London pre-open: Strong start to week expected

9th Nov 2009 07:35

London looks ready to start the week in style following the latest G20 meeting and after Wall Street found plenty of support at the 10,000 level on Friday afternoon.A statement issued after this weekend's G20 summit reassured marlkets that there would be no premature withdrawal of economic stimulus packages. "The recovery is uneven and remains dependent on policy support, and high unemployment is a major concern," read a G20 statement. "To restore the global economy and financial system to health, we agreed to maintain support for the recovery until it is assured."Futures prices indicate an early 45-point lead fo the FTSE 100.In company news, mining giant Anglo American has added former Sainsbury chairman, Sir Philip Hampton, to the board in a non-executive role. Hampton has been chairman of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) since February 2009. G4S said things have bee steady at security services firm since August's interims, with operating profit for the first nine months of 2009 up 25% at actual exchange rates and revenue up by 23%. At constant exchange rates, profit rose 12% and revenue by 9%.Surging data revenues helped satellite operator Inmarsat lift profits by nearly a third over the past three months. Revenue overall in the three months to September rose by 8.7% to $176.7m (2008: $162.5m). Profit before tax rose by 31% to $70m. Free cash flow rose 6% to $102.9m (2008: $54.0m).Insurer and reinsurer Beazley has seen strong growth in premiums written this year, even after it pushed through rate increases. Gross premiums written in the first nine months of 2009 rose 45% to £861.9m from £595.4m in the first nine months of last year.Sales slumped further at Aer Lingus over the past three months with revenue down by nearly 10% as fares came under heavy pressure both on short-haul and long-haul flights.Oil and gas production levels were both higher in the third quarter at energy company JKX Oil and Gas. Total production in the third quarter of 2009 rose to 13,657 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), up 24% from 10,978 boepd in the same period of 2008.