up in South Africa, after acquiring Supercare Services Group for an undisclosed sum. Supercare is one of South Africa's leading cleaning companies. In the year to 28 February 2011, Supercare generated revenue of around £63.6m and had gross assets of about £12m.Cash-strapped food manufacturer Premier Foods is to get a new chief financial officer. Mark Moran, previously finance director at Durex condoms maker SSL International, will replace Jim Smart early next month, though Smart will hang around for a month to enable a smooth hand-over. --jh