HSBC Holdings Share News (HSBA)

LONDON (Alliance News) - The following is a summary of top news stories Tuesday.
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COMPANIES
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British American Tobacco confirmed that its Imperial Tobacco Canada subsidiary was amongst three companies ordered to pay CAD15.6 billion in a case that has been running for 10 years in which smokers claimed the companies failed to warn them of the risks associated with smoking. The judgement by the Quebec Superior Court in Canada follows a ten-year legal challenge against BAT's Canadian subsidiary, Imperial Tobacco Canada, as well as Philip Morris International and Japan Tobacco International's Canadian subsidiaries. BAT said it was not a party to the proceedings and is not a party to the judgement, only its Canadian subsidiary. Imperial Tobacco Canada's share of the total damages would be CAD10.4 billion, it said. However, the companies intend to appeal the judgement.
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Wolseley said it expects to meet analysts' expectations for its trading profit in the current financial year after reporting strong growth in the third quarter of the year, driven by like-for-like sales growth, acquisitions, and an exchange rate boost. The building products company reported a trading profit from ongoing businesses of GBP195 million for the three months to April 30, up 29.1% from GBP151 million a year earlier, as revenue grew 16.6% to GBP3.30 billion from GBP2.83 billion and the company improved its gross margins. The revenue increase if exchange rates had remained constant over the year would have been 12.4%, while the currency movements buoyed trading profit by GBP11 million.
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HSBC Holdings will announce a plan next week to cut thousands more jobs across its global workforce, Sky News reports. The report indicated that Chief Executive Officer Stuart Gulliver will disclose a target when he updates shareholders on the bank's strategy on June 9, laying out a reduction that will probably affect 10,000 to 20,000 people. The numbers were still being worked on and had yet to be finalised. Europe's biggest lender employed 258,000 people at the end of last year.
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UK Chancellor George Osborne is set to outline plans for privatising The Royal Bank of Scotland Group when he makes his Mansion House speech next week, the Financial Times reported.
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British Land Co said it has launched a GBP350 million offering of senior, unsecured convertible bonds due 2020, money it will use to fund the recently announced GBP210 million acquisition of One Sheldon Square, Paddington Central and the GBP135 million acquisition of Surrey Quays Leisure Park, Canada Water, as well as committed development spending.
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The prospective bidders for Tesco's Dunnhumby customer data business are set to cut the value of their offers following the restructuring of one of the unit's biggest contracts, Sky News reports citing sources. Private equity suitors for the business, which runs the retailers' Clubcard operation, started holding talks with Tesco last week and are understood to have since cut their projected valuations of the company from GBP2 billion to around half that, Sky News said. The cut is thought to have been made after bidders were informed that a renegotiation of Dunnhumby's contracts with US retailer Kroger meant the profitability of the business being sold is now substantially lower than initially estimated, it added.
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Wm Morrison Supermarkets is the only member of the big four supermarkets to experience increased sales according to Kantar Worldpanel UK's grocery market data published. Morrisons sales rose 0.1% in the 12 weeks to May 24 to GBP2.78 billion from GBP2.77 billion in the same period a year earlier, although its market share remained the same at 10.9%. J Sainsbury was the second best performer of the big four, with an annual sales decline of 0.3% in the period to GBP4.18 billion from GBP4.19 billion. Its market share also remained the same at 16.5%. Tesco came in next with a sales decline of 1.3% to GBP7.28 billion from GBP7.37 billion a year beffore, and a market share decline to 28.6% from 29.0%.
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The UK government said it has shortlisted FirstGroup, National Express Group and a joint venture containing Stagecoach Group as the three bidders for the new East Anglia rail franchise. The government said Abellio East Anglia , a joint venture between Dutch railway operator Abellio and Stagecoach, First East Anglia and National Express East Anglia Trains will now work to develop their proposals for the franchise before the invitation to tender in August.
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Healthcare services provider Synergy Health posted a rise in pretax profit for its recently ended financial year, and said its current financial year has started well. Synergy's results come after the US Federal Trade Commission said last week it intends to block STERIS Corp's proposed USD1.9 billion cash and share takeover of Synergy, citing concerns about lessening competition it the market for contract radiation sterilisation services. The two companies have said they intend to contest the FTC's attempt to block the acquisition. For the year to March 29 Synergy posted a pretax profit of GBP43.6 million, up from GBP42.9 million a year before.
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Premier Oil said it will consolidate production at the Solan field in the UK North Sea as it takes full ownership of the project after acquiring the 40% stake in the project it did not already own. The company has acquired Chyrsaor's 40% stake in the field for no upfront consideration. In return, Premier will pay Chyrsaor a payment of up to USD3 million per year and royalty payments of up to USD100 million, after allowing the repayment of the USD530 million plus interest of the outstanding loan provided by Premier to Chyrsaor.
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Amec Foster Wheeler warned its scope revenue will be "modestly" lower in 2015 than in 2014 and that its trading margin will suffer a "further modest reduction" compared to its previous guidance, as challenging conditions in the upstream oil and gas industry continues. The FTSE 250-listed oil services company also said its expects trading profit to be more second half weighted than in 2014. Amec Foster Wheeler said scope revenue was GBP1.60 billion in the four month period to end-April, falling from GBP1.62 billion a year earlier. Amec Foster said revenue was down 0.9% on a pro-forma basis and down 3.6% on a like-for-like basis.
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MARKETS
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Stocks across Europe trade lower mid-morning with concerns about Greece continuing to weigh on investor confidence, while the pound was boosted by upbeat UK economic data.
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FTSE 100: down 0.8% at 6,897.82
FTSE 250: down 0.2% at 18,186.48
AIM ALL-SHARE: down 0.3% at 773.20
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The euro is up against the dollar after Eurozone inflation turned positive for the first time since November.
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GBP: up at USD1.5243
EUR: up at USD1.0968

GOLD: down at USD1186.76 per ounce
OIL (Brent): up at USD65.25 a barrel

(changes since end of previous GMT day)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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UK mortgage approvals increased to a 14-month high in April, the Bank of England said. The number of mortgages approved for house purchases rose more-than-expected to 68,076 in April from 61,945 in March. This was the highest level since February 2014. It was forecast increase to 63,500.
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British construction expansion quickened more-than-expected in May, underpinned by a post-election bounce in new orders, survey figures from Markit Economics showed. The Markit/CIPS UK Construction Purchasing Managers' Index, rose to 55.9 in May from 54.2 in the previous month. Economists had expected the index to rise to 55.0.
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Eurozone consumer prices increased for the first time in six months in May, flash data from Eurostat showed. The harmonized index of consumer prices rose 0.3% year-on-year in May after staying flat in April. This was the first annual rise since last November and faster than the expected 0.2% increase. The European Central Bank targets inflation below, but close to, 2% over the medium term.
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Former Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy has died at his home in Scotland aged 55, his family has told the BBC. The former MP's death is not believed to be suspicious and the cause of death has yet to be confirmed. Kennedy led the Liberal Democrats from 1999 to 2006 but lost his seat in the Ross, Skye and Lochaber constituency in last month's UK General Election.
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Ireland's manufacturing sector expanded at a quicker rate in May, with the pace of expansion the fastest in three months, as new work increased, survey figures from Markit Economics and Investec showed. The seasonally adjusted Investec purchasing managers' index, or PMI, grew to 57.1 in May from 55.8 in the previous month. This marked the highest growth rate in three months, with operating conditions improving throughout the past two years.
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande met in Berlin on Monday as the negotiations over the Greek debt crisis hang in the balance. The working dinner between the French and German leaders was officially called to consider steps to forge a single digital market in Europe as well to co-ordinate the development of new energy policy across the region and steps to boost youth employment. However, the talks in Merkel's office were overshadowed by deepening tensions between Greece and its international creditors over a debt deal as well concerns that Athens could soon run out of money. The meeting in Berlin was also attended by the President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker as well Benoit Potier, who heads up the so-called European Round Table of top industrialists.
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Germany's unemployment rate held steady in April, figures from Destatis showed. The jobless rate came in at an adjusted 4.7% in April, the same rate as in the previous month. In the same month of the previous year, the rate was 5.0%.
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The Reserve Bank of India lowered its key interest rates for the third time this year to cushion investment and reinforce growth and suggested that it intends to wait for data that clarify uncertainty on the economic outlook before acting again. The central bank governed by Raghuram Rajan, decided to cut its repo rate by a quarter point to 7.25% from 7.50% with immediate effect and the reverse repo rate was adjusted to 6.25% from 6.50%.
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Policymakers of the Reserve Bank of Australia kept its key interest rate at a record low after lowering it by a quarter point last month, as they observed that the current stance is appropriate. The policy board governed by Glenn Stevens decided on Tuesday to leave the cash rate at 2.00% as widely expected by economists. The bank lowered the rates by 25 basis points each in February and May.
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A passenger ship with more than 450 people on board has sunk in China's Yangtze River during a heavy storm, Chinese state media reported early Tuesday. As of Tuesday afternoon, 12 people out of the 458 people on board have been rescued, the official Xinhua news agency reported. The ship was not overloaded and was equipped with sufficient life jackets, Xinhua cited the Ministry of Transport as saying.
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The Cairo Criminal Court was due Tuesday to issue its verdict in the trial of former Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi, who faces a potential death sentence on prison break charges. Prosecutors charged that Morsi and other leaders in the Muslim Brotherhood conspired with foreign Islamist organizations to storm prisons during the 2011 uprising that toppled long-time ruler Hosny Mubarak.
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Two of the five members of Burundi's electoral commission resigned on Monday, arguing it was not possible to hold the presidential elections foreseen for June 26 while anti-government demonstrations were rocking the country. The two have reportedly fled Burundi.
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US Secretary of State John Kerry was headed home to Boston Monday after breaking his leg in a biking accident in Switzerland, and it was unclear how the accident would affect his ability to lead the Iran nuclear talks for the US. Kerry cut short an international trip after the accident Sunday and was being accompanied home by his US doctor, Dennis Burke, to ensure he remained comfortable during the trip. The accident occurred Sunday while Kerry, 71, was cycling in the Alps.
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The US intelligence community was left without the use of several surveillance powers after the US Senate failed to extend key parts of anti-terrorism legislation amid a dispute about the National Security Agency's controversial telephone metadata collection programme. Senator Rand Paul, an outspoken critic of government surveillance programmes and a Republican candidate for president, prevented the Senate from passing the USA Freedom Act before a deadline that saw separate, existing authorization for the surveillance powers expire at midnight local time. The USA Freedom Act is a compromise measure that would curtail some of the now-expired powers granted to the NSA in the wake of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, but still give the agency the ability to track those it has identified as threats.
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US authorities believe secretary general Jerome Valcke is the top FIFA official behind a payment of USD10 million to accounts controlled by a former football official now under criminal investigation, the New York Times reported. Quoting anonymous sources with knowledge of the investigation, the Times said prosecutors believe Valcke is the unidentified "high-ranking FIFA official" referred to in a US indictment in the probe of former FIFA vice-president Jack Warner.
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