3i Group Share News (III)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Shares have opened narrowly mixed Friday, as the situation in Greece appears to be moving closer to normality and as investors prepare for interest rate hikes in the US and UK by year-end.

Shares in retailer Marks & Spencer are down 1.2%, at the bottom of the FTSE 100, after it said John Dixon, its general merchandise division executive director, has left the company to become the chief executive of another as-yet-unnamed company.

Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: down 0.2% at 6,784.16
FTSE 250: flat at 17,763.90
AIM ALL-SHARE: up 0.1% at 757.36
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Hang Seng: up 1.2% at 25,463.21
Nikkei 225: closed up 0.3% at 20,650.92
DJIA: closed up 0.4% at 18,120.25
S&P 500: closed up 0.8% at 2,124.29
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GBP: up at USD1.5663
EUR: up at USD1.0896

GOLD: flat at USD1,144.88 per ounce
OIL (Brent): up at USD57.01 a barrel

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

10:00 EU Construction Output s.a (MoM)
13:30 US Building Permits and Housing Starts
13:30 US Consumer Price Index
13:30 Canada Consumer Price Index
15:00 US Fed's Stanley Fischer speech
15:00 US Reuters/Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index Preliminary
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Bank of England Governor Mark Carney hinted that the central bank will start to consider changing its UK interest rate policy at end of 2015, but said that any increases would be slow and that interest rates would rise to no more than 2.25% in the medium term. Speaking at Lincoln Cathedral in a speech about the Magna Carta and the Bank of England, Carney said the decision on when to start the process of raising interest rates in the UK, from the current 0.5% rate, "will likely come into sharper relief around the turn of this year". "It would not seem unreasonable to me to expect that once normalisation begins, interest rate increases would proceed slowly and rise to a level in the medium term that is perhaps about half as high as historical averages," Carney said.
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Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said the labour market in the US has move demonstrably closer to a more stable state, providing a reason for the likelihood that the central bank will hike short-term interest rates later this year, The Wall Street Journal reports. Yellen, speaking before the Senate Banking Committee, having appeared before the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday, did not specify when the Fed is likely to start raising its benchmark interest rate from its current 0.25% level, though earlier she had said it could happen "at some point this year".
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The Greek crisis is slowly subsiding with the country's banks due to reopen Monday after the European Central Bank lifted the emergency funding limit by EUR900 million for a week and the Eurozone officials agreed to a short-term loan. Since late June, Greece has had a bank holiday, with the daily withdrawal limit at ATMs set at EUR60 a day. Despite banks set for opening Monday, it is likely that the cash withdrawals limit will only be eased gradually. In the meantime, it is expected that with the EUR7 billion bridge loan as agreed in principle by the Eurozone finance ministers would be used by Greece to repay EUR3.9 billion to the ECB as well as its missed payments to the International Monetary Fund. The third bailout deal of EUR86 billion needs to be approved by 18 national parliaments of the euro area before starting fresh negotiations. On Thursday, Finland's parliament approved providing an EU-wide loan to Greece. And it is expected that parliamentary approval from five countries - Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Slovakia and Estonia - might be coming in on Friday.
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The leading economic index in the UK, which measures the future economic activity, decreased in May, the results of a survey by the Conference Board showed. The Conference Board leading economic index fell 0.4% in May, following a 0.3% climb in April.
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The UK said it will contribute GBP6 billion to projects benefiting from finance by the European Fund for Strategic Investments, which is at the heart of the EUR315 billion Investment Plan for Europe. The co-financing pledge - the biggest yet by any country - will come from various programs and bodies that are focused on promoting economic growth. Britain is the ninth country to contribute to the Plan after Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Poland, Slovakia and Bulgaria, even before the EFSI becomes operational.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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UBS CUTS OCADO TO 'NEUTRAL' ('BUY') - TARGET 480 (435) PENCE
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TRADERS: JEFFERIES RAISES HENDERSON GROUP PLC TO 'HOLD' ('UNDERPERFORM')
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NOMURA CUTS WETHERSPOON TO 'REDUCE' ('NEUTRAL') - TARGET 796 PENCE
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NOMURA CUTS RESTAURANT GROUP TO 'NEUTRAL' ('BUY') - TARGET 810 PENCE
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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Marks & Spencer Group said John Dixon, its general merchandise division executive director, has left the company to pursue other career opportunities. Dixon will leave the retailer's board with immediate effect and will leave the company on a date to be agreed. Dixon said he is leaving to become the chief executive of another company, though he did not specify which. Steve Rowe will take on responsibility for the general merchandise business, with Andy Adcock to become director of food.
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British Land said it and partner Oxford Properties have signed a lease agreement with DRW Trading Group for the Leadenhall Building in the City of London. The building, known as the "Cheesegrater", is now nearly 90% let or under offer, with only five more floors to be filled, the property developer said. DRW is a trading house based in Chicago.
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AstraZeneca announced that it has completed its agreement with Swiss specialty pharma firm Tillotts Pharma, part of the Zeria Group, for the divestment of global rights, outside the US, to gastroenterology drug Entocort (budesonide). Entocort is a gastroenterology medicine for patients with mild to moderate Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. It is currently available in over 40 countries, with total product sales of USD53 million outside the US in 2014.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Home emergency company HomeServe said it is trading in line with its expectations and expects to deliver robust growth for its 2016 financial year to the end of March. HomeServe said it is continuing to make investments to grow its international business and said the majority of its marketing activity, as in previous years, will be weighted to the second half. HomeServe said its UK business is trading in line, with 2.1 million customers on its books by the end of June. In the US the group said it is confident of its prospects, given the strong pipeline in place, and said it had 2.1 million customers in that market as well at the end of June.
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B&M European Value Retail said its sales revenue rose in the first quarter of its financial year, despite a slowdown in like-for-like sales growth year-on-year. The discount retailer said its total group sales revenue for the 13 weeks to June 27 was GBP456.6 million, up from GBP367 million in the comparable period a year earlier. Total group sales growth in the quarter was 24%, slowed from the 32% growth it posted a year earlier, while its like-for-like sales growth slowed to 1.1%, compared to 6%.
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Evraz said most of its production fell quarter-on-quarter, some of which it expected, with railway-product production rising from increased demand in Russia and the US. The steel making and multi-commodity mining company said consolidated crude steel output reached 3.4 million tonnes in the second quarter of 2015, down 14% quarter-on-quarter due to repair and maintenance works at its Russian steel mills and the de-consolidation of EVRAZ Highveld Steel and Vanadium.
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Distribution company DCC said it still expects a "very significant" improvement in its full-year results for its current financial year following robust trading in the first quarter. DCC said its overall operating profit for the first quarter to the end of June was in line with its expectations, with good growth in its DCC Energy, Healthcare and Environmental business, which was partially offset by weaker trading for DCC Technology. DCC said its profit will be significantly weighted toward the second half of the financial year, but it continues to anticipate its operating profit and adjusted earnings per share will be "very significantly" higher year-on-year.
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Electra Private Equity said its performance against its benchmarks was mixed in the first quarter, as it invested broadly the same amount as it realised. Electra said its total return in the three months to the end of June was 2%, against a 4% rise for the Morningstar Private Equity Index and a 2% decline for the FTSE All-Share Index. Its total share price return for the year to the end of June was 20%, ahead of the 18% return on the Morningstar index. The group invested GBP30 million in the quarter and realised GBP26 million, with GBP101 million of liquid resources on its books.
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SuperGroup said it has issued the second and final tranche of shares to Komet und Helden to settle the buy-out of the German agency and franchise agreement. The FTSE 250-listed fashion retailer said it issued 39,635 shares at 5.0 pence per share to Komet und Helden, which follows on from the first tranche of 19,818 shares at the same price issued back in October 2014. SuperGroup bought out the German fashion sales agency that retails apparels and accessories in October 2013, taking over seven franchise stores.
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COMPANIES - LONDON MAIN MARKET AND AIM
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Hutchison China MediTech said its prescription drug joint venture, Shanghai Hutchison Pharmaceuticals Ltd, has been granted an invention patent in China for a formulation of its drug for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. The patent covers the formulation of the She Xiang Bao Xin pill until 2029. Sales of the drug in 2014 were USD138.8 million, compared to USD123.6 million in 2013, and the drug represents around 90% of the joint venture's current sales.
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Motif Bio said its flagship antibiotic iclaprim has been granted a designation by the US Food and Drug administration which qualifies it for incentives including priority review, fast-track designation, and eligibility for a five year extension of market exclusivity if approved. Iclaprim has been granted a qualified infectious diseases product designation for hospital-acquired bacterial pneumonia.
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Currency manager Record said its assets under management equivalents rose in the first quarter of its financial year, with around half the rise coming from currency movements. Record said it had USD56.6 billion in assets under management equivalents at the end of June, up from USD55.4 billion at the end of March. Around half of this was driven by client flows, but a further USD0.6 billion came from exchange rate movements. The company said its dynamic hedging programme performed in line with its expectations for US clients in the quarter, and Record said its UK arm also traded in line. Fees for the company were broadly unchanged in the quarter.
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Wearable technology company CloudTag said it has appointed John Wakely as its finance director with immediate effect, replacing Interim Finance Director Mike Hirschfield, who will now step down from being a director of the company. Wakely previously acted as executive vice president of transportation, storage and distribution service provider Stolt-Nielsen.
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COMPANIES - INTERNATIONAL
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Google reported a better-than-expected second-quarter profit, driven mostly by growth in ad volumes, partly offset by lower ad prices, a stronger dollar as well as one-time expenses. "Our strong results reflect continued growth across the breadth of our products, most notably core search, where mobile stood out, as well as YouTube and programmatic advertising," said Google Chief Financial Officer Ruth Porat, who joined the company late May. Porat said Google is focused on developing big new opportunities across a range of businesses, while stating that it will invest with prudence.
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Mobile network equipment maker LM Ericsson Telephone reported that net income for the second quarter declined 20% to SEK2.1 billion from last year's SEK2.1 billion. Net sales for the quarter grew 11% to SEK60.7 billion from SEK54.8 billion in the same quarter a year before. Sales for comparable units, adjusted for currency, decreased 6% from last year.
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Mattel said it swung to a second quarter loss, as sales declined 7% due to the impact of a stronger US dollar. The toy maker posted a surprise profit on an adjusted basis, but its quarterly sales missed analysts' forecast. "In the second quarter, we made solid progress as we work to return Mattel to improved growth and profitability," said Christopher Sinclair, Mattel chairman and CEO, who took over as the permanent CEO of the company in April.
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Oilfield services provider Schlumberger reported second-quarter net earnings of USD1.12 billion or USD0.88 per share compared with USD1.60 billion or USD1.21 per share last year. Revenues for the quarter were down 25% at USD9.01 billion compared with USD12.05 billion in the prior year. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters estimated earnings of USD0.79 per share on revenues of USD8.97 billion for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.
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General Electric confirmed that it submitted remedies to the European Commission in relation to the GE-Alstom transaction. These remedies address the concerns of the Commission, it said, and at the same time preserve the economic and strategic value of the USD17 billion deal to acquire the power and grid businesses of Alstom.
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The European Commission said it has opened two formal antitrust investigations into possible abusive behavior by Qualcomm in the field of baseband chipsets used in consumer electronic devices. The first will examine whether Qualcomm has breached EU antitrust rules that prohibit the abuse of a dominant market position by offering financial incentives to customers on condition that they buy the baseband chipsets exclusively or almost exclusively from Qualcomm. The second will look into whether Qualcomm engaged in 'predatory pricing' by charging prices below costs with a view to forcing its competition out of the market.
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Online retail giant Amazon.com said it has recorded solid sales on its first ever Prime Day shopping event Wednesday to mark its 20th anniversary. The retailer said it sold more units on Prime Day than the biggest Black Friday ever, and had more new members try Prime worldwide than any single day in its history. Amazon said that on Prime Day, customers ordered 34.4 million items across eligible countries, breaking all Black Friday records with 398 items ordered per second.
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Friday's Scheduled AGMs/EGMs

Homeserve
3i Group
DCC
MS International
Templeton Emerging Markets Investment Trust
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com; @thomaslwaite

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