London pre-open: Stocks find reverse gear

23rd May 2011 07:39

Most of London's leading stocks are set to head south at the outset, with City traders expecting the top-shares index to dive 56 points from Friday's close of 5,948.Property group British Land reported continuing strong demand for its retail and office properties in spite of economic weakness as it posted a rise in profits and net asset value (NAV) in the year to 31 March. At £256m, underlying pre-tax profits were 9.9% higher than in the previous year. The value of the company's portfolio climbed by 6.9% to £9.6bn, which lifted NAV per share by 12.5% to 567p.Stobart Group's revenue topped the half billion pounds mark but underlying profits at the logistics firm eased a tad in a year characterised by a tough operating environment. Revenue rose to £500.4m from £447.7m the year before. Market consensus had been for revenue of £489.3m. Underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation slipped to £57.2m from £57.4m, while underlying profit before tax fell to £34.5m from £36.0m the year before. House builder and contractor Kier Group has trimmed its portfolio of Private Finance Initiative (PFI) projects with the sale of stakes in two ventures for £9.2m in cash. The group has sold 50% stakes in the Oldham and Norwich Schools projects to an HICL Infrastructure Company Limited and Kajima Partnerships Limited joint venture.---jh