Barclays Share News (BARC)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Stock markets continued their rebound Friday, after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said Thursday there are "no limits" to what the ECB can do to support economic growth.

Draghi is speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos early Friday morning.

After positive closes in Europe and the US, Asia also rallied, with Japan's leading index jumping 6%. Oil prices rose back above USD30 a barrel, and the pound regained USD1.42.

Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: up 1.4% at 5,853.87
FTSE 250: up 1.1% at 16,007.50
AIM ALL-SHARE: up 0.3% at 679.60
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Hang Seng: closed up 2.9% at 19,080.51
Nikkei 225: closed up 5.9% at 16,958.53
DJIA: closed up 0.7% at 15,882.68
S&P 500: closed up 0.5% at 1,868.99
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GBP: up at USD1.4233 (USD1.4180)
EUR: flat at USD1.0831 (USD1.0828)

GOLD: firm at USD1,096.80 per ounce (USD1,094.40)
OIL (Brent): up at USD30.54 a barrel (USD28.85)

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

08:30 Germany Markit Manufacturing, Services and Composite PMI Preliminary
09:00 EU Markit Manufacturing, Services and Composite PMI Preliminary
09:30 UK Retail Sales
09:30 UK Public Sector Net Borrowing
13:30 US Chicago Fed National Activity Index
13:30 Canada Retail Sales
13:30 Canada Consumer Price Index
14:45 US Markit Manufacturing PMI Preliminary
15:00 US Existing Home Sales
15:00 US Conference Board Leading Indicator
18:00 US Baker Hughes US Oil Rig Count
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More monetary stimulus could be in the cards for the eurozone in March said ECB chief Draghi as he insisted - four times - there are "no limits" to what the ECB will do to meet its inflation target and spur economic growth. The ECB plans "to review and possibly reconsider our monetary policy stance" at its meeting in March, when the bank is set to publish its new inflation and economic growth projections, Draghi told a press conference. He was speaking after the ECB left its benchmark refinancing rate on hold at 0.05% and the deposit rate at minus 0.3%.
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UK Prime Minister David Cameron is setting up an oil support group to help companies operating within the North Sea deal with lower oil prices, the Financial Times reported. Oil & Gas UK, the industry group, said it would welcome the initiative if it showed that senior ministers were considering ways to support operators. But it also called for changes to the licensing and taxation system surrounding the oil industry, the FT said.
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British households perceive that the value of their home increased at the start of the year, though the rate of growth eased from the prior month, a survey from Knight Frank and Markit Economics showed. The house price sentiment index fell to 58.7 in January from 59.4 in December. However, a reading above 50 indicates a rise in house prices.
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The manufacturing sector in Japan continued to expand in January, albeit at a slightly lower pace, the latest survey from Nikkei revealed on Friday with a PMI core of 54.2. That was shy of expectations for 52.8, and it was down from 52.6 in December - although the index remained well above the line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.
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Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu is cautioning the EU that a pledged sum of EUR3 billion may not be enough to deal with the refugee crisis, ahead of a meeting Friday with the German government. In an interview with dpa, Davutoglu also said security forces would keep up operations against the armed Kurdistan Workers' Party in south-eastern Turkey, which have already left hundreds dead, giving no sign that a peace process would be restarted. Turkey and the EU reached a deal in November aimed at stemming the flow of migrants to the bloc. More than 1 million migrants, many of them refugees, made it to Europe through irregular routes in 2015.
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Tighter US travel rules went into effect on Thursday in a bid to keep out potential terrorists, requiring some travellers who normally do not require a visa to obtain the document. The changes to the US visa waiver programme will require nationals of the 38 visa waiver countries to get a visa to travel to the US if they have been to Iran, Iraq, Sudan or Syria in the last five years or if they are dual-citizens of those countries and a visa waiver country. An estimated 20 million people, or about 40% of all overseas visitors, use the programme annually to enter the US without a visa for business or pleasure for up to 90 days.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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BERENBERG RAISES BARCLAYS TO 'HOLD' ('SELL') - PRICE TARGET 200 PENCE
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SOCGEN RAISES PEARSON TO 'BUY' ('HOLD') - TARGET 965 (1375) PENCE
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GOLDMAN CUTS BRITISH LAND TO 'NEUTRAL' ('BUY') - TARGET 905 (1025) PENCE
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GOLDMAN CUTS AVEVA GROUP TO 'SELL' ('NEUTRAL')
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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Hammerson said it has agreed to acquire the new Grand Central shopping centre in Birmingham for GBP335.0 million. Hammerson said the purchase will be backed by an expanded acquisition credit facility of GBP1.1 billion. The property developer also said it is in advanced talks with an existing joint venture partner on other projects the company owns, about entering into a 50-50 venture for the future ownership of the shopping centre. Hammerson didn't name the partner.
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WPP said it has acquired a majority stake in German digital agency Conrad Caine GmbH, via its digital agency POSSIBLE Worldwide. Conrad Caine was founded in 1998 and employs 140 people across its headquarters in Munich, Germany, and other offices in Pelotas, Brazil and Buenos Aires, Argentina. It reported revenue of EUR8.5 million in 2014 and had gross assets of EUR3.6 million as at the end of 2015.
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Japan's Asahi and Thailand's Thai Beverage have been named among the bidders which have progressed to the next round of bidding for SABMiller's Grolsch and Peroni beer brands, the Financial Times reported. The pair were notified this week they had reached the second round of bidding for the two lager brands, which are being sold as part of SABMiller's takeover by Anheuser-Busch InBev in order to ease competition concerns about the mega-merger. Thai Beverage is the brewer of Chang Beer. Private equity firms Bain Capital, PAI Partners and EQT also are thought to have qualified for the next round, with the sale expected to fetch around EUR2.5 billion.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Financial services firm Close Brothers Group said its banking arm has continued to grow but said its securities division is taking a hit from weak market activity, while its asset management arm also suffered from negative market movements. Close Brothers said its banking business continued to grow in the five months to the end of December, with its loan book growing 4.9% to GBP6.0 million. Its net interest margin is lower year-on-year, but the group's bad debt ratio has improved and the returns from its net loan loan book are still strong, it said. The Winterflood securities business has been hit by tough market conditions and this persisted in the first five months of its financial year, driven by falling equity markets and lower levels of market activity, particularly on AIM.
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IT services provider Computacenter said it expects to meet its upgraded forecasts for 2015, despite a "substantial headwind" throughout the year from the strength of sterling against the euro. Computacenter said its revenue for 2015 was flat at actual exchange rates, but increased 5% at constant currency. In the UK revenue rose 3%, with growth remaining consistent in its Services segment despite a significant reduction in one contract. In Germany revenue rose 14% at constant currency. Computacenter's French business performed ahead of its original expectations for the year as a result of a strong quarter for its supply chain business, and revenue in constant currency fell 6% for the year as a whole.
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Flexible office space provider Workspace Group said its rent roll increased in the third quarter and said its occupancy rate recovered marginally from the end of the first half, though remains down for the first nine months. Workspace said its total rent roll rose 2.3% in the quarter to the end of December to GBP80.8 million, meaning it has increased 16%, or by GBP11.4 million, in the nine months to the end of September.
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Assura said it has struck a deal to acquire Malmesbury Medical Enterprise in a deal which will be partly satisfied through the issue of shares. Assura, the UK real estate & investment trust and primary care property investor, said it has acquired Malmesbury Medical by issuing the sellers with 876,22 shares in the company. Assura said this was "as part of the consideration", but did not state any other financial details about the deal.
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COMPANIES - LONDON MAIN MARKET AND AIM
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Oxford Instruments said it has performed in line with its expectations in its third quarter to end-December, with orders ahead of the same period in the previous year. The high technology tools and systems provider said that trends it had seen in its first half had continued, with its NanoTechnology Tools performing well and ahead of the previous year, whilst Industrial Products continued to be hit by weak industrial markets.
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IT services company Pinnacle Technology Group said it plans to raise around GBP4.6 million to help fund its acquisition of Ancar-B Technologies and Weston Communications, as it reported a narrowed pretax loss for its most recently ended financial year.Pinnacle will raise the GBP4.6 million through the placing of up to 108.4 million shares at a price of 4.2 pence. Should this placing be concluded successfully it will proceed with an open offer to raise up to a further GBP250,000 by issuing up to 5.9 million shares at the same price. Shares in Pinnacle closed at 12.31 pence Thursday.
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Spirits company Distil said it saw a higher level of sales over the Christmas period and said its revenue grew substantially thanks to its shift away from licensed sales towards direct sales. Distil said its revenue for the quarter to the end of December, its financial third quarter, rose 71%, with volumes rising 31%. The good sales growth was achieved despite the company seeing lower sales of Blavod Black Vodka in Eastern Europe, which was offset by good growth in the US.
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Portfolio analysis and asset pricing services provider StatPro Group said it has agreed a USD16.0 million cash deal to acquire US-based Investor Analytics, which provides cloud-based risk analytics services to hedge funds and assets managers in the US and will significantly increase StatPro's presence in the US market.
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COMPANIES - INTERNATIONAL
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SAP reported a profit for the fourth-quarter 2015 that declined 2% from last year. But total revenue for the quarter rose 16% from the prior year. The company expects full-year 2016 non-IFRS operating profit to be in a range of EUR6.4 billion - EUR6.7 billion at constant currencies.
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American Express reported a 38% drop in profit for the fourth quarter, hurt largely by lower revenues, higher expenses and restructuring charges. American Express also outlined its plans to cut USD1 billion in costs. New York-based American Express' fourth-quarter profit dropped to USD899 million or USD0.89 per share from USD1.45 billion or USD1.39 per share a year ago.
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Boeing announced it will lower the production rate on the 747-8 program to match supply with near-term demand in the cargo market. The company will recognize a USD569 million after-tax charge, or USD0.84 per share, for the fourth quarter of 2015. On a pre-tax basis at the segment level, Boeing Commercial Airplanes will report a charge of USD885 million. Boeing noted that the earnings charge will not affect the company's 2015 revenue or cash flow. "Global air passenger traffic growth and airplane demand remain strong, but the air cargo market recovery that began in late 2013 has stalled in recent months and slowed demand for the 747-8 Freighter," said Ray Conner, Boeing vice chairman and president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
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Oil services firm Schlumberger announced a profit for the fourth quarter that dropped nearly 60% from last year, as plunging oil prices have led to a drop-off in capex spending in the industry. Wall Street analysts expected the sharp decline, however, given the current market conditions. The company's bottom line came in above the amount analysts had expected, though revenue was slightly below consensus. Schlumberger reported fourth quarter income of USD819 million, down 58% from last year's mark of USD1.94 billion. The bottom line figure excludes one-time items and discontinued operations.
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Starbucks, the world's largest specialty coffee retailer, reported a drop in profit for the first quarter, as last year's bottom line was buoyed by a hefty gain. Earnings, on an adjusted basis, trumped analysts' estimates by a penny. Revenue for the quarter increased almost 12% from a year ago, but still fell short of Wall Street estimates. Seattle, Washington-based Starbucks first-quarter profit dropped to USD687.6 million or USD0.46 per share from USD983.1 million or USD0.65 per share for the year-ago quarter.
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Apple received USD1 billion from Alphabet's Google in 2014 to keep it as the default search engine on the iPhone, Bloomberg reported, citing a transcript of court proceedings from business software giant Oracle's copyright lawsuit against Google. According to the Bloomberg report, an attorney for Oracle said at a hearing in federal court last week that Google has a revenue-sharing agreement with Apple that gives Apple a percentage of the revenue generated by Google through the iPhones.
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Friday's Scheduled AGMs/EGMs

Tracsis
Character Group
Titon Holdings
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com; @thomaslwaite

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