London pre-open: German agreement boosts sentiment

28th Feb 2012 07:27

City sources predict the FTSE 100 will open up 9 points from yesterday's close of 5,916, with Germany's agreement to the Greek bailout package providing a boost to investor sentiment. In companies, last year was a record breaking year on many fronts for Rotork with the valve engineering group setting new highs for revenue, profit and order intake in each of its divisions. Revenue in 2011 rose 17.7%, or 15.9% on an organic constant currency basis, to £447.8m from £380.6m in 2010, ahead of market expectations of turnover of £441.7m.Whitbread saw both reported sales and like-for-like (LFL) sales slow down in the 11 weeks to February 16th, as strong growth at its Costa Coffee chain was met with a more subdued performance at Premier Inn and Hotels and Restaurants. "Following the trend we highlighted in December, industry data has continued to show a soft hotel market in the UK, with a divergence in performance between London and the regions," said Chief Executive Andy Harrison.Outsourcing giant Serco is becoming more international in its outlook with 44% of group revenue now generated outside of the UK. The group said 2011 was a year of "solid operational performance and contract awards across the portfolio", reflected in a 7.4% increase in revenue to £4,646m from £4,327m in 2011. The organic revenue growth rate was 3.5%. The market had been expecting a revenue figure of £4,622m.