3i Infrastructure Share News (3IN)

LONDON (Alliance News) - With the Greek debt crisis stuck in a bad place until after Sunday's referendum, share prices in London have open narrowly mixed Thursday.

Investors are looking ahead to US unemployment figures due at 1330 BST, with the data brought forward to Thursday due to the US Independence Day holiday on Friday.

Dixons Carphone is set for its own US adventure, saying its Connected World Services arm has signed a deal with US mobile carrier Sprint Corp to open and manage a number of Sprint-branded stores in the US. The stock is up 3.4%, the best FTSE 100 performer.

At the other end of the blue-chip table, Intertek Group is down 2.5% after Jefferies cut the outsourcing provider to Underperform from Hold.

Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: flat at 6,610.25
FTSE 250: down 0.1% at 17,694.89
AIM ALL-SHARE: up 0.1% at 762.57
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Hang Seng: up 0.4% at 26,345.26
Nikkei 225: closed up 1.0% at 20,522.50
DJIA: closed up 0.8% at 17,757.91
S&P 500: closed up 0.7% at 2,077.42
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GBP: down at USD1.5605
EUR: up at USD1.1073

GOLD: down at USD1,164.30 per ounce
OIL (Brent): up at USD62.35 a barrel

(changes since end of previous GMT day)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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Thursday's Key Economic Events still to come
(all times in BST)

09:30 UK PMI Construction
10:00 EU Producer Price Index
12:30 EU ECB Monetary Policy Meeting Accounts
13:30 US Nonfarm Payrolls, Unemployment Rate, Average Earnings
13:30 US Jobless Claims
14:30 Canada RBC Manufacturing PMI
14:45 US ISM New York index
15:00 US Factory Orders (MoM)
15:30 US EIA Natural Gas Storage change
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The Greek crisis worsened after its creditors and eurozone finance ministers stalled further negotiations with the country until the outcome of the Sunday referendum and rejected any bailout extension. In a letter to Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselboem said there is no ground for further talks at this point given the political situation, rejection of the previous proposals, the Sunday referendum and the Greek government recommendation to vote 'No'. "There will be no talks in the coming days, either at Eurogroup level or between the Greek authorities and the institutions on proposals or financial arrangements. We will simply await now the outcome of the referendum on Sunday and take into account the outcome of that referendum," Dijsselboem added.
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UK house prices declined unexpectedly in June, data from the Nationwide Building Society revealed. House prices dropped 0.2% month-on-month in June, confounding expectations for a 0.5% rise. This was the first fall in four months and reversed a 0.2% rise in May. On a yearly basis, house price growth moderated to 3.3% from 4.6% a month ago. Economists had forecast the growth to slow marginally to 4.5% in June.
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The Chinese securities regulator has moved to relax collateral rules on margins loans in an attempt to prevent a cycle of price falls and forced selling in the country's stock market, the Financial Times reported. The China Securities Regulatory Commission said late on Wednesday that brokerages are free to set their own rules for demanding more collateral from clients when stocks acquired with borrowed money fall in value.
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Japanese companies' inflation expectations remained broadly unchanged in June from the prior quarter, a survey from the Bank of Japan showed. According to Inflation Outlook of Enterprises, firms expect consumer prices to rise 1.4% in the year ahead, the same rate as projected in March.
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The EU condemned the massive attack by Islamic State-linked militants on Egyptian military posts in the restive northern Sinai Peninsula that has killed at least 50 soldiers. Islamic militants, in a coordinated attack, struck several Egyptian army posts, with fight for Sheikh Zuweid police station still continuing. The attack comes just two days after Egypt's state prosecutor was killed in Cairo.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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DEUTSCHE BANK RAISES SHELL B TO 'BUY' ('HOLD') - PRICE TARGET 2425 PENCE
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TRADERS: JEFFERIES CUTS INTERTEK TO 'UNDERPERFORM' ('HOLD')
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BERENBERG RAISES ASTRAZENECA TO 'BUY' ('HOLD') - PRICE TARGET 5200 (4800) PENCE
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GOLDMAN INITIATES TRAVIS PERKINS WITH 'BUY' - TARGET 2508 PENCE
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GOLDMAN INITIATES WOLSELEY WITH 'BUY' - TARGET 4690 PENCE
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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Dixons Carphone said its Connected World Services arm has signed a deal with US mobile carrier Sprint Corp to open and manage a number of Sprint-branded stores in the US. Initially, Dixons Carphone will supply mobile phone retail expertise to Sprint for 20 new stores. If successful, the scheme will then be rolled out further, with plans to open up to 500 stores. In the second phase of the programme, Dixons Carphone will invest up to USD32 million to acquire a 50% stake in the joint venture with Sprint.
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Lloyds Banking Group is continuing its slow return to full private ownership, a stock exchange filing confirmed, with the UK government selling another 1% stake in the lender. According to the statement, the UK government now owns 15.90% of Lloyds Banking Group, having previously owned 16.87% of the lender's shares. At its peak, the taxpayer's stake in Lloyds Banking Group had been as high as 43%, which followed a GBP20.5 billion bailout during the financial crisis of 2007-09.
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Persimmon said it traded well in the first half of 2015, with legal completion volumes and revenue both rising, average selling prices higher and its total forward sales value at the end of June up by 15%. The housebuilder said new home legal completion volumes in the six months to the end of June rose by 7% to 6,855 units, with total revenue rising to GBP1.34 billion from GBP1.20 billion a year earlier. Visitors to its sites in the UK are in line year-on-year and cancellation rates remain low, the company said.
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Four potential buyers have been shortlisted for the sale of Tesco's Homeplus business in South Korea, which is set to fetch around USD6 billion, Reuters reports. Affinity Equity Partners, Carlyle Group, MBK Partners, and the private equity arm of Goldman Sachs have been shortlisted in the auction, Reuters said, citing a report in Korea Economic Daily.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Energy services company Hunting said its operating profit has plunged lower in the first half amid a declining rig count in the face of a falling oil price, though it said it is seeing tentative signs of a recovery, even as its full-year results look set also to show a huge drop in profit. The FTSE 250 company said the second quarter, as anticipated, saw continued declines in the oil and gas market, with an additional 34% decline in wells completed in the US, and 33% worldwide, compared to the first quarter. This "severe" decline has meant operating profit for the company in the first five months is down by 76% year-on-year.
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Specialty chemicals company Synthomer affirmed its expectations for 2015 as it said that robust trading in its Asian business will offset challenges in its European arm. The company said it has seen similar trends in its Europe and North America business in the second quarter, with volumes lower year-on-year owing to weaker demand in its paper and carpets businesses. In addition, and as expected by the company, the small margin benefit seen in the first quarter from declining raw materials prices did not continue into the second quarter, with modest raw material price inflation re-emerging.
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Construction and property company Kier Group said it has struck a deal to sell its fleet and passenger services business, Kier FPS, for GBP17.9 million in cash. Kier is selling the business to Alpha Holdco 1 Ltd, a vehicle managed by private equity firm Endless. The sale includes the transfer of the division's finance lease debt of around GBP32 million, Kier said. Kier has also signed a five-year deal with the division under which FPS will continue to supply fleet services to Kier's local authority highways and utilities business.
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Halfords Group said it has appointed Jonny Mason as chief financial officer effective from October 12. The car parts and bicycle retailer said that Mason is currently chief financial officer at Scandinavian firm Scandi Standard and prior to that filled the same position at Odeon and UCI Cinemas and was finance director at J Sainsbury. Mason is replacing Nick Wharton who left the company earlier this year to work as chief financial officer at clothing retailer SuperGroup.
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3i Infrastructure said its portfolio is performing in line with expectations, though it generated lower income in the first quarter of the infrastructure investment company's financial year. Portfolio income, which refers to dividends, interest receivable and any fees received from portfolio assets, between April 1 and June 30 fell to GBP14.0 million, compared with GBP19.5 million in the corresponding quarter of the prior year.
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COMPANIES - LONDON MAIN MARKET AND AIM
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Irish budget carrier Ryanair Holdings said its customer traffic and load factor both increased in June. Ryanair said it carried 9.5 million customers in June, up 14% from the 8.3 million carried a year earlier. On a rolling 12-month basis, the group's traffic to the end of June was 94.3 million customers, up 14% year-on-year. Ryanair's load factor also improved in June, up five percentage points to 93% from 88%.
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C&C Group said it experienced mixed, weaker-than-expected trading conditions in the first quarter of its financial year, but said it expects improvements as the year progresses. The drinks company, whose brands include Bulmers, Magners and Gaymers ciders, said that its core markets of Ireland and Scotland were hit by unseasonably cold and wet weather in the three months to May 31, and it was also hit by the recent tightening of drink-driving regulations in Scotland. However, the company said that its business in England and Wales, C&C Brands, had a positive first quarter, trading in line with expectations, while first-quarter shipments were up year-on-year in the US.
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Coal of Africa said the sale of its Mooiplaats Colliery asset in South Africa to Blackspear Capital has been cancelled and said it now in talks to find another buyer. Coal of Africa's sale of the colliery asset was agreed earlier this year but has been delayed on two occasions to allow more time for Blackspear to provide proof of funding to back the ZAR250 million sale. The deadline for the offer had been extended to June 30, but this has now lapsed and will not be extended further, Coal of Africa said.
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Johnson Service Group said that it will deliver "a strong result" for the first half of 2015 and expects full-year results to be slightly ahead of expectations. Johnson, which provides textile-related services, said that its recent acquisition of the London Linen business is trading as expected, and the integration into the wider Johnson textile business is "successfully underway".
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COMPANIES - INTERNATIONAL
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The US Department of Justice said it has filed a civil antitrust lawsuit to block the USD3.3 billion acquisition of General Electric's appliance business by Swedish home appliances company Electrolux and its subsidiary, Electrolux North America. The DOJ noted that the deal would result in the combination of two of the leading manufacturers of ranges, cooktops and wall ovens sold in the US, thus eliminating competition that has benefited American consumers through lower prices and more options.
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PayPal said it has agreed to buy Xoom Corp, a digital money transfer provider, for USD890 million in cash. As per the terms of the deal, PayPal will pay USD25 per share in cash, which is nearly 21% premium to Xoom's closing price of USD20.70 Wednesday. Owing to anticipated integration costs, the deal is expected to slightly reduce its earnings per share for the fiscal year 2016, PayPal said.
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Grain processor Archer Daniels Midland announced an equal joint venture with Quality Liquid Feeds Inc for the production and sale of liquid feed supplements for livestock. The joint venture consists of four liquid feed production facilities formerly owned by Archer Daniels - in Twin Falls, Idaho; Billings, Montana; Fremont, Nebraska; and Johnstown, Colorado - as well as the Loomix brand.
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Hewlett-Packard said Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co has filed an initial Registration Statement on Form 10 with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, thereby fulfilling an important step in HP's plans to separate into two companies. HP is separating into two companies effective November 1. Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Co will comprise HP's enterprise technology infrastructure, software and services businesses; while HP Inc will focus on personal systems and printing.
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Thursday's Scheduled AGMs/EGMs

Harvey Nash
JPMorgan Income & Capital Trust
Strategic Minerals
Electrical Geodesics
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com; @thomaslwaite

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