London pre-open: Strong start expected

Footsie is expected to post good gains in early dealings, despite a lower finish on Wall Street last night.

Contract caterer Compass Group saw little growth in revenue when it declared full year results this morning, but pre-tax profit still showed a healthy rise on the back of a strong improvement in margins and currency gains. Pre-tax profit came to £773m, up from £566m last year, on sales of £13,444m, up 17.5% on a reported basis or up 1.3% on a constant currency basis.

Water company United Utilities is to look at selling off other parts of its non-regulated business after agreeing to sell its holdings in Northern Gas Networks and Manila Water for £130m. The disposals were announced alongside the company's half year results which showed an improvement in underlying profit before tax to £268.2m from £252.6m a year earlier, although reported profit before tax, which includes exceptional items, tumbled to £206.1m from £305.8m.

Defence technology group QinetiQ posted a slight fall in profits in the six months to September 30 and said some orders were being delayed in the UK and US amid uncertainty over government spending. Pre-tax profits fell to £45.1m from £45.9m over the same period the previous year as revenues climbed to £806.3m from £727.4m.

Weak car production and lower metals prices earlier this year took their toll on platinum refiner Johnson Matthey's first half, though it expects an improvement over the rest of the year.

Design and engineering consultancy group WS Atkins reported a 13% drop in first half profit but said it is well placed to make good progress in the second half of the year. Pre-tax profit fell to £43.5m in the six month ended 30 September compared with £50m last time.