Takeover talk for National Express

Takeover talk about National Express continues

Takeover questions and concerns over National Express' rail franchises are likely to dominate when it announces its half-year figures on Thursday.

Its largest shareholder has joined forces with a private equity firm to table a takeover approach for the beleaguered transport business, following the withdrawal of a merger bid from rival FirstGroup.

Spain's Cosmen family, which owns 18.5% of National Express, is working with buy-out firm CVC on the potential deal, that is reported to have valued the firm at £500 million.

The Cosmens took their stake in 2005 when National Express entered the Spanish coach and bus market with the acquisition of Alsa, which was owned by the family.

Meanwhile BP's underlying profits between April and June last year stood at 8.6 billion US dollars (£5.2 billion) but consensus forecasts from 27 analysts predict a surplus around a third of this level this year on Tuesday - at 2.8 billion US dollars (£1.7 billion).

Rival Royal Dutch Shell meanwhile is set to post underlying second-quarter profits on Thursday of around 2.4 billion dollars (£1.5 billion), compared with a return of 8.6 billion US dollars (£5.2 billion) a year earlier.

BP has been making good progress in turning around years of underperformance in its refining performance, and - despite the inevitable impact of falling crude prices on profits - will look for evidence that the momentum is continuing, as well as assurances over the dividend.

A chilly winter and greatly reduced wholesale gas prices are expected to be reflected in British Gas's half year results when parent company Centrica reports on Thursday.

The energy giant has already announced that its residential arm was trading ahead of last year due to increased demand for gas and power during cold snaps in the UK and North America.

British Gas owner cut residential gas prices by 10% in February, followed by a similar cut in electricity tariffs after falling wholesale commodity prices also benefited its domestic business.