Economy
FTSE in tentative rise |
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| Economy | |
| Written by Roberta Murray | |
| Thursday, 14 May 2009 | |
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The FTSE opened lower with telecoms giant BT among the main fallers early on but a slight recovery has taken place by mid morning.
The FTSE 100 index (INDEXFTSE:.FTSE) is 0.45%, or 19.42 points up by 10am on Thursday the 14 May. Brewing giant SABMiller (LON:SAB) posted a fall in pre-tax profits in the year to March 31 as beer drinkers began to feel the effects of the global financial crisis towards the end of the period. Pre-tax profit slipped to $2.96bn from $3.26bn even as higher pricing in some markets helped lift revenue to $25.3m from $23.8m. However this has not deterred investors as stock in SABMiller is up by almost half a percent this morning on the back of the news. BT (LON:BT.A) suffered a 40% slump in pre-tax profit during the four quarter, forcing the firm to slash its dividend and announce plans to axe another 15,000 jobs. Fourth quarter pre-tax profit plunged to £429m from £714m a year ago and by 21% for the full year to £2.08bn. Insurer Prudential (LON:PRU) called a 5% drop in insurance sales during the first quarter to £697m a "resilient" performance and boasted asset management net inflows of £2.7bn. Sales in Asia fell 11% versus the same time last year, but were roughly in line with the fourth quarter of 2008 at £33 3m. Engineering and construction group Balfour Beatty expects to make progress in 2009 after seeing strong trading in its divisions, helped by its exposure to public sector projects. Consumer electricals retailer Kesa said it will cut jobs and close some of its stores in Spain as it announced a 7.5% drop in total like-for-like sales. However, overall the company traded in line with its markets. Power provider National Grid reported a 3% drop in full-year pre-tax profit but said it has made a good start to the new year.
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