LONDON (ShareCast) - Footsie is poised for a flat start with British Gas group Centrica the main point of interest early on.

Centrica says first-half group operating profit will be "materially below" that of last year due to lower profitability at its British Gas business despite its upstream business booming. "At current forward wholesale gas prices operating profit in the upstream gas production business will be very strong, although this will be partially offset by the additional losses in the industrial and commercial gas sales contracts," it said.

Trading systems software group Fidessa predicts results this year will be at the upper end of market forecasts. " The year has started well with strong revenue growth and stable margins. Good progress has been made across all regions and product lines and the indications are that the structural changes in the market, which occurred in 2007, are resulting in increased fragmentation of liquidity, which is driving demand for our product set, " it said.

Care-home operator Southern Cross Healthcare lifted underlying profits by 41% to £30.8m in the six months to March, slightly better than forecasts. The number of beds rose 14% to just over 37,000 at the end of the first half.

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