Kingfisher Share News (KGF)

LONDON (Alliance News) - The following is a summary of top news stories Thursday.
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COMPANIES
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Pearson confirmed it is in "advanced talks" to the Financial Times newspaper, referring to "the potential disposal of FT Group". The FT Group consists of the Financial Times, a 50% shareholding in the Economist, and the Vedomosti joint venture in Russia. The annoucement was in response to a report by Reuters that Pearson is set to announce imminently that it has agreed a deal to sell the Financial Times newspaper to a "global digital news agency". The news following a report by Bloomberg on Monday that Pearson was exploring the sale of the newspaper, with a value of up to around GBP1 billion put on the business.
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Unilever reported a drop in profit in the first half of 2015, although revenue grew in each of its Personal Care, Foods, Refreshment and Home Care divisions and underlying sales growth beat analyst forecasts, The FTSE 100-listed maker of consumer products including Ben & Jerry's ice cream, Dove beauty products, and Persil washing power, reported a 14% drop in pretax profit to EUR3.6 billion from EUR4.2 billion in the first half, although revenue grew 12% to EUR27 billion from EUR24.1 billion. Both were at reported currencies. At constant currencies, revenue grew 1.8% and pretax profit fell 21%.
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SABMiller reported a drop in reported net producer revenue in the first quarter of its financial year but said revenue grew on a constant currency basis, although it still missed analyst expectations and beverage volumes remained flat. The brewer, which makes Grolsch, Peroni and Coors beers, said that reported net producer revenue in the quarter to June 30 declined 10% due to the depreciation of some currencies against the US dollar, but grew 3% on a constant currency basis. According to Shore Capital, the 3% constant currency growth was still below a 3.8% consensus estimate and Shore's forecast of 5% growth.
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Anglo-Dutch publisher RELX Group reiterated its outlook for 2015 as it posted a flat pretax profit for its first half, in its first results as a consolidated group. The company, formerly known as Reed Elsevier, recently transferred the assets of its UK and Dutch parent companies into a new single group entity called RELX Group PLC. RELX said it has now fully aligned the boards of the two parent companies. RELX posted a pretax profit of GBP601 million for the half year to end-June, broadly flat from GBP606 million a year before, as a rise in revenue to GBP2.96 billion from GBP2.85 billion was offset by a rise in cost of sales and operating expenses.
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SSE said production across most all of its divisions, except coal, rose in the first quarter of the financial year, but it reported a fall in customer accounts and average customer consumption. The UK energy provider said the number of retail electricity and gas customers at the end of March had fallen to 8.49 million from 8.58 million at the end of March 2014. Average customer consumption of electricity in the first quarter fell to 822,000 kilowatt hours from 853,000 kilowatt hours a year earlier. However, average gas consumption experienced a small lift to 75 therms per customer from 68 therms. SSE said it is aiming for a minimum of 115.0 pence of adjusted earnings per share for the full financial year and reiterated its dividend increase will be at least equal to RPI inflation.
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Aberdeen Asset Management shares dropped after it said its assets under management fell in the third quarter of its financial year, sapped by heavy net outflows related to volatile trading in Asian and emerging markets. The asset manager said its assets under management fell to GBP307.3 billion at the end of June, down from GBP330.6 billion at the end of March. Aberdeen attributed the fall to market conditions and foreign exchange movements, as Asian and emerging markets were hit by increasing expectations of a rate hike from the US Federal Reserve and by volatility in the Chinese stock market.
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Kingfisher reported a rise in sales on a constant currency basis in the second quarter of its financial year, as it demonstrated growth in each of the regions it operates in and as it continues with its strategy to create a unified 'ONE' Kingfisher. The DIY retailer, which owns brands including B&Q, Screwfix and Castorama, said that total sales in the 10 weeks to July 11 grew 4.8% on a constant currency basis, while like-for-like revenue rose 3.5%.
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Supermarket J Sainsbury said it has launched a GBP250 million perpetual subordinated bond issue. The proceeds from the issue will be used for general corporate purposes, Sainsbury's said, including lending to its subsidiaries and contributions to its pension funds. The bonds will have no fixed redemption date and will be optionally convertible into fully paid new and/or existing ordinary shares of Sainsbury's. The initial conversion price is expected to be at a premium of 30.0% to 35.0% to the volume-weighted average price of Sainsbury's shares between launch and pricing.
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The Royal Bank of Scotland Group said it has struck a GBP400 million deal to sell a portfolio of loans to an entity managed by Deutsche Bank and funds affiliated with US private equity firm Apollo Global Management. The bank said it will receive GBP400 million in cash from the sale of the portfolio, with the proceeds to be used for general corporate purposes.
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The US Department of the Interior has granted the final two permits to Royal Dutch Shell to start exploring for crude oil in the Arctic this summer, but has said the company cannot drill into the oil zone until the required emergency equipment arrives in the region, Reuters reports. The department's Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement conditionally granted Shell's permits for exploration in the Chukchi Sea off Alaska, but said the company must have emergency equipment to contain a potential blown-out well deployable within 24 hours before drilling begins.
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Thousands of shareholders in Lloyds Banking Group have started a GBP350 million court compensation claim over the bank's takeover of HBOS at the height of the financial crisis in November 2008, The Daily Telegraph reports. The shareholders argue Lloyds and its directors failed to fully disclose the troubled state of HBOS's finances when it distributed the takeover documents. They claim that they were hit to the tune of GBP1 per share from the HBOS deal and are now seeking to claim that back from the lender.
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Britvic said it has bought Brazilian soft drinks company Empresa Brasileira de Bebidas e Alimentos for GBP113.6 million, partly financed by a share issue, and reported a rise in revenue in the third quarter of its financial year. Britvic said the acquisition will provide it with access to the world's sixth largest soft drinks market and the largest concentrates market globally, and will allow it to introduce its current brands into the Brazilian market. Britvic said it will place up to 12.4 million shares, 4.97% of its current total, through an accelerated bookbuild process in order to raise GBP90 million to fund its acquisition of ebba, which would equate to 725.81 pence per share. Britvic shares closed at 733.31p on Wednesday.
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MARKETS
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London equity markets are modestly higher mid-morning amid a number of individual company updates, with Aberdeen Asset Management the worst performer in the FTSE 100.
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FTSE 100: up 0.1% at 6,671.15
FTSE 250: up 0.1% at 17,657.09
AIM ALL-SHARE: up 0.3% at 755.28
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The pound is down against the dollar after a disappointing set of UK retail sales figures for June. The price of gold has rebounded breaking the USD1,100 barrier.
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GBP: down at USD1.5597
EUR: up at USD1.56.08

GOLD: up at USD1102.66 per ounce
OIL (Brent): up at USD56.08 a barrel

(changes since end of previous GMT day)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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Greece cleared another hurdle and stepped into the bailout zone after the government approved the second set of reform measures early Thursday local time, as Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is seeking to close a deal that will offer up to EUR86 billion debt even as the crisis struck country faces protests and violence. The reforms, which are the final requirement before the country can start the bailout negotiations with its creditors, included lifting of liquidity of banks, deposit security and renewing of the judicial system. In the 300-seat parliament, 230 lawmakers voted in favor of the bill, with support for the ruling party coming from the pro-euro opposition parties. Last week, the Greek parliament passed the first set of reforms that aimed at tax increases and budget disciplines. However, both sets of reforms do not include pension curbing early retirement and raising tax rates for farmers were not included.
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UK retail sales declined unexpectedly in June, data from the Office for National Statistics showed. Including automotive fuel, retail sales declined 0.2% from prior month, reversing a 0.3% rise in May. This was the first drop in three months. Sales were expected to grow 0.4%. Likewise, sales excluding automotive fuel also dropped 0.2%, while economists had forecast sales to gain 0.4% again as seen in May.
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UK car production logged a seven-year high in the first half of the year, data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders showed. During the first six months of this year, total car production rose 0.3% compared to the same period a year ago, which was the highest half-year level since 2008. Car manufacturing grew 5.4% year-over-year to 143,759 units in June. Export demand surged 9.0% in June from the previous year, while domestic sales declined by 7.1%.
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US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter met Wednesday with Saudi King Salman to reassure the key Washington ally about the international nuclear deal struck last week with Iran. Carter discussed US-Saudi relations and developments in the Middle East with the monarch, the official Saudi Press Agency reported. Carter reassured King Salman that the US remains committed to peace and stability in the region, the agency reported without details.
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Yemen's exiled government reopened Aden airport on Wednesday, a week after its loyalists retook control of most of the southern port city. A Saudi military plane landed at the airport, marking the reopening. The airport was closed about four months ago because of fighting between forces loyal to the exiled president, Abd Rabu Mansour Hadi, and Iran-backed Houthi rebels.
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French lawmakers approved a bill aimed a reducing the reliance on nuclear power in favour of greener sources of energy. The Socialist majority in the lower house of parliament approved the bill, which seeks to cut the share of nuclear power in the energy mix from 75% to 50% in 10 years. It also aims at bringing CO2 emissions by 2050 to 75% less than their 1990 levels.
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By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com; @ArvindBhunjun

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