Market report: Friday latest
According to spreadbetters IG Index, the FTSE 100 index is expected to open around 18 points higher at 6398. The index ended 23.8 points firmer yesterday at 6380.9.
Overnight on Wall Street, the Dow Jones closed 52.39 lower at 12,686.02 as Iran’s refusal to suspend uranium enrichment rattled investors.
Another set of results from the banking sector should draw the most attention early on today.
Lloyds TSB, the UK’s fifth-biggest bank, is expected to report a 7.2% increase in full-year profit on Friday, helped by tight cost controls, stable bad-debt charges, and a strong performance from its Scottish Widows life and pensions business.
The bank should report underlying pretax profit for last year of 3.7bn, up from 3.45bn in the previous year, according to the consensus of 24 analyst estimates compiled by the company.
Lloyds TSB is also likely to be quizzed over its intentions regarding closed life insurance subsidiary Life, following a weekend press report that the bank is trying to sell the business for about 1bn.
The other set of blue-chip results due today will come from advertising giant WPP Group.
The world’s second-largest advertising and marketing group, home to Young Rubicam and J Walter Thompson agencies, is expected to hit its target of 5% organic revenue growth for 2006.
The average analysts’ forecast supplied by the company is for pretax profit excluding exceptional items of 852m, compared to 755m a year earlier, on revenue of 5.87bn, up from 5.37bn.
Aside from WPP’s trading outlook investors and media companies will focus on any pronouncements on the beleaguered UK advertising industry by chief executive Martin Sorrell.
On the second line, hotels group Millennium Copthorne’s full year results are expected to have benefited from strong booking trends across Europe, America and Asia.
Analysts expect the group, which operates 105 hotels worldwide, to post pretax profits of about 88-97m, up from 74m in 2005.
Investors will also be hoping for some news on whether the company intends to unlock further value and push more of hotels into a REIT-style investment. Last year, M&C folded three of its Singapore hotels into an Asian tax-efficient vehicle.
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