Astrazeneca Share News (AZN)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Shares have open lower in London Tuesday, led down by miners and pharmaceutical companies.

Credit Suisse downgraded a number of mining stocks, including Antofagasta and Anglo America, the worst two FTSE 100 losers in early trade.

Drug stocks AstraZeneca, Shire and GlaxoSmithkline rounded out the top blue-chip fallers on concerns about the US market, after US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton tweeted on Monday:

"Price gouging like this in the specialty drug market is outrageous. Tomorrow I'll lay out a plan to take it on. -H"

Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: down 0.2% at 6,096.48
FTSE 250: down 0.2% at 16,853.72
AIM ALL-SHARE: down 0.2% at 738.73
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Hang Seng: up 1.1% at 21,989.84
Nikkei 225: market closed for bank holiday.
DJIA: closed up 0.8% at 16,510.19
S&P 500: closed up 0.5% at 1,966.97
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GBP: down at USD1.5492
EUR: down at USD1.1173

GOLD: up at USD1,133.50 per ounce
OIL (Brent): down at USD48.33 a barrel

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

Japan Bank Holiday

09:30 UK Kantar Worldpanel grocery market share figures
09:30 UK Public Sector Net Borrowing
11:00 UK CBI Industrial Trends Survey
13:55 US Redbook index (MoM)
14:00 US Housing Price Index (MoM)
15:00 US Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index
15:00 EU Consumer Confidence Preliminary
23:30 US Fed's Lockhart speech
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The Asian Development Bank cut its two-year growth forecast for the region, amid a slow recovery in major industrial economies and weaker prospects for China and India. The Manila-based bank said developing Asia's gross domestic product growth is expected to slow to 5.8% in 2015, from 6.2% in 2014. Growth is expected to pick up to 6% in 2016, but revised forecasts were lower than initial projections of 6.3% for both years.
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A leading economic index for the Chinese economy advanced sharply in August, the latest survey from the Conference Board showed on Tuesday, advancing 1.0%. That follows the 0.9% increase in July and the 0.5% gain in June.
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Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to the White House on Friday will feature all the pomp of an official state visit, complete with military honours and a sparkling state dinner, but the external images belie the tensions between the world's major powers that have threatened to derail the visit. The hacking of US government personnel records allegedly by Chinese hackers, and concerns about economic manipulation and other issues, have even prompted opposition Republicans to urge the visit be cancelled. The White House has downplayed tensions, but insists it will confront disagreements head on.
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Alexis Tsipras was sworn in for the second time as the prime minister of Greece on Monday after winning a snap election he called to renew his SYRIZA party's mandate as the country prepares to implement tough reforms as part of its bailout plan. Having fallen short of an outright parliamentary majority, Tsipras has said he plans to form a government with former junior coalition partner, the Independent Greeks. A breakaway anti-austerity faction of SYRIZA that formed its own party failed to secure any seats in Parliament in Sunday's elections.
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel called on the US to take in more asylum seekers as Europe struggles to respond to its biggest influx of migrants since World War II. "It does not quite seem realistic to assume Europe could manage all by itself without the help" of the US, Merkel told members of parliament from her Christian Democratic Union and its Bavaria-based sister party, the Christian Social Union.
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Joao Vaccari Neto, the former treasurer of Brazil's ruling Workers' Party, was sentenced to more than 15 years in jail for his involvement in a corruption scheme surrounding the state-controlled oil giant Petrobras, Brazilian media reported. Vaccari Neto was sentenced to 15 years and four months for passive corruption and money laundering, while former Petrobras service director Renato Duque was handed 20 years and eight months in prison for the same two crimes - plus criminal association.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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Investec Raises Standard Chartered To Buy From Hold, Price Target Cut To 820p From 970p
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CREDIT SUISSE CUTS ANTOFAGASTA TO UNDERPERFORM (NEUTRAL) - TARGET 510 (640) PENCE
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CREDIT SUISSE CUTS ANGLO AMERICAN TO NEUTRAL (OUTPERFORM) - TARGET 900 (1200) PENCE
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REPEAT: TRADERS: JEFFERIES CUTS ROTORK TO 'UNDERPERFORM' ('HOLD')
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TRADERS: NOMURA INITIATES CINEWORLD WITH 'NEUTRAL'
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TRADERS: JEFFERIES CUTS IMI TO 'HOLD' ('BUY')
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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Aerospace and engineering group Meggitt said it has struck a USD340.0 million cash deal to acquire the composites arm of US manufacturer EDAC from Greenbriar Equity Group and its other owners. The composites arm of the company produces aerospace components for jet engines and airframes, with more than 85% of revenue derived from the civil aerospace market. Its customer base includes the likes of General Electric and United Technologies, Meggitt said.
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Anglo-Australian mining giant BHP Billiton said it is considering raising new funds and is kicking off a marketing effort across Europe, Asia and the US. BHP said that, subject to market conditions, it may "consider the issuance of multi-currency hybrid capital instruments to institutional debt investors." The group said it is considering raising new funding for general corporate purposes, including refinancing its debt, and said there is currently a robust appetite for hybrid capital amongst global debt investors. It added it is not considering an issue that would contain any rights to convert holdings into BHP shares.
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Tesco is set to decide in the next couple of days whether to abandon the sale of its Dunnhumby customer data unit, after financing concerns meant all but one of the bidders have dropped out of the auction, Sky News reported. Sky, citing insiders, said Tesco Chief Executive Dave Lewis is to hold talks with colleagues and advisers later this week about plans for Dunnhumby, which uses data collected from the retailers' Clubcard loyalty scheme. WPP, the marketing and advertising group, is understood to be the sole bidder still in the race to buy Dunnhumby, after private equity suitors withdrew from the process.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Breakdown cover and roadside assistance company AA said its trading profit fell in the first half, though it said it is trading in line for the full year and said it will pay an interim dividend, its first since listing in mid-2014. The group said it will pay an interim dividend of 3.5 pence per share and said it will pay out a total of GBP55.0 million in dividends for the financial year to the end of January, ahead of the GBP50.0 million commitment it made when it refinanced its debt earlier this year.
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Dairy Crest Group said sales in its four key brands in the first half of its financial year were in line with last year and that its expectations for the full year remain unchanged. The dairy company said that two of its four key brands Cathedral City and Frylight have continued to perform strongly in the six months ending September 30, while Clover and Country Life sales have fallen in a challenging butter and spreads market. Dairy Crest added that the sale of its Dairies operations to Muller UK & Ireland Group LLP is expected to complete by the end of 2015, and once completed should benefit the company's year-end net debt.
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Financial services company Close Brothers Group said its adjusted operating profit for its recently-ended financial year was pushed higher by a strong performance in its banking arm, while its securities business saw an improvement in conditions in the second half. The group, which runs banking, asset management and market-making securities divisions, said its adjusted operating profit for the year to the end of July was GBP224.9 million, up from GBP193.7 million, driven by a 15% rise in adjusted operating profit in its banking arm. The group's adjusted operating profit is before amortisation of intangible assets on acquisition.
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IG Group Holdings said revenue increased substantially in the first quarter against a weak comparative, but said the volatile market conditions make it difficult to predict an outcome for the full year. The spread betting and contracts-for-difference company said it is trading in line with its expectations at present, with revenue in the first quarter to the end of August up 24% to GBP106.0 million, though it noted the same period last year was "particularly subdued". IG said the turmoil in Chinese markets served to push client activity to a peak at the end of August.
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Workspace Group said it has been granted planning permission for the redevelopment of the Rainbow Industrial Estate in Raynes Park, southwest London. The site was valued at GBP10.5 million in March. Workspace plans to replace the existing buildings with a redevelopment comprising of 224 residential units - a mix of town houses, private apartments and 15% affordable housing, and 37,000 square foot of commercial and light industrial space.
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Card Factory said it made a profit in the first half of its financial year, having suffered a loss the year before, as revenue rose and it declared payment of a special dividend. The card and gifts retailer said that it made a pretax profit of GBP24 million in the six months ended July 31, after it suffered a GBP7.9 million pretax loss in the same period the prior year, boosted in the current year due to a significant reduction in net financing expenses to GBP2.1 million from GBP11.2 million. Card Factory will pay an interim dividend of 2.5 pence, up from 2.3p the year before, and said it will pay a special dividend of 15p, returning GBP51.1 million of excess cash to shareholders.
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AG Barr reported a fall in profit in the first half of its financial year, as the Scottish soft drinks company said revenue was hit by challenging market conditions, poor weather and a tough comparative period last year. AG Barr, which makes brands including Irn-Bru and Rubicon, reported a fall in pretax profit in the six months ended July 25 to GBP16.9 million from GBP19.0 million in the first half of the prior year, as revenue declined to GBP130.3 million from GBP135.7 million. AG Barr said it expects the achieve full-year results broadly in line with last year. AG Barr will pay an interim dividend of 3.36 pence, up 8% on the 3.11p it paid the year before.
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PZ Cussons said that the group's performance in its most recent trading period was in line with expectations, and said that its financial position remains strong as it progresses in a challenging market. The consumer products group said that trading in the UK was strong in the period from June 1 to September 21, driven by the washing and bathing and beauty divisions, while Poland and Greece performed in line with expectations.
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COMPANIES - LONDON MAIN MARKET AND AIM
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Clinigen Group said it will acquire Australian pharmaceutical and medical technology business Link Healthcare Private Ltd for an initial GBP44.5 million, as it reported a drop in pretax profit for its recently ended financial year due to one-off costs. The speciality pharmaceutical company said it will pay up to GBP100.0 million in total for Link Healthcare based on the achievement of milestones. It said the acquisition will significant strengthen its operations in Asia, Africa and Australasia. Clinigen will pay the initial consideration in GBP22.3 million in cash, funded from its existing debt facilities, and the allotment of 3.1 million new Clinigen shares. It expects the acquisition to add to earnings immediately.
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Anglo Asian Mining reported a narrower pretax loss in the first half of 2015 after the company significantly increased production and focused on lowering its costs in light of the downturn in commodity prices. Production has begun increasing “above management’s plan” since the start of July, and the miner reiterated its full-year production guidance as it starts its turnaround to return the company to profitability. The gold, silver and copper producer based in Azerbaijan reported a USD4.1 million pretax loss in the first six months of 2015, narrowing from the USD7.5 million loss a year earlier as revenue rose to USD41.8 million from USD32.7 million.
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COMPANIES - INTERNATIONAL
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German carmaker Volkswagen's board is to hold a crisis meeting on Wednesday in the wake of a scandal triggered by revelations that it manipulated its emissions tests in the US. Company officials told dpa on Monday that VW's powerful supervisory board executive is to meet to consider the scandal, which has badly shaken Europe's biggest carmaker. Based in the northern German city of Wolfsburg, VW's weekend admission that it had regularly cheated on US air pollution results led to a plunge in the company's shares on Monday amid concerns about the impact of the revelations on the group's corporate image. The US Justice Department is conducting a criminal probe of the emissions case, the Bloomberg financial news agency reported late Monday, citing US officials speaking on condition of anonymity.
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The US Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency announced a USD5.6 million settlement with Bayer CropScience, a unit of German conglomerate Bayer, to resolve violations of federal chemical accident prevention laws at its facility in Institute, West Virginia, where an explosion killed two people in 2008. Under the settlement, Bayer CropScience committed to spending USD4.23 million to improve emergency preparedness and response in Institute and protect the Kanawha River, pay a USD975,000 penalty, and spending approximately USD452,000 to implement a series of measures to improve safety at chemical storage facilities across the US.
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Apple is accelerating efforts to build an electric car, designating it internally as a "committed project" and setting a target ship date for 2019, the Wall Street Journal reported citing people familiar with the matter. The go-ahead came after the company spent more than a year investigating the feasibility of an Apple-branded car, including meetings with two groups of government officials in California. Leaders of the project, code-named Titan , have been given permission to triple the 600-person team, the journal said. The report indicated that Apple has hired experts in driverless cars, but the company doesn't currently plan to make its first electric vehicle fully autonomous.
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Tuesday's Scheduled AGMs/EGMs

HML Holdings
PZ Cussons
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com; @thomaslwaite

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