London open: Bright start for Footsie

Footsie has made good progress in early dealing with miners rallying and some decent results this morning.Mobile giant Vodafone expects to see revenues in its core business grow again in the current year after recent declines with a promise of dividend growth of at least 7% for the next three years. Underlying profits were £11.5bn with something similar promised for 2011.British Land had a "good" year despite the challenging and volatile markets, lifting net asset value (NAV) by 27%, more than many analysts had predicted. The real estate giant revealed net asset value per share at 31 March 2010 was 504p, while the portfolio valuation grew 13.5%, reflecting a greater weighting in prime out-of-town retail and London office assets which generate strong and growing income flows.AstraZeneca has signed a deal with Teva Pharmaceuticals USA to settle patent litigation regarding Teva's proposed generic version of Astra's Entocort EC (budesonide) capsules used to treat Crohn's disease. The Anglo-Swedish drug giant has granted Teva a license to enter the US market with its generic version of oral budesonide on 15 February 2012, subject to regulatory approval, or earlier in certain circumstances.Directories group Yell has announced the departure of its chief executive and chief financial officer at the same time as unveiling a move into profit. Chief executive John Condron and chief financial officer John Davis are to step down. Condron will retire by May 2011, while Davis will leave the company once a successor is in place.The underlying improvement in revenues and margins at medical and engineering group Smiths continued in the three months to end April. "Smiths Group delivered margin improvement and strong cash generation through its programme of operational improvement in the nine months to 1 May 2010," it added.Milk and cheese producer Dairy Crest served up a 5% increase in adjusted annual pre-tax profit, posted a 19% reduction in year end net debt and said trading at the start of the new year is in line with company expectations. The group, whose key brands include Cathedral City, Country Life and Clover, said adjusted pre-tax profit rose to £83.5m for the year ended 31 March 2010 from £79.5m the same time a year earlier. Revenue for the year slipped 1% to £1.6bn. Year-end debt fell to £337.2m from £415.8m.A pre-AGM statement from seviced office group Regus has smacked its share price. "Trading conditions remain tough which is likely to impact our pace of recovery. The UK remains our most difficult region and the early signs of improvement seen in the first quarter have lost some momentum in a fragile market," it said. Astrazeneca British Land Vodafone Smiths Group