Driver Grp Share News (DRV)

LONDON (Alliance News) - UK shares have opened slightly lower Wednesday, following the record intraday high set by the FTSE 100 on Tuesday.

Weir Group is the worst FTSE 100 faller, down 6.8%, after warning it is preparing for a "significant reduction" in revenue and operating margins in 2015.

St James's Place leads blue-chip risers, up 4.3%, as the wealth manager and investment adviser made good on a promise to up its dividend by at least 40% due to a strong rise in its underlying cash results.

Here is what you need to know at the UK market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: down 0.2% at 6,938.61
FTSE 250: down 0.1% at 17,185.98
AIM ALL-SHARE: down 0.1% at 711.27
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Hang Seng: closed up 0.1% at 24,778.28
Nikkei 225: closed down 0.1% at 18,585.20
DJIA: closed up 0.5% at 18,209.19
S&P 500: closed up 0.3% at 2,115.48
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GBP-USD: up at USD1.5500
EUR-USD: up at USD1.1357

GOLD: up at USD1,208.20 per ounce
OIL (Brent): up at USD58.77 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 GMT)

09:00 Italy Trade Balance
09:30 UK BBA Mortgage Approvals
14:30 EU ECB President Draghi's Speech
15:00 US Fed's Yellen testifies
15:00 US New Home Sales
15:30 US EIA Crude Oil Stocks
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The US Federal Reserve may change language in its forward guidance indicating that policy makers will be "patient" before raising rates, but that does not mean that tightening is imminent, Fed Chair Janet Yellen told the Senate Banking Committee. At its January meeting, the Fed vowed it would be "patient" before hiking interest rates from zero, but that was before a blockbuster jobs report renewed speculation that a mid-year rate hike is in the cards. "The FOMC's assessment that it can be patient in beginning to normalize policy means that the Committee considers it unlikely that economic conditions will warrant an increase in the target range for the federal funds rate for at least the next couple of FOMC meetings," Yellen said in prepared remarks before the Senate Banking Committee. In essence, the Fed will hike interest rates only when they are "reasonably confident" that annual inflation is moving back toward their 2% target.
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The US has been among the strongest growing economies in the developed world in the last two years, but foreign developments present significant risks, Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen told US lawmakers. "Growth in Europe has been very slow. Growth in China is slowing," she told the Senate Banking Committee. "The huge decline we've seen in oil prices has had repercussions all over the globe - in some areas positive, very positive, in other areas negative."
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US President Barack Obama vetoed a bill calling for the construction of a hotly debated Canada-to-Texas oil pipeline. Obama said he exercised his veto power because the bill is an attempt to "circumvent longstanding and proven processes for determining whether or not building and operating a cross-border pipeline serves the national interest." The bill authorizing construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline arrived on Obama's desk about two weeks ago. Obama had been widely expected to veto it.
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China's manufacturing sector rebounded unexpectedly in February as the PMI rose to its highest level in four months, flash figures from Markit Economics showed. The HSBC flash manufacturing purchasing managers' index, or PMI, rose to a four-month high of 50.1 in February from 49.7 in January. Economists expected the index to come in at 49.5. The latest reading marked a slight expansion in manufacturing activity.
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The foreign ministers of Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany made a fresh call for a "strict implementation" of the ceasefire agreement in eastern Ukraine and suggested expanding an international observer mission there. "We call for the strict implementation of all provisions of the Minsk agreements starting from a comprehensive ceasefire and withdrawal of heavy weapons," the ministers said in a statement read out by French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius after a meeting in Paris. The four countries called upon the parties on the ground to fully cooperate with the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and give full access to the organization's monitors.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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GOLDMAN CUTS TULLOW OIL TO 'NEUTRAL' ('BUY') - TARGET 416 (468) PENCE
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SOCGEN CUTS GKN TO 'HOLD' ('BUY') - TARGET 400 PENCE
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TRADERS: MACQUARIE RAISES BHP BILLITON TO 'OUTPERFORM' ('NEUTRAL')
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GOLDMAN RAISES POLYMETAL TO 'BUY' ('NEUTRAL') - TARGET 670 (650) PENCE
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GOLDMAN RAISES CAIRN ENERGY TO 'BUY' ('NEUTRAL') - TARGET 242 (181) PENCE
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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Wm Morrison Supermarkets appointed former Tesco executive David Potts as its new chief Executive, a role that will involve a push to turnaround the ailing grocer in the face of tough competition from German discounters Aldi and Lidl.
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St James's Place made good on a promise to up its dividend by at least 40% due to a strong rise in its underlying cash results, as the FTSE 100 wealth management and financial advice group reported strong growth in 2014. The full numbers for the company's last financial year come after last month's update that showed an 18% rise in funds under management, bolstered by a rise in new business sales and the success of a business model under which it provides face-to-face wealth management advice to clients. In a statement, the group said its operating profit on a European embedded value (EEV) basis rose by 29% to GBP596.4 million in 2014, ahead of the GBP533.4 million forecast by financial analysts. EEV new business profit rose by 14% to GBP373.1 million. Its underlying cash result rose by 24% to GBP173.8 million, prompting a 46% rise in its dividend for the year as a whole to 23.30 pence per share.
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Housebuilder Barratt Developments joined peers Persimmon and Bovis Homes in reporting a big leap in earnings driven by higher home sales at higher average prices, and in saying 2015 had got off to a strong start. Barratt said pretax profit rose to GBP210.2 million in the six months to end-December, the first half of its financial year, from GBP120.4 million a year earlier, as revenue rose to GBP1.58 billion, from GBP1.26 billion. It raised its interim dividend by half to 4.8 pence, from 3.2p, and said it plans to return 97.0p a share to shareholders over the three years to November 2017. The interim dividend marks the second payment under that plan.
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Weir Group increased its full-year dividend, saying it was for the 31st consecutive year, despite reporting a small drop in earnings, but warned it is preparing for a "significant reduction" in revenue and operating margins in 2015. For the year ended January 2, the oil and gas service company reported a rise in revenue to GBP2.77 billion from GBP2.27 billion in 2013, caused by the company's investment in new products which has "driven" revenue growth. Weir's operating profit for the year was GBP450 million, slightly down from GBP467 million a year earlier, leading to a profit before tax of GBP409 million, also a slight drop from GBP418 million. Despite the small drop in earnings, the company increased its dividend to 44.0 pence per share, compared to the 42.0 pence paid in 2013.
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Whitbread reported like-for-like growth of 5.8% in the fourth quarter of its financial year, as its Premier Inn hotels and Costa coffee chain continued to grow sales and win UK market share, leaving the group confident of delivering full-year results towards the top end of expectations. The hotel and coffee-shop chain operator said like-for-like sales slowed slightly in the fourth quarter to 5.8% for the 11 weeks to February 12, having increased 6.0% in the third quarter, while total sales in the fourth quarter rose 14.3%. Total sales for the 50 weeks to February 12 as a whole were up 13.3%, and rose 6.5% on a like-for-like basis.
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British Land Co refinanced its revolving credit facilities, signing a GBP485 million unsecured revolving credit facility with a syndicate of seven banks to replace a GBP560 million facility that was due to expire in May 2016, a move it said will lower its financing costs.
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Meggitt said its Heatric subsidiary has won a multi-million pound deal to supply recuperative heat exchangers for a natural gas-fired pilot plant in the US from NET Power. The engineer of components for the aerospace, defence and energy markets, said Heatric will deliver four printed circuit heat exchangers by the end of April 2016, ready to commission the 50 megawatt demonstration plant in Texas later that year. The plant is aiming to produce low-cost energy with no carbon dioxide emissions.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Recruitment company Hays reported a rise in pretax profit in the first half of its financial year on the back of a rise in net fee income. The company said its pretax profit for the six months to the end of December was GBP77.3 million, up from GBP62.5 million a year earlier. The company also proposed a 5% rise in its interim dividend, up to 0.87 pence per share from 0.83 pence per share last year.
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Retail lender TSB Banking Group set out targets for attracting customer deposits and increasing net lending in 2015, all at the same time as planning to keep costs under control. The news came as TSB, which was carved out of Lloyds Banking Group PLC as a condition of the state aid received by the larger bank during the financial crisis, reported a 2.3% rise in management pretax profit in 2014, and said it is open to so-called "inorganic growth" opportunities.
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Ultra Electronics Holdings said its Oman Airport IT contract has been formally terminated and it will book a GBP47 million provision in its accounts related to the loss of the deal. In addition, Ultra said it would book a further GBP7.4 million non-cash impairment following a review of its activities in the Middle East. The charge related to its Al Shaheen joint venture with Emirates Advanced Instruments in the training sector in the region.
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Petrofac reported a drop in net profit for 2014 after a significant impairment charge, but kept its dividend flat and said it expects to hit its net profit target in 2015 after it said it had "excellent revenue visibility". In addition, the company said it has signed an agreement to form a strategic marketing alliance with US engineering and construction company McDermott International to pursue opportunities together across a wide range of geographies. For the year ended December 31, the company reported earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization of USD935 million, down from USD1.03 billion in 2013. Petrofac said EBITDA margins were lower from its onshore and offshore divisions, partially offset by margin growth from its integrated energy service unit, it said.
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SEGRO reported a slight drop in earnings per share for 2014 as a result of disposals it made during its almost completed restructuring programme, but said it was seeing strong demand for its rental properties and rising rental income is set to continue growing in London and the southeast of England. The company is now focused on logistics properties like retailer distribution hubs after re-shaping its portfolio by selling off other assets. Disposals as part of that programme meant EPRA earnings per share fell to 17.2 pence in 2014, from 17.7 pence in 2013. SEGRO raised its final dividend by 0.3 pence to 10.2p, a move it said reflected its confidence in its long-term prospects.
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Domestic appliances retailer AO World said it expects its results for the year to be below market expectations following a weaker-than-anticipated fourth quarter for its UK business. The company said its revenue growth year-on-year remains strong, but said it now expects its results for the financial year to the end of March to be slightly below market expectations due to weaker-than-expected revenue and earnings growth in its UK business.
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Man Group revealed plans for another share buyback, worth USD175 million, upped its dividend and reported a 62% rise in adjusted pretax profit, but the alternative asset manager remains cautious on the near-term future as it doesn't expect demand for its AHL products to rise enough until later in 2015. Funds under management rose by 35% to USD72.9 billion over the course of 2014.
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SuperGroup said Chief Financial Officer Shaun Willis has stepped down from the company with immediate effect after being declared personally bankrupt. SuperGroup said Willis will leave his role as CFO and as a director of the company after it found he was the subject of a personal bankrutpcy order on February 10. The FTSE 250-listed retailer said the issue is a "personal matter" and it would not comment further, adding it is "wholly unrelated to the financial position of the company". It said trading remains in line with previous guidance.
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Carillion said its United Arab Emirates joint venture Al Futtaim Carillion has been selected as preferred bidder for two contracts which together are worth GBP380 million.
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COMPANIES - LONDON MAIN MARKET AND AIM
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Nutrition and ingredients group Glanbia reported higher revenue for 2014, driven by a strong sales and profit performance from its Global Performance Nutrition business, but its profit was hit by hefty exceptional costs. The group reported a pretax profit of EUR147.2 million for 2014, compared with EUR176.0 million in 2013, after it booked EUR15.9 million in exceptional costs compared with a EUR5.8 million exceptional gain in 2013. The group recommended a final dividend of 6.57 cents per share.
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Gulf Keystone Petroleum is set to say its board is considering a sale or merger, amid protracted talks between the company and the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq over delayed payments for oil exports, Sky News reports. The company on Friday temporarily suspended exporting its crude oil from the Shaikan project in Iraq until it can agree a more "stable payment cycle" with the Kurdistan regional government, as it continues to try to recover money owed to the company. Sky, citing City sources, said the company is understood to have hired Deutsche Bank to advise on its options and said the sale is likely to attract the attention of rival explorers in the Gulf region.
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COMPANIES - INTERNATIONAL
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French insurer AXA reported fiscal year 2014 net income of EUR5.02 billion, compared to EUR4.48 billion, a year ago. Underlying earnings increased to EUR5.06 billion from EUR4.73 billion.
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French conglomerate Bouygues reported that its net profit attributable to the group for fiscal 2014 was EUR807 million, compared to a loss of EUR757 million in the prior year. The latest year results benefited from the sale of a controlling interest in Eurosport International and of Colas' stake in Cofiroute. Current operating profit for the year declined to EUR888 million, from EUR1.319 billion in the previous year. The Bouygues group reported consolidated sales of EUR33.1 billion, stable versus 2013.
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Financial services giant JPMorgan Chase & Co said it plans to shift USD100 billion in large non-operating deposits to operating deposits by the end of 2015 in order to prepare itself for new capital requirement rules proposed by the US Federal Reserve to be effective this year. New York-based JPMorgan's CFO Marianne Lake revealed this while providing an overview in his presentation at the annual investor day. Lake said these deposits are mostly from financial institutions and the new rules will make holding money for the clients too costly.
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Wednesday's Scheduled AGMs/EGMs

Blackrock Income & Growth Investment Trust
Amiad Water Systems
Petroceltic International
Bankers Investment Trust
Driver Group
Carclo
Advanced Computer Software Group
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com; @thomaslwaite

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