London pre-open: Small loss likely

24th Feb 2010 07:38

A three-figure slump on Wall Street overnight looks like keeping London in check this morning, with confidence still dented by yesterday's weak US confidence data.Futures prices indicate a small loss for the leading index when trading starts at 8am.Mining giant BHP Billiton's chairman Don Argus has chosen 30 March as the date on which he will relinquish the role and quit the board. As announced in August, Argus will be succeeded by non-executive Jac Nasser who will discontinue executive management responsibilities with One Equity Partners, the private equity arm of JP Morgan, but remain a director at BSkyB.Housebuilder Barratt Developments has cut half year losses and predicts a "significant" improvement in operating margin in the second half versus the first as it begins selling more houses and fewer flats. A loss before tax and exceptionals of £48.5m for the last six months of 2009 was much less than the £80.6m deficit reported a year ago, as was the loss after exceptionals of £178.4m versus £594.5m in 2008. It has already secured 77% of forward sales for the full year and is targeting full year completions of around 11,500 units at 8-10% more than last year due to the change in mix. Heavy restructuring costs sent profits lower at public-sector focused software group Logica last year, though the underlying numbers beat forecasts Sales were flat and the group expects little revenue growth in the current 12 months. Sales in 2009 rose by 3% to £3.7bn, but were down 3% on a pro-forma basis. Adjusted operating profit was £272m (2008 actual: £267m), though pre-tax profits fell to £42.6m from £43.8m as one-off charges jumped to £117.5m from £92.3m.Blacks Leisure has postponed today's EGM to vote on its £20.3m fund raising to give it more time to come to a settlement with 28.5% shareholder Sports Direct, which stated on Monday it would vote against the plan. Blacks will hold the meeting seven days after the talks with Sports Direct, run by billionaire Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley, are concluded. "There can be no guarantee that these discussions will reach a successful conclusion," it added.Contractor and housebuilder Kier delivered profits in line with expectations as it continued to focus on winning work 'at the right price.' Profit before tax virtually halved to £16.7m in the six months to 31 December 2009 from £31.6m in 2008. However, that was after taking an exceptional charge of £13.8m, compared to a one-off credit of £6.3m in 2008. The firm was fined £17.9m in 2009 by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) after the OFT's investigation into cover-pricing in the construction industry. The company has lodged an appeal with the Competition Appeals Tribunal, protesting against the size of the fine.