		<div class="wpcnt">
			<div class="wpa">
				<span class="wpa-about">Advertisements</span>
				<div class="u top_amp">
							<amp-ad width="300" height="265"
		 type="pubmine"
		 data-siteid="111265417"
		 data-section="2">
		</amp-ad>
				</div>
			</div>
		</div><p><a href="http://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/ftse-boosted-by-strong-bskyb-result.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full" title="The FTSE 100 Index was up 8.7 points at 5977.8 by midday" src="http://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/min-ftse-boosted-by-strong-bskyb-result.jpg" alt="The FTSE 100 Index was up 8.7 points at 5977.8 by midday"/></a></p>
<p>BSkyB shares rose another 2% as strong half-year results heaped more pressure on Rupert Murdoch&#8217;s News Corp to seal a deal for the broadcaster.</p>
<p>With BSkyB posting a 26% rise in half-year operating profits to £520 million, shares rose 14.5p to 772p and are well above the 700p proposed by NewsCorp in the summer before it embarked on its quest for regulatory approval.</p>
<p>The wider FTSE 100 Index was up 8.7 points at 5977.8 despite seeing the Dow Jones Industrial Average fail to maintain its position above the 12,000 mark.</p>
<p>Asian markets were mixed as Japan reported accelerating export growth but expectations remained that China was gearing up for another interest rate hike to dampen economic growth.</p>
<p>Other risers in London included pharmaceuticals giant AstraZeneca, which added 50p to 3123.5p, after it reported a smaller-than-expected drop in fourth quarter profits of 5% to $2.7 billion (£1.7 billion).</p>
<p>The performance of key brands such as cholesterol product Crestor helped it weather testing conditions, while revenues from emerging markets grew to more than $5 billion (£3.1 billion), with China accounting for one-fifth.</p>
<p>It warned of a challenging few years for the industry, but Astra said it continued to plan for annual revenues in the range of $28 billion (£17.7 billion) and $34 billion (£21.5 billion) over the 2010 to 2014 period.</p>
<p>Next led the FTSE 100 fallers board as investors reacted to a worse-than-expected update from Sweden&#8217;s H&#038;M after a fall in profits due to higher cotton prices. Next fell 2%, or 42p to 2043p, while Marks &#038; Spencer dropped 2.9p to 363.1p and Primark owner Associated British Foods fell 8p to 1091p.</p>
<p>Outside the top flight, shares in pub companies were on the front foot after Harvester owner Mitchells &#038; Butlers kicked off the sector&#8217;s reporting season with bumper sales figures for Christmas and New Year. Like-for-like sales jumped 6.7% in the key 12-day trading period and helped the All Bar One firm to overcome weather disruption in the early part of December. </p>
<p>There was a knock-on effect for other pub companies as Greene King, which is due to report figures on Monday, lifted 18.4p to 466.1p and Marston&#8217;s added 1.6p to 103.1p ahead of its own trading update on Friday.</p>
			<div style="padding-bottom:15px;" class="wordads-tag" data-slot-type="belowpost">
				<div id="atatags-dynamic-belowpost-69e13036d8412">
					<script type="text/javascript">
						window.getAdSnippetCallback = function () {
							if ( false === ( window.isWatlV1 ?? false ) ) {
								// Use Aditude scripts.
								window.tudeMappings = window.tudeMappings || [];
								window.tudeMappings.push( {
									divId: 'atatags-dynamic-belowpost-69e13036d8412',
									format: 'belowpost',
								} );
							}
						}

						if ( document.readyState === 'loading' ) {
							document.addEventListener( 'DOMContentLoaded', window.getAdSnippetCallback );
						} else {
							window.getAdSnippetCallback();
						}
					</script>
				</div>
			</div>
Discover more from London Glossy Post
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
