London pre-open: Tiny loss to start

14th May 2009 07:37

Last night's three-figure plunge on Wall Street had been expected to weigh on trade in London Thursday, but indications are that the FTSE 100 will open just a few points lower.Telecoms giant BT is likely to steal the headlines. It suffered a 40% slump in pre-tax profit during the four quarter, forcing the firm to slash its dividend and announce plans to axe another 15,000 jobs. Fourth quarter pre-tax profit plunged to £429m from £714m a year ago and by 21% for the full year to £2.08bn. Final quarter revenue rose just 1% to £5.47bn, leaving the annual figure up by 3% at £21.39bn. BT, which sacked 5,000 full-time staff last year and about 10,000 indirect employees, said it expects further reductions of "a similar level" next year as part of a plan to slash spending by £2.7bn. The final of 1.1p a share is down from 10.4p a year ago and gives a total payout of just 6.5p.Insurer Prudential called a 5% drop in insurance sales during the first quarter to £697m a "resilient" performance and boasted asset management net inflows of £2.7bn. Sales in Asia fell 11% versus the same time last year, but were roughly in line with the fourth quarter of 2008 at £333m. Jackson in the US was up9 12% to £184m thanks to positive currency moves, but the UK saw total sales drop 6% to £180m. The M&G business enjoyed net inflows of £2.5 billion. Its Insurance Groups Directive (IGD) capital surplus is estimated at £2bn.Brewing giant SABMiller posted a fall in pre-tax profits in the year to March 31 as beer drinkers began to feel the effects of the global financial crisis towards the end of the period. Pre-tax profit slipped to $2.96bn from $3.26bn even as higher pricing in some markets helped lift revenue to $25.3m from $23.8m. The firm, which makes Miller, Peroni and Castle beers, said it was affected by high commodity prices, the strength of the US dollar and weak economic conditions.Consumer electricals retailer Kesa said it will cut jobs and close some of its stores in Spain as it announced a 7.5% drop in total like-for-like sales. It said actions are being taken to stabilise the Menaje Del Hogar business, which is expected to post a higher than anticipated loss of around €26m. These include the closure of one warehouse and distribution centre, streamlining the head office functions, store closures and a reduction in the number of staff working in the remaining store chain. A strong performance from its rail division helped engineer Invensys lift revenues and maintain profitability in the year to March 31. Profit before tax fell to £165m from £199m the previous year, even as revenue climbed to £2.28bn from £2.10bn. The company faced various exceptional charges during the period, including those related to restructuring. Revenues at the division climbed to £636m from £539m. Invensys said it expects to improve its overall performance in the coming year.