YP75: Investors concerned by impact of cuts in the austerity Budget

Investors were encouraged by the news, hopeful that a rise in the value for the yuan will bring a boost to companies exporting to China.

Despite this news from China, all eyes remained focused on the emergency Budget as George Osborne inevitably announced a number of cuts across the public sector in an effort to tackle Britain's significant budget deficit.

The market's initial reaction to the Budget was positive, however this was not enough to halt three days of declines with further pain for BP shareholders as the price briefly fell below 300p.

The impact of these austerity cuts is clearly beginning to concern investors as the government stimulus which has supported the markets recovery over the last year is now being withdrawn.

Dart Group, the holding company of the low cost airliner Jet2.com, reported a pre-tax profit of 22.2m for the year ended March 31 compared to a figure of 33.5m previously. In addition revenue marginally declined to 434m from 439m in 2009.

The group have suffered from weaker passenger demand on the leisure airline side over the winter months, however management will continue to invest in this part of the business focusing on seat only and package holiday sales.

The group, which is primarily based at Leeds Bradford International Airport, has had a difficult start to the year with the volcanic ash cloud causing severe disruption to its flights.

While the economic conditions remain challenging the company are hopeful of growing the business in the year ahead.

International Personal Finance, the Leeds based lender announced last week that trading for the year to date has been ahead of plan.

The company which provides short-term loans in eastern Europe and Mexico reported that its second quarter performance benefited from a reversal of impairment charges taken during the terrible weather conditions during the first quarter. The group have reassured investors that the trading has not been affected by the eurozone debt crisis and despite the ongoing concerns over Hungary's financial situation, this area of the business has been described as making "good progress".

Elsewhere, e-marketing company Infoserve Group reported its first pre-tax profit for the fiscal year 2010 of 6,000 compared to a loss of 1.1m the previous year.

The group which is known for helping businesses maximise their performance through online marketing, continues to see growth in online advertising despite the difficult economic times.

Insufficient distributable reserves means a dividend will, however, not be paid.

Edward Marsden, Assistant Investment Manager at Brewin Dolphin, Leeds