Marks & Spencer Share News (MKS)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Marks & Spencer Group is the best performing stock in the FTSE 100 early Thursday after it reported better-than-expected growth in UK and online sales during the fourth quarter of its financial year, but a decline in international sales due to the crisis in Russia and Ukraine and economic issues in Turkey.

Oil prices spiked higher overnight after four workers were killed and about 10 were injured in a blast and resulting fire Wednesday on a Pemex oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. Pemex Chief Executive Emilio Lozoya travelled to the area in the Gulf of Mexico to supervise efforts to put out the fire. Navy personnel were assisting Pemex staff in the effort. Oil prices are now paring the gains.

Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: up 0.3% at 6,827.99
FTSE 250: up 0.6% at 17,218.23
AIM ALL-SHARE: flat at 715.53
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Hang Seng: up 0.8% at 25,272.29
Nikkei 225: closed up 1.5% at 19,312.79
DJIA: closed down 0.4% at 17,698.18
S&P 500: closed down 0.4% at 2,059.69
Nasdaq Composite: closed down 0.4% at 4,880.23
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GBP-USD: up at USD1.4861
EUR-USD: up at USD1.0829

GOLD: up at USD1,206.24 per ounce
OIL (Brent): up at USD56.76 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 BST)

09:00 Italy Public Deficit/GDP
09:30 UK PMI Construction
13:30 US Challenger Job Cuts
13:30 US Jobless Claims
13:30 US Trade Balance
14:45 US ISM New York index
15:00 US Factory Orders
15:30 US EIA Natural Gas Storage change
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Greece submitted a new set of economic reforms to European authorities on Wednesday, marking the most comprehensive effort yet taken by the country's newly-elected left-wing government to unlock the EUR7.2 billion in bailout fund it will need to prevent it from going bankrupt, the Financial Times reports. The 26-page document, seen by the FT, will rely on plans to crack down on tax evasion and fraud in order to raise as much as EUR6 billion this year. The measures include raising EUR875 million from audits of offshore bank transfers and EUR600 million from a new lottery scheme aimed at compelling Greek consumers to demand value-added tax receipts.
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Negotiations between Iran and major powers over a nuclear deal carried on into the early hours of Thursday, two days past their deadline, with diplomats saying the prospects for a preliminary agreement were now finely balanced between success and failure, Reuters reports. The negotiations, designed to block Iran's capacity to build a nuclear bomb in exchange for major powers lifting sanctions on the country, have been hit by disagreements over crucial details within the accord, despite the broad outline of an agreement having been reached.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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UBS CUTS PERSIMMON TO 'NEUTRAL' ('BUY') - TARGET 1725 (1640) PENCE
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CITIGROUP CUTS REDROW TO 'NEUTRAL' ('BUY') - TARGET 390 (375) PENCE
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CREDIT SUISSE INITIATES OPHIR ENERGY WITH 'NEUTRAL' - TARGET 185 PENCE
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EXANE BNP CUTS BWIN.PARTY TO 'UNDERPERFORM' ('NEUTRAL')
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EXANE BNP CUTS BETFAIR TO 'UNDERPERFORM' ('OUTPERFORM')
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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Marks & Spencer Group reported growth in UK and online sales during the fourth quarter of its financial year, but a decline in international sales due to the crisis in Russia and Ukraine and economic issues in Turkey. The retailer reported 1.6% growth in group sales for the 13 weeks to March 28. It said that food sales grew 3.7% and life-for-like sales grew 0.7%, with record Valentine's Day sales. General merchandise grew 1.3% and 0.7% on a like-for-like basis, driven by "continued focus on product quality and styling". The company said its spring and summer ranges have been well received by customers. Total UK sales grew 2.7%, compared with 1.5% for the same period last year, and online sales grew 13.8%. However, international sales declined 6.3% compared with a 4.7% rise the year before.
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Drinks giant Diageo will take full control of United National Breweries' traditional sorghum beer business in South Africa by buying the 50% stake in the business it didn't already own for up to USD36 million. The company said it will buy the stake in the company that owns United National Breweries' traditional sorghum beer business in South Africa from Pestello Investments Inc for an initial payment of USD22 million, or about GBP14.8 million, and a potential earn-out payment of up to USD14 million, or about GBP9.4 million.
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A US independent monitor has said that HSBC Holdings is moving too slowly to fix some of its compliance issues. Monitor Michael Cherkasky's report, summarised in a court filing, has lauded the lender for the compliance efforts of top leaders. It has also applauded the HSBC's adoption of anti-money-laundering standards. However, the monitor is of the view that the bank's corporate culture and rusty technology systems are curtailing the implementation of those standards. The monitor believes "HSBC group can-and must-do more."
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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BTG said it expects its revenue in the financial year that ended on Tuesday to be above the guidance range it had previously provided, and revenue to grow strongly in the year that has just begun. The healthcare company said it now expects revenue for the year to March 31 to be above the previous guidance it gave of GBP345 million to GBP360 million, including revenue from the PneumRx acquisition that was completed in early January. It then expects revenue to grow strongly in the current financial year to between GBP410 million and GBP440 million on a constant currency basis.
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Premier Oil, Falkland Oil and Gas and Rockhopper Exploration all said an oil and gas discovery has been made at the Zebedee well in the Falkland Islands. Premier Oil holds a 36% stake in the Zebedee well, with Falkland Oil holding a 40% interest and Rockhopper holds a 25% stake. The Zebedee well is on License PL004b, and the companies said all seven of the reservoir targets at the well were encountered and three of the targets were oil bearing. Wireline logging and formation test data indicate that a total of 18.5 metres of net gas pay, and 27.9 metres of net oil pay were encountered in the well.
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Playtech will buy a 91.1% stake in online contract for difference and options broker TradeFX Ltd For up to EUR458 million, a deal that will push it into a new area and that it expects to boost earnings immediately. The company also said it still has substantial resources with with to pursue further acquisitions. The gaming software development company, said it will pay EUR208 million in cash for the TradeFX stake initially and could then pay up to a further EUR250 million depending on the performance of the business, which also provides forex trading platforms.
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Electrocomponents expects its pretax profit in the financial year that ended on Tuesday, before reorganisation costs and pension credits, to meet market consensus forecasts, which it put at GBP79.3 million. The consensus forecast pretax profit range for the year to end-March is GBP77.6 million to GBP82.8 million, according to Electrocomponents. The electronics and maintenance products distributor expects its full year gross margin to decline by around 1.3%, after it saw an improvement in its gross margin in its fourth quarter.
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Alliance Trust has reiterated its opposition to the proposals tabled by activist investor Elliott Advisors (UK) Ltd and urged its shareholders to vote against Elliott's requisition to appoint three additional directors to the board. Alliance Trust's reiteration of its stance came after Elliott Advisors, which holds a 12% stake in the trust, on Tuesday escalated the war of words between the two parties, issuing stern words about the performance, charges and dividends of the trust.
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Tate & Lyle has reiterated its guidance for the financial year that just ended, after it was hit by operational and supply chain issues in the first half and its SPLENDA Sucralose sweetener business continued to face an extremely competitive market. The sugar and sweeteners company reiterated the guidance it provided in February, saying it still expects adjusted pretax profit for the year to the end of March to be below the GBP230 million to GBP245 million guidance it provided in September 2014.
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Food wholesaler Booker Group said Chairman Richard Rose is to step down from his role, as its sales ticked higher in both the fourth quarter and the whole of its last financial year. Booker said Rose will step down following the company's annual general meeting on July 8 after three years at the helm. Rose is also the chairman of electrical appliances retailer AO World PLC and AIM-listed insurance outsourcing and technology company Quindell PLC. Booker said the process of identifying a new chairman to replace Rose has started. Booker also said its total group sales, including the Makro business, increased 1% in the 12 weeks to March 27, the company's fiscal fourth quarter. Booker said group tobacco sales rose 1.2% and non-tobacco sales were up 0.9%.
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LondonMetric Property has taken out a GBP400 million unsecured revolving credit facility, replacing five existing secured debt facilities and reducing the number of debt facilities in place from six to two. Theproperty company said the new facility can be extended to GBP500 million and is for a five-year term, with a two-year extension option. The new facility has a minimum margin of 130 basis points with an opening margin of 150 basis points, and the company's average interest rate will reduce to 3.37% from 3.72% when fully drawn, and the average maturity increases to 5.4 years from 4.2 years.
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COMPANIES - LONDON MAIN MARKET AND AIM
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Mosman Oil and Gas has raised GBP500,000 after placing 10.0 million shares at a price of 5.0 pence per share, and will use the proceeds to accelerate its programme on the Murchison permit and for exploration activities in the Amadeus Basin in Australia.
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Redcentric has acquired IT services provider Calyx Managed Services Ltd from MXC Capital Ltd for GBP12 million, just two months after Calyx was acquired by MXC from Better Capital PPC Ltd. Redcentric expects the acquisition to immediately add to earnings. Calyx's portfolio of services and range of customers are an "excellent strategic addition".
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EKF Diagnostics Holdings said that its board of directors has initiated a strategic review, to be led by an independent committee of non-executive directors. This committee will be chaired by Kevin Wilson, and will include Adam Reynolds, David Toohey and Doris Ann Williams. "The independent committee are committed to completing their review as soon as practicable," the company said in a statement.
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Cluff Natural Resources said it has been awarded an underground coal gasification license in Scotland and been granted extensions to its licenses in Cumbria which will allow the company to consider an additional coal mining operation.
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Indian online fashion retailer Koovs said it will spend more on marketing this year than anticipated and expects the trend to continue, even as it said it expects sales to have tripled in the year to the end of March. Koovs said it expects marketing costs for the year to the end of March to be around INR320 million, or around GBP3.2 million, around GBP2.1 million higher than originally anticipated. It also expects these higher costs to continue given the growth of the Indian e-commerce market. But the rise in costs will wipe out the sales growth the company expects to post for the year, up to GBP2.7 million from GBP720,000. Visits to its website rose to 20.9 million from 7.6 million in the year.
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COMPANIES - INTERNATIONAL
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Four workers were killed and about 10 were injured in a blast and resulting fire early Wednesday on a Mexican oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, the state-controlled firm Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) said.
The injured in the accident, which prompted the evacuation of about 300 workers, were taken to hospitals in Ciudad del Carmen on the Mexican mainland. Pemex Chief Executive Emilio Lozoya travelled to the area in the Gulf of Mexico to supervise efforts to put out the fire. Navy personnel were assisting Pemex staff in the effort.
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Lafarge and Holcim have received clearance from the Competition Commission of India or CCI for their proposed merger. A package of asset divestments has been agreed with the CCI which includes 1 cement plant and 1 grinding station from Lafarge, with a total of approximately 5 million tonnes annual cement capacity, in Eastern India.
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Pressure grew Wednesday for German airline Lufthansa to explain how Andreas Lubitz - a young man who had exhibited suicidal tendencies and suspended a training programme due to depression - could have been left at the helm of ill-fated Germanwings flight 4U9525. Lufthansa chief executive Carsten Spohr declined to comment Wednesday on when the airline learned of problems plaguing the 27-year-old co-pilot, who is believed to have intentionally crashed the plane into a mountainside in France last week, killing himself and 149 others on board.
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The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission has charged Kraft Foods Group Inc and Mondelez Global LLC for wheat price manipulation and reaping undue profit in the process, reports said on Wednesday. The complaint against Kraft and Mondelez is that the companies used manipulative practices in December 2011 to lower wheat prices on the spot market. As per the charges, Kraft and Mondelez bought about USD90 million of wheat futures, but never meant to take delivery of the wheat. And as market prices reacted, the two companies made a profit of more than USD5.4 million.
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Apple Watch is expected to surpass sales of 1 million units in the first weekend after its launch on April 24, CNET said, quoting an analyst at Piper Jaffray. The analyst, Gene Munster, also projects Apple Watch to record 300,000 pre-orders in the first 24 hours. Pre-orders start April 10.
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The EU's antitrust authority is preparing the groundwork to file formal charges against Google Inc in the next few weeks, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday. Google is in the midst of a five-year-old antitrust probe by the European Commission, the EU's antitrust authority, into alleged abuse of its dominant position in the Internet search and advertising business, triggered by complaints from Microsoft Corp, Expedia Inc and others.
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Thursday's Scheduled AGMs/EGMs

Amino Technologies
Scottish American Investment Company
XP Power
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