London pre-open: Stellar gains ahead

London's blue chips are expected to open sharply higher, with banking shares likely to be in focus after Lloyds reported full-year figures. Traders anticipate a 60 points gain when the market opens.Lloyds Banking joined sector peers Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland in reporting better than expected figures. The part-nationalised lender reported a pre-tax loss of £6.3bn in the year ended 31 December compared with £6.71bn last time. Total income rose to £23.96bn from £21.36bn last time. Investment analysts were expecting Lloyds to announce a pre-tax loss of £7.4bn on revenue of £22.6bn. However, total impairments were significantly higher at £23.99bn compared with £14.88bn in 2008, but the figure was still slightly better than the £24.2bn Japanese broker Nomura expected.Outsourcing group Serco has increased the dividend by a quarter as it ramped up profits by almost a third in 2009 and ended the year with a record order book. Profit before tax for the 12 months ended 31 December hit £177.1m, up from £136.1m in 2008, on revenue up 27.1%, or 20.8% excluding currency, to £3.97bn.Better winnings from its football book meant a strong fourth quarter for bookmaker William Hill with the current year also largely on course despite the cancellations in events sparked by the freezing weather. Profits in 2009 tumbled by 59% to £121m including nearly £77m of one-off costs, though underlying profits of £258.5m, down by 7%, were slightly better than forecast last month. Underlying earnings per share dropped 35% to 20.6p reflecting the rights issue last year.Engineering giant Rolls-Royce has agreed to buy the outstanding 67% it doesn't own of Norwegian marine technology group ODIM ASA for £154m in cash. The price per share offered is the same Rolls-Royce paid for its 33% holding last year. ODIM ASA specialises in handling systems for seismic and offshore vessels. Laundry and workwear group Davis Service has appointed ex-Tate & Lyle to the board in a shake-up of its non-executive representatives at director level.Cost-cutting and an increase in average online spending helped property website Rightmove improve underlying profit in 2009, but income fell 1% at the pre-tax level. Profit before tax fell to £37.8m in the 12 months to 31 December from £38.2m the year before on revenue down 6% to £69.4m. Underlying operating profit rose 2% to £41.9m.