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LONDON (Alliance News) - The following is a summary of top news stories Wednesday.
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COMPANIES
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Hargreaves Lansdown reported a 7% rise in full year pretax profit, boosted by growing client numbers and assets under administration, as the investment supermarket was helped by a busy year of stock market activity. Hargreaves Lansdown increased its full year dividend 8.1% to 32.00 pence from 29.59p. It made a GBP209.8 million pretax profit in the year ended June 30, compared with GBP195.2 million in the corresponding period last year. Revenue increased to GBP358.4 million, from GBP292.4 million, due to growth in complementary services such as stockbroking, fund management, discretionary management and pension drawdown services.
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Equipment rental company Ashtead Group said it expects its full-year results to be above previous expectations, after a strong first-quarter performance in both its US and UK businesses, driven by new store openings and bolt-on acquisitions, continued into August. Ashtead reported a pretax profit of GBP117.5 million for the three months to July 31, up from GBP97.4 million a year earlier, as revenue rose to GBP457.9 million, from GBP410.5 million.
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The independent directors of Perform Group have said they will recommend that shareholders reject Access Industries Group's offer to buy up the remainder of Perform, as it "undervalues the company and its prospects". Perform's directors said that they do not plan to accept the final cash offer from Access in regards to their own 10.88% stake. Access has previously said it won't raise its GBP701.6 million offer.
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Glencore and Brazil's Vale have withdrawn from talks over combining their Canadian nickel assets, a deal which could have produced more than USD1 billion in annual cost savings, Reuters reported Wednesday citing sources close to the matter. The discussions are understood to have broken down partly due to a disagreement on how to share the costs and savings, as well as concerns about the likely government and union reactions to potential job cuts and shutdowns, Reuters cited the sources as saying.
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BP has attempted to remove the administrator of compensation payments under its settlement for the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, accusing him of a "clear-cut conflict of interest", the Financial Times reported. The FT cited a court filing in which BP said emails had recently been identified revealing Patrick Juneau, the compensation claims administrator, had in the past "advocated vigorously on behalf of individual and business claimants seeking compensation from BP for alleged spill-related injuries".
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Direct Line Insurance Group is set to be one of two possible entrants to the UK's blue-chip index at the FTSE review on Wednesday, while initial public offerings will dominate the changes in the FTSE 250 for a second consecutive quarterly review. Recently merged Dixons Carphone is also experiencing a strong run in the lead up to the review, putting it in with a chance of entering the FTSE 100, while drinks can maker Rexam and house builder Barratt Developments could be the companies relegated to make way.
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Housebuilding and construction group Galliford Try said it has been appointed to two new contracts in the affordable housing sector worth a combined GBP106 million. Galliford Try's Partnerships business has been selected by Notting Hill Housing to build the GBP81 million Great Eastern Quays project in East London, a regeneration scheme that includes the creation of up to 350 mixed tenure homes, and development of public spaces alongside the river and the docks, including business, retail and leisure areas. Galliford Try said it has also been selected for a new GBP25 million contract with Registered Provide Coast and Country Housing to build six new "extra care" developments in Redcar, Yorkshire.
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Animal genetics company Genus reported lower underlying profit in its last financial year, as the strength of sterling, a weak market in Asia, and investments it's making in expanding its pig business in China offset a strong performance in its dairy and beef cattle business and pigs business elsewhere. The company, which provides products like semen and breeding animals that it claims have superior genetics to animals currently in production, reported a pretax profit of GBP38.2 million for the year to June 30, up from GBP33.4 million a year earlier, buoyed by a GBP7.5 million accounting valuation gain on biological assets. The company said it expects to perform in line with expectations in the current financial year, and it raised its total dividend 10% to 17.7 pence.
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MARKETS
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UK stock indices trade firmly higher with the FTSE 100 peaking in 2014 as lower-than-expected economic indicators from the eurozone raised investors' hope for European Central Bank action ahead of its inflation meeting on Thursday.
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FTSE 100: up 0.8% at 6,880.84
FTSE 250: up 0.3% at 16,005.64
AIM ALL-SHARE: up 0.2% at 781.00
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The pound recovered from its early lows against the other major currencies in the early European session, after data showed that British service sector activity grew at the strongest pace in ten months during August amid favorable market conditions and new business growth beating analysts' expectations.
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GBP-USD: up at USD1.6480
EUR-USD: up at USD1.3145

GOLD: flat at USD1267.96 per ounce
OIL (Brent): up at USD101.23 a barrel

(changes since end of previous GMT day)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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UK service sector activity grew at the strongest pace in ten months during August amid favorable market conditions and new business growth, survey data from the Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply and Markit Economics showed. The Markit/CIPS Services Purchasing Managers' Index climbed to 60.5 from 59.1 in July. Economists had forecast a score of 58.5. A PMI reading above 50 suggests expansion in the sector.
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Eurozone's composite purchasing managers' index, or PMI, was revised downwards in August, final figures from Markit Economics showed. The Markit PMI composite output index was revised to 52.5 in August, less than the flash estimate of 52.8. In July, the index was at 53.8. Economists had expected the final figure to confirm the flash estimate. The latest figure signaled the weakest rate of expansion in the year-so-far. A reading above 50 indicates expansion in private sector activity.
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British shop prices were down 1.6% on year in August, the British Retail Consortium said. That beat expectations for a decline of 0.2% following the 1.9% fall in July. Food prices gained just 0.3% in August, unchanged from the record low in the previous month. "As the UK economy continues to pick up, the benefits of subdued cost increases incurred by retailers will be passed on to consumers," said Helen Dickinson, director general of the BRC.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko agreed on a permanent ceasefire in the eastern Ukraine, Poroshenko's office said. The agreement was the result of a telephone conversation in which both leaders agreed on steps to create peace, it said. Putin's office confirmed that both presidents had spoken by phone, but it did not mention a ceasefire. Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said merely that both leaders' views about how to resolve the conflict "significantly overlap," Russian news agencies reported.
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The US wants to boost its military presence in the Baltic states by stationing more troops and aircraft at the Amari air base in Estonia, President Barack Obama says. Obama did not detail the additional number of soldiers to be sent to Estonia, where 150 are currently stationed. The plan must still be approved by Congress. NATO's commitment to Estonia's security is "unwavering, unbreakable and eternal," Obama says at a joint press conference with Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves.
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US President Obama has authorized the deployment of 405 additional military personnel to secure the safety of diplomats in Baghdad, the White House and Pentagon said. The net increase in personnel securing the US embassy in Baghdad will be only 350, since 55 troops in Iraq since June will be rotated outside Iraq to "deal with other security contingencies in the region," Pentagon Press Secretary Rear Admiral John Kirby said in a statement. The 350 new troops will bring the total number securing US diplomats and their facilities in Baghdad and Erbil to 1,170 troops.
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The Islamic State has beheaded a second US journalist, Steven Joel Sotloff, according to monitoring group SITE Intel, which posted the information on its website Tuesday. The beheading, which was posted in a video online, was carried out by a hooded man with a British accent, the reports said. CNN showed images of Sotloff clothed in an orange outfit, similar to the clothes worn by fellow US journalist James Foley, who was executed last week by the Islamic State militant group. Sotloff was also seen in the Foley footage. The White House could not confirm the killing, but spokesman Josh Earnest said the US had spent "considerable time and resources" trying to rescue Sotloff. He said the US government and intelligence officials will "very carefully" analyze the video. British Prime Minister David Cameron was the first politician to officially condemn the killing, referring to it as an "absolutely disgusting, despicable act."
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A Palestinian delegation was to meet with US Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday in Washington, in the wake Israel's appropriation of a large tract of West Bank land. Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat was leading the delegation. Israel and the Palestinians agreed last month to a truce after weeks of Israeli bombardment of alleged rocket-firing militants in the Gaza Strip, which remains under the control of Islamist militant group Hamas.
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US drone strikes have targeted the leader of the radical Islamist group al-Shabaab and his advisers as they were meeting in a hideout in southern Somalia, local officials said Tuesday. At least three al-Shabaab convoys were destroyed in the US air strikes, officials said. One of the convoys was believed to be carrying al-Shabaab leader Ahmed Abdi Godane - who the US military described as the principle target of the mission - but there was no information on whether he was killed or wounded.
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The US and Japan were among the top-ranked economies in terms of improving their competitiveness over the last year, according to an annual ranking published by the World Economic Forum in Geneva. For the sixth year in a row, Switzerland took the top spot, followed by Singapore. The US came in third, owing to its innovative companies and strong institutions, said the WEF, which hosts the annual meeting of global leaders in the Swiss town of Davos. Since last year's ranking, the US overtook Finland as well as Germany and relegated them to fourth and fifth place, respectively. Hong Kong, the Netherlands, Britain and Sweden rounded out the list of the 10 most competitive economies.
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By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com; @ArvindBhunjun

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