3i Group Share News (III)

LONDON (Alliance News) - UK shares have opened firmly Thursday pulling back some of Wednesday's losses on a strong lead from Asia, particularly a surging Tokyo market.

On a big day of corporate updates, 3i Group leads FTSE 100 gainers after reporting a rise in net asset value. Wolseley is the second biggest blue-chip riser, after being upgraded by Berenberg.

Here is what you need to know at the UK market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: up 0.3% at 6,627.62
FTSE 250: up 0.5% at 15,677.85
AIM ALL-SHARE: flat at 718.20
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Hang Seng: closed up 0.3% at 24,019.94
Nikkei 225: closed up 1.1% at 17,392.79
DJIA: closed flat at 17,612.20
S&P 500: closed down 0.1% at 2,038.25
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GBP-USD: down at USD1.5774
EUR-USD: up at USD1.2459

GOLD: down at USD1,157.99 per ounce
OIL (Brent): down at USD80.46 a barrel

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

09:00 Italy Consumer Price Index
09:00 EU ECB Monthly Report
10:00 Ireland Consumer Price Index
13:30 US Jobless Claims
15:00 US JOLTS Job Openings
16:00 US EIA Crude Oil Stocks change
19:00 US Monthly Budget Statement
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House prices in the UK grew at the slowest pace since May 2013 in the three months ended October, results of a survey by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveryors showed. The house prices balance fell to 20% in October from 30% in the previous month. This marked the weakest reading in seventeen months. The house prices balance in London registered the steepest fall in almost four years.
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China's industrial production and retail sales growth slowed unexpectedly in October, while fixed investment grew less-than-expected, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed. Industrial production rose 7.7% year-over-year in October following the 8% growth in September. Economists had expected production to rise at the stable rate of 8%. A separate report showed that retail sales growth slowed for the fifth straight month in October. Retail sales advanced 11.5% on a yearly basis in October following September's 11.6% increase.
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Germany's harmonised index of consumer prices, or HICP, was unrevised in October, final data from Destatis showed. The annual HICP inflation slowed to 0.7% in October, confirming the flash estimate, from 0.8% in September. HICP inflation in October was the lowest since May, when it was 0.6%.
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France's EU measure of inflation unexpectedly accelerated in October after easing in September, figures from the statistical office INSEE showed. The harmonized index of consumer prices, or HICP, rose 0.5% annually following 0.4% rise in September. Economists had forecast the figure remain steady at 0.4%.
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NATO said that it has sighted Russian troops and heavy weapons entering Ukraine, while the government in Kiev said that it was again preparing for war in the country's east. The United Nations warned of the possibility of a return to "full-scale fighting." NATO reported seeing columns of Russian tanks, artillery and air defence systems and Russian combat troops entering Ukraine, NATO's supreme allied commander Europe, General Philip Breedlove, said in Sofia, the Bulgarian capital, according to an emailed transcript.
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The world's largest emitters of greenhouse gasses, China and the US, boosted hopes for a new global deal on climate change with their landmark joint announcement. US President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping announced targets for reducing emissions, a step toward the next major effort culminating in late 2015 for a new global agreement. The announcement at the end of their two-day talks in Beijing marked a first for China, with Xi's declaration that China's carbon-dioxide emissions would peak around 2030. He projected that non-fossil fuel sources would make up 20% of the country's energy sources by then. Obama announced the US will cut its net greenhouse gas emissions to 26-28% below 2005 levels by 2025, compared with the previous target of a 17% cut by 2020.
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The top Republican in the US Senate called on Obama not to damage fragile trust with lawmakers by acting unilaterally following elections that saw the centre-right party take control of the Senate in a blow to the president. "Let's not do things to hurt the possibility of cooperative partnership. Let's step back and focus on what can be accomplished together," Senator Mitch McConnell said in the first session of Congress since last week's elections. "Let's listen to the American people." McConnell expressed optimism that the sides could work together, but warned it would be a "mistake" for Obama to issue so-called executive action on immigration reform, essentially by-passing the legislative process. He also denounced the climate deal with China as damaging to cooperation with the freshly empowered Republicans.
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European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, the former prime minister of Luxembourg, came under attackfrom EU lawmakers amid allegations that his country had granted tax breaks to hundreds of multinationals during his time in office. Juncker defended Luxembourg's actions, speaking publicly for the first time since last week's revelations that the country had helped more than 340 international companies avoid paying billions of euros in taxes between 2002 and 2010.
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Israel denied an entry request by a United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) team seeking to probe the July-August Gaza war. Israel also formally announced it would not cooperate with the commission of inquiry, accusing the body of bias against it. The delegation, headed by Canadian law scholar William Schabas, is currently in Jordan, from where it submitted the entry request.
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Mali has recorded two new Ebola deaths - a nurse and his patient at a private Bamako clinic - the Health Ministry said. New data from the World Health Organization puts the death toll from Ebola in West Africa at 5,160, with 14,098 confirmed, probable or suspected cases so far in eight countries. The report noted signs that the number of new cases being reported is slowing in Guinea and Liberia. However, steep rises continue to be reported in Sierra Leone.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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BERENBERG RAISES WOLSELEY TO 'BUY' ('HOLD') - TARGET 3900 (3500) PENCE
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BARCLAYS RAISES AVEVA TO 'OVERWEIGHT' ('EQUAL WEIGHT') - TARGET 1900 PENCE
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BARCLAYS CUTS MITIE GROUP TO 'EQUAL WEIGHT' ('OVERWEIGHT') - PT 285 (338) PENCE
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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Brewing giant SABMiller reported higher first-half profit and revenue, driven by growth in Africa and Latin America, notably for soft drinks, but held back by weaker sales in China and Australia. The company reported a pretax profit of USD2.83 billion for the six months to end-September, up from USD2.43 billion a year earlier, as revenue grew to USD11.37 billion, from USD11.10 billion, and the company made cost savings. SABMiller raised its interim dividend to 26.0 US cents, from 25.0 cents.
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London Stock Exchange Group reported a rise in pretax profit as it continues to prepare for life following the acquisition of Frank Russell Co, with the deal nearing completion. In a statement, the FTSE 100 stock exchange group said it made a GBP136.8 million pretax profit in the six months ended September 30, compared with GBP116.0 million in the corresponding period last year. Revenue rose to GBP592.6 million from GBP504.2 million. London Stock Exchange Group raised its interim dividend by 4.3% to 9.7 pence per share, adjusting for its rights issue in September.
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AstraZeneca said it has launched a pre-clinical development programme to evaluate its investigation antibody MEDI2452 as a reversal agent for its compound Brilinta in rare emergency situations. The company said that in certain emergency situations, doctors need to be able to swiftly reverse the effects of oral antiplatelet agents to enable emergency surgery, or quickly respond to a major bleeding event. Currently, there are no US Food and Drug Administration approved medications to counteract the antiplatelet effect, AstraZeneca said.
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3i Group is seeking out new investment opportunities but warned that political instability and the weakness of the economy in Europe is making it think hard before parting with its cash. According to Chief Executive Simon Borrows, 3i is seeing "good earnings momentum" in its larger investments and has a number of realisation and refinancing projects in process, though he remains cautious of new investments. 3i's net asset value per share rose to 358 pence at the end of September, after the payment of the 13.3 pence final dividend in July, from 348 pence at the end of March.
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ITV expressed confidence in seeing "another year of double digit profit growth", as it saw total external revenues rise 8% in its first nine months, driven by "strong progress" across all of its segments. The broadcaster said external revenues rose to GBP1.80 billion from GBP1.66 billion a year before.
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British Sky Broadcasting Group confirmed it plans to change its name to Sky PLC following the completion of its acquisition of Sky Italia SrL and a 89.71% stake in Sky Deutschland AG. The name change is subject to shareholder approval at the company's annual general meeting November 21. Its stock exchange ticker will change to SKY from BSY starting Friday.
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Aircraft and marine engine maker Rolls-Royce Holdings reiterated that it expects to complete the sale of its energy gas turbines and compressor business to Germany's Siemens AG before the end of 2014, and plans to return the proceeds from the sale to shareholders through a GBP1 billion share buyback. In a statement, the company also reiterated its recent profit warning, saying that extra restructuring costs will reduce its expected underlying profit in both 2014 and 2015 by about GBP60 million.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Vedanta Resources said its pretax profit more than doubled in the first half of its financial year as currency volatility eased, but its operating profit was hit by lower volumes at several of its operations, offsetting a 6% revenue increase on the back of higher metals prices.
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Great Portland Estates saw its shares rise early Thursday after it reported strong growth in its net asset value for the first half of its financial year, driven by 8.9% growth in its property portfolio valuation. The company said its EPRA net asset value per share was 636 pence at the end of September, up 11.8% over the half. It grew 7.3% in the second quarter of its fiscal year. It had net assets of GBP2.16 billion On September 30, up from GBP1.93 billion at the end of March.
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SOCO International cut its production guidance for the full year on the back of higher-than-expected shutdowns due to additional rig moves across its operations. FTSE 250-listed SOCO said production for the year to the end of October averaged 13,598 barrels of oil equivalent per day. The group said it has cut its full year production guidance, owing to shutdowns related to rig moves, to 13,300 to 13,800 boepd. It had previously forecast average production of 14,000 to 15,000 boepd.
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Premier Oil said production for the first ten months of the year has increased and said levels should remain flat throughout next year as the planned disposal of some of its assets will be offset by increased production from the Solan field in the North Sea. For the ten months ended October 31, the company's production increased 12.6% to 64,036 barrels of oil equivalent per day compared to 56,882 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
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James Fisher & Sons said it was trading in line with its expectations as it posted revenue growth in the third quarter year-on-year. The FTSE 250-listed marine services company said its offshore oil business performed well in the quarter, with continued growth in Africa, South America and the Far East offsetting weaker trading in its Norwegian operation. The Norwegian business is mostly focused on maintenance and production activities rather than exploration. The group said the recent decline in the oil price has not impacted trading in the offshore oil arm and said it expects revenue for the unit to be significantly higher year-on-year.
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Spirent Communications reiterated is fourth-quarter revenue expectations, although it warned it expects weaker market conditions to continue throughout the rest of 2014, as acquisitions helped boost revenue in its third quarter. The communications technology company continues to expect revenue of between USD120 million to USD125 million for its fourth quarter. The company said that it is reviewing its cost structure to align costs with changes in the market whilst also protecting the execution of its strategic plan. Revenue for the quarter rose to USD110.1 million, up from USD107.7 million a year before, boosted by acquisitions.
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Infinis Energy posted a slight fall in pretax profit on the back of a fall in revenue in the first half as the company said it suffered from lower-than-expected wind speeds in the UK during the period. The FTSE 250-listed wind power company said its pretax profit in the six months to the end of September was GBP2.0 million, down on the GBP2.4 million reported a year ago.
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St Modwen Properties said its joint venture with Vinci PLC has received resolution to grant planning permission for the redevelopment of the 57 acre New Covent Garden Market site in Nine Elms, London.
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WS Atkins posted a big drop in pretax profit on a fall in revenue for the first half as the group was hit by the strength of sterling over the period, though it maintained its outlook for the full year. The FTSE 250-listed design, engineering and project management consultancy said pretax profit in the six months to September 30 was GBP39 million, down 29% against the GBP54.8 million posted a year earlier. Revenue in the period was down 9.2% to GBP831.4 million from GBP915.4 million last year. The company hiked its interim dividend by 4.8% to 11 pence per share from 10.5 pence for the first half of 2013.
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Electrocomponents posted a fall in pretax profit and revenue for the first half as the group was hit by the strength of sterling and said its chief executive is stepping down. Pretax profit for the FTSE 250-listed group was down 16% to GBP37.4 million in the six months to the end of September against GBP44.6 million a year earlier, on the back of a fall in revenue to GBP616.4 million from GBP635.4 million a year earlier.
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Grafton Group said its sales growth had moderated in the last four months after a very strong first half of 2014, but it said the outlook remains positive and it's expecting to report a full-year operating profit in line with its expectations. The builders merchanting and DIY group, which has operations in the UK, Ireland and Belgium, said revenue in the ten months to October 31 was GBP1.76 billion, up 10.1% from GBP1.60 billion a year earlier
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Fashion company Ted Baker said revenue grew 15.7% in the 13 weeks to November 8 as it grew sales from existing space and expanded, but it cautioned that gross margin in the second half of the year to be slightly down on the year because it's selling a greater proportion of lower-margin goods. The maker of men's and women's fashions and accessories said retail sales were up 12.7% in the 13 weeks between August 10 and November 8 compared with a year earlier, as average retail square footage rose 9.5%. Sales would have been up 14.7% if currency exchange rates had remained constant, it said.
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Drinks can maker Rexam said it is expecting the global beverage can market to grow in 2015 even though the environment will remain challenging, but a recent rise in aluminium prices could add about GBP30 million to its costs next year if they are sustained. It also said its reviewing its costs because it expects margins on some US specialty cans to fall next year.
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COMPANIES - INTERNATIONAL
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Toymaker Hasbro is reportedly in talks to buy Jeffrey Katzenberg's animation studio DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc, maker of the "Shrek" films. Dreamworks, with a market value of around USD1.9 billion, is said to be seeking over USD30 per share, which would mark at least a 34% premium to the company's closing price of USD22.37 on Wednesday. Hasbro already has a 40% stake in the Discovery Family Channel, and the deal would strengthen its involvement in film and TV.
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Cisco posted its highest-ever first-quarter revenue in results released Wednesday, but net profits were down and profit and sales forecasts for the second quarter were lower than expected. Revenue for the period ending October 31 rose 1.3% from the first quarter of 2014 to 12.2 billion dollars, Cisco said, but net profits sank 8.4% to 1.8 billion dollars.
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Thursday's Scheduled AGMs/EGMs

JD Wetherspoon
FW Thorpe
Swallowfield
Kier Group
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com; @thomaslwaite

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