London pre-open: Cautiously firmer start foreseen

Wall Street may have had its best day of the year so far yesterday but London is taking things a bit more sedately today, with City traders expecting the Footsie to advance by around 15 points at the outset from last night's closing level of 6,005.Advertising giant WPP made over £1bn for the first time ever in 2010, but violence in the Middle East, which accounts for 1.7% of revenue, is a worry. Headline profit before tax increased 27.3% to £1.03bn on revenue up 7%, or 5.6% at constant currency, to £9.33bn, while like for like sales grew 5.3%. Billings rose 1% to £42.68bn.Customers have flocked to online grocery specialist Ocado with gross sales up by nearly a quarter over the past three months. The firm, which has a long-term delivery deal with John Lewis grocery arm Waitrose, saw sales rise to £146.2m from £117.2m in the 12 weeks to 20 February.International recruitment firm SThree has joined the list of job agencies reporting a continuing general uplift in the staffing market. Group gross profit, at constant exchange rates was up 19% to around £42m in the three months to 27 February from £35.8m a year earlier.