London pre-open: Stocks on the front foot

14th Nov 2011 07:29

London is set to pick up where it left off at Friday's close, with City sources predicting the FTSE 100 will open up 31 points from yesterday's close of 5,545. Broadcaster ITV said total external revenues in the first nine months of 2011 were up 4% at £1,515m from £1,456m in the corresponding period of last year. "The continued management emphasis on cash generation and cost reduction has delivered further improvements to our financial position and we are on track to be net cash positive at year end. This is a substantial improvement given that our net debt stood at £612m at the beginning of 2010," said Adam Crozier, chief executive of ITV.Underlying profit before tax of $315m at platinum miner Lonmin was up 32.9% on the year before. Net debt over the course of the year was reduced by 37.6% to $234m.Oil and gas firm BG Group has raised its estimate of potential production from its Carioca discovery, off the coast of Brazil, to around 28,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd). The well is currently producing 23,400 bopd.Accountancy software titan Sage is being sued by Archer Capital for around A$150m damages following the termination of discussions between Sage and Archer relating to the potential purchase of Australian rival MYOB. --jh