Barclays Share News (BARC)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Shares have opened lower in London Friday, following a negative lead from Wall Street and more weak economic data from China.

Markets in much of Europe, including in Germany, France and Italy, are closed for the Labour Day holiday. Chinese markets also were closed Friday.

Lloyds Banking Group shares lead blue-chip gainers at the open, up 3.3%, after it reported a 12% fall in first-quarter pretax profit but said numbers were better on an underlying basis.

In AIM, shares in Pure Wafer are up a whopping 82% after promising to return an insurance payout to shareholders.

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 6,926.19
FTSE 250: down 0.4% at 17,408.06
AIM ALL-SHARE: down 0.1% at 752.65
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Hang Seng: closed for Labour Day holiday.
Nikkei 225: closed up 0.1% at 19,531.63
DJIA: closed down 1.1% at 17,840.52
S&P 500: closed down 1.0% at 2,085.51
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GBP: up at USD1.5353
EUR: up at USD1.1246

GOLD: down at USD1,181.93 per ounce
OIL (Brent): down at USD66.67 a barrel

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

09:30 UK Consumer Credit/Mortgage Approvals
14:45 US Markit Manufacturing PMI
15:00 US Construction Spending
15:00 US ISM Manufacturing PMI
15:00 US Reuters/Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index
18:30 US Total Vehicle Sales
20:45 US FOMC Member Williams speech
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With less than a week to go before the UK General Election, the Conservatives took the lead in the latest Ipsos Mori poll, but the parties continued to switch places in the daily YouGov survey, as Tory leader David Cameron emerged as the winner from the Question Time interviews with leaders conducted on Thursday evening. The latest Ipsos Mori Political Monitor poll saw the Conservatives swing into the lead against the same survey a fortnight ago, with the Tories gaining two points to 35% to overtake Labour, which saw its support plunge five points to 30%. In the daily YouGov/The Sun poll, the two main parties continued the seesaw pattern seen all week as Labour pushed back into the lead on 35% to the Tories 34%. Elsewhere, a snap ICM/Guardian poll conducted after the Question Time grilling of party leaders on Thursday night found Prime Minister David Cameron emerging as the victor, with 44% of viewers saying he performed best on the night.
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Ireland's manufacturing sector growth slowed in April, as new work increased at a slightly weaker pace, survey figures from Markit Economics showed. The seasonally adjusted Investec purchasing managers' index, dropped to 55.8 in April from 56.8 in the previous month. However, any reading above 50 indicates expansion in the sector.
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The latest data from China's National Bureau of Statistics showed that the manufacturing sector in China continued to barely expand in April, with a manufacturing PMI score of 50.1. That beat expectations for 50.0, and was unchanged from the March reading. The bureau also said that its non-manufacturing PMI came in at 53.4 - down from 53.7 but still well into expansion territory.
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The manufacturing sector in Japan slipped into contraction for the first time in nine months, the latest survey from Markit Economics showed on Friday with a revised manufacturing PMI reading of 49.9. That's up from last month's preliminary April reading of 47.7, although it's down from 50.3 in March. It also slipped below the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.
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Consumer prices in Japan gained 2.3% on year in March, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said. That exceeded forecasts for 2.2%, which would have been unchanged from the February reading. Core inflation, which strips out the volatile costs of food, advanced 2.2% - topping expectations for 2.0%, which also would have been unchanged.
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The unemployment rate in Japan came in at a seasonally adjusted 3.4% on year in March. That beat forecasts for 3.5%, which would have been unchanged from the February reading.
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A Nepalese woman was rescued on Thursday after being buried under a guest house in Kathmandu since the massive earthquake which hit the country on Saturday, claiming thousands of lives, police and Interior Ministry officials confirmed. Krishna Kumar Khadka, who was in a serious condition, was the second survivor recovered on Thursday, Interior Ministry spokesman Laxmi Dhakal, said. The rescues came as efforts to find more people were hampered in many areas of Nepal due to torrential rain, government officials said. The death toll climbed to 6,155 people, police said. Injuries mounted to 13,402, according to the latest official figures.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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BERENBERG CUTS BARCLAYS TO 'SELL' ('HOLD') - PRICE TARGET 200 (220) PENCE
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TRADERS: HSBC RAISES SCHRODERS TO 'HOLD' ('REDUCE')
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TRADERS: HSBC RAISES JUPITER FUND MANAGEMENT TO 'BUY' ('HOLD')
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GOLDMAN INITIATES AUTO TRADER GROUP WITH 'BUY' - TARGET 320 PENCE
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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Lloyds Banking Group reported a 12% fall in first-quarter pretax profit but said numbers were better on an underlying basis. Pretax profit fell to GBP1.21 billion in the three months ended March 31, compared with GBP1.37 billion in the corresponding quarter a year earlier. Underlying profit, which strips out numerous costs and provisions, increased to GBP2.18 billion from GBP1.80 billion.
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Engineering company Smiths Group said it has hired Chris O'Shea as its new finance director, poaching him away from FTSE 250-listed molten flow engineering company Vesuvius. O'Shea will join Smiths Group on September 18. He joins from Vesuvius and formerly held senior positions at BG Group and Royal Dutch Shell. Vesuvius said the process of identifying a successor to O'Shea as chief financial officer is underway.
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GlaxoSmithKline said Theravance said the US Food and Drug Administration has approved Breo Ellipta for the treatment of asthma in patients over the age of eighteen. The efficacy and safety of the treatment was studied in a clinical trial with over 12,000 subjects in 23 studies of patients aged twelve and over, Glaxo said. Breo is a fixed-dose combination of the inhaled corticosteroid fluticasone furoate and the long-acting beta2-agonist vilanterol, administered using the Ellipta dry powder inhaler.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Virgin Money Holdings said profitability improved in the first quarter as mortgage lending increased.
It grew its gross mortgage lending in the first quarter of the year, and said it received a "high number" of applications in the three months. In a statement, Virgin Money said it it grew mortgage lending by about a third in the three months ended March 31, compared with the corresponding quarter of the prior year, equivalent to a 3.6% share of the market.
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Telecommunications, IT managed services, and data centre services provider Colt Group said it expects to deliver modestly positive cash flows for 2015, as it posted a 1.3% decline in revenue for its first quarter. Colt posted a decline in revenue to EUR394.6 million in the quarter to end-March, down from EUR399.8 million a year before, as a contribution from its acquisition of KVH Co Ltd last December failed to offset a hit from its exit from low-margin carrier voice trading contracts.
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Capital & Counties Properties said it is continuing to make progress on its Covent Garden and Earl's Court projects in London and said it is on track to meet its targets in the former. The property company, which owns assets in London's Covent Garden and Earl's Court areas, said it is on track to meet its estimated rental value target of GBP100 million for its Covent Garden properties by 2017, with good leasing momentum in the business and investment plans for the King's Court and Carriage Hall sites on track.
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Business services company Rentokil Initial said revenue rose in the first quarter, with solid performances in most of its regional operations offsetting continued weakness in parts of Europe. The company, which provides pest control, hygiene services and supplies workwear, said its revenue in the quarter to the end of March was GBP417.8 million, up 1.4% year-on-year.
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COMPANIES - LONDON MAIN MARKET AND AIM
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Irish paper packaging company Smurfit Kappa Group said it has named a new chief executive designate as it posted a fall in profit in the first quarter due to currency headwinds and an accounting change. Smurfit said it has appointed Tony Smurfit, currently president and chief operating officer of the company, as its chief executive designate. He will take over from current chief Gary McCann on August 31, when McCann will retire from the role. The move comes as the group said its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation in the first quarter to the end of March fell 1% to EUR266 million from EUR269 million.
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Tools and systems manufacturer Oxford Instruments said it has struck a deal to acquire US-based Medical Imaging Resources for a total of USD20.5 million. The consideration, which will be funded from existing financing facilities, will comprise a USD10.4 million payment on completion and a further USD10.1 million earn-out payable a year later. Medical Imaging Resources is based in Ann Arbor, Michigan and build, leases and services mobile medical imaging labs.
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Professional services consultancy Begbies Traynor Group said it now expects its full year results to be below market expectations, as acquisitions have only partly mitigated a hit from the declining UK insolvency market. The company said the number of UK corporate insolvencies in the first quarter of 2015 was down 11.3% compared to the previous year, and for the year to end-March UK corporate insolvencies were down 14% year-on-year.
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Pure Wafer said it has received a settlement from its insurers following a fire at its Swansea premises last December, which it plans to return to shareholders. Although the company said that there are a number of liabilities it will need to negotiate and as a result disclosing the amount of the settlement would be "potentially misleading" at this stage, it said the return to shareholders is likely to be at a value "significantly higher" than the average price of 59.59 pence at which its shares have traded since November 2012. It added that it believes this return is unlikely to be more than 125 pence per share.
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Daniel Stewart Says Expects To Appoint Nomad Imminently, But Shares Suspended
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Critical communications services company Sepura said it has entered into a conditional deal to acquire wireless communications company Teltronic for EUR127.5 million, to be funded by both its existing debt and by a share placing. Sepura said the consideration will be part-funded by a partial drawdown of its existing EUR120 million debt facilities, with the company also to launch a placing of 37.4 million shares and a placing and open offer of a further 9.1 million shares, all at 130 pence, in order to raise GBP56.9 million net of expenses.
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Textile services company Johnson Service Group said it has struck a deal to buy London-based table linen and chef's wear supplier London Linen Supply in a GBP65.4 million deal. Johnson Service said it will pay the consideration in cash, funded by a new GBP120 million banking facility, and will launch a share placing of 30 million shares at 73 pence per share to raise GBP21.1 million.
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Industrial services company Cape said it has secured a two-year deal from oil giant BP worth around GBP100 million. The deal is an extension to Cape's existing relationship with BP and will secure around 500 jobs for Cape in the North Sea, including in its access, insulation, coating, passive fire protection and platform services functions.
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COMPANIES - INTERNATIONAL
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Monsanto has approached Syngenta about a takeover, almost a year after a previous attempt fell apart, Bloomberg reported citing people familiar with the matter. The report said Monsanto has discussed its interest with Syngenta in recent weeks. Syngenta, which has a market value of about CHF29 billion, has concerns about a combination, which would face antitrust hurdles, and the companies may fail to reach an agreement. Combined with Syngenta, Monsanto would become the largest player in the world for both seeds and crop chemicals and a formidable competitor to Bayer, BASF and Dow Chemical.
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American International Group reported a surge in first-quarter profit, helped by the sale of investments as well as improved underwriting in commercial property-casualty and mortgage guaranty businesses. AIG said it would buyback an additional USD3.5 billion of its stock, and declared a dividend of USD0.125 per share. AIG posted first-quarter net earnings of USD2.47 billion, compared with USD1.61 billion last year.
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Friday's Scheduled AGMs/EGMs

Aer Lingus
SVG Capital
Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group
Virgin Money
Fairpoint
Electric Word
Capital & Counties Properties
RPS Group
Smurfit Kappa
Silence Therapeutics
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com; @thomaslwaite

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