London pre-open: Bright start expected

Footsie is expected to win back some recent losses in early dealings on a busy day on the company news front.Pay TV and Internet service provider British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB) had a strong second quarter with revenues coming in marginally ahead of expectations. Turnover in the six months to the end of December 2009 was £2.87bn, up 10% from £2.60bn the year before and better than the £2.86bn some brokers were tipping.South African platinum miner Lonmin reiterated its sales and cost guidance for the year but said tonnes mined from its Marikana underground operations fell slightly in the first quarter.Sugar and sweetener manufacturer Tate & Lyle said its third quarter performance was marginally below expectations due to lower sales of industrial products in the Americas. Private equity group 3i said it has started 2010 in a strong financial position and has continued to see good realisations from its portfolio.Rolls-Royce has won a share of an order from Jetstar Airways for V2500 engines to power up to 90 Airbus A320 family aircraft. The order is worth up to $1.2bn to Rolls-Royce if all options are exercised.The dark days appear to be behind specialist mortgage lender Paragon, with the company's portfolio of loans performing in line, but the group is not yet ready to start lending again. Redemptions in the final quarter of 2009 remained low and at similar levels to those seen in the six months to the end of September, while customer payment performance continues to be superior to market wide data, the company said.