Ascential Share News (ASCL)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Shares started a holiday-shortened week on the back foot Monday, with miners adding to losses seen on Friday. Glencore, Anglo American and Antofagasta were the top-three FTSE 100 losers.

In the FTSE 250, Tullow Oil and Halfords were top losers after being downgraded by Jefferies and UBS, respectively.

Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: down 0.5% at 6,159.87
FTSE 250: down 0.4% at 16,834.40
AIM ALL-SHARE: up 0.1% at 707.55
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Hang Seng: closed up 0.1% at 20,684.15
Nikkei 225: Tokyo market closed for holiday Monday
DJIA: closed up 0.7% at 17,602.30 Friday
S&P 500: closed up 0.4% at 2,049.58 Friday
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GBP: down at USD1.4388 (USD1.4489)
EUR: soft at USD1.1254 (USD1.1278)

GOLD: down at USD1,242.70 per ounce (USD1,253.20)
OIL (Brent): down at USD40.57 a barrel (USD41.68)

(changes since previous London equities close)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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Monday's Key Economic Events still to come
(all times in GMT)

holiday Japan Vernal Equinox Day

09:00 EU Current Account
11:00 Germany Buba Monthly Report
11:00 UK CBI Industrial Trends Survey
12:30 US Chicago Fed National Activity Index
14:00 US Existing Home Sales Change
15:00 EU Consumer Confidence Preliminary
16:40 US Fed's Lockhart speech
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The UK government will formally drop its ill-fated cuts to disabled benefits Monday in the wake of Iain Duncan Smith's dramatic resignation as Work and Pensions Secretary. Stephen Crabb, Duncan Smith's replacement, will tell the Commons in a statement the curbs to Personal Independence Payment have been abandoned. The move comes after a turbulent day of Tory infighting that saw Duncan Smith condemn Chancellor George Osborne's "arbitrary" cap on welfare spending and obsession with "short term savings". Speaking on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show, Duncan Smith, the former Conservative Party leader, insisted his decision to quit the Cabinet was not "personal" or a "secondary attack" on the Prime Minister.
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The average asking price for a house in the UK increased for the third straight month in March, the latest survey from Rightmove revealed. House prices in England and Wales climbed 1.3% month-over-month in March. This follows a 2.9% hike in the previous month. The average selling price passed GBP300,000 for the first time, as demand rose and supply remained tight, the agency said. On an annual basis, house prices grew at a faster pace of 7.6% in March, following a 7.3% spike in the preceding month.
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US President Barack Obama arrived Sunday in Havana to start a three-day visit to Cuba, a historic trip culminating a process of a rapprochement that began more than a year ago. Air Force One touched down at 4:18 pm in Havana, where he will meet with Cuban President Raul Castro on further advancing the reconstruction of relations between the two countries. Obama is accompanied by first lady Michelle Obama, their daughters and Michelle Obama's mother, Marian Robinson. The only other sitting US president who has ever visited Cuba, Calvin Coolidge, travelled there by ship in 1928.
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The number of migrants reaching Greece hasn't abated, despite an agreement reached between the EU and Turkey to help stem the flow of people entering Europe, which went into effect at midnight Saturday. In the night between Saturday and Sunday, 875 people arrived on Greek islands from the Turkish coast, Greek authorities said Sunday. In the three days before, that figure varied between 239 and 1,498 people per day. The deal between Turkey and the EU declared that those arriving on Greek shores can expect to be returned to Turkey as of midnight. The agreement hinges on a one-for-one swap of Syrian migrants, with the EU promising to resettle the same number of Syrians living in Turkey, up to a limit of 72,000.
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Iraq on Sunday exported its first ever shipment of natural gas, Oil Minister Adel Abdel-Mahdi said, as the OPEC country battles with low oil prices amid a costly fight against hardline jihadists. "We are pleased today to announce the export of the first cargo of gas condensates," the minister said on his Facebook page. Abdel-Mahdi said a tanker carrying around 10,000 standard cubic feet of gas left Iraq's southern port of Umm Qasr. He did not specify the destination of the cargo or its value.
The gas was produced by a state-run firm jointly with Royal Dutch Shell and Mistubishi Corp of Japan.
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Alleged Paris attacker Salah Abdeslam planned to commit a suicide bombing at the French-German football game being played in Stade de France stadium on November 13 before he backed down, France's state prosecutor said Saturday. Abdeslam told Belgian investigators about the plan after he was apprehended in the Molenbeek neighbourhood of Brussels on Friday, French prosecutor Francois Molins said. The 26-year-old has already admitted to being in Paris on November 13, 2015, the night of the coordinated bombings and gun attacks on restaurants, bars, the Stade de France stadium and the Bataclan concert hall that left 130 people dead, according to a Belga news agency report citing his lawyer Sven Mary.
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Russian emergency workers on Sunday completed their search and cleanup operations at the site of a passenger plane crash that killed all 62 people on board, as forensic experts began the process of identifying the victims. Scores of mourners gathered at the airport in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don to leave candles, toys and flowers. FlyDubai flight FZ981 crashed early Saturday in stormy weather while attempting a second landing in Rostov-on-Don. The Boeing 737-800 went down nose-first, at an angle of 60 degrees, and exploded when it hit the ground.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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BARCLAYS REMOVES RANDGOLD RESOURCES FROM 'TOP PICKS'
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BERNSTEIN CUTS AVIVA TO 'MARKET-PERFORM' ('OUTPERFORM') - TARGET 535 (580)P
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TRADERS: JEFFERIES CUTS TULLOW OIL TO 'UNDERPERFORM' ('HOLD')
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TRADERS: JEFFERIES RAISES SOCO INTERNATIONAL TO 'BUY' ('HOLD')
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TRADERS: LIBERUM RAISES SPORTS DIRECT TO 'BUY' ('HOLD')
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GOLDMAN INITIATES ASCENTIAL WITH 'BUY' - TARGET PRICE 278 PENCE
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UBS CUTS HALFORDS GROUP TO 'SELL' ('NEUTRAL') - TARGET 330 (365) PENCE
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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Anglo-South African paper and packaging company Mondi said none of its plants were subject to recent inspections made by European authorities. Mondi said the European Commission issued a statement last week about unannounced inspections on several companies in the kraft paper and industrial bags sector. Mondi said it was not affected by the inspections at any of its facilities, adding it is not in contravention of any competition laws in Europe.
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Engineer Rolls-Royce Holdings will this week pledge to create 350 new jobs in 2017 at its factory in Derby in a bid to allay political concerns about the future of its UK manufacturing operations, the Financial Times reported. Rolls-Royce has been cutting jobs heavily in order to restore itself to health, following a slew of profit warnings. Warren East, Rolls-Royce's chief executive, will make the commitment to MPs on Tuesday, the FT said, with plans to expand the Derby factory to meet the steep rise in demand for its new XWB engine, which will be used in Airbus A350 wide-body jets.
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J Sainsbury late Friday decided to follow through on its decision to acquire Home Retail Group, the owner of Argos, after a rival bidder exited the race, despite stating the deal was not a "must-do" for the supermarket chain earlier in the week. Sainsbury's became the sole runner in the race to purchase Home Retail after Steinhoff International Holdings, the other bidder which had placed a higher offer, said it would not be making a firm offer for the company after striking a deal to acquire London-listed Darty instead.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Specialty chemicals company Synthomer said it has struck a deal to acquire US-based chemicals company Hexion Performance Adhesives & Coatings and has sold a business in South Africa. Synthomer will pay USD226.0 million in cash to acquire Hexion, which manufacturers a range of dispersions, additives, powder coatings and speciality monomers, with a focus on a range of industries, including the building and construction market. Separately, Synthomer said it has sold its dispersions unit in South Africa to Ferro SA for GBP13.0 million.
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Pets at Home Group said it has promoted Ian Kellett to be chief executive officer, with effect from April 4, following the resignation of Nick Wood. Kellett currently is CEO of Pets at Home's retail division and prior to this was the group's chief financial officer. Peter Pritchard, who is chief operating officer of the retail business, has been promoted to CEO of that division. Wood said that after over eight years working in the North West of England, he wanted to move to London. Pets at Home is based in Cheshire.
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Centamin declared an increased dividend for 2015 despite reporting a dip in profit, and said production is expected to rise this year. The Egypt-focused gold miner said its pretax profit in 2015 fell to USD58.4 million from the USD81.6 million reported a year earlier, despite delivering a material rise in revenue in the year to USD508.4 million from USD472.6 million. Centamin will pay a final dividend of 1.97 cents per share, giving a total dividend of 2.94 cents per share for the full year, a small rise from the maiden dividend paid in 2014 of 2.86 cents.
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COMPANIES - LONDON MAIN MARKET AND AIM
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Bankers Petroleum said it has agreed to be bought for CAD575.0 million by two companies with connections to a large Chinese firm. The oil company operating in Albania said it has entered into the agreement with 1958082 Alberta and Charter Power Investment, which are both affiliates of Geo-Jade Petroleum, "one of the largest independent oil and gas exploration and production companies in China", Bankers said. The CAD2.20 price per share represents a premium of 98% over Bankers' closing share price on the Toronto Stock Exchange last Friday.
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Payments invoicer Tungsten Corp confirmed financier Edi Truell has stepped down from the company and that he tabled a proposal to buy certain assets owned by the business, which it has rejected. Truell, the former chief executive of Tungsten who stepped down in July last year, made an offer to the Tungsten board over the weekend. "The board of Tungsten has spent considerable time reviewing these suggestions, including the most recent proposal, and found them to date to be universally without merit for shareholders," Tungsten said. Tungsten said Truell has now resigned from the board, where he had been vice-chairman, and said its main priority will be focusing on its strategy under Chief Executive Richard Hurwitz.
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COMPANIES - INTERNATIONAL
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Apple's spring product debuts Monday will technically remain secret until Apple chief executive Tim Cook unveils the season's new gadgets on stage at company headquarters. But the rumour mill has been churning out leaks for weeks, and inside sources cited by industry media suggest Apple will present at least two new devices at the event in Cupertino, California. The first, a smaller iPhone to be called the iPhone SE, is expected to combine the 4-inch screen size of the iPhone 5 with some of the features of the iPhone 6, in a new lower-end model. The second will reportedly be a new version of the iPad Pro, combining processing and hardware capabilities of the top-end iPad Pro in a lightweight, 9.7-inch screen similar to the iPad Air.
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AXA said Henri de Castries, chairman and CEO, has decided to retire and to step down from the board on September 1. The board of AXA approved the appointment of Thomas Buberl as chief executive officer and a member of board, effective September 1. Thomas Buberl joined the group on Monday as deputy CEO of AXA. AXA's board has decided to separate the functions of chairman and chief executive officer, and approved the appointment of Denis Duverne as non-executive chairman of the board, also effective September 1.
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Monday's Scheduled AGMs/EGMs

Evocutis
Chemring Group
Johnston Press
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com; @thomaslwaite

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