Marks & Spencer Share News (MKS)

LONDON (Alliance News) - AB InBev went public with its takeover offer for rival brewing giant SABMiller early Wednesday and major SABMiller shareholder Altria immediately expressed its support for the bid. SABMiller shares were up 3.1%, one the top FTSE 100 gainers.

Miners Anglo American, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton were leading blue-chips stocks, however, up 3.8% to 5.7%. Morgan Stanley upgraded BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto to Overweight from Equal-Weight and raised Anglo American to Equal-Weight from Underweight.

Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: up 0.2% at 6,339.19
FTSE 250: up 0.1% at 17,156.55
AIM ALL-SHARE: up 0.1% at 734.44
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Hang Seng: up 2.2% at 22,310.26
Nikkei 225: closed up 0.8% at 18,322.98
DJIA: closed up 0.1% at 16,790.19
S&P 500: closed down 0.4% at 1,979.92
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GBP: up at USD1.5265
EUR: down at USD1.1236

GOLD: up at USD1,150.09 per ounce
OIL (Brent): up at USD52.41 a barrel

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

09:30 UK Industrial and Manufacturing Production
12:00 US MBA Mortgage Applications
13:30 Canada Building Permits
15:00 UK NIESR GDP Estimate
15:30 US EIA Crude Oil Stocks
20:00 US Consumer Credit Change
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Shop prices in the UK fell 1.9% on year in September, the British Retail Consortium said. That follows the 1.4% yearly decline in August. Prices were also down 0.4% on month as the deflation trend continues.
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The UK Financial Conduct Authority said it has launched a call for inputs into the mortgage sector in the country to identify potential areas of the market where competition could be improved. The City regulator said it is seeking views on the regulatory regime on the mortgage market, including any changes made following the Mortgage Market Review and any other barriers to entry, expansion or innovation. It will also look for input on the ability of consumers to effectively access and act on information about mortgage products, and it will be asking for views on the conduct of companies operating in the sector and the relationships between mortgage providers.
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Germany's industrial production declined unexpectedly in August, data from Destatis revealed. Industrial production declined 1.2% in August from the prior month, offsetting the 1.2% rise in July. Economists had forecast the growth rate to ease to 0.2%. July's growth was revised up from 0.7%.
Excluding energy and construction, production in industry decreased 1.1% in August.
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The Bank of Japan decided to keep its massive monetary stimulus unchanged, as expected by economists. The Policy Board of the BoJ governed by Haruhiko Kuroda decided by an 8-1 majority vote to maintain its target of raising the monetary base at an annual pace of about JPY80 trillion. The bank said that the annual rate of increase in consumer prices was flat. Inflation expectations appear to be rising on the whole from a somewhat longer-term perspective.
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The leading index for Japan, which measures the future economic activity, dropped less-than-expected to the lowest level in fifteen months in August, preliminary figures from the Cabinet Office showed. The leading index dropped to 103.5 in August from 105.0 in the previous month. Economists had expected the index to fall to 103.4. The latest reading was the weakest since May 2014, when it marked the same 103.5.
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A recently agreed EU plan to relocate tens of thousands of asylum seekers from Italy and Greece elsewhere in the bloc will start at the end of this week, a top EU official said. EU Home Affairs Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos wrote on Twitter that he would be in Italy on Friday for the first relocation of Eritrean refugees to Sweden. The Greek commissioner said he would also travel to the Italian island outpost of Lampedusa to visit a so-called "hotspot," a beefed-up migrant reception centre designed to register and screen all incoming boat migrants. The EU agreed in September to relocate across the bloc 160,000 asylum seekers from Greece and Italy in order to ease pressure on the two nations. But it has also urged them to make more serious efforts in identifying incoming sea migrants.
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The Yemeni government's temporary headquarters in the southern city of Aden and two bases used by Gulf troops helping to fight Houthi rebels were hit Tuesday by deadly explosions, and Islamic State extremist group claimed responsibility. If claim of responsibility is verified, it would be the first time that the radical militants have targeted Yemen's government, which last month returned from six months in exile in Saudi Arabia. Prime Minister Khaled Bahah and other cabinet members escaped unharmed, officials said. But four soldiers from the United Arab Emirates were among the up to 18 people reported to have been killed.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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TRADERS: HSBC RAISES SHAFTESBURY TO 'HOLD' ('REDUCE')
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TRADERS: HSBC RAISES HAMMERSON TO 'BUY' ('HOLD')
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UBS RAISES FIDESSA GROUP TO 'BUY' ('NEUTRAL') - TARGET 2,030 (2,100) PENCE
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TRADERS: JPMORGAN CUTS MICHAEL PAGE TO 'UNDERWEIGHT' ('NEUTRAL')
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TRADERS: JPMORGAN CUTS MARKS & SPENCER TO 'NEUTRAL' ('OVERWEIGHT')
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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Anheuser-Busch InBev said it has tabled an offer to SABMiller, having seen two other informal offers rejected, and said it thinks its new bid should be "highly attractive" to SABMiller shareholders. The brewing giant said it has made a bid valuing SABMiller at 4,215 pence per share, valuing SABMiller at GBP68.2 billion overall. AB InBev said it has had two informal offers for SABMiller, of 3,800p and 4,000p, rejected. It said it was "disappointed" SABMiller's board had rejected the two previous approaches "without any meaningful engagement". SABMiller shares were quoted early Wednesday up 2.8% at 3,722.50p. The takeover offer was backed by Altria, the US tobacco company and a major shareholder in SABMiller. Altria said in a statement that it supports the current takeover bid and has called on the SABMiller board to "engage promptly and constructively with AB InBev" in order to agree terms on a recommended offer.
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Tesco said it made a profit in the first half of its financial year, having suffered a loss in what was a very tumultuous time for the business last year, but its sales still fell in a challenging UK grocery market. The supermarket chain reported a GBP74 million pretax profit in the 26 weeks ended August 29, an improvement on the GBP19 million pretax loss a year before. Revenue, however, fell 1.9% to GBP23.94 billion from GBP24.27 billion. Tesco said that sales were hit by weak European currencies against strong sterling, but that it is seeing year-on-year growth in the UK in transactions and volumes.
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The UK's Serious Fraud Office is weighing whether it will resolve a year-long criminal investigation into alleged accounting irregularities at Tesco, the Financial Times reported. The SFO has not ruled out the possibility of agreeing to a so-called deferred prosecution agreement with Tesco, the FT said, citing people familiar with the situation, but is currently focused on investigating individuals involved in the probe, including Philip Clarke, the retailer's former chief executive.
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Sports Direct International said it reached an agreement to acquire Irish clothing retailer Warrnambool, which trades as Heatons, for EUR47.5 million. Sports Direct said it has agreed a deal with Sandra Minor, a minority shareholder in Warrnambool, to acquire her stake in the business and increase Sports Direct's holding to just over 50%. In addition, it has agreed a conditional put and call option agreement with the remaining shareholders in the company to buy the remainder of the business.
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Pharmaceuticals giant AstraZeneca said it has completed the divestment of its Caprelsa rare disease medicine to Genzyme, a unit of French drugmaker Sanofi. Genzyme has made an upfront payment of USD165 million to AstraZeneca for the global rights to develop and sell the drug, and will make further payments of up to USD135 million.
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Diageo said it has completed an agreement with Dutch brewer Heineken under which Diageo will sell its stakes in two business and buy Heineken's stake in another. Diageo said it will sell its 58% stake in Desnoes & Geddes to Heineken, increasing the Dutch company's stake in the company to 73%. It also will sell its 49.99% stake in GAPL to Heineken, giving the Dutch brewer full ownership of the business. Diageo will then acquire Heineken's 20% stake in Guinness Ghana Breweries, increasing Diageo's stake in the business to 72%. The net cash receivable by Diageo for the deals will be USD780.5 million, which will be settled immediately. This will result on the group booking a one-off profit on disposal of around GBP440 million after tax.
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Standard Life said only a small portion of its pension customers in the UK have made use of the new freedoms given to savers this year, with the majority choosing not to touch their pensions and remain invested. Last year the UK announced changes which allow people over 55 years old to use their pensions savings as they please and removed the requirement for them to purchase an annuity. Critics had cautioned the changes would leave thousands of pensioners without an adequate pension in retirement. But Standard Life said only 6% of its eligible customers have made use of the new pension freedoms since they came into force in April this year, with the remaining 94% deciding to stay invested and leave their pensions untouched.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Nostrum Oil and Gas said it has withdrawn its proposed offer for Tethys Petroleum Ltd after Tethys' largest shareholder said it did not support the deal, but Nostrum said it reserves the right to propose alternative deals to Tethys. "Tethys' largest shareholder, Pope Asset Management LLC, has informed Nostrum that it does not support the proposed offer and therefore, despite the progress made by Nostrum and Tethys in preparing transaction documentation, the proposed transaction will not proceed," Nostrum said in a statement.
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John Wood Group said it has secured a "multi-million dollar" contract from US-based firm Betchel to provide services in Kazakhstan for a project owned by a joint venture between Chevron and Exxon. Under the deal, the company's US subsidiary, John Wood Mustang, will provide an automation service consisting of detailed engineering, control hardware and remote instrument enclosures for a crude storage capacity project at the Tengiz field in Kazakhstan.
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Electra Private Equity said portfolio company AXIO Data Group has struck a deal to sell its Asian healthcare information arm, MIMS, to Asia-Pacific-based information provider SMS and Japanese bank Mitsui for USD250.0 million. The deal is the third major realisation made by AXIO following the 2014 disposals of JOC Group and Breakbulk. Electra said it expects to get net proceeds of GBP95.0 million from the sale. Including the JOC and Breakbulk, Electra said it will have received total cash from its AXIO investment of GBP180 million, compared to the GBP91 million it invested in the company in April 2013.
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Spread betting and contracts-for-difference company IG Group Holdings said it has made a couple of changes after the UK Financial Ombudsman Service ruled on a client case related to the volatility which arose following the Swiss franc's jump in value earlier this year. In January, the Swiss National Bank removed the Swiss franc's cap against the euro. The subsequent jump in the value of the franc ended up costing IG Group GBP27 million, the company said in its annual results in July. IG said the Financial Ombudsman agreed that it acted in accordance with the terms and conditions of its client agreement and that it "complied with its duties of best execution and acted fairly in the way it processed client orders".
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COMPANIES - LONDON MAIN MARKET AND AIM
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Conviviality and Punch Taverns confirmed that Punch's disposal of its 50% interest in Matthew Clark to Conviviality has completed, as the latter added that it has now changed its name to Conviviality PLC from Conviviality Retail PLC. Drinks supplier Matthew Clark was a 50/50 joint venture between Punch Taverns and Hertford Cellars, a subsidiary of Accolade Wines. Conviviality struck a deal to fully acquire Matthew Clark for GBP200 million, of which it paid GBP100.7 million to Punch with the remaining balance paid to Hertford Cellars.
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COMPANIES - INTERNATIONAL
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The Volkswagen board was set to meet on Wednesday as the embattled German carmaker prepares to spell out details of its plans to modify vehicles equipped with illegal software aimed at cheating on exhaust emissions test around the world. VW has until the end of Wednesday to submit to Germany's transport authority the plans for ensuring that its diesel-powered vehicles comply with exhaust regulations following the scandal that has rocked the company over the last more than two weeks. The auto group has said that 2.8 million of the 11 million vehicles worldwide fitted with the software are in Germany. Meanwhile, the company's supervisory board is also due to confirm that VW finance chief Dieter Poetsch will be group's new board chairman, charged with steering the carmaker out of the biggest crisis in its 78-year history.
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Volkswagen Chief Executive Officer Matthias Müller has promised employees "swift and relentless clarification" of the emissions scandal. He also expressed confidence that the company would overcome this crisis. Volkswagen has initiated a further critical review of all planned investments. Anything that is not absolutely necessary will be cancelled or postponed, the firm said.
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South Korean conglomerate Samsung Electronics said it expects third-quarter operating profit to increase about 80% year-over year and sales to rise 8%. Operating profit and sales are also projected to grow sequentially. The results are likely to reflect the company's robust chip and display business that was boosted by a weaker won, helping to offset continued weakness in its flagship handset business. The operating profit forecast is above current analysts' expectations. The company is scheduled to report its financial results for the third quarter in late October.
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Restaurant operator Yum! Brands reported an increase in profit for the third quarter, mainly due to higher revenues. However, the company's quarterly earnings and revenues fell short of Wall Street estimates, hurt largely by continued weak performance at its China division. Moving ahead, the company,the parent company of Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut, lowered its full-year earnings outlook, sending its shares down by nearly 16% in after-hours trade in the US.
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Airbus Group and Bombardier said talks between the two companies over possible "business opportunities" have ended. Airbus Group confirmed that it has been exploring business opportunities with Canada-based Bombardier and that such discussions are no longer being pursued. Following the Airbus Group's statement, Bombardier confirmed that such discussions occurred and are no longer being pursued.
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Microsoft unveiled two new smartphones that run on its Windows 10 operating platform, as the software giant strives to revive its beleaguered smartphone business. The Lumia 950 and 950 XL are the first smartphones phones to run on Windows 10. Microsoft hopes that millions of Windows 10 PC users will prefer a smartphone that can sync with the PC.
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Wednesday's Scheduled AGMs/EGMs

OPG Power Ventures
Hargreaves Services
Goodwin
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com; @thomaslwaite

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