Aberdeen reports 25% profit growth in second quarter
London open
City sources predict the FTSE 100 will open 42 points higher than Friday's close of 6,985.95.
Stocks to watch
Outflows continued to outweigh inflows at Aberdeen Asset Management in the second quarter but the fund management group still increased profits 25%. Despite a £11.3bn outflow of net new business, assets under management were 2% higher than a year ago at £330.6bn, with revenue up 20% to £605.2m and underlying profit before tax 25% higher at £270.2m.
Pub group Greene King served up a 0.4% rise in retail like-for-like sales and total sales growth of 6.3% for its just-completed full year. As it nears completion of its acquisition of Spirit Group, the FTSE 250 company said it saw margins deteriorate 40 basis points in the second half, though this was largely expected.
In the press
The Times has said that RBS was under pressure to strip companies of their assets to improve its balance sheet. "The bank’s global restructuring group, which was supposed to help businesses in trouble with debt, was given a remit by RBS’s management to focus on reducing exposure to businesses that had badly affected its capital position," the paper said.
"Ed Miliband's commitment to set a legal target for decarbonising the UK power sector by 2030 is likely to cost upwards of £200bn", according to analysis conducted by The Telegraph.
A report by KPMG has showed that first-time buyers in London need to earn at least £77,000 a year to be able to buy their first home, nearly double the £41,000 minimal national average, writes The Independent.
US close
Financial stocks helped Wall Street indices close with moderate gains on Monday following day which showed that factory orders growth reached an eight-month high in March.
The S&P 500 gained 0.3% to 2,114.49, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3% to 18,070.40, while the Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.2% to 5,016.93.
Analysts noted that volatility was low on Monday with UK markets closed for a bank holiday, while volumes were below the 30-day average.
Data released during the session showed that US factory orders climbed 2.1% in March, more or less in line with expectations.