B.p Marsh Share News (BPM)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Blue-chip travel stocks are providing some positive performance Wednesday, amid a lower open in London, as investors look ahead to the minutes of the Bank of England's most recent policy-setting meeting.

Budget carrier easyJet leads the FTSE 100, up 4.0%, after it said it beat its guidance for revenue per seat in the third quarter, even as its total revenue fell for the period. The airline said its revenue per seat was down by 5.4% in the three months to the end of June to GBP59.08, slightly better than the guidance it issued in May.

Numis calls easyJet's performance "strong" and "encouraging", and highlights that the airline expects to grow pretax profit to a range of GBP620 million to GBP660 million, from GBP581 million in financial year 2014.

Travel operator TUI is up 1.0% and British Airways-owner IAG is up 0.4%.

Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: down 0.8% at 6,713.35
FTSE 250: down 0.5% at 17,672.56
AIM ALL-SHARE: down 0.2% at 757.09
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Hang Seng: down 1.2% at 25,237.67
Nikkei 225: closed down 1.2% at 20,593.67
DJIA: closed down 1.0% at 17,919.29
S&P 500: closed down 0.4% at 2,119.21
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GBP: up at USD1.5609
EUR: up at USD1.0948

GOLD: down at USD1,094.27 per ounce
OIL (Brent): down at USD56.43 a barrel

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

09:00 Italy Industrial Orders and Sales
09:30 UK Bank of England Minutes
10:00 Italy Retail Sales
10:00 UK Inflation Report Hearings
11:00 UK CBI Distributive Trades Survey
12:00 US MBA Mortgage Applications
14:00 US Housing Price Index
14:45 US Markit Services and Composite PMI
15:00 US Existing Home Sales
15:00 EU Consumer Confidence Preliminary
15:30 US EIA Crude Oil Stocks
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Bank of England Governor Mark Carney repeated his view that the picture on interest rate policy in the UK will become clearer towards the end of the year. Speaking at an event held by think-tank The Policy Exchange, Carney said the UK economy is still facing challenges from the economic weakness in the eurozone, the strength of sterling, and further UK government austerity measures.
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The Greek parliament is preparing for another vote on the final bailout negotiations on Wednesday as Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras seeks to close the third bailout deal that will offer up to EUR86 billion debt, after Greece repaid money due to the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank. The Greek government expects the final bailout deal by August 20, which is the deadline for a EUR3.6 billion debt due to the ECB ahead of the EUR1.5 billion due to IMF in September. Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services upgraded Greece's long-term sovereign credit rating to 'CCC+' from 'CCC-' on the view that the Greek default on its stock of commercial debt is no longer inevitable in the next 6 to 12 months. S&P's affirmed short-term credit rating at 'C' with a stable outlook.
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A leading economic index for the Chinese economy was up 1.0% in June, the Conference Board said. That follows the 1.1% increase in May and the 1.5% spike in April.
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Japan's all industry activity declined at a slower-than-expected pace in May, after rising in the previous month, figures from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry showed. The all industry activity index fell 0.5% month-over-month in May, in contrast to April's 0.1% slight increase. Economists had expected a 0.6% decrease for the month.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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UBS INITIATES MERLIN ENTERTAINMENTS WITH 'NEUTRAL' - TARGET 485 PENCE
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TRADERS: CREDIT SUISSE CUTS RENTOKIL INITIAL TO 'NEUTRAL' ('OUTPERFORM')
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TRADERS: NUMIS RESUMES CAIRN ENERGY WITH 'HOLD'
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TRADERS: NUMIS CUTS BORDERS & SOUTHERN PETROLEUM TO 'HOLD' ('BUY')
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TRADERS: NUMIS CUTS FAROE PETROLEUM TO 'HOLD' ('BUY')
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TRADERS: NUMIS RAISES MITCHELLS & BUTLERS TO 'ADD' ('HOLD')
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TRADERS: NUMIS RAISES PREMIER OIL TO 'BUY' ('ADD')
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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Mining giant BHP Billiton reported a 6% increase in iron ore production for the fourth quarter, while production of metallurgical coal grew 13%. Total iron ore production for fiscal year 2015 increased 14% and exceeded the company's own outlook. Further, the company said it expects underlying attributable profit for the 2015 June half year to include additional charges of up to USD650 million, tied mainly to writedowns and redundancies in its copper business. For fiscal 2016, the company forecasts iron ore production to increase by 6% to 247 million tons.
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Johnson Matthey said it expects its overall group performance in the current financial year to be "slightly ahead" of the previous year and reiterated it expects to deliver "good underlying growth". The metals and chemicals company said group sales totalled GBP797 million in the first quarter ended June 30, up 6% from the GBP749 million reported a year earlier, leading to a pretax profit before amortisation, impairments, restructuring charges and disposals of GBP94 million, slightly down from GBP95 million.
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Fresnillo said gold and silver production both significantly rose in the first half of 2015, leading to the company increasing its full year production guidance for its gold segment. Gold production in the first half enjoyed an even larger rise, totalling 364,000 ounces of gold which is up 37% from the 265,670 ounces produced a year earlier. That led to the company increasing its full year gold production guidance by 6.6%. Gold production is set to come in between 715,000 to 730,000 ounces in 2015, from the previous guidance of 670,000 to 685,000 ounces.
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Budget carrier easyJet said it beat its guidance for revenue per seat in the third quarter, even as its total revenue fell for the period. The airline  said its revenue per seat was down by 5.4% in the three months to the end of June to GBP59.08, slightly better than the guidance it issued in May. Total revenue in the quarter was down 1% to GBP1.23 billion. Capacity rose by 4.7% to 20.8 million seats, and passengers carried rose by 6.2% to 19.1 million. Load factor increased 1.3 percentage points to 91.7%.
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Astrazeneca said its phase III study of selumetinib in combination with dacarbazine for metastatic uveal melanoma did not meet its primary endpoint of progression free survival. The company is undertaking a full evaluation of the data of the trial.
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ARM Holdings said it expects to meet market expectations for dollar revenues in 2015 as it posted a rise in pretax profit for its first half. The chip designer posted a pretax profit of GBP198.1 million for the half year to end-June, up from GBP146.0 million a year before, as revenue rose to GBP456.0 million from GBP373.7 million. ARM proposed an interim dividend of 3.15 pence per share, up from 2.52 pence in the previous year.
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The Sage Group reiterated its expectations for its current financial year, continuing to expect at least 6% organic revenue growth for the full year, as it saw organic revenue up 6.6% in its first nine months. The business software company said in the third quarter to end-June it saw organic revenue growth of 7.5%. Sage said growth was flattered by a relatively weak comparative third quarter in the previous year.
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Land Securities Group said its good momentum seen in its 2015 financial year has continued into the current period, with good performances in its London and Retail portfolios. The property developer said take-up in its London portfolio was healthy in the first quarter to the end of June, with vacancy rates low and rental values increasing. The group said it has seen good interest in its schemes in the capital and remains confident on securing lettings for the remaining vacant space on its books.
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The UK's Serious Fraud Office wants to discuss the possibility of a deferred prosecution agreement with Barclays over how it raised billions of pounds with Qatari investors during the global financial crisis, according to a Financial Times report. Citing people familiar with the investigation, the report said discussions are "very early stage" and that no offer has been made. "We are not in a position to comment on an ongoing legal matter, save to clarify that there has been no offer made of a DPA," Barclays said.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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A slew of construction and support services companies said they have been named on packages awarded by Highways England for its GBP1.5 billion Smart Motorway programme. The scheme will involve increasing capacity, reducing congestion and shortening journey times across a number of stretches of the motorway in the UK. Balfour Beatty, as part of its joint venture with French construction company VINCI, has been selected to work on a package worth up to GBP607.4 million, the largest of the three packages awarded. Carillion and Kier Group, working in a joint venture, have been named on a GBP475 million package under the programme, while Galliford Try and Costain Group have been named on a GBP302 million portion of the scheme.
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The European Commission said it has opened an in-depth investigation to assess whether the proposed acquisition of Rexam by Ball Corp is in line with the EU Merger Regulation. The Commission is concerned that the proposed transaction may reduce competition in the beverage can and aluminum bottle manufacturing industry in the European Economic Area. The Commission now has 90 working days, until November 25, 2015, to investigate in-depth the proposed acquisition and determine whether these initial concerns are founded.
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COMPANIES - LONDON MAIN MARKET AND AIM
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Independent energy company First Utility Group is set to appoint investment banks to handle a listing for the business in London next year, the Financial Times reports. The company, which has around 800,000 gas and electricity customers, is to hire Credit Suisse and JPMorgan to handle the planned listing, which could give it a market capitalisation of around GBP500 million.
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COMPANIES - INTERNATIONAL
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Apple said its third quarter profit rose 38% from last year, driven by strong sales of iPhone and Mac as well as all-time record revenue from services and the successful launch of Apple Watch.
The company's quarterly earnings per share also came in above analysts' expectations as did its quarterly sales. However, the company forecast fourth quarter sales slightly below analysts' current consensus estimate. "We had an amazing quarter, with iPhone revenue up 59% over last year, strong sales of Mac, all-time record revenue from services, driven by the App Store, and a great start for Apple Watch," said Tim Cook, Apple's CEO.
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Software giant Microsoft reported its biggest quarterly loss ever, hurt largely by a hefty write-down of USD7.5 billion related to Nokia mobile-phone business, with revenues dropping 5% as PC shipments continue to slip. Nonetheless, adjusted earnings for the quarter trumped analysts' estimates, as did revenues. Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft reported a fourth-quarter loss of USD3.2 billion, compared to a profit of USD4.6 billion reported last year. For the quarter, Microsoft recorded a impairment charge of USD7.5 billion related to the write down of Nokia Devices and Services business, in addition to a restructuring charge of USD780 million due to job cuts.
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Yahoo! Ireported a slip to loss in the second quarter, hurt by one-time expenses as well as traffic acquisition costs. Total revenues climbed 15% from a year ago, largely offset by traffic costs, even as growth was seen in the areas of display, mobile and social. Yahoo's quarterly earnings missed Wall Street estimates, while revenues edged past expectations, with the overall results denoting challenges CEO Marissa Mayer faces in casting the company on a higher growth trajectory.
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The US Department of Justice's Antitrust Division announced that it will close its investigation into AT&T's proposed USD48.5 billion acquisition of DirecTV. The announcement followed a statement by FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler that a final order approving the transaction has been circulated to the Commission. "After an extensive investigation, we concluded that the combination of AT&T's land-based internet and video business with DirecTV's satellite-based video business does not pose a significant risk to competition," said Assistant Attorney General Bill Baer of the Antitrust Division.
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Toshiba said that it completed sale of its entire stake in Finnish elevator and escalator maker Kone Oyj for EUR864.7 million. Toshiba sold 24.19 million class-B shares in Kone, which represented 4.6% of the outstanding shares, at a price of EUR35.75 per share. The company expects a gain on the sale of about JPY113 billion. On Tuesday, Toshiba said Chief Executive Officer and President Hisao Tanaka resigned over an accounting scandal of about USD1.2 billion.
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Wednesday's Scheduled AGMs/EGMs

Experian
BP Marsh
Norcros
Cayenne Trust
Johnson Matthey
Fidelity China Special Situations
INVESCO Income Growth Trust
QinetiQ
Flybe
Paypoint
TalkTalk Telecom Group
Custodian REIT
Torotrak
Zanaga Iron Ore Co
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com; @thomaslwaite

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