London pre-open: Footsie to fall back

Footsie is expected to post substantial losses in early dealings following the reversal on Wall Street last night.In company news just out, profits soared at luxury fashion label Burberry in the six months to September 30 as sales of non-clothing items such as handbags jumped and the company extended its reach in emerging markets such as China and Brazil. Adjusted revenues (stripping out Burberry's discontinued Spanish business) were up by 21% from the same period the previous year to £641m. Adjusted pre-tax profits soared by 49% to £129m.Taylor Wimpey has been busy. The housebuilder is fully sold for 2010 and expects full-year profit to be at the top end of expectations, it's got a news finance director and has agreed a revised £950m credit facility with its banks. The group has performed well in the UK and trading is stable despite the economic uncertainty, in line with forecasts since the interim results at the beginning of August.The squeeze on public sector spending has already affected telecoms group Cable & Wireless Worldwide, with revenues down by 1.6% in the last six months. Turnover came in at £1.12bn, against £1.14bn, in the half-year to September, though the largely-UK focused telecoms group, which demerged from Cable & Wireless Communications in March, lifted pre-tax profits from £22m to £53m. Underlying operating profits rose by 4.4% to £214m.