London open: Flat start despite upbeat stocks news

An unusually large number of company updates for a Friday has been given the thumbs up overall, but traders remain cautious following the slide over the past two days and the top share index is flat.Part-nationalised lender Royal Bank of Scotlandis in demand. It made an underlying first quarter operating profit of £1.05bn, up from £882m the year before. Total income declined to £7.55bn from £8.21bn the year before, as market conditions were not so favourable this time round for the group's investment banking arm, Global Banking and Markets. Unlike Lloyds Banking yesterday, however, the bank made no provision for potential claims relating to the mis-selling of payment protection insurance, saying it is too early to reliably judge how big the financial liability could be, though management admitted it could be substantial.International Consolidated Airlines (IAG) has taken off after it saw an improved performance in the first quarter as it reported its first results since forming from the merger of British Airways and Spain's Iberia. The company posted a pre-tax loss of €47m (£28.5m) for the three months to 31 March, much narrower than the €273m deficit that would have been seen in the same period the previous year had the two companies existed as one entity then. Revenues soared to €3.64bn from €3.15bn.Car insurer Admiral, another strong performer, has seen strong growth so far this year, although things are tougher at the website business Confused.com. Turnover was up by 56% in the first quarter compared with the same period last year at £539m, Admiral said in a trading statement covering 1 January to 5 May.Hotels group Millennium & Copthorne posted higher revenues and profits in the three months to 31 March, but warned that the recovery this year will be more subdued than that seen in 2010. Total revenues rose to £174.2m from £160.5m in the same period the previous year, while profits climbed to £19.7m from £18.6m. RevPAR (revenue per available room, a key measure for the hotel industry) was up to £55.28 from £51.78. Pest control and cleaning firm Rentokil Initial posted a 10.1% drop in first quarter adjusted pre-tax profit but expects business at its struggling City Link to pick up in the next two quarters. Rentokil said it expected a financial improvement at City Link after strong progress since February and as new business wins come on stream towards the latter end of the second quarter and into the third. FTSE 100 - RisersAdmiral Group (ADM) 1,740.00p +4.69%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 42.00p +3.75%International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (IAG) 253.00p +2.85%Carnival (CCL) 2,600.00p +1.96%TUI Travel (TT.) 244.00p +0.87%Unilever (ULVR) 1,964.00p +0.67%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 53.73p +0.66%Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,593.00p +0.66%InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 1,271.00p +0.63%Capita Group (CPI) 728.00p +0.62%FTSE 100 - FallersSchroders (Non-Voting) (SDRC) 1,382.00p -1.14%Essar Energy (ESSR) 423.00p -1.08%Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 2,214.50p -0.94%Schroders (SDR) 1,685.00p -0.88%ARM Holdings (ARM) 562.00p -0.88%Vodafone Group (VOD) 167.78p -0.87%Xstrata (XTA) 1,399.00p -0.78%Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 2,226.00p -0.76%ITV (ITV) 71.60p -0.69%John Wood Group (WG.) 652.50p -0.68%FTSE 250 - RisersRedrow (RDW) 132.00p +4.35%easyJet (EZJ) 353.30p +3.03%JKX Oil & Gas (JKX) 306.30p +2.92%Laird (LRD) 141.20p +2.69%Booker Group (BOK) 62.00p +2.48%Brewin Dolphin Holdings (BRW) 171.10p +1.91%St. Modwen Properties (SMP) 172.20p +1.29%Fenner (FENR) 376.60p +1.29%Stobart Group Ltd. (STOB) 132.90p +1.22%Spectris (SXS) 1,476.00p +1.10%FTSE 250 - FallersMillennium & Copthorne Hotels (MLC) 512.50p -4.21%Hochschild Mining (HOC) 539.50p -4.09%Exillon Energy (EXI) 436.90p -3.00%EnQuest (ENQ) 127.10p -2.61%Gem Diamonds Ltd. (DI) (GEMD) 278.60p -2.18%CSR (CSR) 352.30p -2.14%SThree (STHR) 416.20p -1.96%Perpetual Income & Growth Inv Trust (PLI) 260.20p -1.81%Dunelm Group (DNLM) 477.10p -1.45%Great Portland Estates (GPOR) 407.10p -1.33%