HCFT.L Share News (HCFT)

LONDON (Alliance News) - UK shares have opened starkly mixed Monday, with the FTSE 100 dragged down by AstraZeneca, while the mid-cap FTSE 250 is higher.

AstraZeneca, down 13% at the open, rejected a final GBP69 billion takeover proposal from Pfizer Inc, potentially ending the US company's interest in its British rival for the time being after Pfizer pledged not to go direct to AstraZeneca's shareholders with a hostile offer.

The FTSE 250's out-performance is being led by Alent, up 4.2%, and Dixons Retail, up 2.6%. Alent said its trading is in line with expectations so far in 2014, while Dixons has agreed to sell its loss-making central European chain Electroworld.

Here is what you need to know at the UK market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: down 0.4% at 6,826.34
FTSE 250: up 0.5% at 15,477.43
AIM ALL-SHARE: up 0.2% at 798.18
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Hang Seng: down 0.2% at 22,658.50
Nikkei 225: closed down 0.6% at 14,006.44
DJIA: closed up 0.3% at 16,491.31
S&P 500: closed up 0.4% at 1,877.86
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GBP-USD: up at USD1.6823
EUR-USD: up at USD1.3722

GOLD: up at USD1,297.20 per ounce
OIL (Brent): up at USD110.22 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)

10:00 EU Construction Output
n/a Germany 30-y Bond Auction
n/a UK 30-y Bond Auction
15:00 Russia Industrial Output
16:30 US 3- and 6-Month Bill Auction
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The average asking price for a house in the UK jumped 3.6% on month in May, property tracking website Rightmove said - standing at 272,003 pounds, a record high for the month of May. That follows the 2.6% increase in April. On a yearly basis, house prices spiked 8.9% after climbing 7.3% in the previous month. The annual jump marks the highest since October 2007. Prices for properties in London continued to accelerate, prompting fears of a regional bubble with a 16.3% annual increase. The rest of the country was up an average of 4.9%.
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The UK government’s Help to Buy scheme could distort the entire mortgage market and may have to be curbed, The Times reports the governor of the Bank of England as warning. The Times said Mark Carney said that the programme to help new home owners to secure a mortgage with a deposit of as little as 5% may be encouraging a return to risky home loans, adding that the remarks represent the most explicit sign that the Bank of England may formally request a policy change in September.
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Core machine orders in Japan surged a seasonally adjusted 19.1% on month in March, the Cabinet Office said - worth JPY936.7 billion. The headline figure shattered forecasts for a 6.0% increase following the upwardly revised 4.6% contraction in February (originally -8.8%). On a yearly basis, core machine orders spiked 16.1% - also blowing past forecasts for an increase of 4.3% following the 10.8% gain in the previous month.
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Portugal exited its three-year-long international bailout programme Saturday, regaining control of its finances but signalling that austerity measures are not over. Its conservative government met for the occasion to develop a "medium-term strategy" on continuing the reforms and encouraging economic growth. Portugal - which was cash-poor, debt-ridden and threatened with insolvency when it received its bailout in 2011 - has "pulled itself out of a hole," Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho said at a European election campaign event in Aveiro. However, the news hasn't all been good. Statistics released Thursday showed its economy unexpectedly contracted 0.7% quarter-on-quarter in the first three months of the year.
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Greece's far-left SYRIZA party scored gains Sunday in first-round municipal and regional elections, in a setback for the fragile ruling coalition. The elections in hundreds of constituencies across Greece were the first nationwide voter test for conservative New Democracy Prime Minister Antonis Samaras since taking office in 2012. A second round of voting on Sunday will coincide with European Parliament elections.
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The death toll from the worst floods to hit the Balkans in decades rose significantly Sunday as water receded and rescuers gained access to stricken areas of Serbia and Bosnia. In Obrenovac, a town on the southern outskirts of Belgrade, 12 additional bodies were recovered, taking the overall Serbian death toll to 17, Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said. Tens of thousands have been evacuated across Serbia since the flooding began amid heavy rainfall on Tuesday.
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Despite three days of intensive negotiations, Iran and the six world powers failed to achieve progress in nuclear talks that concluded Friday in Vienna. "The talks were held in a constructive atmosphere and free of any tensions, but no tangible progress was achieved," Iran's deputy foreign minister Abbas Araqchi said at the end of the talks. The US said that there were still "several critical issues" to be settled between Iran and the P5+1, which consists of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany.
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An Egyptian court Sunday sentenced 126 supporters of the deposed president Mohammed Morsi to 10 years in prison on charges of inciting violence, marking the latest mass sentencing of the Islamist leader's loyalists. The Criminal Court also ordered each defendant pay a fine of 1,000 Egyptian pounds for damaging public and private properties in the northern province of Kafr al-Sheikh in August. The verdict can be appealed. It was not clear if all defendants are in police custody.
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Turkish authorities have detained 24 people in connection with the mining disaster that killed 301 workers in Soma, western Turkey, local media reported on Sunday. The chief engineer from the mine's operator, Soma Holding, is among those being held, but not the owner nor the operating manager, the Hurriyet daily reported. The company is facing scathing criticism about safety deficiencies at the mine. It has denied accusations of negligence, saying it complied with the law.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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GOLDMAN CUTS LAND SECURITIES TO 'NEUTRAL' ('BUY') - TARGET 1120 (1158) PENCE
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UBS REMOVES INTERTEK FROM 'LEAST PREFERRED' LIST
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GOLDMAN CUTS INTERTEK PRICE TARGET TO 3325 (3475) PENCE - 'BUY'
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BARCLAYS CUTS INTERTEK PRICE TARGET TO 3300 (3370) PENCE - 'OVERWEIGHT'
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SOCGEN CUTS INTERTEK PRICE TARGET TO 3,200 (3,300) PENCE - 'HOLD'
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SOCGEN RAISES VEDANTA TO 'BUY' ('HOLD') - TARGET 1,390 (955) PENCE
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CITIGROUP RAISES GRAFTON GROUP TO 'BUY' ('SELL') - TARGET 625 PENCE
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GOLDMAN CUTS DS SMITH PRICE TARGET TO 267 (283) PENCE - 'CONVICTION SELL LIST'
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UBS ADDS SERCO TO 'LEAST PREFERRED' LIST
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UBS RAISES DOMINO PRINTING TO 'BUY' ('NEUTRAL') - TARGET 840 PENCE
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CITIGROUP RAISES MARSHALLS GROUP TO 'BUY' ('NEUTRAL') - TARGET 195 PENCE
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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AstraZeneca PLC rejected a final GBP69 billion takeover proposal from Pfizer Inc, potentially ending the US company's interest in its British rival for the time being after Pfizer pledged not to go direct to AstraZeneca's shareholders with a hostile offer. Pfizer raised its approach to GBP55.00 a share, from GBP50.00 previously, and also sweetened the proposed cash and shares deal with a higher cash component. However, AstraZeneca said it still felt that undervalued the company. It left the door ajar for an improved bid from the US drugs giant, saying that it might be prepared to recommend a bid that was more than 10% above the new proposal.
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Babcock International FY Underlying Pretax Profit GBP316.1M, Up 15% From GBP275.0M Yr Before; Revenue GBP3.32B, Up 10% From GBP3.03B Yr Before; Full-Year Dividend 21.4p, Up 13% From 19.0p Year Before; Says Markets Remain Buoyant, Expects Further Strong Progress In Current FY
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Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC Sunday said it is winding down its interest-rate trading operations due to tougher capital requirements under regulators' efforts to make banks safer. The move affects the state-controlled bank's prime broking and over-the-counter clearing businesses for rates. "We are winding down the rates prime broking and rates over-the-counter clearing businesses as a result of the increasing level of capital, operating costs and investment that would be required for our business to be globally competitive in a market with extremely thin margins," an RBS spokesperson said in a statement.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Dixons Retail PLC, the electronics retailer which agreed to merge with mobile phone retailer Carphone Warehouse Group PLC last week, said it is selling off its ElectroWorld business in central Europe. The group said it is selling the loss-making business to NAY AS, an electrical specialist retailer which operates in the Slovak market, and said it expects to receive a small deferred cash consideration for Electroworld, which operates 26 retail stores across Czech Republic and Slovakia. The announcement comes just a few days after its new partner Carphone Warehouse said that it has entered exclusive talks to sell its joint venture with Virgin Media Inc, Virgin Mobile France, to Numericable Group SA for EUR325 million.
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Alent Says Trading In Line With Its Expectations Since Year-Start; Says Net Sales Value Increased 3.7% To GBP98.9M On Constant Currency Basis; Says Slight Demand Increase Across Principle Electronics, Automotive End-Markets
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Cranswick FY Pretax Profit GBP54.8M Vs GBP47.3M; Revenue GBP994.9M Vs GBP875.2M; Total Dividend Per Share Up 7% To 32.0P
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Shaftesbury H1 Pretax Profit GBP120.5M Vs GBP81.8M; H1 Revenue From Properties GBP48.5M Vs GBP44.6M; Increases Interim Dividend To 6.5Pence Vs 6.25 Pence
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Grafton Group Signs New Five Year Revolving Credit Facilities
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Mitie FY Pretax Profit GBP68.4M Vs GBP56.3M; Revenue Up 4.7% To GBP2.22B Vs GBP2.12B; Raises Dividend 6.8% To 11.0 Pence
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ITE Group H1 Pretax Profit GBP12.2M Vs GBP2.6M; Declares Interim Dividend Of 2.5P Vs 2.3P; H1 Revenues Of GBP71.2M Vs GBP69.4M; IGood Visibility On Current Year Bookings, Confident In FY Outcome
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COMPANIES - ALL-SHARE AND AIM
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Irish low-cost airline Ryanair Holdings PLC posted 8% lower full-year net profit of EUR523 million, versus last year's EUR569 million, chiefly due to a 4% decline in fares, weaker sterling, and higher fuel costs. The firm said it reacted quickly to this weaker environment last September by lowering fares and improving its customer experience, that caused traffic in the second half to grow 4% as load factors improved by 1%. Revenue amounted to EUR5.04 billion, a 3% increase from EUR4.9 billion reported a year back. Ancillary revenues advanced by 17%, much faster than traffic growth, and now accounts for 25% of total revenues. For the year, traffic grew by 3% year-on-year to 81.7 million passengers, from 79.3 million passengers. Looking ahead to fiscal 2015, the company expects traffic to increase 4% to over 84.6 million as load factors increase by 2% to 85% and it adds some limited new route and capacity growth.
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North Midland Construction Q1 Pretax Profit GBP234,000 Vs GBP105,000 Loss
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Mears Group Secures New Contract Awards Worth GBP110M In 2014; Says It Has Clear Revenue Visibility For The Year And 2015
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Centaur Media To Sell Perfect Information Ltd For GBP26M Enterprise Value To Mergermarket Ltd
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Development Securities Sells Bruges Place In North London For GBP6.5M
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Leni Gas & Oil Says Well GY-664 In Trinidad Finds Net Oil Pay Of 571 Feet; Says Well GY-664 Will Be Completed As Gros Morne Production Well
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Northern Bear Says Trading Ahead Of Management Expectations
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Punch Taverns Sells 4 Freehold Central London Pubs To Morgana Ltd For GBP6.7M Cash
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COMPANIES - OTHER
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Germany's biggest lender Deutsche Bank AG announced Sunday plans to raise about 8 billion euros or USD11 billion, of capital through the sale of a total of 360 million new shares in order to ease capital concerns to overcome tighter regulatory requirements, increased cost of compliance and litigation. The capital raise will enable the bank to substantially increase its capital ratio, provide a buffer for future regulatory requirements, and support targeted business growth.
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Telecommunications giant AT&T Inc has agreed a deal to take over DirecTV, a satellite dish service, for 48.5 billion dollars, the companies announced Sunday. AT&T will acquire DirecTV's 38 million subscribers. The deal comes as competition is heating up among cable, satellite and telephone companies to provide television and internet service to homes, while viewers increasingly migrate to consuming television, video and other media on mobile devices.
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Fair Oaks Income Fund To Float On London Stock Exchange Raising USD200M, Led By Numis
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Game Digital To IPO On London Main Market With 35% Free Float
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BBI Diagnostics To IPO On London Main Market
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Monday's Scheduled AGMs/EGMs

Bioquell
DRS Data & Research Services
Highcroft Investments
Alent
RPC Group
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com; @thomaslwaite

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