Gooch & Housego Share News (GHH)

LONDON (Alliance News) - With George Osborne out as chancellor the exchequer and Boris Johnson in as foreign secretary, all the excitement early Thursday is around new UK Prime Minister Theresa May.

But The Old Lady of Threadneedle Street will have the market's total attention at noon in London, as Bank of England policy makers decide whether or not to cut interest rates in response to the Brexit vote last month.

Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: up 1.0% at 6,735.61
FTSE 250: up 0.6% at 16,851.41
AIM ALL-SHARE: down 0.1% at 724.07
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Hang Seng: up 1.0% at 21,535.59
Nikkei 225: closed up 1.0% at 16,385.89
DJIA: closed up 0.1% at 18,372.12
S&P 500: closed flat at 2,152.43
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GBP: up at USD1.3233 (USD1.3187)
EUR: flat at USD1.1104 (USD1.1102)

GOLD: down at USD1,331.60 per ounce (USD1,340.50)
OIL (Brent): up at USD46.91 a barrel (USD46.22)

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

holiday France Bastille Day

12:00 UK BoE interest rate decision, asset purchase facility and MPC meeting minutes
13:30 US producer price index
13:30 US initial jobless claims
13:30 Canada new housing price index
15:30 US EIA natural gas storage
16:15 US Fed's Lockhart speech
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Boris Johnson is beginning his first day as a Cabinet minister "very excited" to be returning to front-line politics as new UK Prime Minister Theresa May's foreign secretary. His comments came as May prepared to put the finishing touches to her top team. May's first night in No 10 saw a flurry of appointments, but the Brexit campaigner's elevation to one of the four Great Offices of State shocked observers. Chris Grayling had been tipped for the Brexit Secretary job that went to David Davis or the Home Secretary role given to Amber Rudd, and as an ally of May he is likely to get a job. Liam Fox was handed a brand new position as International Trade Secretary as May sought to pull together a team to deliver on the historic vote to leave the EU. Michael Fallon stayed on as Defence Secretary.
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The Bank of England is expected to cut its interest rate to 0.25% in the wake of the UK's vote to leave the European Union. Analysts believe Governor Mark Carney and the rest of the Monetary Policy Committee will not delay in their decision to ease monetary policy and largely expect a 25 basis point reduction to the current historically low 0.50% bank rate. The Bank of England's decision will be announced at noon in London, released alongside the minutes from the meeting.
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The house price balance in the UK fell to 16% in June, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors said. That beat forecasts for 10%, although it was down from 19% in May. "Big events such as elections typically do unsettle markets so it is no surprise that the EU referendum has been associated with a downturn in activity," said RICS chief economist Simon Rubinsohn.
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US economic activity continued to expand at a modest pace across most regions from mid-May through the end of June, according to the latest edition of the Federal Reserve's Beige Book.
Manufacturing activity has "generally improved," but there was some "softening" of retail sales, respondents told the Fed. The energy sector has remained weak, but the outlook was generally positive across broad segments of the economy including retail sales, manufacturing, and real estate.
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US President Barack Obama acknowledged that much hard work needs to be done to bridge the divide between police and minority communities in the wake of police shootings of black men and the slaying of five police officers in Dallas last week. "We're not at a point yet where communities of colour feel confident that their police departments are serving them with dignity and respect and equality," Obama said Wednesday after meeting with representatives from police groups, community leaders and protesters from the Black Lives Matter movement.
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Russia and NATO said they are willing to consider implementing air safety measures over the Baltic Sea, which has seen some close encounters between Russian fighter jets and US military vessels. Relations between Moscow and the Western military alliance have reached their worst point since the Cold War over Russia's annexation of the Crimea peninsula and its support for separatists in the east of Ukraine. But NATO has also been keen to prevent the tensions from boiling over into military incidents.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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JEFFERIES RAISES GLAXOSMITHKLINE TO 'BUY' (HOLD) - PRICE TARGET 2000 PENCE
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TRADERS: ASTRAZENECA, NOVARTIS EXIT 'CONVICTION BUYS' AT LIBERUM
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TRADERS: ARM NO MORE 'CONVICTION SELL' AT LIBERUM
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TRADERS: INTU PROPERTIES, TULLOW OIL NEW 'CONVICTION SELLS' AT LIBERUM
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TRADERS: PETROFAC, SHIRE NEW 'CONVICTION BUYS' AT LIBERUM
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TRADERS: JEFFERIES RAISES RANDGOLD RESOURCES TO 'BUY' ('HOLD')
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TRADERS: MACQUARIE RAISES PREMIER OIL TO 'OUTPERFORM' ('NEUTRAL')
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N+1 Lifts Gooch & Housego To Buy From Hold, Target 1,021p From 912p
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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Information services group Experian said it delivered 5.0% organic revenue growth in the first quarter, but total growth was held back by adverse foreign exchange movements against its dollar reporting currency. Experian said revenue, at constant exchange rates, grew 5.0% on an organic basis in the quarter to the end of June, with 9.0% growth in its Europe, Middle East and Africa/Asia-Pacific unit and 8.0% growth in Latin America. Revenue in North America grew 5.0% organically and UK & Ireland organic revenue grew 1.0%. However, total revenue for the group grew 1.0% in the quarter, held back by weakness in the pound and Brazilian real.
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London Stock Exchange Group late Wednesday said the deadline for shareholders of German peer Deutsche Boerse to accept their GBP21.0 billion merger has been extended by two weeks. On Monday, LSE Group and Deutsche Boerse agreed that the acceptance threshold needed for Deutsche Boerse shareholder approval for the merger should be lowered to 60% from 75%. LSE Group said acceptances for the merger had been received from 53% of Deutsche Boerse shares as of Wednesday afternoon and, as a result of the amendment to lower the threshold, the acceptance period has been extended until July 26.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Workers employed by oil services company John Wood Group have overwhelmingly voted to take strike action in a dispute over pay. The trade unions Unite and the RMT balloted members working for John Wood on eight of Royal Dutch Shell's North Sea oil and gas platforms.
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Recruiter Hays said strength in its Europe division helped total net fee income grow in the fourth quarter of its financial year and said its operating profit will outpace market expectations, despite a sluggish and Brexit-hit UK market. Theheadhunter said total net fees grew 12% in the quarter to the end of June, with like-for-like growth of 8.0%. The firm's Continental Europe & Rest of World division delivered total net fee income growth of 29% in the quarter. But total net fees in the UK & Ireland fell 3.0% in the quarter and by 4.0% on a like-for-like basis, reflecting continued softness in public sector recruitment and a weakening of sentiment in the private sector ahead of the EU referendum vote.
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SuperGroup reported a fall in profit in its recently-ended financial year due to it booking higher one-off costs than the prior year, but revenue rose and the clothing store chain announced payment of its first special dividend. The Superdry brand owner said pretax profit in the year ended April 30 fell to GBP55.4 million from GBP59.5 million the year before, as it booked exceptional costs of GBP17 million. SuperGroup will pay a total dividend of 23.2 pence, plus a special dividend of 20p for the year.
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Price comparison service MoneySupermarket.com Group said it expects revenue for the first half of 2016 to grow around 10% year-on-year following a good performance across its divisions. MoneySupermarket said its anticipates revenue for the six months to the end of June will grow to GBP158.0 million, up 10% year-on-year. Revenue grew the same 10% in the second quarter to GBP74.0 million. Adjusted operating profit, which strips out acquisition-related and one-off costs, is set to grow around 6.0% year-on-year in the half to GBP54.0 million, behind the revenue growth due to additional marketing spending.
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Halfords Group reported growth in total revenue in the first quarter of its financial year, but a fall in like-for-likes as the cycling division continued to struggle, and it warned that a weak pound could harm its results for the full year. The car parts and bicycle retailer said total group revenue in the 13 weeks ended July 1 grew by 2.1% year-on-year, with retail revenue up 1.5% and autocentres revenue up 5.9%. On a like-for-like basis, however, revenue slipped by 0.6%, as 3.1% growth in autocentres failed to offset a 1.2% decline in retail.
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COMPANIES - LONDON MAIN MARKET AND AIM
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Postal and logistics operator UK Mail Group said trading in the first quarter was in line with its expectations. The group said it made a solid start to its financial year to the end of March 2017, with its overall performance in the quarter to the end of June meeting its expectations.
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COMPANIES - INTERNATIONAL
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Monsanto has revived talks with BASF about a possible combination of their agrochemicals businesses, as it seeks alternatives to a takeover offer from Bayer, Bloomberg reported citing people familiar with the matter. The report noted that the US company is exploring various transactions, including the potential acquisition of BASF's agriculture-solutions unit. In return, Ludwigshafen, Germany-based BASF would likely receive newly issued shares in Monsanto. The discussions are at an early stage, and no final decisions have been made. Talks with Bayer are continuing.
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Viacom executives are pressing ahead with plans to sell a stake in the Paramount Pictures movie studio despite resistance from controlling shareholder Sumner Redstone, the Wall Street Journal reported. China's Dalian Wanda Group is in talks with Viacom about buying 49% of the studio, according to people familiar with the discussions. Another, undisclosed, suitor is also on the hunt for Paramount, the report said.
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ConocoPhillips announced it has entered into an agreement to sell its 35% interest in three exploration blocks offshore Senegal, which include the SNE and FAN discoveries. The agreement, which is through subsidiaries of ConocoPhillips and Australia's Woodside Petroleum, is for USD350 million plus net customary adjustments of approximately USD80 million. The transaction is subject to approval of the government of Senegal.
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The California Air Resources Board has rejected proposed recall plans submitted by Volkswagen/Audi and Porsche for repair of undisclosed Auxiliary Emission Control Devices and defeat devices in 3.0 liter, diesel passenger cars manufactured for model years 2009-2016. The decision affects about 16,000 3.0 liter diesel Volkswagens, Audis and Porsches sold in California.
CARB staff has determined that the proposed recall plans submitted by the companies are incomplete and deficient in a number of areas.
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Starbucks is investing in an Italian bakery and plans to expand it with new locations. The company is buying a stake in Princi, which sells pastries, pizza and pasta in Europe. Starbucks will also act as a global licensee of the Italian company, helping it to expand globally. Financial terms of the deal weren't disclosed.
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Thursday's Shareholder Meetings

Burberry Group
Shanks Group
U&I Group
Telford Homes
UK Mail Group
BTG
Workspace Group
LondonMetric Property
Mothercare
Prospex Oil & Gas
Griffin Mining
McKay Securities
Edinburgh Investment Trust
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com; @thomaslwaite

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