Glaxosmithkline Share News (GSK)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Weak leads from the US and Asia have combined with continued tensions in the Ukraine to depress UK shares at the open Monday.

Among UK corporate news at the start of the week, Kentz said it has been awarded a USD570 million services contract for the Ichthys Project Onshore LNG Facilities in Darwin, Australia. Kentz is up 0.5% at 760.50 pence.

British food producer Cranswick confirmed a robust year of trading, as total sales for the year just ended rose 13%, driven by strong sales growth and increasing demand for its fresh pork, bacon and cooked meat. Investec has raised Cranswick's price target to 1,390p from 1,315p, saying Buy. Cranswick is trading at 1,265p at the open.

Meanwhile, Jefferies has upgraded IMI to Buy from Hold, raising its price target to 1,750p from 1,590p. IMI is quoted at 1,548p.

Here is what you need to know at the UK market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: down 0.8% at 6,644.38
FTSE 250: down 1.0% at 16,270.92
AIM ALL-SHARE: down 0.3% at 850.54
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Hang Seng: down 0.8% at 22,339.65
Nikkei 225: closed down 1.7% at 14,808.85
DJIA: closed down 1.0% at 16,412.71
S&P 500: closed down 1.3% at 1,865.09
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GBP-USD: down at USD1.6569
EUR-USD: up at USD1.3715

GOLD: down at USD1,299.80 per ounce
OIL (Brent): down at USD105.47 a barrel

(changes since end of previous GMT day)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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Monday's Key Economic Events still to come
(all times British Summer Time)

08:15 Switzerland Consumer Price Index
09:00 Italy Public Deficit/GDP
09:30 EU Sentix Investor Confidence
15:30 Canada Bank of Canada Business Outlook Survey
16:30 US 3-Month and 6-Month Bill Auction
20:00 US Consumer Credit Change
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Hundreds of pro-Russian activists Sunday forced their way through a massive police presence and took control of a local government building in the large city of Kharkov, according to local media. The protesters, who want eastern Ukraine to be annexed by Russia as has Crimea, waved Russian flags out the windows. The attack was part of violence spreading through eastern Ukraine, where fellow protesters earlier attacked a regional administration office in the industrial city of Donetsk.
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Germany's industrial production grew at a slower pace in February, data from Destatis showed. Industrial production advanced 0.4% month-on-month, following a 0.7% rise in January. Economists had forecast production growth to ease to 0.3%.
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Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban late Sunday declared victory for himself and his Fidesz party, telling thousands of supporters: "All doubts, all worries are vanquished - we have won." With 90.2% of the votes counted, Orban's conservative Fidesz party had received 44.5% of the votes, the national election commission reported. Projections indicated this would give Fidesz 132 of the 199 seats in parliament - or a two-thirds majority, similar to the results four years ago.
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Japan's leading index declined more than expected to a 6-month low in February, survey data showed. The leading index fell to 108.5 in February, the lowest since last August, from 113.1 in January, the Cabinet Office said. The score was forecast to drop to 108.8 in February.
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The World Bank downgraded its growth outlook for the developing countries in East Asia, but expects almost steady growth this year compared to 2013, as recovery in high-income economies ramp up confidence. According to the East Asia Pacific Economic Update released on Monday, developing East Asia will grow by 7.1% this year, down from the 7.2% estimated in October. The growth is forecast to remain at 7.1% in 2015 and 2016 as well. The region's economy grew by 7.2% in 2013.
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India's five-week, multi-phase parliamentary elections began Monday with voting in the north-eastern states of Assam and Tripura. Balloting is being held in five of Assam's 14 constituencies and one of two in Tripura, according to the Election Commission. Security has been increased due to the nearly 40 active separatist, tribal or leftist armed groups in the north-eastern regions that may try to disrupt the voting. Monday's balloting is the first of nine phases in the general elections scheduled to end May 12. Votes for all phases are to be counted on May 16, and results expected to be known the same day.
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An Australian ship detected a signal matching those of a plane's flight recorder for over two hours, search officials looking for a missing Malaysian airliner said Monday. The acoustic signals picked up by the Ocean Shield are in a different part of the Indian Ocean than those reportedly monitored by a Chinese ship.
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Defence authorities in Pyongyang hit back at the test firing of a ballistic missile by South Korea last month, calling it a "grave provocation," media reports said. South Korea on March 23 held several tests of a new rocket with a range of 500 kilometres. North Korea threatened to "wipe out the enemy's strongholds" if any missiles landed on its territory, South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported, citing Pyongyang's official news agency KCNA.
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Eight-month-old Prince George watched from a window as his parents the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were welcomed to New Zealand with a traditional Maori war dance at Government House in Wellington on Monday. The family will be in New Zealand from April 7 to April 16 and then in Australia until April 25.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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Jefferies Upgrades IMI To Buy From Hold, Raises PT To 1,750p From 1,590p
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DEUTSCHE BANK CUTS CARPETRIGHT TO 'SELL' ('HOLD') - TARGET 545 PENCE
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BERENBERG CUTS BURBERRY TO 'HOLD' ('BUY') - TARGET 1500 (1660) PENCE
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BERENBERG CUTS MONITISE PLC TO 'HOLD' ('BUY') - TARGET 74 (70) PENCE
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Investec Raises Cranswick PT To 1,390p from 1,315p - Buy
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline PLC is investigating claims of improper conduct related to its business in Iraq, less than a year after China accused Glaxo of engaging in a bribery scheme aimed at increasing drug sales there, the New York Times reports. The Wall Street Journal quoted a person familiar with the matter saying that Glaxo was violating US and UK antibribery laws by hiring government-paid physicians to promote its products in Iraq and paying for them to attend international conferences.
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Mike Ashley, the founder and deputy chairman of Sports Direct International PLC has bought an 11% stake in House of Fraser, injecting himself into the agreed takeover of the British high street retail chain by Chinese conglomerate Sanpower Group Co Ltd, The Telegraph wrote on Sunday. The 165-year old department store chain recently finalised a takeover deal with Sanpower, giving House of Fraser an enterprise valuation of GBP450 million. The Nanjing-based conglomerate led by founder Yuan Yafei holds an 89% stake. Ashley bought an 11% stake in House of Fraser from Scottish business man Sir Tom Hunter, according to The Telegraph.
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Tullow Oil PLC said it has refinanced its revolving credit facility, increasing it by 50% to USD750.0 million. In a statement, Tullow said the refinanced facility has been extended to April 2017. The arrangement is a fully committed, secured and revolving credit facility and replaces the previous USD500.0 million facility which was due to expire in November 2014.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Kentz Corporation Ltd said it has been awarded a USD570 million services contract for the Ichthys Project Onshore LNG Facilities in Darwin, Australia. The major oil and gas engineering company said its Australian subsidiary for the electrical and instrumentation construction packages at the Darwin site was awarded the contract by JKC Australia LNG Pty Ltd, a joint venture between JGC Corp, KBR and Chiyoda Corp.
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British food producer Cranswick PLC confirmed a robust year of trading, as total sales for the year just ended rose 13%, driven by strong sales growth and increasing demand for its fresh pork, bacon and cooked meat. The UK pork products supplier said it is confident in the development of the business as underlying sales increased 12% in the year ended March 31, while total sales for the year rose 13% after taking into account contributions from the acquisition of pig breeding and rearing activities earlier in the year. These include Wayland Farms and two additional breeding units purchased from Dent Ltd.
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Unite Group Says Oasis Capital JV To Sell 3 Assets For GBP174M
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COMPANIES - ALL-SHARE AND AIM
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Atlas Mara Co-Nvest Ltd, the investment firm listed on the London Stock Exchange by former Barclays PLC Chief Executive Bob Diamond, has announced its second acquisition of an African bank in as many weeks, the Financial Times reported. The FT said Atlas Mara announced on Sunday an agreement to buy a controlling stake in the Development Bank of Rwanda for USD265 million. The newspaper said the firm will buy the 77% stake from the government of Rwanda, splitting the bank into a government-owned development bank and a commercial bank controlled by Atlas Mara, after a privisation later this year. Last Monday, Atlas Mara said it had agreed to acquire a majority stake in Botswana-based ABC Holdings Ltd and ADC African Development Corporation AG for up to USD265 million in cash and shares.
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Punch Taverns PLC said it will ask noteholders for covenant waivers, as it seeks yet more time to get a deal with its creditors for a broad restructuring of its debt pile. In a statement, the pub operator said it will convene a noteholder meeting for April 19 so that the holders of its Punch A and Punch B securitisations can vote on whether to allow the covenants to be waived. It needs the waiver to ensure it doesn't default on the covenants while it continues talks about the debt restructuring.
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Good Energy Group PLC said its pretax profit more than doubled in 2013 as higher expenses and finance costs were offset by a strong increase in revenues. The AIM-listed UK renewable electricity supplier said its pretax profit increased to GBP3.3 million from GBP1.4 million the previous year as revenues jumped 43% to GBP40.4 million from GBP28.2 million.
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Liontrust Asset Management PLC reported GBP16.0 million of net inflows in the fourth-quarter, boosted by its UK Retail funds, while the Multi-Asset team has been awarded a new GBP54.0 million mandate. In a pre-close trading statement, the fund manager said net inflows in the quarter include lower fee margin redemptions of GBP196.0 million from a single client in the Liontrust Global Strategic Bond Fund. GBP160.0 million flowed into UK Retail funds, with another GBP60.0 million into Institutional funds.
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Ubisense Group PLC said that it has won a USD1.2 million software order from a large communications network operator. Ubisense provides hardware, software and services to businesses to track people and assets. The group did not name the network operator, but said that the contract is to provide its engineering and operational staff with an online and offline web based tool for its map based asset data.
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New World Resources Reports Fatality At OKD's Darkov Mine
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Development Securities And Harwell Oxford Partners Form Joint Venture
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Monday's Scheduled AGMs/EGMs

XP Power
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com; @thomaslwaite

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