Kingfisher Share News (KGF)

LONDON (Alliance News) - AstraZeneca is once again leading UK blue chips higher Monday, after US drugs giant Pfizer Inc confirmed that it has now twice approached its British peer with a takeover proposal, most recently on Saturday. Pfizer said it is still considering its options.

Another proposed takeover definitely won't happen this time around. Ophir Energy said Monday its proposed merger with Premier Oil was rejected by Premier's board, and it is no longer considering an offer. Meanwhile, there was some good news for Premier as a stand-along company, as its said Monday it has discovered oil offshore Indonesia and gas onshore Pakistan.

Here is what you need to know at the UK market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: up 0.2% at 6,699.67
FTSE 250: down 0.1% at 15,874.24
AIM ALL-SHARE: down 0.5% at 814.97
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Hang Seng: down 0.4% at 22,127.84
Nikkei 225: closed down 1.0% at 14,288.23
DJIA: closed down 0.9% at 16,361.46
S&P 500: closed down 0.8% at 1,863.40
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GBP-USD: up at USD1.6834
EUR-USD: up at USD1.3861

GOLD: up at USD1,303.26 per ounce
OIL (Brent): up at USD109.97 a barrel

(changes since end of previous GMT day)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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Monday's Key Economic Events still to come
(all times British Summer Time)

09:00 Italy Consumer Confidence
15:00 US Pending Home Sales
15:30 US Dallas Fed Manufacturing Business Index
16:30 US 3-Month and 6-Month Bill Auction
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UK economic growth continued to gather pace in April, alongside predictions of even stronger growth in the next quarter, the growth indicator from the Confederation of British Industry showed. According to the survey conducted among 675 firms, growth strengthened across the retail and service sectors, while manufacturing output growth remained solid. The balance rose to +25% from +19%. Firms are optimistic that growth will pick up again over the next quarter, with growth expectations rising to a record +42%.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin's inner circle will be targeted in the next round of sanctions the US imposes over the Ukraine crisis, a White House security adviser said Sunday. Deputy national security adviser Tony Blinken said in an interview with the NBC television network that he would not rule out that Putin himself might one day become a target while acknowledging that penalizing a country's leader personally is rare. The sanctions could be decided as early as Monday. Among those expected to be on the sanctions list are the head of the state-run oil company Rosneft and the world's largest extractor of natural gas, Gazprom, The New York Times reported, citing unnamed US officials. On Sunday, one of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) observers being held captive by the separatists was released.
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German import prices fell the most since August 2013 driven by a sharp decline in energy prices, data from Destatis showed. Import prices fell 3.3% year-on-year in March, the sharpest fall in seven months and exceeded the 2.8% decrease forecast by economists. Prices were down 2.7% in February.
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Retail sales in Japan spiked 11.0% on year in March, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said on Monday, coming in at JPY13.731 trillion. The headline figure was in line with forecasts following the 3.6% gain in February.
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The International Monetary Fund said pushing ahead with structural reforms will be critical to reduce vulnerabilities and sustain Asia's growth momentum. In the Regional Economic Outlook for Asia and Pacific, the IMF said the reform agenda varies considerably across economies in the region, but in all cases vigorous implementation will be important.
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Violent thunderstorms packing tornadoes and hail roared through several states in the US Midwest Sunday. Authorities confirmed at least nine fatalities: eight in Arkansas and one in Oklahoma, CNN reported. A tornado caused "widespread" damage and numerous injuries in Mayflower, Arkansas, a state governor's spokesman said.
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The air search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 has been called off because there is no hope of finding wreckage on the ocean surface, officials in Australia said. The hunt for MH370, which vanished March 8 an hour into a night flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board, will move underwater. The underwater search is expected to take more than six months.
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The international watchdog charged with overseeing the destruction of Syria's chemical weapons said nearly 8% of the stockpile was still in the country as the deadline for the handover of the arsenal expired Sunday.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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CREDIT SUISSE CUTS DIAGEO TO 'NEUTRAL' ('OUTPERFROM) - PRICE TARGET 1950 (2200) PENCE
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JPMORGAN RAISES BRITISH LAND TO 'OVERWEIGHT' ('NEUTRAL') - TARGET 740 (680) PENCE
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UBS REMOVES G4S FROM 'MOST PREFERRED' LIST
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UBS ADDS BUNZL TO 'LEAST PREFERRED' LIST
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BARCLAYS INITIATES PAYPOINT WITH 'OVERWEIGHT' - TARGET 1,075 PENCE
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CITIGROUP RAISES DRAX GROUP TO 'BUY' ('NEUTRAL') - TARGET 750 (800) PENCE
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SOCGEN RAISES DRAX GROUP TO 'HOLD' ('SELL') - TARGET 680 (710) PENCE
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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US drugs giant Pfizer Inc confirmed that it has now twice approached British peer AstraZeneca PLC with a takeover proposal, and is considering its options after being rebuffed both times. In a statement, Pfizer said it first approached AstraZeneca with a cash and shares offer that valued the British company's shares at GBP46.61, or USD76.62, each on January 5. It said discussions about the approach were limited and ended on January 14. The US company then contacted AstraZeneca again on Saturday in the hope the sides could come up with a takeover proposal that both companies would put to their shareholders, but AstraZeneca again declined to engage with Pfizer, the US company said.
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BG Group PLC said Chief Executive Chris Finalyson has resigned with immediate effect for personal reasons. Non-Executive Chairman Andrew Gould has appointed as interim executive chairman until a replacement has been found. In a separate note, ahead of its first quarter results on Thursday, the FTSE 100 oil and gas firm said it is making good progress in Australia, with the start-up of the Ruby Jo central processing plant. However, it said Egypt remains challenging with volumes in the first quarter declining 35% from from the fourth quarter of 2013 to 66 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day (kboed).
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Kingfisher To Commence Capital Returns Programme During 2014/15 Financial Year Starting With Around GBP200M
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Premier Oil PLC said it has discovered oil offshore Indonesia and gas onshore Pakistan, while the company also rejected Ophir Energy's bid to merge the two businesses together. Ophir Energy confirmed Monday that its proposals to merge businesses with Premier Oil was rejected and said that it is not longer considering making an offer for Premier Oil.
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Ultra Electronics Holdings PLC said it will acquire Forensic Technology WAI Inc for CAD94 million in cash, with an additional payment of up to CAD6 million depending on earnings growth of the business over the next two years. The defence, security, transport and energy company said it has agreed to acquire Forensic Technology from private investors and its management team, which includes the company's founder. Ultra said it plans to accelerate the development of Forensic Technology's document security and analytic products capability over the next nine to twelve months.
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Balfour Beatty PLC said it has reached financial close on the GBP196 million BC Children's & BC Women's Redevelopment Project, Phase 2, in British Columbia, Canada. The construction giant said it will invest up to GBP8.9 million into the project, which is around 70% of the equity required, while Canadian residential construction services business Ledcor Developments will invest the remaining equity.
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Inchcape's Singapore Subsidiary Sells 24 Leng Kee Road Property For SGD46.2M
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Fidessa Says Market Improvement Continuing, But Is Somewhat Uneven; Expects Modest Constant Currency Growth In 2014
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COMPANIES - ALL-SHARE AND AIM
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Gresham House PLC said Chief Executive Derek Lucie-Smith resigned due to ill health with effect from April 25. In a statement, the company said Lucie-Smith's duties are being covered by exisating board members, as it thanked him for his services and wished him a speedy recovery.
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Iofina Appoints Jeffrey Ploen As Interim CEO, Mike Coddington As Finance Director
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Sierra Rutile Says Takeover Talks Have Ceased
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Pochin's Says Deadline For Takeover Talks Extended As Discussions Continue
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Crawshaw Group FY Pretax Profit GBP1.0M Vs GBP0.3M; Sales GBP21.0M, Up From GBP18.8M Year Before; Like-For-Like Sales Up 11%; FY Total Dividend 0.52p, Up From 0.20p Year Before; Says Like-For-Like Sales In 1st 12 Weeks Of Current Year Up 19%, Margins Strong
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Terrace Hill In GBP170M Placing At 225p; Will Acquire Urban&Civic; Says Will Issue Shares To Buy Urban&Civic To Value Of GBP95.3M; Says Share Placing Proceeds Partly To Develop Further Two Urban&Civic Residential Land Sites; Says Urban&Civic Chairman To Become Executive Chairman Of Enlarged Group
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Monday's Scheduled AGMs/EGMs

Acencia Debt Strategies
Personal Group Holdings
Microgen
Greencoat UK Wind
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com; @thomaslwaite

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