Hikma Pharmaceuticals Share News (HIK)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Domino Printing Sciences and Domino's Pizza lead FTSE 250 gainers amid a mixed open Wednesday.

Inkjet and laser printer maker Domino Printing Sciences, up 32%, said it has reached a deal to be acquired by Japanese electronics company Brother Industries Ltd for GBP1.03 billion.

Barclays has raised Domino's Pizza to Overweight from Equal Weight. The stock is up 3.6%.

Meanwhile, another 'D', DFS Furniture, began trading on the London Stock Exchange's Main Market with a market capitalisation of GBP543.2 million, based on its IPO price of 255.0p per share. The stock was quoted up at 261.063p early Wednesday.

Here is what you need to know at the UK market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: up 0.1% at 6,709.14
FTSE 250: flat at 16,924.99
AIM ALL-SHARE: down 0.1% at 711.26
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Hang Seng: closed down 0.8% at 23,717.97
Nikkei 225: closed up 0.3% at 18,723.52
DJIA: closed down 1.9% at 17,662.94
S&P 500: closed down 1.7% at 2,044.16
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GBP-USD: up at USD1.5061
EUR-USD: down at USD1.0658

GOLD: down at USD1,162.07 per ounce
OIL (Brent): up at USD56.55 a barrel

(changes since end of previous GMT day)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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Wednesday's Key Economic Events still to come
(all times in GMT)

09:30 UK Industrial Production
11:00 US MBA Mortgage Applications
13:30 US EIA Crude Oil Stocks change
15:00 UK NIESR GDP Estimate
18:00 US Monthly Budget Statement
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Bank of England's Ian McCafferty said the central bank should look through the temporary impact of oil price declines, even if this has a long-term impact on inflation. "The sharp fall of oil prices over the past six months, particularly if sustained in coming months, will depress annual inflation rates for a protracted period - quite possibly well into next year," McCafferty said. But he said that this effect on inflation will be temporary as supply rather than demand has been the dominant factor.
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China's industrial production and retail sales growth slowed more than expected in February, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed. Industrial production increased 6.8% year-on-year in January to February, while it was forecast to grow 7.7%. In December, production advanced 7.9%. During January to February, retail sales grew at a pace of 10.7%, slower than a 11.9% rise seen in December. Sales were expected to rise 11.6%.
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Core machine orders in Japan contracted 1.7% on month in January, the Cabinet Office said - worth JPY838.9 billion. The headline figure beat expectations for a decline of 4.0% following the 8.3% surge in December. On a yearly basis, core machine orders added 1.9% - also topping forecasts for a decline of 1.0% following the 11.4% spike in the previous month.
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Iraqi forces started an assault on the Sunni Arab city of Tikrit, the main target of a major offensive launched eight days ago against the Islamic State extremist group, officials said. Troops were advancing slowly because the militants rigged large quantities of explosives inside the city and on its approach roads, said the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Soldiers had surrounded Tikrit on all sides after Monday night's capture of the centre of al-Alam, located a few kilometres north of the city on the other side of the Tigris river, they said.
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Hillary Clinton delivered a forceful defence of her use of private email when she was the country's top diplomat, trying to quell rising controversy over her silence on the issue. Facing a scrum of 250 reporters shouting questions, Clinton insisted there had been no security breaches and that she never sent classified material in the private system during her 2009-13 tenure as secretary of state. "I opted for convenience to use my personal email account, which was allowed by the State Department, because I thought it would be easier to carry just one device for my work," she said at a news conference at the United Nations.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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TRADERS: CANACCORD RAISES TULLOW OIL TO 'HOLD' ('SELL') - TARGET 320 PENCE
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TRADERS: CITIGROUP ADDS SHIRE TO 'FOCUS LIST EUROPE'
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TRADERS: CITIGROUP ADDS STANDARD CHARTERED TO 'FOCUS LIST EUROPE'
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BARCLAYS CUTS RESTAURANT GROUP TO 'EQUAL WEIGHT' (OVERW.) - TP 760 (750) PENCE
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BARCLAYS RAISES DOMINO'S PIZZA TO 'OVERWEIGHT' (EQUAL W.) - PT 850 (760) PENCE
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TRADERS: CITIGROUP CUTS THOMAS COOK TO 'NEUTRAL' ('BUY')
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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Tullow Oil said it has plugged and abandoned an exploration well in an onshore block in Kenya after failing to find any significant oil or gas. In a statement, the oil company said it had drilled the Engomo-1 exploration well on Block 10BA in Kenya down to a total depth of 2,353 metres, but failed to find any significant oil or gas shows. The well was the first to be drilled in the large North Turkana Basin and is located west of Lake Turkana where the company said numerous naturally occurring oil slicks and seeps have been observed.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Inkjet and laser printer maker Domino Printing Sciences said it has reached a deal to be acquired by Japanese electronics company Brother Industries Ltd for GBP1.03 billion. The offer is at 915 pence in cash per Domino share, which it said its a premium of around 26.9% to its closing price of 721.0 pence Tuesday. The board of Domino, which has been advised by Rothschild, is unanimously recommending that Domino shareholders vote in favour of the deal.
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Hikma Pharmaceuticals posted a rise in pretax profit for 2014, as strong growth in its injectibles business helped offset declines in its branded and generics businesses, and it forecast revenue growth of 6% at constant currency for 2015. Hikma proposed a final dividend of 15.0 cents per share, and a special dividend of 6.0 cents, taking its total dividend for 2014 to 32.0 cents, up 19% from 27.0 cents in 2013. The pharmaceutical company posted a pretax profit of USD362 million, up from USD298 million a year before, on a rise in revenue to USD1.49 billion from USD1.37 billion. Hikma will be promoted to the FTSE 100 from March 23.
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Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment said it swung to a loss in 2014, hit by a writedown on its poker operations as that business suffered a 29% decline in revenue due to the loss of its Greek market and challenging conditions in several other markets. The online gaming company reported a pretax loss of EUR97.9 million for 2014 compared with a EUR44.9 million profit in 2013, as revenue dropped to EUR611.9 million from EUR652.4 million. It raised its final 2014 dividend to 1.89 pence, from 1.80p, bringing the total for the year to 3.78p, up from 3.60p in 2013.
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FirstGroup said it has appointed Wolfhart Hauser as its new chairman to replace John McFarlane. Hauser will join the board as a non-executive director on May 18 and will take up the role of chairman on July 16 when McFarlane will retire from the board. Hauser is currently the chief executive of Intertek Group, the inspection and testing services company, and will step down from that role when he joins the board of FirstGroup in May. He is also a non-executive director at both Associated British Foods and Reed Elsevier.
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N Brown Group warned that pretax profit from continuing operations will be below its guidance and current market expectations of GBP88 million in the recently-ended financial year, after it further reduced prices in the fiscal fourth quarter to clear stock and compete in the fashion sector.
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Recruitment firm Michael Page International reported a rise in pretax profit for 2014 as revenue increased despite sterling headwinds, and it increased its dividend. The company said its pretax profit for the year was GBP80.4 million, up from GBP64.1 million a year earlier. Revenue increased to GBP1.05 billion from GBP1 billion a year earlier, though sterling dragged on its revenue growth heavily, with constant currency revenue increasing 9.9% compared to the 4.1% increase in reported revenue. The company increased its total annual dividend to 11 pence from 10.5 pence.
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International Public Partnerships said a consortium of which it is a part has reached financial close on the first batch of schools being delivered under the UK government's Priority Schools Building Programme. The PFI investment company said the first tranche of funding will back the development if six primary and six secondary schools on existing sites in the North East of England. The total capital expenditure on the schools is GBP113 million, with the Amber Consortium to provide GBP102 million, GBP8 million of which will come from International Public Partnerships.
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Galliford Try said it also has reached financial close on the North East batch of the Priority Schools Building Programme. The GBP160 million contract, agreed with the Education Funding Agency, will see Galliford handle the construction of the schools being built in the region under the programme, along with the ongoing maintenance of the schools for 25 years.
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COMPANIES - LONDON MAIN MARKET AND AIM
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Online fashion retailer boohoo.com said its UK sales growth continued to slow in the last two months of its financial year, although sales growth in Europe and the rest of the world accelerated, and it reiterated its profit margin guidance as it focused on protecting its margins ahead of increasing marketing spend later in 2015. The company had issued a profit warning in early January after sales in the four months to the end of December came in below its hopes. boohoo.com also said it will be seeking authorisation from shareholders to buy back up to 10% of issued share capital.
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COMPANIES - INTERNATIONAL
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Internet giant Google said Chief Financial Officer Patrick Pichette plans to retire after serving nearly seven years in that position. No effective date of retirement has been determined for Patrick, who plans to assist in the search for a new CFO and ensure an orderly transition, which the Mountain View, California-based company expects will occur within the next six months.
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Baidu is planning its own self-driving car this year, as the Chinese Internet search company jumps on the bandwagon that already has Google and others on board. Baidu CEO Robin Li - speaking at the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference in Beijing - said the company has been experimenting with smart cars and is working with automakers. Li also said that Baidu will soon roll out lending applications and services.
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Adecco reported that its 2014 net income attributable to shareholders increased 14% to EUR638 million from EUR557 million. Group revenue was EUR20 billion, up 3% or up 4% in constant currency compared to the prior year. Currency fluctuations had a negative impact on revenues of approximately 1%. Adecco Group also announced the acquisition of Knightsbridge Human Capital Solutions for an enterprise value of CAD80 million. Knightsbridge is the market leader in Canada in career transition, talent and leadership development and recruitment services. Knightsbridge will be combined with Adecco subsidiary Lee Hecht Harrison.
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E.ON reported a net loss attributable to shareholders of EUR3.16 billion in 2014, compared to profit of EUR2.09 billion the prior year. Loss per share was EUR1.64, compared to profit of EUR1.10. EBITDA declined by 9% year on year to EUR8.3 billion, underlying net income by 24% to EUR1.6 billion. The company said the declines primarily reflect currency-translation and portfolio effects. Sales were down 7% to EUR111.56 billion from EUR119.69 billion.
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Dutch brewer Heineken announced its plan to open its seventh brewery in Mexico, by investing USD470 million. It is expected to begin operation in the fourth quarter of 2017. The plant will be located in Meoqui, in Chihuahua state in Northern Mexico. It will have initial production capacity of 5 million hectoliters per year, and could be expanded later to 10 million hectoliters. The plant will have 500 employees, and will cater to the demand for Heineken's brands from its Mexico and US markets.
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Wednesday's Scheduled AGMs/EGMs

Flying Brands
Clear Leisure
Synergy Health
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com; @thomaslwaite

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