London pre-open: Bad news for Footsie

A three-figure retreat on Wall Street overnight looks like turning City dealing screens red in opening deals, with tensions in Korea and debt fears in Europe casting a cloud.The Dow Jones fell more than 140 points Tuesday and London is expected to lose 40 points in no time at all, according to futures prices.In company news, Capital Shopping Centres (CSC), formerly part of Liberty International, has confirmed it is close to agreeing the purchase of Manchester's Trafford Centre in a deal worth £1.6bn. The company is in "advanced discussions" that would seal the UK's largest property transaction and make billionaire John Whittaker CSC's biggest shareholder. CSC, currently worth £2.2bn, is also mulling a placing of 9.9% of its existing issued share capital, which it will need to complete for the acquisition to go ahead.Speciality chemicals group Johnson Matthey saw good growth in most of its markets in the first half, especially catalysts for light duty vehicles in North America and Asia. Profit before tax rose to £144.1m in the half-year to 30 September from £109.5m the year before. Underlying profit before tax surged 44% to £164.3m from £114.4m in 2009. Revenue climbed 28% to £4,562m from £3,577m a year earlier."The outlook for the second half of the year for the group is good and we expect that the results will be broadly in line with those of the first half," said Neil Carson, chief executive of Johnson Matthey.A bullish Compass has upped its dividend by a third as cash and new business flowed through the contract caterer's door over the past year. Revenues rose by 7.6% to £14.5bn in the year to September, with underlying growth of 3.2%. Pre-tax profits rose 18% to £913m, with margins up by 40 basis points. Underlying operating profits were a record £1bn. "We are excited by the growth opportunities we have around the world and the new business pipeline is strong," chief executive Richard Cousins said.Interim results from water supplier United Utilities were slightly ahead of management expectations. In the six months to 30 September the company made an underlying profit before tax of £196.2m, down from £258.2m the year before.