London's blue chips are expected to open lower on Wednesday with traders forecasting a 10 points drop.

Life insurer Standard Life is lifting its efficiency targets for 2010 after delivering 'good profits and healthy cash flow' in 2009. Underlying profit before tax in 2009 rose to £291m from £154m the year before. Profit attributable to equity shareholders after tax more than doubled to £213m from £100m but the diluted underlying earnings per share (EPS) only edged up to 12p from 11.7p.

Lower oil prices and production slashed Tullow Oil's net income in 2009, though it had an outstanding year for drilling with 13 out of 15 wells striking oil or gas. Net income fell 92% to £19m in 2009, as sales dipped 16% to £582m due to lower production volumes and commodity prices. Tullow is scheduled to drill a further 30 wells this year mostly on its highly prospective acreage in Africa and it says it is entering a phase that should deliver major production growth from the end of 2010.

Spread bet firm IG Group reported a 11% rise in quarterly revenue and said it is well positioned for further growth. Total revenue for the three months ended 28 February was approximately £69m compared with £62m in the corresponding quarter last year. However, IG said the strong equity market rally, which helped stimulate client activity through much of 2009, showed signs of weakness in the first two months of 2010.

Interserve, the services, maintenance and building group, has won contracts in the UK and through its Middle East associates worth over £200m in aggregate. These include a significant support services contract with the UAE armed forces, three construction contracts in Qatar worth more than £90m and the finalisation of a major, £70m project to design and construct storm-water tunnels in Preston as part of the KMI Plus joint venture.

In the press, the FT writes that Barclays is looking at buying a large US retail bank as it tries to rebalance its business away from a booming investment banking franchise. According to people briefed on the plan, Antony Jenkins, the new head of Barclays' retail banking activities, is preparing a strategy paper that will go to the board in the next two to three months.

Related share prices
Barclays (BARC) share price
Interserve (IRV) share price
Tullow Oil (TLW) share price
IG Group Holdings (IGG) share price
Standard Life (SL.) share price