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LONDON (Alliance News) - The following is a summary of top news stories Thursday.
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COMPANIES
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Tourism and travel operator TUI posted higher revenue for the third quarter and for the first nine months of its financial year, despite the recent quarter being clouded by the terrorist attack in Tunisia, and said it is confident it will achieve further earnings growth in the full year and beyond, even though it will take a further hit in the fourth quarter from the Tunisian tragedy. TUI said its earnings before interest, taxation and amortisation rose to EUR130 million from EUR92 million in the third quarter to the end of June and its loss for the first nine months of the year narrowed to EUR239 million from EUR242 million. The group said, however, that the quarter was overshadowed by the terrorist attack in Tunisia which resulted in a EUR10 million hit to earnings in the quarter from evacuating holiday makers from the country, TUI said
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Coca-Cola HBC reported a rise in profit in the first half of its financial year as it benefited from growth in volumes and margins, although its revenue was hit by adverse foreign exchange rates. The soft drinks bottling company reported a pretax profit in the six months ended July 3 of EUR164.7 million, up from the EUR129.2 million profit it made in the same period the year before, although revenue did slip to EUR3.15 billion from EUR3.18 billion.
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Glencore said it will book a large impairment related to its assets in Chad in light of the decline in oil prices and slashed its capital expenditure budget for the rest of 2015 as it reported a mixed set of production results in the first half of the year. The FTSE 100-listed multi-commodity miner said in light of the sharp decline in oil prices which caused it to amend its work programme in Chad, it will book a USD790 million impairment related to the assets, and restrict capital expenditure in the country. As a result, Glencore said the number of drilling rigs in operation in Chad will also "significantly" reduce.
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J Sainsbury said it has launched its Tu clothing website so that customers in the UK can view and buy from the collection online. A selection of Tu clothing is already available in over 400 Sainsbury's stores, but only 160 stores carry the full collection. The new online store, which includes womenswear, menswear and childrenswear, allows customers to purchase goods for next day delivery, standard delivery and click and collect. 710 stores will offer the click and collect service, Sainsbury's said.
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FTSE 250-listed recruitment company Michael Page International said it will pay a special dividend to shareholders after its pretax profit rose on the back of higher revenue and gross profit in the first half, which defied the currency challenges the group faces. Michael Page said it will pay a special dividend of 16.0 pence per share, having not paid a special dividend a year earlier, in addition to a 5.3% rise in its interim dividend payout to 3.6p from 3.42p. Pretax profit for the group rose to GBP40.4 million in the half-year ended June 30, up from GBP35.6 million a year before, as its total revenue rose to GBP530.4 million from GBP512.2 million.
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Cineworld Group reported growth in profit in the first half of its financial year, boosted by sales of tickets for a number of new films, including 'Fifty Shades of Grey', which broke box office records. The cinema operator reported a a huge boost in pretax profit in the 26 weeks ended July 2 to GBP46.8 million from GBP13.9 million in the same period the year before, as its revenue grew 22.5% to GBP329.1 million from GBP268.6 million. Cineworld will pay an interim dividend of 5.0 pence, a 31.6% increase on the 3.8p it paid the year before.
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Derwent London raised its guidance for estimated rental value growth in 2015 due to "very good" demand from occupiers, and said it expects "voracious" investment demand to support firm property yields in the second half. The FTSE 250 real estate investment trust said it has the potential to deliver more than one million square feet of developments between 2016 and 2019. Derwent is known for buying properties in central London with the aim of improving them, making them bigger or regenerating them. It has become prominent in London's so-called Tech Belt, which is centred around the 'Silicon Roundabout' at Old Street and acts as a hub for media agencies and tech companies.
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Ophir Energy increased its full-year production guidance and reported a large reduction in spending, as the company tries to restructure itself for a USD50 per barrel of oil environment, after swinging to a substantial pretax loss in the first half of 2015. The FTSE 250-listed oil and gas company said it was positioning Ophir to not only create value during the downcycle, but also to be optimally positioned to benefit from any recovery in the sector. That response came after the company swung to a large USD123.3 million pretax loss in the first half of 2015 from a USD589.4 million profit a year before, when it had booked a one-off gain. Revenue came in at USD86.5 million compared to nil a year earlier.
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Investment vehicle Nomad Foods said it has reached a deal to acquire the Continental Europe operations of frozen foods company Findus Sverige AB for around GBP500 million in cash and shares. Nomad said it has reached a deal with Findus' private equity owners, including Highbridge Principal Strategies, Lion Capital LLP and Sankaty Advisors, to acquire Findus' businesses in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, France, Spain and Belgium. The deal will not include Findus' Young's Seafood Ltd brand in the UK.
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MARKETS:
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UK and European major indices are higher as risk appetite increases among investors after the Chinese central bank said it expects no further depreciation in the yuan, following a third devaluation on the currency in as many days.
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FTSE 100: up 0.7% at 6,615.05
FTSE 250: up 0.8% at 17,580.33
AIM ALL-SHARE: up 0.2% at 750.14
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GBP: up at USD1.5623
EUR: down at USD1.1119

GOLD: down at USD1117.52 per ounce
OIL (Brent): up at USD50.10 a barrel

(changes since end of previous GMT day)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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China's central bank devalued the yuan for the third time in three days. The People's Bank of China unexpectedly adjusted its daily reference exchange rate by a further 1.1%, setting it at 6.4010 to the US dollar. On Tuesday the bank cut the rate by 1.9%, followed by a 1.6% drop on Wednesday. After setting the guiding rate for its yuan currency lower for a third day, the central bank reportedly ordered state-run banks to buy the currency at designated rates. At a press conference held this morning in Beijing, the People's Bank of China said that the currency would strengthen again, and there was no basis for continued depreciation in the yuan. While pledging to improve the yuan's pricing mechanism, central bank officials dismissed speculation of a possible yuan drop of 10% as "groundless".
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House prices in the UK climbed in July, the latest survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors showed on Thursday, with a balance of 44%. That beat forecasts for 42% and was up from 40% in June. The increase is the results of supply that cannot keep up with demand, RICS said - adding that the number of properties coming onto the market has declined in six straight months. "More worrying still is the suspicion that the imbalance between supply and demand will lead to even stronger price gains over the next 12 months," said RICS Chief Economist Simon Rubinsohn.
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Applications to frack for oil and gas in the UK are to be fast-tracked under new government measures to crack down on councils that delay on making a decision, the BBC reported. Councils will be told they must rule on applications within the current 16-week statutory timeframe and if they repeatedly delay, ministers might take over the power to decide all future applications in that local area, the BBC said. The government says it will take local views into account, but that developing shale gas is a national priority that must not be held up.
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German inflation slowed as estimated to a 5-month low in July due to lower energy prices, final data from Destatis showed. Consumer price inflation fell to 0.2% from 0.3% in June. This was the lowest rate since February, when prices gained 0.1%. Month-on-month, consumer prices advanced 0.2%, reversing a 0.1% drop in June. Both annual and monthly figures matched flash data published on July 30. Energy prices plunged 6.2% annually in July, while food prices rose 0.4%. Excluding energy, inflation was markedly higher at 1%.
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Core machine orders in Japan skidded 7.9% on month in June, the Cabinet Office said - worth JPY835.9 billion. The headline figure missed forecasts for a decline of 5.1% following the 0.6% increase in May. On a yearly basis, core machine orders climbed 16.6% - also below estimates for an increase of 17.6 and down from 19.3% in the previous month.
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At least 17 people were killed after a large explosion rocked a north-eastern Chinese city, news reports said. Thirty-two people were critically injured, and another 283 in hospital for monitoring, after the blast and fireball in the port city of Tianjin, according to the official Xinhua news agency. Two firefighters were missing and four injured from among 12 crews sent to a warehouse fire late Wednesday, Xinhua said in an earlier report.
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The US military has begun flying manned aircraft from Incirlik Air Base in Turkey against Islamic State targets, the Pentagon said. The airstrikes follow an agreement last month between the US and Turkey that cleared the use of Turkish bases by the US and its partners. Unmanned airstrikes from the base began early this month, the Pentagon said.
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John Kerry this week will become the first US secretary of state to visit Cuba in 70 years, as Washington and Havana take another step in repairing their long-fractured ties. Kerry's visit to the Cuban capital for Friday's flag-raising at the reinaugurated US embassy is a high point in the thaw that was announced in December - after 18 months of Vatican-brokered secret talks.
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By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com; @ArvindBhunjun

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