Capital & Regional Share News (CAL)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Shares have opened broadly lower in London Tuesday following a weak close on Wall Street on Monday, with budget airline easyJet leading FTSE 100 decliners after giving a weak outlook. Easyjet shares are down 7.4%.

Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: down 1.0% at 6,961.42
FTSE 250: down 0.8% at 17,721.95
AIM ALL-SHARE: down 0.2% at 757.44
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Hang Seng: down 0.8% at 27,499.41
Nikkei 225: closed flat at 19,624.84
DJIA: closed down 0.5% at 18,105.17
S&P 500: closed down 0.5% at 2,105.33
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GBP: up at USD1.5595
EUR: up at USD1.1219

GOLD: flat at USD1,184.59 per ounce
OIL (Brent): up at USD65.03 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 in BST)

EU EcoFin Meeting
09:30 UK Industrial Production
13:55 US Redbook index
14:00 US NFIB Business Optimism Index
15:00 US JOLTS Job Openings
15:00 UK NIESR GDP Estimate
17:45 US FOMC Member Williams speech
19:00 US Monthly Budget Statement
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Like-for-like retail sales in the UK were down 2.4% on year in April, the British Retail Consortium said. That followed the 3.2% annual increase in March, although the BRC cautioned that the data was somewhat skewed for both months by this year's early Easter holiday.
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Britain opposed plans to set national quotas for refugees who seek asylum in the EU, while France supported the expected proposal by the bloc's executive. The European Commission plans to propose an EU-wide quota system for migrants as part of its strategy on migration, due to be unveiled on Wednesday, commission president Jean-Claude Juncker announced last month.
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Eurozone finance ministers told Greece to speed up work aimed at reaching an agreement with its creditors on the country's reform plans, amid fears that Athens could soon run out of money. The Eurogroup of eurozone finance ministers welcomed recent progress, but warned in a joint statement that "more time and effort are needed to bridge the gaps on the remaining open issues."
An agreement must be reached within the next two to three weeks in order to meet a June 30 deadline, an EU diplomat said on condition of anonymity. The extra time is necessary to seek parliamentary approval from some countries, including Germany. Athens made a EUR756 milion loan repayment to the IMF on Monday, hours ahead of a Tuesday deadline, Greek state radio reported.
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Eurogroup Chairman Jeroen Dijsselbloem welcomed the progress in Greece talks but he said more time is needed to bridge the remaining gaps and to reach a comprehensive agreement. "We will continue to monitor the situation and we stand ready to meet as soon as the institutions confirm that there is a basis for a successful conclusion," Dijsselbloem said in a statement on Monday in Brussels after the meeting of Eurozone finance ministers. "There are time constraints and liquidity constraints, hopefully we will reach an agreement before time runs out and before money runs out," he said.
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The leading index for Japan, which measures the future economic activity, increased as expected in March, preliminary figures from the Cabinet Office showed Tuesday. The leading index rose to 105.5 in March from 104.7 in the previous month. The figure was also matched with economists' expectations. The latest reading marked the highest since September last year, when the score was 105.8.
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A powerful typhoon slammed into southern Japanese islands early Tuesday, bringing heavy rains, strong winds and high waves in the region, news reports said. Typhoon Noul caused power outages on the island of Miyako and authorities advised thousands of residents to evacuate their homes on the island of Yoron, broadcaster NHK reported.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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TRADERS: MACQUARIE CUTS STANDARD CHARTERED TO 'UNDERPERFORM' ('NEUTRAL')
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CREDIT SUISSE RAISES THOMAS COOK TO 'OUTPERFORM' ('NEUTRAL') - PRICE TARGET 180 (159) PENCE
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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The US conditionally approved Shell Gulf of Mexico's controversial plan to drill for oil and gas in the Arctic Ocean this summer, the US Department of the Interior said. Shell, part of Royal Dutch Shell, plans to drill up to six offshore wells in relatively shallow water in the Chukchi Sea 112 kilometres north-west of the village of Wainwright, Alaska. The go-ahead is contingent upon Shell obtaining a further series of permits and approvals regarding drilling safety and federal laws protecting marine mammals and endangered species.
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Low-cost airline easyJet said it swung to a profit in the first half of its financial year as it flew more passengers and it benefited from lower fuel prices and favourable exchange rate movements, and it said it is still on track to grow revenue and profit in the year as a whole despite a hit in April from an air traffic control strike in France. Airlines traditionally make little or no money in the winter months when travel demand is lower and they face higher costs due to travel disruptions and items like de-icing of planes. However, this year they are getting a benefit from lower fuel prices. EasyJet said it made a pretax profit of GBP5 million in the six months to end-March, compared with a loss of GBP53 million a year earlier, as revenue rose to GBP1.77 billion from GBP1.70 billion.
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Lloyds Banking Group is continuing its gradual return to full private ownership, as stock exchange documents on Tuesday confirmed that the UK taxpayer's stake has fallen yet again. The documents confirmed that the taxpayer's stake in the bank has fallen to 19.93% from 20.95% previously. Following its GBP20 billion state rescue in the financial crisis of 2008-09, the government had owned as much as 43% of the banking group.
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Experian said earnings in its recently completed financial year were hurt by unwelcome foreign exchange movements and cautioned that it expects earnings to be affected in its current financial year. In a statement, the information services and credit report company said it made a USD1.01 billion pretax profit in the year ended March 31, compared with USD1.05 billion in the prior year. Experian said its margins were hurt by the weakening of the Brazilian real and the euro relative to the dollar.
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Nomura and Royal Bank of Scotland misled investors in mortgage backed securities, a US judge has ruled, according to a Financial Times report. According to the report, the ruling found that "offering documents did not correctly describe the mortgage loans". Denise Cote, the judge in question, ruled in favour of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which is the conservator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Enterprise Inns reported a huge drop in profit in the first half of its financial year, which it blamed on costs associated with debt refinancing and property charges, but said it will optimise returns from its assets under its strategic review of its property portfolio. The pub operator reported a pretax profit of GBP10 million in the six months to March 31, down from GBP47 million in the same period a year earlier. It booked GBP47 million in charges, compared with GBP8 million in charges the year before, which it said was largely due to a GBP26 million cost in respect of debt refinancing and property charges of GBP21 million.
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Hiscox said first-quarter gross written premiums increased by 12% to GBP561.7 million, driven by several of its operations within its retail underwriting division, as well as its London Market and reinsurance divisions.
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JP Morgan Securities said that Estorn Ltd has agreed to sell 30 million Regus shares at 245 pence each, raising gross proceeds of about GBP73.5 million for the vehicle controlled by the serviced office provider's founder Mark Dixon. Dixon will still hold about 294.3 million Regus shares after the deal, or about a 31.4% stake in the business.
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3i Infrastructure said Chairman Peter Sedgwick will step down at the end of calendar 2015, having been in the job since January 2007.
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Animal genetics company Genus said it has performed in line with expectations to date in its second-half, with volumes, revenues and adjusted pretax profit all increased compared to the previous year. According to a consensus of four broker forecasts provided by Morningstar, Genus is expected to post a pretax profit of GBP48.2 million for its full year to end-June.
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Interserve said it has made a strong start to 2015, with significant new contract wins giving it improved visibility for the year and beyond, and it is sticking with its guidance. In a short trading update, the support services and construction company said mobilisation on the UK Ministry of Justice's Transforming Rehabilitation contract is on track, and the integration of ESG is complete.
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Al Noor Hospitals Group said it had continued to perform in line with its expectations in the first quarter of 2015, with revenue growth of 12%, and announced the resignation of Chief Financial Officer Pramod Balakrishnan. The United Arab Emirates-focused private healthcare service provider said that Balakrishnan has resigned to pursue an unspecified alternative opportunity, and will leave the company at the end of July. The search for a successor has begun, it said.
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James Fisher & Sons said it has bought the assets and intellectual property rights of X-Subsea Holding Ltd out of administration for GBP14.8 million, a move that bolsters the company's subsea services offering and makes it particularly strong in mass flow excavation. X-Subsea went into administration last month when its Norwegian parent company Reef Subsea collapsed.
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Grafton Group said revenue was up 6.7% in the first four months of 2015, as it continued to benefit from the economic improvement in both the UK and Ireland, while operating profit was also up on the year as margins rose. The builders merchanting and DIY company said total revenue was up 6.7% on the year at GBP698 million, from GBP654 million a year earlier, and the rise would have been 9.6% if exchange rates had remained constant.
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COMPANIES - INTERNATIONAL
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German steel giant ThyssenKrupp reported that its second-quarter net income attributable to shareholders plunged 82% to EUR48 million from last year's EUR269 million. EBIT declined 38%, while adjusted EBIT increased 32% to EUR405 million. EBITDA grew 11% to EUR675 million. Net sales for the quarter increased 7% to EUR10.995 billion from EUR10.269 billion last year. Order intake grew 2% to EUR10.406 billion.
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German insurer Allianz SE reported that its first-quarter net income attributable to shareholders grew 11% to EUR1.82 billion from last year's EUR1.64 billion. Total revenues increased 11% to EUR37.8 billion from the previous year's EUR34.0 billion.
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Mail and logistics group Deutsche Post DHL said its first-quarter profit attributable to shareholders fell to EUR495 million from EUR502 million reported last year. Revenue improved 8.8% to EUR14.767 billion from EUR13.569 billion in the prior year.
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Danish brewer Carlsberg reported that first-quarter consolidated loss attributable to shareholders widened to DKK67 million from DKK67 million in the prior-year quarter. Net revenue for the quarter increased to DKK13.47 billion from DKK12.90 billion a year ago. Organic net revenue grew 4% with continued solid market share performance across all three regions, it said. Total beer sales volume edged up to 27.5 million hl from last year's 27.4 million hl.
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Alcoa said that Alcoa of Australia will permanently close the Anglesea coal mine and power station on August 31. As a result of the closure, Alcoa expects to record 2015 restructuring-related charges of USD30 million to USD35 million, after-tax and non-controlling interest, of which about 80% would be recorded in the second quarter. The Anglesea power station previously supplied about 40% of the power needs for the Point Henry smelter in Geelong, Victoria. Alcoa said in February 2014 that it would conduct a sales process for the site, which has been operating as an independent supplier to the National Electricity Market since the smelter closed in August 2014. The sales process did not result in a sale.
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Morgan Stanley said it has agreed to sell the Global Oil Merchanting unit of its Commodities division to Castleton Commodities International. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
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Tuesday's Scheduled AGMs/EGMs

Al-Noor Hospitals
British Polythene Industries
Vitec
Standard Life
Lamprell
Capita
Interserve
Hilton Food Group
Glanbia
Grafton Group
TT Electronics
IP Group
Sportech
Cape
Clean Air Power
Cello Group
Skyepharma
Capital & Regional
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com; @thomaslwaite

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