London open: Steady start for blue chips

13th Jul 2010 08:51

Footsie has made a healthy start with another good news day for BP helping the oil giant recover further. BP shares are up another 4% so far this morning on hopes it is near to stemming the flow of oil spilling into the Gulf of Mexico. A new 75-tonne steel cap was lowered over the damaged well late last night. Reports suggested that for a brief period shortly after the new cap was installed oil stopped leaking from the Macondo well, though it resumed soon after through a valve to relieve a pressure build-up. BP shares are up by a third from their low point during the Gulf of Mexico crisis.Underlying revenue at luxury goods maker Burberry was up 24% in the May to June quarter. Underlying retail sales were up 15% while underlying wholesale revenue rose by 46% from a year earlier. "With double-digit sales growth in both retail and wholesale, Burberry has delivered a strong start to the year," said chief executive officer Angela Ahrendts.Northern Foods' sales fell in the first quarter as good growth in chilled foods could not offset falls in the bakery and frozen divisions. Overall, sales in the three months to end June were 1.6% lower, in line with the firm's targets in 'challenging conditions'.Engineering and project management company AMEC has won a five year master services agreement with BP Azerbaijan valued at $340m.Home furnishings retailer Dunelm should beat full-year profit forecasts despite a drop in like for like (LFL) during the fourth quarter. LFL sales grew 8% in the year to 3 July following a marked slowdown during the last six months to just 0.8% from 15.4% during the first half. They actually fell 1.9% in the final 13 weeks, reflecting strong comparatives with the previous year. Specialty pharmaceuticals business BTG is enjoying continued momentum across the business with its pipeline of prospects progressing well. "We look forward to selling CroFab and DigiFab from October this year, and to seeing the full financial benefits of this from next year," said chief executive officer, Louise Makin.African Minerals shot forward as it tied up a $1.5bn investment in its iron ore project at Tonkolili, Sierra Leone from Shandong Iron & Steel.Shares in mobile phone payments provider Monitise surged 9% after it said full year revenues are estimated to be around £6m, up 120% from the year before and as it announced plans to raise £32.4m.Online betting group Webis warned that trading for the full year ended 30 May 2010 will be significantly below the group's previous expectations.