London open: Flat start for blue chips

14th Dec 2010 08:50

A dull start for Footsie was predicted and that's how it has turned out with the weak ending on Wall Street keeping buyers quiet.The Dow Jones had been trading near two-year highs when London closed, but ended with a lead of just 18 points.In UK company news, Go-Ahead, the company that operates the snow-affected Southeastern rail franchise, thinks it will make more money than expected in the first half, thanks mainly to its trains business. The Newcastle based firm, which also operates the Southern and London Midland rail franchises through its majority owned subsidiary Govia, said overall trading has been "good". Another booming quarter for its coffee chain Costa helped Whitbread lift sales by 13.6% over the past three months, with like-for-like revenue up 6.8%. The hotels and restaurants divisions also posted good numbers, but Costa is the star. Sales here in the 13 weeks to end November rose by 31% with like-for-like sales up 11%.Underwriter Beazley has dropped its bid for rival Hardy after failing to agree on a price. Beazley says it submitted a final proposal to the board of Hardy on Monday outlining a possible offer of up to 350p per share with some conditions. "Hardy's advisers confirmed that the Hardy board would only be prepared to recommend a price substantially in excess of the final proposal and, as a result, Beazley today announces the withdrawal of its interest," its statement said.Coal-fired power station Drax expects to beat market forecasts this year after a good performance during the recent cold spell. Travis Perkins, the builders' merchant buying plumbing supplies firm BSS for £½bn, grew turnover by 6.5% in the 11 months to 30 November, though snow has affected business this month. The owner of the Wickes DIY chain said it continues to gain like-for-like market share in both its merchanting and retail divisions.Chipmaker Imagination Technologies is to buy 3D graphic firm Caustic Graphics for $27m to bring 3D graphics to mobile phones. Imagination, whose graphics chip designs are used in Apple's iPad, was widely expected to announce another acquisition alongside its half year results today. The group, who also created the Pure radio brand, recently bought US voice over internet protocol (VOIP) operator HelloSoft for up to $47m. JKX Oil & Gas has completed and tested horizontal well R-103 in the Rudenkovskoye gas field in Poltava, Ukraine, and initial flow rates have exceeded expectations.