Millennium & Copthorne Hotels Share News (MLC)

LONDON (Alliance News) - London shares opened lower Tuesday, following weak trade data from China, while Brent oil remained above USD40 a barrel and gold, the pound and euro all were firm.

Burberry and Admiral Group led a list of only six blue-chip gainers.

Burberry shares were up 4.6% the Financial Times reported the luxury goods firm sought help from its financial advisers to defend itself against a possible takeover bid after a mystery investor built up a 5.0% stake.

Insurer Admiral, up 1.5%, was raised to Buy from Neutral by Nomura.

Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: down 0.9% at 6,129.61
FTSE 250: down 0.6% at 16,737.31
AIM ALL-SHARE: down 0.1% at 703.01
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Hang Seng: closed down 0.7% at 20,011.58
Nikkei 225: closed down 0.8% at 16,783.15
DJIA: closed up 0.4% at 17,073.95
S&P 500: closed up 0.1% at 2,001.76
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GBP: up at USD1.4255 (USD1.4230)
EUR: up at USD1.1042 (USD1.0988)

GOLD: up at USD1,274.22 per ounce (USD1,266.00)
OIL (Brent): up at USD40.41 a barrel (USD39.86)

(changes since previous London equities close)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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Tuesday's Key Economic Events still to come
(all times in GMT)

10:00 EU Gross Domestic Product
11:00 US NFIB Business Optimism index
13:55 US Redbook index
15:00 US IBD/TIPP Economic Optimism
17:00 UK MPC Member Weale speech
21:30 US API weekly crude oil stocks
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The Bank of England will take centre stage in the increasingly bitter EU referendum battle after it signalled concerns the vote could trigger panic in financial markets. Governor Mark Carney is giving evidence Tuesday to MPs following the announcement that protection for institutions will be bolstered during the period of the crunch vote. Firms will be given three additional opportunities to bolster their liquidity reserves with central bank assets, two shortly before the poll on June 23 and one shortly after. A statement setting out the indexed long-term repo operations said: "The Bank will continue to monitor market conditions carefully and stands ready to take additional action if necessary." Carney, who has already warned of potential headwinds facing the economy, is expected to be pushed hard over his assessment of Brexit risks when he appears before the Treasury Select Committee.
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Permanent job placements in the UK grew at the fastest pace in three months in February, the Report on Jobs compiled by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation and Markit Economics showed. The number of people placed in permanent jobs climbed further in February. Moreover, the rate of expansion quickened slightly, reaching a three-month high. Temporary and contract staff billings also increased in February at the same pace as in the preceding month.
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Like-for-like sales in the UK added just 0.1% on year in February, the British Retail Consortium said. That missed forecasts for an increase of 0.5% following the 2.6% increase in January. Overall retail sales added an annual 1.1%. Among the individual components, sales were up for housewares and furniture, and down for food and clothing.
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China's exports plunged in February, largely reflecting the shift in the timing of Chinese New Year, official data revealed. Exports tumbled 25% year-on-year in February, the biggest fall since May 2009, the General Administration of Customs reported. Economists had forecast a 15% drop after the 11% drop in January. At the same time, imports logged an annual fall of 14%, bigger than the 10% decrease expected by economists. As the decline in exports outpaced the fall in imports, the trade surplus narrowed sharply to USD32.6 billion from USD63.29 billion in the prior. The surplus was also below economists' forecast of USD50.75 billion. In yuan terms, exports declined 21% and imports fell 8% in February.
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Japan's gross domestic product was down an annualized 1.1% on year in the fourth quarter of 2015, the Cabinet Office said in a revised reading. That beat forecasts for a decline of 1.6% following last month's preliminary reading that suggested a contraction of 1.4%. GDP expanded 1.3% in the third quarter. On a quarterly basis, GDP dipped 0.3% - which also marked an upward revision from 0.4%.
GDP added 0.3% in the three months prior.
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A measure of peoples' assessment of the Japanese economy decreased unexpectedly in February to the weakest level in fifteen months, survey figures from the Cabinet Office showed. The current index of Economy Watchers' survey fell to 44.6 in February from 46.6 in the previous month. Economists had forecast the index to climb to 47.4. Any reading above 50 indicates optimism and a reading below 50 suggests pessimism.
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Turkey and the EU sketched out a new plan to stem the flow of migrants, in the absence of EU agreement on how to handle the surge in arrivals from Syria and other countries. Europe has struggled with an influx of migrants and asylum seekers that brought more than 1 million people to its shores last year. To stem the flows, the EU has sought help from Turkey, which has been the launch pad for most migrants. But an initial deal between Brussels and Ankara, reached in October, has done little to curb the arrivals. Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu unexpectedly presented his EU counterparts with new proposals during an extraordinary summit in Brussels on Monday, including offering to take back all migrants and asylum who arrive in Greece. In return, EU member states would commit to directly resettling one Syrian refugee out of Turkey for each Syrian that Ankara takes back from Greece.
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The Turkish state is poised to take over a major news agency in the country after a court order Monday, following the seizure last week of the Zaman newspaper. The Cihan news agency is linked to Zaman, once the largest opposition daily by circulation. However, now controlled by a state-appointed trusteeship, the paper's latest editions toe a pro-government line.
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A US airstrike in Somalia struck an al-Shabaab militant camp to prevent an imminent attack on US and African Union forces, the Pentagon said. The strike on Saturday using manned aircraft and drones hit a terrorist training camp nearly 200 kilometres north of Mogadishu.
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Former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg will not run for president, he said, ruling out an independent candidacy that he feared could help elect Donald Trump or Senator Ted Cruz. Bloomberg, 74, explained in a column published by his eponymous news service that he feared a three-way presidential contest could result in no candidate winning enough states in the electoral college and the presidency being decided by a Republican-controlled Congress.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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NOMURA RAISES ADMIRAL GROUP TO 'BUY' ('NEUTRAL') - TARGET 2325 (1630) PENCE
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UBS RAISES SOUTH32 TO 'BUY' ('NEUTRAL') - TARGET 85 (67) PENCE
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EXANE BNP CUTS CAPITAL & COUNTIES TO 'UNDERPERFORM' ('NEUTRAL'), PRICE TARGET TO 348 (460) PENCE
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Berenberg Cuts Millennium & Copthorne Hotels To Sell From Hold, Price Target To 340p From 470p
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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J Sainsbury again emerged unscathed in the latest Kantar Worldpanel grocery sales data, as the other big four supermarkets all saw sales fall, and Asda and Wm Morrison Supermarkets took heavy hits. Total UK grocery sales for the 12 weeks to February 28 fell 2.0% year-on-year, Kantar said, but Sainsbury's, as has been the case in recent months, bucked the trend, with its sales rising 0.5% in the period. Sainsbury's market share also held firm at 16.8%, flat from a year earlier. It marks the seventh consecutive period of sales growth for the company. Tesco sales fell 0.8% and its market share dipped to 28.4% from 28.7%.
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Worldpay Group said it swung to a pretax profit in 2015, reporting its maiden set of results since becoming a publicly listed company. Pretax profit amounted to GBP19.1 million in 2015, versus a pretax loss of GBP47.1 million in 2014, the company said in a statement. Worldpay processed 13.1 billion transactions in 2015, up 14% on the number processed in 2014, driving net revenue up by about the same percentage to GBP981.7 million. Worldpay declared no dividend for 2015, in line with its guidance at the time of its IPO.
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Media and advertising group WPP provided a brief update on its February trading, saying revenue and net sales grew in the month. For February, WPP said its like-for-like revenue growth and net sales growth were both "well over" 3.0%, without providing any further details.
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BHP Billiton said it addressing the challenges within the global iron ore market through a "relentless pursuit of the basics" and improved productivity at its iron ore operations in Western Australia. Edgar Basto, asset president of BHP's Western Australia operations, said the wider mining industry will need to continue to meet the challenges of a lower price environment through productivity. Basto was delivering a speech at the Global Iron Ore and Steel Forecast Conference in Perth.
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Luxury goods retailer Burberry Group has sought help from its financial advisers to defend itself against a possible takeover bid after a mystery investor built up a 5.0% stake in the company, the Financial Times reported. A person close to the company said Burberry had unsuccessfully attempted to obtain the identity of the investor from HSBC, which is listed as the custodian for the stake.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Close Brothers Group on lifted its interim dividend, reported an increase in first-half profit, and said it expects a "satisfactory performance" for its current financial year as a whole. Pretax profit rose to GBP108.7 million in the six months ended January 31, Close Brothers said in a statement, up from GBP106.2 million the corresponding half the prior year. The financial company lifted its interim dividend to 19.0 pence from 18.0p.
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Esure Group reported higher annual pretax profit, and said it has decided to retain capital to help fund growth in an improving UK motor insurance market, reducing its dividend for 2015 to 11.5 pence from 16.8p the prior year. Pretax profit rose to GBP134.0 million in 2015, from GBP103.3 million in 2014, as gross written premiums rose by 6.3% to GBP550.3 million and other income - from price comparison website Gocompare and other fees - rose to GBP122.2 million from GBP36.8 million. Esure completed the acquisition of the 50% of Gocompare it didn't already own in March 2015.
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Grafton Group said its pretax profit and revenue grew in 2015 thanks to strong performances across the business, helped by a recovery in the Irish market. The builders' merchant and DIY group said pretax profit rose to GBP120.3 million in the year to the end of December, up 19% from the GBP101.2 million posted a year earlier, as revenue grew to GBP2.21 billion from GBP2.08 billion. Grafton will pay a final dividend of 8.0 pence per share, up from 7.0p a year earlier, taking its total dividend payout up to 12.50p from 10.75p.
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Property investor CLS Holdings said pretax profit fell in 2015, with the gain in the valuation of its property portfolio half what it was in 2014, as its chairman stepped down. The property investor reported pretax profit of GBP151.2 million for 2015, down from GBP236.8 million the previous year, as it registered a GBP98.0 million gain in the valuation of its property portfolio, compared to a GBP186.0 million gain in 2014. CLS is proposing a tender offer buyback of 1 in 57 shares at 1,810 pence per share in April, with a plan to distribute GBP13.4 million to its shareholders, equivalent to 31.8 pence per share. This would bring total shareholder distributions for 2014 to GBP19.1 million, up 20% year-on-year. CLS said, effective Tuesday, Sten Mortstedt stepped down as chairman and was now executive director of CLS. Replacing Mortstedt as chairman is Henry Klotz.
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COMPANIES - LONDON MAIN MARKET AND AIM
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Gambling group Paddy Power Betfair said its Paddy Power business performed well in 2015, and it posted a strong third quarter for its new Betfair division, as the pair start life as a combined company. The group, which will join the FTSE 100 later this month, said operating profit for the Paddy Power business rose 10% year-on-year to EUR180.0 million for the year to the end of December, though this was held back by new taxes and product fees on the business. Stripping those new costs out, Paddy Power's operating profit would have increased 50%. Paddy Power will pay a dividend of EUR1.80 per share, up 18% year-on-year.
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Foxtons Group reported a dip in pretax profit for 2015 following the tough start to the year and a General Election-related slowdown, though revenue grew across its divisions. The London-focused estate agent said its pretax profit fell 2.6% in the year to the end of December to GBP41.0 million, from GBP42.1 million in 2014, though revenue increased to GBP149.8 million from GBP143.9 million, a 4.1% rise. Foxtons will pay a final dividend of 3.34 pence per share, up from 3.17p, and will pay a second special dividend of 2.89p, up from 1.99p. Along with the interim and first special payouts, Foxtons' total dividend will rise to 11.0p from 9.7p, a 13% rise.
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Technology products distributor Premier Farnell said it has appointed Jos Opdeweegh as its new chief executive, effective from April 11. Opdeweegh is the former chief executive of Neovia Logistics, a supply chain management company spun-out of US industrial equipment giant Caterpillar. Mark Whiteling, the interim chief executive at Premier Farnell, will become deputy CEO when Opdeweegh starts, while Helen Willis will remain interim chief financial officer until a permanent CFO is appointed.
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Gulf Keystone Petroleum confirmed the USD15.0 million gross payment has been received from the Kurdistan regional government for the oil exported out of Iraq from the company's operations.
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COMPANIES - INTERNATIONAL
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German utility RWE posted a loss of EUR170 million for 2015, compared to a profit of EUR1.70 billon the year before. EBITDA for the year declined 2% to EUR7.0 billion. Annual external revenue edged up 0.3% to EUR48.599 billion. For 2016, RWE expects EBITDA between EUR5.2 billion and EUR5.5 billion.
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The US Federal Communications Commission announced a settlement resolving an investigation into Verizon Wireless's practice of inserting unique identifier headers or so-called "supercookies" into its customers' mobile Internet traffic without their knowledge or consent. Under the terms of the settlement, the company must also pay a fine of USD1.35 million and adopt a three-year compliance plan.
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Tuesday's Scheduled AGMs/EGMs

No Events Scheduled
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com; @thomaslwaite

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