Market overview: 3 May

• Insurance group RSA said it had made a good start to the year, with growth led by emerging markets, especially those in Latin America.

• Supermarket group Morrisons has said that its financial outlook for the year ending January 2013 remains unchanged despite like-for-like sales falling in the first quarter.

• Gold miner Randgold Resources said it put in a 'robust performance' in the first quarter of 2012 in spite of the challenges it has faced in Mali, as a military coup in the country saw the stock lose around a quarter of its value in the last two months.

• Oil and gas giant BG Group 's first quarter net earnings were sharply up on last year, with the group promising more growth to come as new production comes on stream.

• Chocolatier Thorntons said third quarter like-for-like sales fell 1.6 per cent, supported by a successful Easter trading period.

• Alcoholic drinks maker Diageo 's top line growth in the third quarter of its fiscal year was a shade ahead of some expectations, despite Europe proving something of a wet blanket.

• The Chilean-based copper mining company Antofagasta saw production drop sharply in the first three months of 2012 as maintenance work, lower ore grades and technical problem hampered activity.

• Land Securities , the largest real estate investment trust in the UK, has agreed to acquire The Cornerhouse, a big leisure complex in Nottingham, from BP Pension Fund in an off-market transaction.

• First quarter performance from Rexam was not to be sneezed at as the consumer packaging company traded in line with expectations.

• Profits at medical technology group Smith & Nephew beat both analysts' and management forecasts in the first quarter of 2012, which it said was down to the actions being taken to reshape the company.

• Fund manager Schroders has seen a dip in pre-tax profits and inflows in the first three months of 2012, while also completing a strategic investment in Indian outfit Axis AMC.

• FTSE 250 defence technology firm Cobham has won the support of the board of Thrane and Thrane after revising its bid terms for the Danish firm.

• Pig and bovine semen seller Genus says customers have faced modest pressure in March and April but the first four months of the year have proceeded broadly in line with expectations.

• Kesa Electricals has announced that its Darty France business has entered into a new commercial agreement with Bouygues Telecom, under which Bouygues will acquire 99.9 per cent of Darty Telecom.

• Insurance giant Legal & General disappointed the market with its first quarter revenue figure, which had barely changed from a year earlier.

• Regus , the flexible workspace provider, has reported a rise in turnover for the first three months of 2012 following a strong performance by its mature business.

• Resources giant Premier Oil is to plug and abandon the Stingray exploration well in the UK North Sea after it came up dry.

• Wealth management group St James's Place has seen funds under management grow to record levels despite shaky investor confidence.

• Natural resources consultancy RPS says it is beginning to see benefits from moving into energy and infrastructure markets but is still seeing mixed results from the rest of the business.

• International hotels group Millennium & Copthorne saw the key metric of revenue per available room rise strongly in the first quarter, as travellers flocked to London and Singapore.

• Iberia, the Spanish airline operated by International Airlines Group , cancelled 108 flights that were scheduled for Friday due to the strike called by STAVLA, a cabin crew trade union.

• Online betting exchange operator Betfair has been awarded a licence to operate its betting exchange in the German state of Schleswig Holstein.

• West African gold exploration and mining company Avocet saw production dive in the first quarter due to availability issues with two of the excavators at its Inata mine.

• March was the cruellest month for BlackRock World Mining Trust as its investments in mineral stocks took a bath.

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