NBI.L Share News (NBI)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Centrica Tuesday appointed insurance industry veteran Mark Hodges as the new managing director of its gas and electricity supply arm British Gas, a move that puts him firmly in the spotlight amid intense pressure and scrutiny on the UK's energy suppliers.

Hodges appointment represents the end of an 11-month search for a new British Gas chief executive since the departure of Chris Weston, who announced he was leaving to join Aggreko last May.

Hodges is an insurance industry veteran, having worked for more than 20 years at Norwich Union and Aviva, which he quit in 2011 to run specialist insurance broker Towergate Partnership. He quit that firm last October. His last role at Aviva was head of the company's UK operations, and his departure for Towergate came as a surprise as he'd been touted as a potential successor as group chief executive.

Centrica defended its choice of going outside the industry for a new head of its British Gas arm.

"Mark brings a strong understanding of the UK consumer market and a track record in improving business performance. He is experienced in working in a regulated environment, driving significant improvements in customer service and efficiency, offer innovation, major IT and change projects," it said in a statement.

Hargreaves Lansdown Executive Director and co-founder Peter Hargreaves has decided to step down from its board of directors, saying it was the right time for him to leave so he can spend more time with his family.

Hargreaves, who will remain employed by the stockbroking group, founded the company with Stephen Lansdown in 1981 and saw it enter the FTSE 100 index 30 years later in 2011.

"The group continues to perform strongly and I have every confidence in the strong management team and the well diversified board to look after my interests in the group," Hargreaves said. "I will continue to work in the business, but will spend more time with my family and pursuing outside interests. I will, of course, remain in close touch as a major shareholder."

British inflation remained flat in March for the second straight month, as expected by economists, data released by the Office for National Statistics revealed. Inflation remained at zero in March after easing to that level for the first time on record in February. Month-on-month, the consumer price index gained 0.2%, in line with forecast, but slower than a 0.3% rise in February.

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Markets: London's main stock indices are trading higher after a topsy-turvey morning. The pound has recovered against the dollar after dropping after data showed UK inflation remained at zero for a second straight month in March.

US stock futures point to a lower open on Wall Street. The DJIA and Nasdaq 100 are currently set to open down 0.2% and the S&P 500 down 0.1%.

FTSE 100: up 0.3% at 7,085.42
FTSE 250: up 0.3% at 17,874.84
AIM ALL-SHARE: up 0.1% at 739.95
GBP: down at USD1.4640
EUR: flat at USD1.0567
GOLD: down at USD1,186.72 an ounce
OIL (Brent): up at USD58.10 a barrel
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Other Top Corporate News
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Fears that hundreds of international fund managers could face unexpected tax bills in India have been heightened after Aberdeen Asset Management, one of the largest investors in the country, became the first foreign institution to confirm it had received a demand for payment, the Financial Times reports. “Our advice is that tax treaties apply, so we aren’t liable. Mind you, that was what Vodafone thought, and look what happened to them,” the paper quotes Hugh Young, Aberdeen’s managing director in Asia as saying.
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British Land extended its portfolio at the Paddington Central development in West London by acquiring the One Sheldon Square office development for GBP210 million. The property developer has bought the building, comprising nearly 200,000 square foot of office space over nine floors, from the Employees Provident Fund, Malaysia, meaning it has now invested in 800,000 square foot at Paddington Central, with a further 146,000 square foot under construction and 210,000 square foot consented for future development at the site.
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The Royal Bank of Scotland Group is planning to sell its Luxembourg-based fund management business as part of it wider restructuring plan to refocus on its core UK commercial and retail banking operations, the Financial Times reported. The bank has appointed PricewaterhouseCoopers to advise on the sale of the business, which serves as an independent custodian of fund assets on behalf of other companies and handles around GBP20 billion in assets.
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Analysts have warned Tesco could post a bigger-than-expected writedown on its UK supermarkets, the Financial Times reported. The FT said analysts have forecast the writedown could be GBP3 billion to GBP4 billion, ahead of previous expectations that the company will book a GBP1 billion to GBP2 billion charge. The writedown is expected to push Tesco to a reported loss for the financial year to the end of February, the analysts said.
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Recruitment firm Michael Page International said its gross profit grew in the first quarter of 2015 on the back of strong performances in the UK and Asia Pacific, even as the strength of sterling held back profit from its Europe, Middle East and Africa division. Michael Page said its group gross profit for the quarter to the end of March was up 7.2%, though currency movements resulted in a GBP5 million hit to the gross profit number for the period. Gross profit rose to GBP135.6 million in the quarter from GBP126.6 million a year earlier, but was up 11% in constant currencies.
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Poundland Group reported an increase in revenue for the fourth quarter of its financial year and said results for its full year are in line with market expectations. The retailer said total revenue, excluding operations in Spain, increased by 6.5% in the 13 weeks to March 29 to GBP255 million, from GBP239.5 million in the same period a year earlier. However, it said that the contribution from new store trading weeks in the fourth quarter has been lower than last year due to the timing of store openings. Ten fewer stores were opened in the year as a whole than in the previous year which was a factor in a lower contribution to sales growth, it said.
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Private equity firm Cinven completed the sale of a 10% stake in healthcare provider Spire Healthcare Group, raising a total of GBP136.4 million. Cinven sold 40.1 million shares in Spire at 340 pence per share, with JPMorgan Cazenove handling the disposal. Spire shares closed at 367.1 pence on Monday. Following the deal, Cinven holds 153.8 million shares in Spire, representing a 38.3% stake.
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Investment manager Ashmore Group said its assets under management fell in the first quarter of 2015 through a combination of net outflows and weaker investment performance. Ashmore said its assets under management at the end of March, the end of its financial third quarter, were USD61.1 billion, down 4.1% from the USD63.7 billion under management at the end of December. The decline was caused by a combination of net outflows, which totalled USD2 billion in the quarter, and USD0.6 billion of negative investment performance.
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Dubai-based private equity firm Ithmar Capital is understood to be planning to sell a 20% stake in Abu Dhabi-based Al Noor Hospitals Group, according to a report. Global Capital magazine said Deutsche Bank has been hired to place around 23.4 million shares in Al Noor for 925 pence per share, raising GBP216 million for Ithmar, which is selling the stake via its Astro II special purpose vehicle.
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Evraz said its Evraz Highveld Steel and Vanadium subsidiary has filed for voluntary business rescue procedures. The decision means Evraz's USD27 million deal to sell its remaining 34% stake in the South Africa-based business to Macrovest 147 Pty announced in August last year, will not be completed at present.
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AIM Movers
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Connemara Mining Co shares have more than trebled after it was awarded five new prospecting licences in the Innisowen peninsula in County Donegal in Ireland. Ascent Resources shares are up 80%, even though the company says it has no idea why. Anglo Asian Mining is doing well after production from the Gedabek mine rose in the first quarter. Tandem Group is also up after its pretax profit rose in 2014 on the back of better revenue and the non-recurrence of costs booked in 2013. Northbridge Industrial Services shares are down after it warned that its results in the first half of 2015 would be down on the year due to the sharp fall in the oil price. The company reported growth in revenue and underlying profit in 2014, but cautioned that current volumes and margins in its oil tool rental business are down overall when compared with this time last year. Red Rock Resources is down after it signed a deal to sell its El Limón gold assets in Colombia for a total of USD5 million to Colombia Milling Ltd, including USD3 million in future royalty payments. It will receive the initial consideration in three tranches over the next fifteen months and has a secured promissory note in place of USD1 million. Red Emperor Resources is another faller after it said drilling activity has still not started at the Block VIb site in Georgia as fellow AIM-listed Range Resources Ltd focuses on disposing of the asset.
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Other Top Economics And General
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The Conservatives clawed back some ground in the polls, extending their lead in the ICM poll and closing the gap on Labour in the latest YouGov survey, as the Scottish National Party extended its lead substantially north of the border. The latest ICM/Guardian poll found the Conservatives have stretched out to a six-point lead at 39%, only one percentage point shy of the 40% mark at which majority governments can be formed. Labour is at 33% in the poll, down two points from the last survey. The new poll also saw UKIP's support fall by two points, putting them level with the Green Party on 7%. The fall for UKIP meant the Liberal Democrats moved into third place as they stayed flat at 8%.
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House price inflation in the UK eased for a fifth consecutive month in February, data from the Office for National Statistics showed. Average house prices rose 7.2% annually following 8.4% in January.
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UK retail sales grew by more than expected in March, as food sales posted its strongest expansion since July 2013 due to the timing of Easter, survey data published by the British Retail Consortium and KPMG showed. Retail sales advanced 3.2% on a like-for-like basis in March from last year, when they decreased 1.7%. Sales were expected to rise by a more modest 0.5%. On a total basis, retail sales were up 4.7%, the fastest in a year, in contrast to a 0.3% fall in March 2014. "An early Easter and better economic news helped lift retail sales out of the doldrums in March and the sector posted the strongest sales growth seen in nearly a year," David McCorquodale, head of retail, KPMG, said.
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Germany's wholesale prices continued to fall in March but the pace of decline slowed for the second straight month, data from Destatis showed. Wholesale prices fell 1.1% year-on-year in March, following a 2.1% drop in February. The wholesale price index has been declining since July 2013. The annual decline was largely driven by a 11.9% fall in prices of solid fuels and related products. Month-on-month, wholesale prices rose 1% in March, faster than February's 0.5% increase. This was the second consecutive rise in prices and the strongest since September 2012, Destatis said.
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The foreign ministers of Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany called for an immediate stop to resurgent combat operations in eastern Ukraine. The joint declaration, issued after four hours of at-times hefty discussions, called for a stronger role for the observer mission of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and for the withdrawal of heavy weapons. The ministers also called for formation of the long-planned work groups including the parties to the conflict and the OSCE to formulate a concrete political solution.
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Russia lifted a ban on delivering sophisticated surface-to-air defence missiles to Iran, citing recent progress in the nuclear arms talks with Teheran. The Kremlin said President Vladimir Putin had signed a decree cancelling the ban, which was introduced in 2010 in the wake of a UN resolution. Russia and Iran signed a $800 million deal to sell the missiles in 2007, but their delivery was never carried out. Political observers at the time linked Moscow's reluctance to opposition from Israel. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday's decision was based on the "significant progress" achieved at the talks over Iran's nuclear programme, but noted that "commercial and reputation aspects" had also played a role.
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Marco Rubio, a first-term Republican senator from Florida, declared he is a candidate for his party's 2016 presidential nomination, promising a a room full of cheering supporters a "new American century." If elected, Rubio, 43, would become the first Latino president of the US and one of the youngest contenders ever for the presidency.
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Afternoon Watchlist (all times in BST)

13:30 US Producer Price Index
13:30 US Retail Sales
13:55 US Redbook index
14:00 US NFIB Business Optimism Index
15:00 US Business Inventories
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Wednesday's UK Corporate Events

JD Sports Fashion - Full Year Results
Jupiter Fund Management - Trading Update
Burberry - Q4 Trading Statement
Dialight - Interim Management Statement
Fresnillo - Q1 Production Results
Hunting - Interim Management Statement
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Wednesday's Key Economic Events (all times in BST)

03:00 China Gross Domestic Product
03:00 China Industrial Production
03:00 China NBS Press Conference
03:00 China Retail Sales
03:00 China Urban investment
05:30 Japan Industrial Production
07:00 Germany Consumer Price Index
07:15 Japan Bank of Japan Governor Kuroda Speech
07:45 France Consumer Price Index (EU norm) final
10:00 EU Trade Balance
12:00 US MBA Mortgage Applications
12:45 EU ECB Interest Rate Decision
13:30 EU ECB Monetary policy statement and press conference
13:30 US NY Empire State Manufacturing Index
14:00 US Fed's Bullard speech
14:15 US Industrial Production
15:00 US NAHB Housing Market Index
15:30 US EIA Crude Oil Stocks change
19:00 US Fed's Beige Book
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