London pre-open: Weaker trend to continue

29th Sep 2011 07:19

Yesterday's late dive is set to continue this morning with City sources predicting the FTSE 100 will open down almost 90 points from yesterday's close of 5,281. Investors are banking some of their recent profits ahead of today's vote in the German Bundestag on the Eurozone bailout fund. Food ingredients group Tate & Lyle has left full-year expectations unchanged after releasing a second quarter (July to September) trading update. The Speciality Food Ingredients division is expected to deliver a year of good sales and profit growth, albeit more modest than the strong result achieved in the prior financial year. The Bulk Ingredients unit should see a continuation of the firm demand for corn sugars in the US and Mexico, and stable demand in the division's other food markets.Outsourcing giant Capita Group has won a contract with The Pensions Regulator to support the regulator's direct communications with employers for automatic enrolment of staff into workplace pension schemes which will be phased in from October 2012. The seven-year contract has an option for the regulator to extend it for a further three years and has an estimated value of £105 million. Struggling package tour firm Thomas Cook said summer booking trends in its key markets have remained largely in line with expectations since it last updated the market at the beginning of August, but September has "been a more challenging month," especially for its French business. Underlying operating profit is expected to be broadly in line with market expectations. The company said it is suspending future dividend payments as it seeks to rebuild its balance sheet.--jh