BT Share News (BT.A)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Brent oil dipped further below the USD50 a barrel line on Tuesday, as the London market saw updates from housebuilder Persimmon and gaming company Rank Group.

Persimmon reported a 29% rise in interim pretax profit, selling more houses at higher prices, and said demand was holding up well post-Brexit, underpinned by good mortgage availability.

Rank Group, one of the two spurned suitors for bookmaker William Hill, also reported higher pretax profit but only marginal revenue growth after it closed underperforming sites.

Still ahead today, manufacturing and services data from the eurozone and the US, plus the US Redbook index of retail sales and eurozone consumer confidence data.

Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: 0.4% at 6,856.07
FTSE 250: up 0.4%at 17,940.92
AIM ALL-SHARE: up 0.1% at 789.74
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Hang Seng: down 0.4% at 22,911.16
Nikkei 225: closed down 0.6% at 16,497.36
DJIA: closed 0.1% at 18,529.42
S&P 500: closed down 0.1% at 2,182.64
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GBP: flat at USD1.3161 (USD1.3136)
EUR: up at USD1.1331 (USD1.1231)

GOLD: flat at USD1,339.00 per ounce (USD1,338.59)
OIL (Brent): down at USD48.75 a barrel (USD49.35)

(changes since previous London equities close)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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Tuesday's Key Economic Events still to come
(all times in BST)

0830 Germany Markit manufacturing and services PMI surveys
0900 Eurozone Markit manufacturing and services PMI surveys
1100 UK CBI Industrial Trends survey
1355 US Redbook index
1445 US Markit manufacturing PMI survey
1500 US new homes sales
1500 Eurozone consumer confidence
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The leaders of Germany, France and Italy flew to a tiny Mediterranean island on Monday to honour a founding father of the EU before brainstorming on the bloc's present-day crises, including migration, terrorism and Brexit. Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi accompanied German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande to Ventotene, where Altiero Spinelli, a dissident exiled there by Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, wrote a manifesto for European unification in 1941.
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The manufacturing sector in Japan continued to contract in August, albeit at a slower pace, the latest survey from Nikkei revealed on Tuesday with a manufacturing PMI score of 49.6. That's up from 49.3 in July, although it remains beneath the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. Individually, the output index swung to expansion for the first time since February, while new orders, new export orders, stocks of purchases and stocks of finished goods all contracted at a slower rate. Employment turned to contraction after expanding in the previous month.
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Team GB are set to receive a heroes' welcome when they touch down in the UK following their best Olympics in more than a century. A Boeing 747 carrying 320 athletes and support staff will land at Heathrow airport at 10am in a gold-nosed British Airways aircraft with "victoRIOus" emblazoned on the side. After winning 67 medals at the Games and finishing second in the overall table, Team GB are returning to talk of royal honours for their success. Prime Minister Theresa May's official spokeswoman said there would be "no formal cap" on the number of honours which can be awarded to the athletes.
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The NHS may lack enough key staff to make a seven-day service work properly, leaked Health Department documents reportedly reveal. The assessments, obtained by The Guardian and Channel 4 News, are said to show senior officials have voiced concern over the lack of detailed costings, risk assessment, and limited data supporting the policy. Channel 4 News reported that one document, a "risk register" for the seven-day services programme, dated July 25, refers to the possibility that there will not be enough resources to meet the deadline for the "complete roll-out" of the policy. The documents are also reported to state that a "workforce overload" could mean it may not be possible to find enough skilled staff "meaning the full service cannot be delivered", according to the reports.
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The US State Department must review nearly 15,000 previously undisclosed emails from a private email server used by Hillary Clinton while secretary of state and determine which ones can be released, the State Department said Monday. The FBI found the 14,900 documents as part of its probe of Clinton's handling of classified information in which it cleared her of criminal wrong doing last month. Investigators returned the emails to the State Department, which has been ordered to release them as part of a public records request, spokesman Mark Toner said. But the department must first evaluate which emails are work-related and whether any information should be withheld or redacted for security reasons.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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LBBW RAISES BT GROUP TO 'BUY' (HOLD) - PRICE TARGET 480 PENCE
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JEFFERIES RAISES BHP BILLITON TO 'BUY' (HOLD) - PRICE TARGET 1250 (1100) PENCE
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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Housebuilder Persimmon posted a 29% rise in first-half pretax profit after it sold more homes at a higher price, and said lending supply has continued to prove strong and customer demand is still robust. The group said its pretax profit for the six months to the end of June was GBP352.3 million, up from GBP272.8 million a year earlier, after revenue grew to GBP1.49 billion from GBP1.33 billion. The group said it sold 7,238 homes in the half, from 6,855 a year earlier, with the average selling price of those homes GBP205,762, 6.0% ahead of the prior year.
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National Grid said it is "disappointed" with a decision made by the UK energy regulator that it can only recover some of the additional costs incurred under two contracts signed with power generators Drax Group and SSE. National Grid awarded contracts to both Drax and SSE earlier this year to help re-energise the high voltage grid following a partial or total loss of power on the network - known as a 'Black Start' - and is designed as an insurance policy for the unlikely event that National Grid needs to restart the system. Ofgem sets National Grid cost targets for its role in balancing the network and managing provision of Black Start services. These costs are paid for by generators and suppliers via balancing charges. However, National Grid is now expected to pay more under the two contracts than the agreed target and in May it applied to Ofgem to be able to recover these costs in their entirety.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Casino and bingo hall operator Rank Group said its pretax profit grew in the year to the end of June, despite revenue only ticking up marginally. Rank, which was involved in a joint bid to acquire bookmaker William Hill with online betting firm 888 Holdings, an offer withdrawn last week, said its pretax profit for the year to June 30 was GBP85.5 million, up 15% from GBP74.5 million a year earlier. Revenue grew 1.0% to GBP708.5 million from GBP700.7 million, but like-for-like revenue increased 3.0%, with solid growth across its brands and different channels. The owner of the Grosvenor Casinos and Mecca Bingo businesses said digital revenue increased 11% year-on-year in the first half, while Mecca Bingo also performed well, delivering like-for-like revenue growth of 2.0%.
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JRP Group, the result of a merger between annuities providers Just Retirement and Partnership Assurance, said trading has remained in line with its expectations and its merger is progressing to plan. The company said trading in the quarter to the end of July was in line with its expectations in its defined benefit de-risking, individual guaranteed income for life and lifetime mortgages units. JRP added its Solvency II ratio at the end of June was around 130%, meaning it remains well-capitalised. The merger also continued to progress to plan and the group said it will provide a further update on its push to hit its targeted GBP40.0 million in annual cost savings in due course.
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Kier Group said it has been awarded three major construction frameworks worth in excess of GBP5.00 billion since its last trading update in early July, providing a long-term pipeline of potential contract awards. The construction group said it has secured a place on the shortlist for the four-year, GBP4.00 billion Department of Health Procure22 framework as one of six principle supply chain partners. The framework will start in October. Kier is also one of five suppliers listed for two five-year construction frameworks worth up to GBP750.0 million at Gatwick Airport. Lastly, Kier has secured a place on the list for the two-year, GBP500.0 million framework from the University of Cambridge to provide a range of facilities including laboratories, teaching and lecture spaces and sport facilities.
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Property investor Hansteen Holdings said its pretax profit almost halved in its first half when compared with a year earlier after the large gain it made on the revaluation of its investment properties a year earlier did not repeat. The company, which invests in industrial property assets in the UK and Europe, said its pretax profit in the six months to the end of June was GBP54.8 million, down from GBP103.7 million a year earlier, despite revenue rising to GBP47.7 million from GBP42.4 million. Hansteen said this decline in profit was due to a smaller gain made on the revaluation of its properties, of GBP13.8 million, compared to the GBP79.0 million recorded a year earlier. However, normalised income profit, which excludes profits or losses from the sales of properties, rose 28% to GBP29.2 million from GBP22.8 million, Hansteen said.
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COMPANIES - LONDON MAIN MARKET AND AIM
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Photo booths operator Photo-Me International said it has agreed to buy Asda Stores' UK photo division, operating Wal-Mart Stores-owned Asda's in-store concessions and online operations. Asda's photo division consists of 191 photo centres, as well as 172 self-service kiosk sites, operating in its stores and on its website. The in-store concessions will be managed by Photo-Me under a ten-year agreement, and the employees of Asda's photo division will transfer across to Photo-Me. Photo-Me will additionally operate the Asda-branded online photo-processing offering for a minimum of two and a half years.
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Industrial services provider Cape posted growth in revenue for the first half of 2016 but said its pretax profit sank due to a significant margin hit taken amid difficult conditions in its energy end-markets plus higher one-off charges booked by the company. Cape said it made a pretax profit of GBP1.4 million in the half to the end of June, a 92% drop on the GBP17.6 million made a year earlier. Revenue increased to GBP396.3 million from GBP359.5 million in the half, but this was offset on the bottom line by the one-off items and a 220 basis-point reduction in the firm's adjusted operating margin to 4.8% from 7.0%.
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COMPANIES - INTERNATIONAL
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Drug major Pfizer announced Monday that it has entered into a definitive merger agreement to acquire Medivation, the developer of blockbuster prostate-cancer drug Xtandi, for around USD14 billion. Pfizer expects the proposed acquisition would build upon the success of its breast cancer drug IBRANCE and with its strong immuno-oncology portfolio. Pfizer Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Ian Read said: "The proposed acquisition of Medivation is expected to immediately accelerate revenue growth and drive overall earnings growth potential for Pfizer. The addition of Medivation will strengthen Pfizer's Innovative Health business and accelerate its pathway to a leadership position in oncology, one of our key focus areas."
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The US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said Monday lender Wells Fargo & Co must pay a penalty of USD3.6 million to the bureau for the bank's illegal private student loan servicing practices that increased costs and unfairly penalized certain student loan borrowers. The lender is also required to provide USD410,000 in relief to the borrowers. The CFPB said it identified breakdowns throughout Wells Fargo's servicing process, including the bank's failure to provide important payment information to consumers, charging consumers illegal fees, and failing to update inaccurate credit report information.
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Tuesday's Shareholder Meetings

Ormonde Mining
Northern Bear
RedT Energy
Finsbury Growth & Income Trust (re share issue)
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By Sam Unsted; samunsted@alliancenews.com; @SamUAtAlliance

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