A slight move up for UK investors yesterday with the FTSE 100 rising 8.4 points to 5,702. Stronger gainers included Essar Energy and Man Group (up 7.2% and 6.8%) while Imperial Tobacco Group slid almost 5% in value. Overnight, Asian shares have climbed higher thanks to a Chinese central bank capital injection into the money markets. In Europe, Carrefour has seen a 0.8% sales drop though better Q3 results for SABMiller.


Today, we commence with an interim from Associated British Foods (ABF), owner of Silver Spoon and Primark. Group trading results are in line with management expectations and sugar revenues have soared 21% higher. Primark sales are also well ahead, 16% up on last year. Overall, group revenues have climbed 12% higher.

Sales by the UK grocery businesses were encouraging, "particularly in Allied Bakeries where Kingsmill achieved growth," says ABF. "However, strong competition driven by a high level of promotion has affected Kingsmill margins. The business has continued to invest and is reviewing its cost base. Trading remained difficult for George Weston Foods and revenues in the period were in line with last year."

The trading outlook continues to look positive: input commodity costs are subsiding, says ABF, "which will now start to benefit the group. However, AB Sugar is already benefiting from higher sugar prices. We expect growth in sales and adjusted operating profit in the coming year, with the profit improvement weighted towards the second half."

Next, FT publisher Pearson has lifted its 2011 earnings guidance to 85.25p compared to a previous 83p (a lift from 77.5p the year before). Good growth in digital services and the sale of its 50% stake in FTSE International to the LSE gives it more freedom for acquisitions.

"For the year as a whole," it says, "Pearson generated approximately £2bn ($3bn) of digital revenues and approximately £600m ($1bn) of revenues in emerging markets. We now expect to report 2011 adjusted earnings per share growth of approximately 10% (compared to 77.5p per share reported in 2010), ahead of our previous guidance of approximately 83p per share."

Lastly, William Hill. More over-the-counter bets and cash taken from gambling machines has helped the company maintain its 2011 performance. Net revenues for the full year are expected to be up 6% and operating profit is expected to be around £274m, "compared to £276.8m in the prior year, which benefitted from a lower effective machines taxation rate and an exceptionally high margin World Cup."

Online sales continue to surge with year-on-year net revenue growth of 28%. Sportsbook amounts wagered grew by 51% and has more than doubled since 2009, says the company. "Sportsbook net revenue grew by 36%, despite the presence of an outstanding World Cup in the prior year comparatives, with a gross win margin of 7.0% for the year as a whole (2010: 8.0%). Online gaming net revenue grew by 24%, with all verticals in growth."

The Group will announce final results for the 52 weeks ending 27 December 2011 on 24 February.