Greene King Share News (GNK)

LONDON (Alliance News) - The following is a summary of top news stories Wednesday.
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COMPANIES
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Drinks giant Diageo said that it has sold Gleneagles Hotel Ltd to a private investment group led by real estate hospitality firm Ennismore, for an undisclosed amount. Gleneagles Hotel, in Perthshire, Scotland, was owned by Diageo from 1984 and generated GBP43.5 million in revenue and an operating profit of GBP2.6 million in the year ended June 30, 2014.
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Greene King reported a drop in profit in its recently-ended financial year as it booked impairment charges and costs related to pub disposals, but revenue grew, driven by its Retail division. The pub company, which recently bought Spirit Pub Co, reported a drop in pretax profit in the year ended May 3 to GBP118.2 million from GBP105.2 million the year before. Revenue grew slightly to GBP1.32 billion from GBP1.30 billion. Greene King said it will pay a dividend of 29.75 pence for the full year, up 4.8% from the 28.4p it paid the year before.
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AA said it has struck a deal with TVS Automobile Solutions Ltd to create a roadside assistance joint venture in India. AA will take a 49% stake in the joint venture in return for a GBP4 million investment. The joint venture will give it access to TVS's network and will allow it to leverage its existing relationships with car manufacturers in the Indian market. TVS is an India-based roadside assistance business and is a unit of TVS & Sons, the Indian automotive conglomerate.
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Spire Healthcare Group said it has received an approach about acquiring the St Saviour's Hospital, the site the FTSE 250-listed private healthcare provider said in June that it would shut. Spire said the talks are at a preliminary stage, and no formal agreement has been reached. It added there is no certainty that an agreement to sell the hospital will be sealed.
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Outsourcer Serco Group said trading in the first half of 2015 has been slightly better than anticipated, though it maintained its expectations for the full year and still forecasts a fall in revenue and flat trading profit in the half-year period. The FTSE 250-listed company said it expects revenue in the first half to the end of June to be at least GBP1.7 billion, down from GBP2 billion a year earlier.
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Tullow Oil increased its full-year production guidance from West Africa but reported an expected fall in revenue and profit in the first half of 2015, reflecting the fall in oil prices. In a trading statement, Tullow reported a gross profit of USD300 million in the half year to June 30, down from USD700 million a year earlier, as revenue fell to USD800 million compared to USD1.30 billion a year earlier, reflecting the fall in world oil prices. Tullow is scheduled to provide its full interim results on July 29.
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LondonMetric Property said it has exchanged contracts to acquire and forward fund the development of a 524,000 square foot retail distribution centre in Wakefield for GBP39.4 million. The warehouse, which LondonMetric has acquired from CDP, the development arm of the Marshall Construction Group, has been pre-let to Poundworld Retail Ltd on a 15-year lease at a rent of GBP2.5 million a year. The cost to LondonMetric reflects a net initial yield of 6.3%.
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Speedy Hire was dealt a triple blow after it said its results for the full year will not meet expectations, that talks about selling its oil and gas assets have fallen through, and that its Chief Executive Mark Rogerson has retired from his role with immediate effect. Speedy Hire said current Finance Director Russell Down has assumed the role of CEO. The equipment and tool hire company said results for the full year will be "materially below" expectations and down year-on-year, after it had a "slower than expected start" to the year due to end March 31, 2016.
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The North York Moors National Park Authority late Tuesday gave the green light for Sirius Minerals to build the world's largest potash mine in the Yorkshire park near Whitby. Sirius Minerals shares resumed trading Wednesday after the Park Authority held a special committee meeting Tuesday to deliberate on Sirius's application to build a potash mine under the North York Moors National Park, which has now been approved. The mine will be the first new potash mine in the UK for 40 years, and the largest potash mine in the world, with a scope to produce around 13 million tonnes per year to be constructed over two phases. Potash is used primarily for agricultural fertiliser.
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MARKETS
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London share prices are higher mid-morning amid reports that Greece will accept all the bailout conditions proposed by its creditors at the weekend, as UK manufacturing sector remained in a softer growth patch in June, according to Markit data.
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FTSE 100: up 1.5% at 6,619.70
FTSE 250: up 1.1% at 17,726.03
AIM ALL-SHARE: up 0.8% at 761.32
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GBP: down at USD1.5658
EUR: down at USD1.1129

GOLD: flat at USD1172.59 per ounce
OIL (Brent): down at USD63.09 a barrel

(changes since end of previous GMT day)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras will accept all the bailout conditions proposed by the country's creditors at the weekend, with only a handful of minor changes, the Financial Times reports Wednesday, citing a letter written by Tsipras late Tuesday which it has obtained. The FT reports that the letter was sent to the heads of the European Commission, International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank and says Athens will accept all the reforms for Greece's value-added tax system with one change: keeping a special 30% discount for Greek islands, many of which are in remote and difficult-to-supply regions.
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Most Greeks responding to a poll say they would vote 'no' in this weekend's referendum on the terms of its bailout, according to results published Wednesday, but the data also shows the yes vote gaining ground. The figures come as Athens prepares to discuss its latest proposals for a new programme with the eurozone finance ministers in a teleconference. The survey by ProRata for Greece's Efimerida ton syntakton newspaper showed that the percentage of those planning to vote 'no' stood at 46%, while the 'yes' vote stood at 37%.
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The independent Airports Commission gave its backing to the expansion of Heathrow airport after concluding that the move would deliver the most economic benefits to the UK. Ryanair Holdings immediately issued a statement in response saying the proposal doesn't go far enough and won't solve problem of restricted airport capacity in the South East. The commission, set up in 2012 and led by economist Howard Davies, said a third runway at Heathrow, with a ban on night flights, would be the best way to boost the country's economy and secure the UK's future as a prominent player in the global aviation market.
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British manufacturing sector expanded for the twenty-seventh consecutive month in June, though the pace of growth unexpectedly eased to its weakest in 26 months due to moderation of growth in production and new orders, survey data from Markit Economics showed Wednesday. The seasonally adjusted Markit/CIPS Purchasing Manager's Index dropped to 51.4 in June from 51.9 in May, which was revised from 52. Economists had expected an improvement in the index to 52.5. A PMI reading above 50 suggests expansion in the sector.
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The Irish manufacturing sector expanded at a slower rate in June, as new work weakened and output eased to a year low, survey figures from Markit Economics and Investec showed. The seasonally adjusted Investec purchasing managers' index, or PMI, fell to 54.6 in June from 57.1 in the previous month. This marked the twenty-fifth consecutive month of expansion. Any reading above 50 signals expansion in manufacturing activity.
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The euro area manufacturing sector expanded as initially estimated in June, final data from Markit showed. The Purchasing Managers' Index rose to 52.5 in June from 52.2 in May. The reading came in line with flash estimate published on June 23. It was the highest reading since April 2014. Growth registered in all nations except Greece. June saw the Netherlands rise to the top of the PMI growth league table. Positive signs also came out of Germany, France and Austria.
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China's manufacturing sector contracted at a slightly slower pace in June, HSBC said in its revised manufacturing PMI with a score of 49.4. That was a downward revision from last month's preliminary reading of 49.6 - but it's up from the 49.2 reading in May. "The final reading of the HSBC China Manufacturing PMI pointed to a further decline in the health of the manufacturing sector in June. This was predominantly driven by the sharpest rate of job shedding across the sector since early-2009, while output also fell slightly on the month," said Markit economist Annabel Fiddes.
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US President Barack Obama warned that his diplomats would break off talks on a far-reaching nuclear deal unless Iran made concessions, shortly after negotiators decided they need up to seven more days close gaps on the agreement. "I will walk away from the negotiations if it's a bad deal," Obama said in a Washington press conference. Iran and six major powers including the US had previously set a Tuesday midnight deadline for the agreement that would curb Iran's civilian nuclear activities in return for the removal of sanctions. But they made clear Tuesday evening that they would extend talks for up to a week, when they announced that they would prolong until July 7 the measures that both sides have been implementing as confidence-building steps.
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Ukraine failed to secure a new contract on gas supplies from Russia for the next cold season, the European Commission said after it had brokered talks between the two sides in Vienna. Russia would nevertheless continue shipping gas to Ukraine's eastern Donbass region, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak was quoted as saying by Russia's Tass news agency. The area is controlled by pro-Russian separatists who have been fighting the Ukrainian army. Cash-strapped Ukraine is heavily dependent on energy from Russia and is also a key transit country for supplies to Western Europe.
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By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com; @ArvindBhunjun

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