BP Share News (BP.)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Shares have opened lower Friday on geopolitical worries ahead of the weekend, despite some good news for UK companies.

The US government on Thursday decided to lift the ban on BP from federal government contracts imposed after the Deepwater Horizon disaster. In the FTSE 250, pub chain J D Wetherspoon has provided a strong set of interim results.

BP shares are up 0.6% at the open, while Wetherspoon shares are down 0.5%.

Following a miserable day for UK supermarket shares on Thursday, Citigroup has cut its price targets for Morrisons, Sainsbury and Tesco. It raised its target for Home Retail Group following its strong trading statement Thursday.

Here is what you need to know at the UK market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: down 0.4% at 6,527.77
FTSE 250: down 0.8% at 16,059.40
AIM ALL-SHARE: down 0.5% at 874.94
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Hang Seng: down 1.1 at 21,520.72
Nikkei 225: closed down 3.3% at 14,327.66
DJIA: closed down 1.4% at 16,108.89
S&P 500: closed down 1.2% at 1,846.34
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GBP-USD: down at USD1.6612
EUR-USD: flat at USD1.3869

GOLD: down at USD1,370.00 per ounce
OIL (Brent): up at USD107.21 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

09:30 UK Trade Balance
10:00 UK CB Leading Economic Index
10:00 EU Employment Change
12:30 US Producer Price Index
13:55 US Reuters/Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index Preliminary
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Germany's harmonized consumer price inflation slowed as initially estimated in February, final data published by Destatis showed. EU harmonized inflation slowed to 1% in February from 1.2% in January. Compared with January, the harmonized index of consumer prices gained 0.5% in February. The statistical office confirmed the preliminary estimate published on February 27.
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Warnings from business leaders and the Bank of England about the uncertainties facing an independent Scotland are not a "myth," British Prime Minister David Cameron was to warn Scots on Friday. The premier is to use a speech at the Scottish Conservatives conference in Edinburgh to attempt to dispel accusations that his government has been trying to frighten Scots into remaining British when they vote in an independence referendum in September. "This referendum is a major life decision - and you don't make one of those without getting all the information you can," he was to say.
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The West warned Thursday that Russia risks significant economic and political consequences if it shuns a political solution to the crisis in Ukraine. The push to de-escalate tensions between Moscow and Kiev comes ahead of a planned Sunday referendum called by Crimea's pro-Russian leadership to decide if the peninsula is to secede from Ukraine.
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The search for a missing Malaysia Airlines passenger jet expanded westwards towards the Indian Ocean, amid new information gathered by US investigators that the aircraft may have flown for hours after it dropped off the radar. Broadcaster CNN reported that the USS Kidd was heading from the South China Sea to the Indian Ocean to conduct a search for the Boeing 777-200 aircraft carrying 239 people. Search and rescue operations for the missing plane for the past six days have been focused in the South China Sea and the Malacca Strait.
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The members of the Bank of Japan's monetary policy board said that the country's economy is continuing its moderate recovery, and that recovery is expected to continue, minutes from the central bank's February 17-18 meeting revealed."Japan's economy has continued to recover moderately, and a front-loaded increase in demand prior to the consumption tax hike has recently been observed. Overseas economies -- mainly advanced economies -- are starting to recover, although a lackluster performance is still seen in part," the minutes said.
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British Prime Minister David Cameron on Thursday urged Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to take the "difficult" decisions needed to reach a framework agreement with Israel by an April 30 deadline. He had made the same plea to Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli lawmakers a day earlier in nearby Jerusalem. But his visit to Israel and the West Bank was overshadowed by the worst flare-up in violence in southern Israel and the Gaza Strip since November 2012, when a fragile Egyptian-mediated truce ended a fierce, eight-day Israeli offensive.
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The Syrian conflict has caused the world's largest refugee crisis as it has forced 40% of the population from their homes, the UN refugee agency said in Geneva. More than 9 million Syrians have been displaced since the conflict started three years ago, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees said. More than 6.5 million have sought refuge within Syria, while 2.6 million have fled to countries in the region.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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TRADERS: UBS CUTS HUTCHISON CHINA MEDITECH TO 'NEUTRAL' ('BUY') - TARGET 1000 PENCE
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NOMURA CUTS PEARSON PRICE TARGET TO 950 (980) PENCE - 'REDUCE'
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JEFFERIES RAISES SIG PRICE TARGET TO 220 (180) PENCE - 'HOLD'
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CITIGROUP CUTS TESCO PRICE TARGET TO 300 (320) PENCE - 'NEUTRAL'
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CITIGROUP CUTS SAINSBURY PRICE TARGET TO 350 (425) PENCE - 'BUY'
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CITIGROUP CUTS MORRISON PRICE TARGET TO 220 (250) PENCE - 'NEUTRAL'
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CITIGROUP RAISES HOME RETAIL PRICE TARGET TO 215 (205) PENCE - 'NEUTRAL'
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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The US government on Thursday decided to lift the ban on British oil giant BP PLC from federal government contracts, four years after the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion in April 2010. The decision will enable BP to bid for new contracts that could generate million of dollars of new business for the company. The Environmental Protection Agency or EPA said it has executed an agreement with BP that settles all suspension and debarment actions against the company that prevented BP from doing business with the US government following the company's guilty plea in the Deepwater Horizon disaster. The administrative agreement will be in place for five years and takes effect immediately.
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Vodafone PLC said the integration of recent acquisition Kabel Deutschland with its own German operation will start from April 1 after it registered the required takeover documents, the last step in the takeover process. In a short statement, the company said the integration means it has more than 32 million mobile, about 5 million broadband, and 7.6 million direct TV customers in Germany.
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Moody's Investors Service downgraded Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC's supported long-term ratings to Baa2 from Baa1, one month after placing the bailed-out bank on review. RBS's "ambitious and comprehensive multi-year restructuring" played its part in the decision, with the ratings agency stating that a standalone credit assessment of Ba1 better reflects the risk the restructuring poses to bondholders. That said, Moody's said that if the restructuring goes according to plan it will be positive to bondholders in the medium to long-term, because the bank will be predominantly UK-focused and less risky.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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British pub chain JD Wetherspoon PLC said sales and profits grew in the first half of its financial year, with like-for-like sales growth of 5.2%, but pressure on its margins continues as it pushes up capital expenditure and reinvests in the business. The group maintained its interim dividend at 4.00 pence per share, despite reporting a 3.2% increase in pretax profit for the 26 weeks ended January 26, boosted by a 9.1% increase in sales of its food, beverages, hotel rooms and machine income. The UK-base pub owner and operator still says it is targeting a reasonable outcome for the current financial year ending July 27, despite tax and cost pressure.
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COMPANIES - ALL-SHARE AND AIM
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Media company Future PLC warned that its operating profits would be significantly below market forecasts in the current financial year after the downturn in trading it saw in the latter part of its fiscal first quarter continued in January and February. In a statement, the magazine and digital publisher said its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation excluding exceptional items is expected to be below the normalised figures it reported in its last financial year. Its financial year runs from October 1 until September 30.
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Staffing business SThree PLC said it is confident about the rest of the year as it reported an increase in first-quarter gross profit after making progress in new high growth markets. In a statement, SThree said first-quarter gross profit grew by 9% to GBP47.8 million at constant currency from the year before.
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Venn Life Sciences Holdings PLC said it has raised GBP1 million before expenses by placing 5.3 million shares at 19 pence each, funds it will use to develop the Labskin and potential acne treatment it recently acquired. The placing is conditional on shareholder approval. The company will seek that approval at a general meeting April 2.
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Numis Corporation PLC said Non-Executive Chairman David Arculus is to retire in May, with independent Non-Executive Director Gerald Corbett to succeed him. Corbett joined the board of the UK investment bank in May 2009.
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Astar Minerals PLC said it has raised GBP1.05 million in a placing, a transaction that needs shareholder consent at a general meeting the company will hold March 31. Earlier this week, the company had said it was in talks about raising new funds and said it expected to raise about GBP1 million at the current market price. It didn't give any details of the price Friday or the number of shares issued.
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Clean Air Power Ltd said it plans to launch its dual-fuel products in the US and Russia after narrowing its losses in 2013, driven by strong demand for its systems. The company, which develops dual-fuel combustion technology for heavy-duty engines, posted pretax losses of GBP2.0 million for the year, compared with a loss of GBP2.2 million, as revenue rose to GBP9.9 million from GBP7.9 million a year earlier.
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Friday's Scheduled AGMs/EGMs

HR Owen
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com; @thomaslwaite

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