WATER and waste company Pennon is set to enter the FTSE 100 Index at the end of the week, replacing electricity producer International Power. International Power will leave the benchmark index on Friday after French utility giant GDF Suez agreed to purchase the 30 per cent in the firm it did not already own from minority shareholders. Devon-based Pennon, which owns South West Water and recycling firm Viridor, recently announced pre-tax profits of £200.5 million for the year to March, up from £188.5m a year earlier, on revenues 6.4 per cent higher at £1.2 billion. Forth Ports pension fund advisers FORTH Ports" group pension scheme has appointed Punter Southall to provide a full range of actuarial and investment consultancy services, it was announced yesterday. Southall's team in Edinburgh, headed by Gerry Devenney and Andy Scott, will provide advice to the trustees of the scheme, which has some 2,500 members and assets of about £250 million. Drew McManus, pensions manager at Forth Ports, said: "The trustees have appointed Punter Southall, having been particularly impressed by their innovative thinking and engaging style." Absoft meet the university challenge IT CONSULTANCY Absoft has been awarded a £1 million business software contract by Northumbria University. The independent company will extend the university's use of SAP software which will be hosted at Absoft's data centres in Aberdeen and Dundee. The project is scheduled to start next month and is expected to take around a year to complete. The Aberdeen-based firm has also completed recent deals with Staffordshire County Council, Northern Rail and the Royal National Lifeboat Institution. Carbon contract for Scots energy firm ENERGY Management Solutions is to help more than 30 public sector authorities comply with carbon reduction measures after securing a two-year contract, worth up to £250,000, with the London Energy Project. The specialist energy management consultancy, which is based in Edinburgh, said it had competed with a number of other established suppliers to win the work. Director Emma Hutchinson said: "Our experienced advisers have supported a wide range of businesses throughout the UK in achieving energy management goals."