Glaxosmithkline Share News (GSK)

LONDON (Alliance News) - The following is a summary of top news stories Friday.
----------
COMPANIES
----------
Royal Mail PLC reported a 2% increase in like-for-like revenues for the first half of the year, driven by further growth in its parcels revenues. However, the company said parcel volumes were flat for the period as its new size-based pricing meant some customers decided not to send some larger items via Royal Mail. Overall, like-for-like parcel revenues were up 8% over the nine months to end-December, driven by the new pricing structure. The lack of volume growth in parcels may come as a disappointment to the markets, which have seen retailers reporting huge growth in online sales over the Christmas period.
----------
Pharmaceuticals giant GlaxoSmithKline PLC said that it had received a recommendation for marketing authorisation for its Eperzan treatment for type 2 diabetes from the European Medicines Agency's Committee for Medical Products for Human Use. The recommendation is for the use of Eperzan as a once-weekly treatment in adult patients with type 2 diabetes when diet and exercise alone do not provide adequate control, and as an add-on combination therapy with other glucose-lowering medicinal products.
----------
The UK Office of Fair Trade said Friday that it has issued a Statement of Objections including its findings to Hamsard 3149 Ltd and its subsidiaries Quantum Pharmaceutical Ltd and Total Medication Management Services Ltd, and to Celesio AG and its subsidiary Lloyds Pharmacy Ltd, following an investigation into collusion between the companies.
----------
Weir Group PLC said it had won a USD98 million two-year contract to provide general maintenance services on Lukoil's West Qurna-2 oilfield in southern Iraq. The engineering company has invested over USD8 million in establishing a service centre in the town of Basra.
----------
ITM Power PLC said it has secured a contract with AMEC PLC and National Grid PLC to assess efficient usage of Power-to-Gas energy storage. The energy storage and clean fuel company said the project will look at the cost and energy benefit of deploying Power-to-Gas technology at specific sites on the UK gas network. FTSE100 engineering and project management company AMEC, which is a major supplier to National Grid, will undertake a third-party assessment of the cost benefit analysis.
----------
Close Brothers Group PLC said it is expecting a strong result for the first-half of its financial year, as the recovering economy boosted all three of the FTSE 250 financial services firm's divisions. In a trading update ahead of its first-half results for the six months ending January 31, Close Brothers said its positive first-quarter performance has so far carried on into the second quarter, adding that it is confident in its outlook for the full financial year.
----------
Workspace Group PLC said like-for-like rent roll increased 1.8% in the third quarter while total rent roll has increased 7.6% to GBP56.7 million in the nine months since March 31, 2013. In an interim management statement for the period October 1, 2013 to December 31, 2013 the commercial property provider said like-for like roll increased to GBP46.5 million during the period.
----------
MARKETS
----------
UK stock indices are continuing to slide, with the FTSE 100 headed for a fourth straight day in the red after suffering heavy losses Thursday amid continued concern about the US and Chinese economies. With very little of note in the economic calendar to change sentiment Friday and only a few corporate releases, the markets are focused on the future of central bank policy, ahead of a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos by Bank of England Governor Mark Carney
----------
FTSE 100: down 49.07 at 6,724.21
FTSE 250: down 178.17 at 15,801.96
AIM ALL-SHARE: down 4.57 at 865.92
----------
GBP-USD: down at USD1.6617
EUR-USD: down at USD1.3678

GOLD: down at USD1,259.86 per ounce
OIL (Brent): down at USD106.43 a barrel

(changes since end of previous GMT day)
----------
ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
----------
The Bank of England will consider wide range of economic indicators when assessing the need for higher borrowing costs, Carney told the BBC on Thursday. The case for a rate hike would be examined in the coming Inflation Report, the BoE chief said. Policymakers will look at overall conditions in the whole labor market, not just one indicator, he added. Carney said there is "no immediate need" to raise interest rates. Any change, when it comes, would be very gradual, he said in an interview recorded in Davos, Switzerland.
----------
UK mortgage approvals increased less than expected in December, figures released by the British Bankers' Association said. The number of mortgages approved for house purchases rose to 46,521 from 45,394 in November. The figure was less than an expected 47,300. New mortgage borrowing in December was 38% higher than in the same month of 2012 and the total amount of home loans approved last year was higher than in any year since 2008, said BBA statistics director, David Dooks.
----------
Sentiment among British households regarding the value of their homes improved to an all-time high in January, data from a survey by Markit Economics and Knight Frank revealed. The future house price sentiment index climbed to an all-time high of 72.3 in January from 70.5 in December, indicating that prices are expected to rise at the fastest pace since records started. Readings above 50 indicate improvement in sentiment, while those below suggest deterioration.
----------
Fitch Ratings affirmed Germany's credit ratings at 'AAA', citing decline in the country's debt-to-GDP ratio. The outlook is 'stable'. "Germany continues to have the components of a declining public debt path," Fitch said in a statement. "The economy is growing, the budget position is relatively favourable and nominal interest rates are low."
----------
A car bomb exploded outside a Cairo police headquarters and another bomb rocked a subway station in the Egyptian capital, killing at least five people, state media reported. The car bomb in central Cairo killed at least four and wounded 51, state television said. One of the dead was a suicide attacker, the state-run newspaper al-Ahram reported online. An al-Qaeda-inspired group claims it carried out the bombing. "The explosion was against the oppressive and unfaithful security forces," the Ansar Beit al-Maqdes, a group based in the Sinai Peninsula, said on Twitter.
----------
The Syrian government and the opposition are to sit down at the negotiating table for the first time ever Friday in a bid to bring an end to the three-year-old conflict. They are set to meet at the UN's offices in Geneva, where it is believed talks will centre on the release of prisoners and detainees and the possibility of opening besieged towns and villages to humanitarian aid deliveries. The two sides clashed openly over the conference's focus at a launch ceremony Wednesday in the Swiss town of Montreux.
----------
Iranian President Hassan Rowhani called Thursday for better relations with the US but ruled out any overtures to Israel. At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Rowhani said Iran-US ties had entered a new phase in recent months, noting that both governments sat at the same table with other world powers to negotiate a deal to curb Tehran's nuclear programme.
----------
Thailand's Constitutional Court has ruled that it is legal to postpone a general election scheduled for February 2. The court judges ruled that a postponement of the polls would not be a breach of the constitution. "The responsibility for postponing the elections lies jointly with both the prime minister and the chairman of the Election Commission," the court said. The Election Commission asked the court for a ruling in light of months of mass anti-government protests in Bangkok aimed at toppling the government of caretaker Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.
----------
Thousands of anti-government protesters held out on the streets of Kiev on Thursday, as a 24-hour ultimatum by the opposition calling for President Viktor Yanukovych to step down approached. In a first concession, parliament said it would discuss whether the government should resign at an extraordinary session next week. A new round of talks between opposition leaders and Yanukovych on Thursday ended with no breakthrough. The EU commissioner for enlargement was to travel to Kiev Friday to mediate between the government and the opposition, the European Commission said.
----------
The South Sudanese government and rebels on signed a ceasefire deal Thursday aimed at ending a five-week conflict in which thousands of people have been killed and 500,000 displaced. Negotiators representing President Salva Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar signed the agreement in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa after peace talks mediated by the East African bloc IGAD had deadlocked for more than two weeks.
----------
Copyright © 2014 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.