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Date: Friday 02 May 2008
LONDON (ShareCast) - London is tipped for a bright start following the strong rally on Wall Street overnight. Traders are tipping Footsie to add over 35 points with banks likely to be the centre of attention.
Barclays could be busy on the widely reported departure of Paul Idzik, chief operating officer and one of the key lieutenants in efforts by John Varley, chief executive, to overhaul the bank’s culture and management. It will also raise speculation about a possible rights issue.
Royal Bank of Scotland may be boosted by a report in the Telegraph that private equity firm Texas Pacific Group is considering a bid for its insurance arm. "It is very premature and no decision has yet been made to bid for it, but TPG is interested,"the report said.
Property group Capital & Regional (C&R) faces another tough day after yesterday's rout on worries concerns that its flagship fund had breached its banking covenants. After the market closed the company acknowledged the “market concern around the capital structure of the Mall Fund”.
Rentokil shareholders face the prospect of a dividend cut after its problems within its parcels business, City Link, hit it hard in the first quarter. Revenue rose by 6.6% to £553.6m but profits slumped by 59% to £14.6 m after a loss of £15.4m at City Link. Excluding City Link, revenue rose by 8% and adjusted operating profit up 0.7%. Rentokil added that its current dividend is not sustainable and will be reviewed.
Reinsurance broker Benfield expects 2008's trading result to be marginally below 2007 due to currency moves and a softening reinsurance market. "Benfield has not been materially affected by the global credit crisis, and although it has had an adverse effect on some reinsurers, the overall impact on the global reinsurance market has been muted," it said in a statement.