PGR.L Share News (PGR)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Banknote printer De La Rue and waste management business Shanks Group have both seen their shares tumble at the start of trade Friday after the companies separately issued profit warnings.

Lloyds Banking Group has raised GBP161 million by selling 57.5 million shares in TSB Banking Group at 280 pence each, a sale that leaves it with a stake of about 50% in the business it is spinning out.

Here is what you need to know at the UK market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: down 0.2% at 6,627.45
FTSE 250: down 0.8% at 15,301.17
AIM ALL-SHARE: down 0.3% at 749.36
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Hang Seng: down 0.4% at 23,671.71
Nikkei 225: closed down 0.9% at 16,229.86
DJIA: closed down 1.5% at 16,945.80
S&P 500: closed down 1.6% at 1,965.99
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GBP-USD: down at USD1.6291
EUR-USD: down at USD1.2741

GOLD: up at USD1,226.26 per ounce
OIL (Brent): down at USD96.78 a barrel

(changes since end of previous GMT day)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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Friday's Key Economic Events still to come
(all times British Summer Time)

09:00 Italy Business Confidence
13:30 US Gross Domestic Product
13:30 US Personal Consumption Expenditures
14:55 US Reuters/Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index
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The average asking price for a house in the UK was flat on month in September, property tracking website Hometrack said on Friday - snapping a string of 19 straight months of gain. That followed the 0.1% increase in August. Among the individual components of the survey, new buyers with agents, volume of property listings, sales agreed and asking price achieved all moved lower in September. On a yearly basis, prices climbed 5.0%, slowing from the 5.5% increase in the previous month.
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Germany's import prices declined at a faster rate in August, though less than the consensus estimate, a report from the statistical office Destatis showed Friday. Import prices dropped 1.9% year-over-year in August following the 1.7% fall in July. Economists had expected import prices to decline 2%.
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Germany's consumer sentiment is set to fall in October, a survey by the market research group GfK, based on responses from 2,000 households, said Friday. The forward-looking consumer confidence index dropped to 8.3 in October from 8.6 in September. It was forecast to drop marginally to 8.5.
This was the second consecutive decline for the indicator, but it continues to be at a good level, the research group said.
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French consumer confidence remained stable as expected in September, survey data from the statistical office Insee showed Friday. The consumer confidence remained at 86 for the third consecutive month in September, in line with the consensus estimate.
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Core consumer prices in Japan gained 3.1% on year in August, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said on Friday. That was below forecasts for 3.2% and down from 3.3% in July. Overall inflation was up an annual 3.3% - matching forecasts and slowing from 3.4% in the previous month.
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The US and its Arab allies have intensified airstrikes against oil refineries controlled by the Islamic State group in eastern Syria, killing at least 14 jihadists and five civilians in overnight hits, a monitoring group said on Thursday. The strikes, part of an offensive in Syria launched by the US and its Arab allies earlier this week, targeted 12 oil installations in the eastern provinces of Deir al-Zour and al-Hasakah on Thursday, the US military said. The Islamic State, which seized all major oilfields and installations in Deir al-Zour starting in July, uses oil revenues to fund its war machine. Pentagon spokesman Admiral John Kirby described the attacks by US, Saudi and Emirati aircraft as "successful."
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Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Thursday told world leaders at the UN General Assembly that the US-led coalition against the Islamic State group in the Middle East was a "strategic mistake."
Rouhani said his country was prepared to "play our permanent constructive and positive role," in fighting against the terrorism and extremism, but emphasized that Western leadership in the Middle East war was unwelcome. "I believe if countries claiming leadership of the coalition, do so to continue their hegemony in the region, they would make a strategic mistake," Rouhani said.
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Wins and losses were scored Thursday in the battle with Ebola in West Africa, set against the backdrop of world leaders gathering in New York to pledge more than 300 million dollars of additional support. Bright spots came in the form of a World Health Organization (WHO) announcement that infections had stabilized in Guinea, one of the disease's hot spots, as well as the reported recovery of a US doctor. However, a Spaniard airlifted home was reported dead of the disease. Speaking at a UN-organized event, US President Barack Obama said that international cooperation was vital to curbing the disease.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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SOCGEN CUTS INTU PROPERTIES TO 'SELL' ('HOLD') - TARGET 320 (310) PENCE
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SOCGEN RAISES GREAT PORTLAND TO 'HOLD' ('SELL') - TARGET 670 (620) PENCE
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SOCGEN RAISES BRITISH LAND TO 'BUY' ('HOLD') - TARGET 780 (740) PENCE
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LIBERUM CUTS CAIRN ENERGY TO 'HOLD' ('BUY') - TARGET 223 (231) PENCE
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DEUTSCHE BANK RAISES BALFOUR BEATTY TO 'BUY' ('HOLD') - TARGET 270 (245) PENCE
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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Lloyds Banking Group has raised GBP161 million by selling 57.5 million shares in TSB Banking Group at 280 pence each, a sale that leaves it with about a 50% stake in the business it has spun out.
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London Stock Exchange Group got acceptances for 97.07% of the shares available in its rights issue, it said Friday. Last month, the stock exchange operator announced a GBP938 million, 3 for 11 fully underwritten rights issue to help fund the USD2.70 billion acquisition of Russell Investments, which it had announced in June. It priced the offering at 1,295 pence a share.
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Mining giant BHP Billiton has signed a memorandum of understanding and cooperation with Mexican state-owned oil group Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, to exchange technical knowledge, information, experiences and practices in activities related to the oil and gas industry.
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AstraZeneca's IRESSA cancer treatment has received a positive opinion from the European Medicines Agency's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use for an update of its European label. This label update will help doctors to identify lung cancer patients based on the specific genetic drivers of their tumour who could benefit from IRESSA but are unable to provide a suitable tumour sample, AstraZeneca said.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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De La Rue has warned that its underlying operating and pretax profit for the current year will be GBP20 million lower than the previous year, and lowered its expectations for next year as a result of deteriorating trading conditions. De La Rue also said that, in light of the difficult trading environment, it intends to "reappraise" the level of its dividend for the full year. It expects to propose an interim dividend of 8.3 pence, down from 14.1 pence a year before.
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COMPANIES - LONDON MAIN MARKET AND AIM
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Waste management company Shanks Group says it now expects to miss its own full year expectations by about 15%, after trading at its solid waste Benelux business deteriorated even further in the first half of its financial year in the face of stiff competition. "The competitive environment remains intense, with market participants seeking to gain volumes by aggressive pricing in order to offset pressure on gate fees, lower volumes and prices of recyclates. We are broadly maintaining inbound volumes, albeit with an adverse mix," the company said.
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TomCo Energy has raised GBP1 million via a discounted conditional placing which will be used to complete the permitting process at the Holliday Block in Utah, US and working capital. TomCo issued 200 million new shares at 0.5 pence per share. TomCo shares closed at 0.825 pence on Thursday. The shale gas explorer said the placing would provide the company with sufficient working capital for the next 12 months.
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Proteome Sciences says it got "excellent" results from in vitro toxicity tests for its two lead compounds to treat Alzheimer's disease, which it hopes will attract pharmaceutical companies to partner with Proteome on the treatments. Two external in vitro toxicity safety tests showed "no adverse data" for either the PS110 or PS278-05 compounds, Proteome said.
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Premier Gold Resources H1: Pretax Loss GBP415,640 Vs GBP807,930. Premier Gold Resources: Director Salaries Suspended To Minimise Outgoings. Premier Gold Resources Had No Material Operations In H1; Premier Gold Resources Continues To Push Case With Kyrgyz Authorities; Premier Gold Resources Unlikely To Reach Resolution By End Of Field Season In Nov.
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COMPANIES - INTERNATIONAL
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Apple Inc has rejected complaints that its latest iPhones bend easily under pressure while in customer's pockets. "With normal use a bend in iPhone is extremely rare and through our first six days of sale, a total of nine customers have contacted Apple with a bent iPhone 6 Plus," the company said. Since it started selling the new iPhones last Friday, Apple said only nine customers have contacted them to complain about a bent iPhone 6 Plus. Apple had sold over 10 million new iPhones within just three days of its sales launch. Yesterday, the internet was rife with news, photos and some videos that claimed Apple's latest iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus easily bend under pressure. Videos of people bending the iPhone 6 Plus using just their hands went viral on social networks.
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Intel Corp announced that it has signed series of agreements with Tsinghua Unigroup Ltd., an operating subsidiary of Tsinghua Holdings Co. Ltd., a solely state-owned limited liability corporation funded by Tsinghua University in China. The companies expect Intel's investment to close in early 2015. Intel also has agreed to invest up to CNY9 billion or about USD1.5 billion for a minority stake of about 20% of the holding company under Tsinghua Unigroup which will own Spreadtrum Communications and RDA Microelectronics.
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Nike Inc, the world's largest athletic shoes and apparel maker, said Thursday after the markets closed that its first quarter profit rose 23% from last year, helped by higher revenue, improved gross margin and a lower tax rate. The company's quarterly earnings per share also came in above analysts' expectations as did its quarterly revenue.
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Friday's Scheduled AGMs/EGMs

Filtronic
Boohoo.Com
Alent
Fortune Oil
Industrial Multi Property Trust
DJI Holdings
African Copper
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