London pre-open: Greek deal worries spark lower start to the day

Converns over possible shortfalls in the Greek bailout deal, unveiled yesterday, have prompted City sources to predict that the market will open as much as 27 points lower that its close of 5,895 on Thursday. Profit before tax at UK lender Barclays fell 3% and short of expectations in 2011, while adjusted income fell by a further 8%, reflecting a fall in income at its investment bank, Barclays Capital. Profit before tax fell from £6,065m to £5,879m in the 12 months ended December 31st, mainly attributable to a £1,000m provision for the redress of Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) that wasn't recorded last year. The adjusted profit before tax figure, which excludes certain items such as the PPI figure, fell by a lesser 2%.Cable and Wireless Communications is making better than expected progress with the restructuring of its Bahamas operations but things are still proving tough in Panama. The firm, which operates telecoms businesses in the Caribbean, Panama, Macau and Monaco, said the Bahamas, and also Macau, are both expected to exceed previous guidance for the full year. In Panama, however, the company is facing intensified competition in the mobile phone market, pressures on margins and is seeing slower progress on enterprise contracts.Closed life fund consolidator Phoenix Group said it is no longer in bid talks with CVC Capital Partners. The company said the terms being offered by CVC did not reflect Phoenix management's view of the full value of the group. The talks have been in progress since late November 2011 after merger discussions with fellow life assurance group Resolution broke down.