Marks & Spencer Share News (MKS)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Firm oil prices and a strong set of Chinese trade data have given shares in London a lift at the open Wednesday.

Meanwhile, as expected, the UK's largest retailer, supermarket chain Tesco, swung back into profit in its recent financial year, as it recovered from a horrible prior year. However, that profit didn't quite meet expectations and revenue continued to slip. The stock was down 3.2%, the worst FTSE 100 performer, and dragging peers Sainsbury's and Morrisons with it.

Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: up 1.0% at 6,305.61
FTSE 250: up 0.8% at 16,928.03
AIM ALL-SHARE: up 0.2% at 727.34
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Hang Seng: up 2.5% at 21,018.56
Nikkei 225: closed up 2.8% at 16,381.22
DJIA: closed up 0.9% at 17,721.25
S&P 500: closed up 1.0% at 2,061.72
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GBP: flat at USD1.4238 (USD1.4239)
EUR: soft at USD1.1355 (USD1.1386)

GOLD: down at USD1,248.94 per ounce (USD1,254.90)
OIL (Brent): soft at USD43.78 a barrel (USD44.29)

(changes since previous London equities close)
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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 BOE credit conditions survey
10:00 EU industrial production
12:00 US MBA mortgage applications
13:30 US retail sales
13:30 US producer price index
14:30 UK Conference Board leading economic index
15:00 US cusiness inventories
15:00 Bank of Canada monetary policy report
15:00 Canada BOC rate decision and statement
15:30 US EIA crude oil stocks change
16:15 Canada BoC press conference
19:00 US Fed Beige Book
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China's exports climbed at a faster-than-expected pace in March, while imports declined more-than-expected, data published by the General Administration of Customs revealed. Exports grew 11.5% year-over-year in March, exceeding economists' expectations for a 10.0% rise. At the same time, imports plunged 13.8% in March from a year ago, faster than the 10.1% decrease expected by economists. The visible trade surplus of the country came in at USD29.86 billion in March, which was lower than the expected surplus of USD34.95 billion.
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Producer prices in Japan were down 0.1% on month in March, the Bank of Japan said. That missed forecasts for a flat reading following the downwardly revised 0.3% contraction in February (originally -0.2%). On a yearly basis, prices skidded 3.8% versus expectations for a decline of 3.5% following the 3.4% drop in the previous month.
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Business leaders from across Europe are to highlight the value of Britain's membership of the EU as the two sides in the referendum continue to slug it out over the economy. Groups representing 3.3 million firms in Germany, France, Spain and the Netherlands will say that EU membership is the bedrock of their links with the UK. The CBI said Britain's membership was an important factor in attracting GBP377 billion worth of investment in the UK from these four countries alone, with GBP185 billion of investment going the other way.
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The heads of tax authorities from 46 countries were to meet in Paris on Wednesday to discuss a joint response to the Panama Papers leak regarding thousands of off-shore tax havens. "The meeting will consider how member jurisdictions can share information on leaked documents, and collaborate on analysing the data and opportunities for joint action," an Australian Tax Office (ATO) spokesman told dpa. Thousands of offshore tax havens facilitated by Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca were revealed in millions of documents leaked to media earlier this month. The accounts are linked to politicians, sports stars and celebrities from more than 80 countries.
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After two nights of tough negotiations between Athens and its creditors on Greece's international bailout, talks broke off Tuesday and were set to resume next week. "The institutions (creditors) will come back on Monday so that we can reach an agreement by April 22," Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos told journalists. Later Tsakalotos said that he could not rule out an agreement by the end of the month. Tsakalotos and representatives of the creditors plan to travel to Washington for the spring meeting of the International Monetary Fund this week. The conference would also address the sustainability of the Greek debt mountain, Tsakalotos said at a press conference on Tuesday evening in Athens.
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Amsterdam's main airport was operating normally with all areas accessible early Wednesday after being partially evacuated due to a bomb scare, reports said. Bomb disposal experts searched the luggage of one man who was arrested at Schiphol airport around 9:30 pm on Tuesday, but no explosives were found, police said. Photographs and video online showed heavily armed military police inside and outside the airport. A second person was also reportedly arrested, but it was unclear whether this was related to the situation at Schiphol.
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Syrian living in government-held areas are to vote Wednesday in parliamentary elections, hours ahead of the resumption of talks in Geneva to resolve the country's five-year-long civil war. Polls for the rubber-stamp People's Assembly were to open at 7 am (0400 GMT), with some 3,500 candidates contesting 250 seats. The elections, expected to be dominated by President Bashar al-Assad's Arab nationalist Baath Party and other regime loyalists, have been dismissed as a provocation by al-Assad's opponents.
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Richmond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker is not backing down from his hawkish stance on US interest rates despite concerns about low inflation and weak first quarter economic growth. The Fed should follow through with its earlier plan to raise interest rates four times this year, Lacker said Tuesday in Wilmington, North Carolina. Other policy makers have recently made public comments in favour of keeping rates on hold until the economy is on more solid footing. In March, the Fed walked back its rate hike forecast to predict only two hikes in 2016, but Lacker remains steadfast. "My sense is that the less leisurely but still gradual pace of target rate increases that FOMC participants submitted at year-end is still more likely to be appropriate," he said.
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US House Speaker Paul Ryan ended speculation about a possible run for the Republican presidential nomination, saying he wanted to "put this to rest once and for all." "Let me be clear: I do not want nor will I accept the nomination for our party," Ryan told a news conference in Washington. Rumours swirled in recent weeks that Ryan, a respected leader among many rank-and-file Republicans who was the party's vice presidential nominee in 2012, was considering wading into this year's turbulent campaign for the White House.
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A week before the New York primaries, the results of a Quinnipiac University poll showed frontrunners Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump continue to lead in the Empire State. The poll showed Clinton with a 53% to 40% lead over Senator Bernie Sanders, among likely Democratic primary voters. On the Republican side, the poll showed Trump with the support of 55% of likely Republican primary voters compared to Ohio Governor John Kasich at 20% and Senator Ted Cruz at 19%.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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EXANE BNP RAISES BUNZL TO 'OUTPERFORM' ('NEUTRAL') - TARGET 2275 (2200) PENCE
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TRADERS: BARCLAYS RAISES COBHAM TO 'OVERWEIGHT' ('EQUAL WEIGHT')
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TRADERS: LIBERUM INITIATES MARKS & SPENCER WITH 'SELL' - TARGET 350 PENCE
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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Tesco said it returned to profit in its recently-ended financial year, following a devastating year before which saw it book a huge pretax loss. The UK's biggest retailer said it made a pretax profit in the year ended February 27 of GBP162.0 million, having suffered a GBP6.33 billion pretax loss the year before, when it booked a staggering GBP7.0 billion of impairments, writedowns and restructuring charges. These did not repeat in financial 2016. However, revenue slipped to GBP54.43 billion from GBP56.93 billion, as the supermarket chain continued to struggle in a deflationary UK food market, with competition from German discounters Aldi and Lidl.
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Fresnillo said it remains on track to deliver production growth in 2016 after reporting a solid start to the year and managing to keep its all-important development projects on track. The gold miner said gold production in the first quarter of 2016 rose to 230,000 ounces whilst silver production totalled 12.2 million ounces. Gold production was up 26% from the previous year and 6.5% higher than the fourth quarter of 2015, whilst silver production has remained broadly flat on a year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter basis. Fresnillo said it remains on track to deliver its full-year production guidance of 775,000 to 790,000 ounces of gold, alongside 49.0 million to 51.0 million ounces of silver. If achieved, that would be improving on the 762,000 ounces of gold and 47.0 million ounces of silver produced in 2015.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Dunelm Group said Deputy Chairman Will Adderley sold more shares in the company than originally planned, but it reiterated that he is "fully committed" to his role at the retailer. Dunelm said Adderley sold 8.0 million shares at a price of 915.0 pence each, implying a total value of around GBP73.2 million for the 4.0% stake. Dunelm shares closed at 953.50p on Tuesday. On Tuesday, Dunelm advised that Adderley was set to only sell 6.0 million shares, or a 3.0% stake in the company. Following the transaction, Adderley remains interested in 55.3 million shares, leaving him with a 27.4% stake in Dunelm. The entire Adderley family continues to control 51.2% of the company.
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WH Smith said its pretax profit grew in the first half of its financial year as a continued strong performance for its travel division pushed revenue higher. The books, stationary and magazines retailer said pretax profit for the half year to the end of February rose 11% year-on-year to GBP80.0 million from GBP72.0 million. Trading profit for the travel business, which covers WH Smith branches in airports and train stations, rose 9.0%, while trading profit for its high street branches increased 6.0%.
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Halfords Group said its performance improved in the fourth quarter, leaving total revenue higher and demonstrating an improvement in the performance of its cycling business. The car parts and bicycles retailer said total revenue for the 11 weeks to April 1 rose 3.2%, leaving total revenue up 1.7% for the 52 weeks to the same date. Like-for-like revenue grew 2.6% in the fourth quarter and by 1.5% for the full year, it said. Trading on a like-for-like basis improved for the retail portion of its business in the fourth quarter, with like-for-like sales up 3.1% and full-year like-for-like sales up 1.3%.
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COMPANIES - LONDON MAIN MARKET AND AIM
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US spices and flavourings company McCormick & Co said it has decided not to make an offer for UK food company Premier Foods after deciding it would not be able to make a bid which would secure approval from the Premier Foods board. Premier said last week the talks with McCormick had been "constructive", but on Wednesday McCormick said it would not be making an offer for Premier. "McCormick has, after careful consideration, concluded that it would not be able to propose a price that would be recommended by the board of Premier Foods, while also delivering appropriate returns for McCormick shareholders," the US company said.
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Banknote printer De La Rue said it expects to report full-year underlying operating profit ahead of previous expectations, driven mainly by "strong operational outperformance" on contracts within its currency business. De La Rue said it expects to report an underlying operating profit of about GBP62 million in the year ended March 26, which is lower than the GBP69.5 million reported in the corresponding period to March 28, 2015.
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Residential property developer Telford Homes said it anticipates pretax profit for the year to the end of March will slightly outpace market expectations. Telford said demand remains strong for its properties and said it has successfully launched The Liberty Building site in east London, with 105 open market apartment sales made over the past four weeks.
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Housebuilder and regeneration company Countryside Properties said its home sales improved in the first half, complemented by a substantial rise in the average selling price. Countryside, which listed in London in February, said its completions in the half to the end of March rose 15% year-on-year to 1,095 units, up from 949 units a year earlier. The average private selling price for the properties surged, up 47% to GBP508,000 from GBP345,000 thanks to an improved sales mix.
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COMPANIES - INTERNATIONAL
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US regulators are set to reject the so-called living wills of at least half of the US's systemically important banks, including JP Morgan Chase & Co, the Wall Street Journal reported citing people familiar with the matter. The report indicated that the move, which could come as soon as this week, would raise the prospect of higher capital requirements or other regulatory sanctions for some of the institutions, and underscore fears that the firms remain "too big to fail" without a taxpayer bailout.
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Facebook unveiled a new platform for its Messenger service that will allow businesses to interact with their customers. Messenger, which is normally used to chat with friends, will give businesses the opportunity to deploy human-like "chat bots" to communicate with users - a potentially revenue-generating opportunity for the companies and Facebook.
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Volkswagen's top management has agreed to a "considerable reduction" in bonus payment to key executives, sources close to the ongoing negotiations told dpa, as the troubled German carmaker tries to come to grips with its emissions scandal. The company's supervisory and management boards "agree that in the face of the current situation executive remuneration must be agreed upon," a person familiar with the talks said on condition of anonymity. It remained unclear how deep the cuts to bonus payments would be, but "various models are being discussed and voted upon" at VW's headquarters in the northern German city of Wolfsburg, the source said.
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Ford's self-driving cars have the ability to navigate in the dark. Ford announced that it has been testing its Fusion Hybrid autonomous research vehicles at night, in complete darkness. The car, which are mounted with LiDAR sensor development and 3D maps, proved that the vehicle can drive without headlights on in pitch black conditions in Arizona desert. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data has found the passenger vehicle occupant fatality rate during dark hours to be about three times higher than the daytime rate.
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Wednesday's Scheduled AGMs/EGMs

Hunting
Primary Health Properties (re share placing)
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com; @thomaslwaite

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