BP Share News (BP.)

LONDON (Alliance News) - UK shares have opened higher Tuesday, encouraged by a positive close on Wall Street on Monday and ahead of UK inflation data.

Whitbread leads FTSE 100 gainers, as it said its Premier Inn hotels and Costa Coffee shops continued their strong sales growth in the first quarter of its new financial year.

Berenberg has initiated coverage of a group of engineering stocks, saying Buy Rolls-Royce, Meggitt and GKN and Hold BAE Systems and Cobham.

Here is what you need to know at the UK market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: up 0.2% at 6,766.12
FTSE 250: up 0.3% at 15,748.70
AIM ALL-SHARE: up 0.3% at 788.26
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Hang Seng: down 0.5% at 23,181.42
Nikkei 225: closed up 0.3% at 14,975.97
DJIA: closed up 0.03% at 16,781.01
S&P 500: closed up 0.1% at 1,937.78
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GBP-USD: down at USD1.6975
EUR-USD: down at USD1.3563

GOLD: down at USD1,265.50 per ounce
OIL (Brent): down at USD112.58 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 British Summer Time)

09:00 Italy Trade Balance
09:30 UK Consumer, Retail and Producer Price indices
09:30 UK DCLG House Price Index
10:00 EU Labour cost
10:00 Germany ZEW Survey - Economic and Current Sentiment
10:00 EU ZEW Survey - Economic Sentiment
n/a UK 30-y Bond Auction
13:30 US Consumer Price Index
13:30 US Housing Starts and Building Permits
13:55 US Redbook index
16:30 US 4-Week Bill Auction
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The US economy will grow by a weaker-than-expected 2% this year, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned Monday. The figure is well below the IMF's previous estimate of 2.7% and would be only slightly higher than economic growth in 2013, which stood at 1.9%. The IMF pointed to recent data showing a "meaningful rebound" in economic activity, adding that it will only partly offset a contraction that occurred in the first quarter.
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European demand for new passenger cars increased for the ninth consecutive month in May, data from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association showed. Car sales rose 4.5% year-on-year in May, slightly slower than the 4.6% rise posted in April.
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US Secretary of State John Kerry indicated Monday that Washington could consider working with Iran to counter the terrorist group Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, but officials said the US was not considering any military cooperation. Kerry told Yahoo News that the US was "open to any constructive process here that could minimize the violence," saying that the militant group was "an existential challenge to Iraq itself."
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A new outbreak of the Ebola virus in Liberia has killed at least six people, foreign health workers confirmed to dpa on Monday. The sources said the victims including one nurse died at a hospital in the Monrovia suburb of New Kru Town. The health officer of northern Lofa County, Aaron Kollie, told dpa that three new Ebola cases have been reported in Foya district. Kollie said one of the three cases has been confirmed, while the other two are suspected cases subject to laboratory tests.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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DAVY RAISES EASYJET TO 'OUTPERFORM' ('UNDERPERF') - TARGET 1750 (1500) PENCE
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BERENBERG INITIATES ROLLS-ROYCE WITH 'BUY' - TARGET 1216 PENCE
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BERENBERG INITIATES MEGGITT WITH 'BUY' - TARGET 600 PENCE
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BERENBERG INITIATES GKN WITH 'BUY' - TARGET 440 PENCE
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BERENBERG INITIATES BAE SYSTEMS WITH 'HOLD' - TARGET 445 PENCE
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LIBERUM CUTS INTU PROPERTIES TO 'SELL' ('HOLD') - TARGET 276 (282) PENCE
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JPMORGAN CUTS MITCHELLS & BUTLERS TO 'NEUTRAL' (OVERW) - TARGET 430 (550) PENCE
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DEUTSCHE BANK RAISES DERWENT LONDON TO 'HOLD' (SELL) - TARGET 2380 (2200) PENCE
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BERENBERG INITIATES ULTRA ELECTRONICS WITH 'HOLD' - TARGET 1970 PENCE
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BERENBERG INITIATES QINETIQ WITH 'HOLD' - TARGET 225 PENCE
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BERENBERG INITIATES COBHAM WITH 'HOLD' - TARGET 325 PENCE
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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The UK's two biggest oil companies, BP PLC and Royal Dutch Shell PLC, will unveil multi-billion pound deals with China on Tuesday as the government attempts to position the UK as Beijing's preferred European investment partner, Sky News reported Monday, citing insiders. Sky News said that BP will announce a long-term deal to supply liquefied natural gas to China that is expected to be worth well over GBP5 billion, while Shell is expected to unveil its participation in a strategic framework agreement with state-owned China National Offshore Oil Corporation.
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Shell said late Monday it will sell a 19% stake in Australian oil and gas producer Woodside Petroleum Ltd. for about USD5 billion after tax. Shell, Woodside's largest shareholder with a 23.1% stake, noted that the stake sale will reduce its holding to below 5%.
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Standard Chartered PLC Monday said it has agreed to sell two businesses in South Korea as it looks to scale back and improve returns in the region, where it has suffered from a downturn in performance. The emerging markets-focused bank said that it has agreed to sell Standard Chartered Savings Bank and Standard Chartered Capital Korea to Tokyo Stock Exchange-listed financial services group J Trust for KRW151 billion, or approximately USD148 million, in cash.
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Equipment rental company Ashtead Group PLC reported higher profit and revenue for the fourth quarter of its last financial year and for the year as a whole, as it invested in expanding its fleet for hire and in acquisitions. The company reported a pretax profit of GBP70.8 million for the three months to April 30, up from GBP50.0 million a year earlier, as revenue rose to GBP355.7 million, up from GBP306.8 million. For the year to end-April, pretax profit rose to GBP365.5 million, from GBP214,2 million, as revenue rose to GBP1.48 billion, from GBP1.21 billion. It said it will pay a final dividend of 9.25 pence a share, up from the 6.0p final dividend it paid for fiscal 2013, meaning the total dividend for the year will rise to 11.5p, from 7.5p.
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Engineering firm Weir Group PLC said overall trading in April and May was in line with expectations, but it now expects 2014 profit and revenue to be more weighted towards the second half of the year after currency headwinds strengthened over the first half of 2014. Weir Group, which is holding a capital market presentation Tuesday focusing on its oil and gas division, said its full-year constant currency revenue and margin guidance remains unchanged.
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Premier Inn hotels and Costa Coffee chain operator Whitbread PLC reported strong sales growth for the first quarter of its new financial year, as the company said both business continued on their rapid growth trajectory. The hotel, restaurant and coffee chain operator has continued to invest heavily in all of its businesses, with expansion helping further market share gains. Sales from both businesses were up 13% in the 13 weeks to May 29, driven by a 6.9% increase in like-for-like sales. The group said its London-based Premier Inn hotels continue to drive growth behind its hotel business, while sales at its Costa Coffee chain has been aided by strong growth in system sales and in transactions per store.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Premier Oil PLC said it has sold its 30% stake in the PL359 oil license offshore Norway to Lundin Norway AS for USD17.5 million after tax, and expects the net profit on the deal to be about USD10 million. Licence PL359 contains the Luno II discovery. An appraisal well will be drilled on the licence, starting this month, the cost of which will be borne by Lundin Norway, Premier said.
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Balfour Beatty PLC said its joint venture has been named "selected bidder" for two new acute care hospitals in Vancouver, British Columbia continuing its move into the Canadian healthcare market. In a statement, the construction company said that the 30-year public-private partnership on behalf of the Vancouver Island Health Authority will cover the financing, design, construction, and facilities management for the Campbell River Hospital and Comox Valley Hospital.
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Carillion PLC said it has won a contract valued at GBP70.0 million by construction value for the second phase of the Aldara Hospital and Medical Centre in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. In a statement, the support services company said it signed the contract with the Aldara Medical Corp. It said the new facility will be the largest outpatient centre in Saudi Arabia. It is close to the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre and also Al Faisal University.
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JD Sports Fashion PLC said it has seen a good start to the new year, as its core Sportswear business saw trading in the first 18 weeks of its new financial year boosted by the build up to the World Cup. In a short statement , the sportswear, outdoor clothing and fashion retailer did not give sales numbers as it usually does in its interim management statement for the 18-week period ended June 7, saying that as the World Cup build up has enhanced its Sports division’s performance, it would be "potentially misleading" at this stage to report precise like-for-like figures. However, it said it is "certainly pleased" with the underlying performance of the division to date. "Based on the trading performance to date we anticipate a satisfactory increase in first half profitability in line with our expectations."
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COMPANIES - ALL-SHARE AND AIM
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Serica Energy Buys 18% Interest In Erskine Field In UK Central North Sea From BP For USD11.1M Cash, 27M Serica Shares
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Origo Partners FY Loss USD57.9M Vs USD69.0M Loss; NAV On March 31 USD115.8M, Down From USD135.0 On Dec 31
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Mountfield Group 2013 Pretax Profit GBP765K, Up From 219K In 2012
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Leni Gas & Oil: Third Of Goudron Development Wells GY-666 Well Spudded, Now Drilling Ahead; Well GY-665 Will Be Completed As A Gros Morne Producer; Well GY-666 Has A Planned Total Depth Of 3,700 Feet True-Vertical Depth
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Ithaca Energy Says 2014 Production Guidance Unchanged At 11K-13K Barrels Of Oil Equivalent Per Day
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Bullabulling Gold Rejects Raised Bid From Norton Gold Fields
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Microgen Says Will Not Make Offer For Elektron Technology, Due To Lack Of Support From Elektron Board; Also Won't Proceed With Refinancing Proposal For Elektron Technology
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Tuesday's Scheduled AGMs/EGMs

Petropavlovsk
Premier Farnell
Whitbread
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com; @thomaslwaite

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