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LONDON (Alliance News) - The following is a summary of top news stories Thursday.
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COMPANIES
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Marks & Spencer Group reported UK sales growth that beat analysts' expectations, driven by strong online growth and the first rise in general merchandise sales for three years, although its international sales fell due to the crisis in Russia and Ukraine and issues in its Turkish franchise business. The retailer reported 1.6% growth in group sales for the 13 weeks to March 28, as a 2.7% rise in UK sales offset a 3.8% decline in international sales. In the UK, food sales grew 3.7%, or 0.7% on a like-for-like sales basis, with record Valentine's Day sales. General merchandise sales, meanwhile, grew 1.3% and 0.7% on a like-for-like basis, the first growth in three years. Online sales grew 13.8%.
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Drinks giant Diageo will take full control of United National Breweries' traditional sorghum beer business in South Africa by buying the 50% stake in the business it didn't already own for up to USD36 million. The company said it will buy the stake in the company that owns United National Breweries' traditional sorghum beer business in South Africa from Pestello Investments Inc for an initial payment of USD22 million, or about GBP14.8 million, and a potential earn-out payment of up to USD14 million, or about GBP9.4 million.
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A US independent monitor has said that HSBC Holdings is moving too slowly to fix some of its compliance issues. Monitor Michael Cherkasky's report, summarised in a court filing, has lauded the lender for the compliance efforts of top leaders. It has also applauded the HSBC's adoption of anti-money-laundering standards. However, the monitor is of the view that the bank's corporate culture and rusty technology systems are curtailing the implementation of those standards. The monitor believes "HSBC group can-and must-do more."
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BTG raised its revenue guidance for the financial year that just ended for a second time, and also said it expects revenue to grow strongly at constant currency rates in the current year. The healthcare company said it now expects revenue for the year to March 31 to be above the previous guidance it gave of GBP345 million to GBP360 million, including revenue from the PneumRx acquisition that was completed in early January. It then expects revenue to grow strongly in the current financial year to between GBP410 million and GBP440 million on a constant currency basis.
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Premier Oil, Falkland Oil and Gas and Rockhopper Exploration all said an oil and gas discovery has been made at the Zebedee well in the Falkland Islands. Premier Oil holds a 36% stake in the Zebedee well, with Falkland Oil holding a 40% interest and Rockhopper holds a 25% stake. The Zebedee well is on License PL004b, and the companies said all seven of the reservoir targets at the well were encountered and three of the targets were oil bearing. Wireline logging and formation test data indicate that a total of 18.5 metres of net gas pay, and 27.9 metres of net oil pay were encountered in the well.
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Ferrexpo said pellet production rose in the first quarter of the year, and it is producing more high grade pellets compared with a year ago whilst costs are falling due to the increasing production and because of the devaluation of the Hryvnia. The iron ore miner produced 2.9 million tonnes of iron pellets in the first quarter, up 2.5% from a the comparable period a year earlier when production totalled 2.8 million tonnes. Ferrexpo said production in the first quarter was a record for the company.
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Playtech will buy a 91.1% stake in online contract for difference and options broker TradeFX Ltd For up to EUR458 million, a deal that will push it into a new area and that it expects to boost earnings immediately. The company also said it still has substantial resources with with to pursue further acquisitions. The gaming software development company, said it will pay EUR208 million in cash for the TradeFX stake initially and could then pay up to a further EUR250 million depending on the performance of the business, which also provides forex trading platforms.
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Electrocomponents expects its pretax profit in the financial year that ended on Tuesday, before reorganisation costs and pension credits, to meet market consensus forecasts, which it put at GBP79.3 million. The consensus forecast pretax profit range for the year to end-March is GBP77.6 million to GBP82.8 million, according to Electrocomponents. The electronics and maintenance products distributor expects its full year gross margin to decline by around 1.3%, after it saw an improvement in its gross margin in its fourth quarter.
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Alliance Trust has reiterated its opposition to the proposals tabled by activist investor Elliott Advisors (UK) Ltd and urged its shareholders to vote against Elliott's requisition to appoint three additional directors to the board. Alliance Trust's reiteration of its stance came after Elliott Advisors, which holds a 12% stake in the trust, on Tuesday escalated the war of words between the two parties, issuing stern words about the performance, charges and dividends of the trust.
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Tate & Lyle has reiterated its guidance for the financial year that just ended, after it was hit by operational and supply chain issues in the first half and its SPLENDA Sucralose sweetener business continued to face an extremely competitive market. The sugar and sweeteners company reiterated the guidance it provided in February, saying it still expects adjusted pretax profit for the year to the end of March to be below the GBP230 million to GBP245 million guidance it provided in September 2014.
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MARKETS
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London's main stock indices are mixed ahead of the long Easter weekend, but Marks and Spencer is the best-performing stock in the FTSE 100 after its UK general merchandise business returned to growth after three years.
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FTSE 100: up 0.1% at 6,815.06
FTSE 250: up 0.6% at 17,233.8
AIM ALL-SHARE: down 0.1% at 714.75
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The pound weakened against the dollar after data showed that construction sector growth slowed more-than-expected in March.
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GBP-USD: down at USD1.4807
EUR-USD: up at USD1.0826

GOLD: flat at USD1207.42 per ounce
OIL (Brent): up at USD57.01 a barrel

(changes since end of previous GMT day)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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UKIP leader Nigel Farage has emerged as the bookies' favourite to win the first live televised debate of the 2015 General Election campaign on Thursday night, as allies of Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron hope the debate will devolve into a political slanging match, illustrating his argument that the election could produce a messy and unstable result for the country. Bookmaker William Hill makes Farage the 13/8 favourite to come out on top in the snap polls which will be published immediately following the first debate, which will involve seven party leaders. The Financial Times said UKIP has been slipping down opinion polls in recent weeks but Farage's populist style may prove highly effective within a debate context.
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Labour has moved to defend itself from criticism from the business community and has made a further effort to woo Scottish voters away from the Scottish National Party as the leaders of the seven main parties prepare for the first televised debate of the campaign on Thursday night. With campaigning currently focused on business, Labour has accused business critics of leader Ed Miliband of being self-interested Conservative Party backers, claiming a battle with some of the UK most senior executives "plays straight into our hands," the Financial Times reports.
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UK construction sector growth slowed more-than-expected in March due to a slower increase in output and new orders, while confidence rose to the highest level for just over nine years, survey data from Markit Economics showed. The Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply/Markit construction Purchasing Managers' Index fell to 57.8 in March from 60.1 in the previous month. It was forecast to drop to 59.8. However, any reading above 50 indicates expansion in the sector. The latest reading signaled a strong rate of overall construction output growth, but was below the average for 2014 as a whole.
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Greece submitted a new set of economic reforms to European authorities on Wednesday, marking the most comprehensive effort yet taken by the country's newly-elected left-wing government to unlock the EUR7.2 billion in bailout fund it will need to prevent it from going bankrupt, the Financial Times reports. The 26-page document, seen by the FT, will rely on plans to crack down on tax evasion and fraud in order to raise as much as EUR6 billion this year. The measures include raising EUR875 million from audits of offshore bank transfers and EUR600 million from a new lottery scheme aimed at compelling Greek consumers to demand value-added tax receipts.
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Negotiations between Iran and major powers over a nuclear deal carried on into the early hours of Thursday, two days past their deadline, with diplomats saying the prospects for a preliminary agreement were now finely balanced between success and failure, Reuters reports. The negotiations, designed to block Iran's capacity to build a nuclear bomb in exchange for major powers lifting sanctions on the country, have been hit by disagreements over crucial details within the accord, despite the broad outline of an agreement having been reached.
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