Plexus Share News (POS)

LONDON (Alliance News) - UK shares are adding to their gains at the open Friday amid some positive UK and European economic data.

Troubled FTSE 250 outsourcing firm Serco is up 10% after pulling off something of a coup by recruiting the CEO of FTSE 100 temporary power provider Aggreko as its new CEO. Aggreko is down 3.8%.

Following its results announcement Thursday, Man Group has been raised to Buy from Neutral by Merrill Lynch and to Hold from Underperform by Jefferies.

Here is what you need to know at the UK market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: up 4.75 at 6,815.02
FTSE 250: up 67.46 at 16,590.48
AIM ALL-SHARE: up 2.44 at 888.74
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DJIA: closed up 74.24 at 16,272.65
S&P 500: closed up 9.13 at 1,854.29
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GBP-USD: up at USD1.6726
EUR-USD: up at USD1.3708

GOLD: down at USD1,330.15 per ounce
OIL (Brent): down at USD108.75 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

09:00 Italy Unemployment
10:00 Italy Consumer Price Index
10:00 EU Consumer Price Index
10:00 EU Unemployment Rate
11:00 Ireland Retail Sales
13:30 US Gross Domestic Product
14:45 US Chicago Purchasing Managers' Index
14:55 US Reuters/Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index
15:00 US Pending Home Sales
15:15 US Fed Minneapolis's Narayana Kocherlakota speech
15:15 US FOMC Member Stein Speech
15:30 UK BOE's Governor Carney speech
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Confidence among British households held steady in February, in line with economists' expectations, after improving notably in the prior month, data from a closely watched survey revealed Friday. The GfK/NOP consumer confidence index stayed unchanged at -7 in February. The outcome matched economists' expectations. Data showed that two out of the five measures used to calculate the headline index decreased this month, two measures increased, and one stayed unchanged.
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House prices in the UK increased at a notably faster pace in February, and to a greater extent than forecast by economists, data from a survey showed. The house price index advanced 9.4% annually, after gaining 8.8% in January, the Nationwide Housing Society said. Economists were looking for a 9% rise for February. Prices have now increased for the twelfth month in a row. The pick up in prices reflected increasing demand for new homes, supported by record low interest rates, improved credit availability and rising consumer confidence, the agency said.
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Germany's retail sales rose more than expected in January from the previous month, data released by the Federal Statistical Office showed. Retail sales grew a calendar-and-seasonally adjusted 2.5% month-on-month, reversing a 2% decline in December. Economists had expected a 1% gain. Year-on-year, sales rose 0.9% in January, after a 1.5% slump in the previous month. Economists had forecast a 1.7% decline.
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In Japan, retail sales climbed 4.4% on year in January, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said on Friday - coming in at 11.732 trillion yen. That beat forecasts for an increase of 3.8% following the 2.5% gain in December.
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Japan's overall nationwide consumer prices were up 1.4% on year in January, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said - topping forecasts for 1.3% but slowing from 1.6% in December. Core consumer prices were up 1.3% on year - matching expectations and unchanged from the previous month.
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Industrial production in Japan climbed a seasonally adjusted 4.0% on month in January, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said - rising for the third straight month. The headline figure beat forecasts for an increase of 2.8% following the 0.9% gain in December.
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An international airport in the southern Ukrainian region of Crimea was operating normally after armed men entered the building early Friday, news reports said. Around 50 armed men in military uniform arrived in three trucks without licence plates and surrounded the domestic flights terminal at the airport of Simferopol, the regional capital, before moving on to other parts of the site, Interfax-Ukraine news agency cited witnesses as saying. The men wore similar gear to a group of 100 gunmen who stormed the Crimean parliament Thursday and raised the Russian flag over the building, the report said. The armed men since left the building, according to broadcaster Russia Today.
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Russia must act carefully during "a very delicate time" in Ukraine, US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel said Thursday, as the Kremlin began military drills near its western neighbour and flew extra fighter jets to patrol the region. "I expect Russia to be transparent about these activities, and I urge them not to take any steps which could be misinterpreted or lead to miscalculation during a very delicate time," Hagel said in Brussels. Hagel said Washington is in contact with the Russian government. "This is a time for very cool, wise leadership on the Russian side and on everybody's side," he said.
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Cyprus' parliament on Thursday voted down a bill that would have paved the way for the privatization of state-owned companies demanded by the country's international creditors. Twenty-five lawmakers vote in favour and 25 against with five abstentions. Bills require a majority vote for passage. The bill - which called for the privatization of the state-owned telecommunications company CyTA, the electricity authority EAC and the Cyprus Ports Authority - sparked widespread protests and power cuts over the past week. Despite Thursday's vote, lawmakers have promised international lenders they would pass the bill.
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Millions of webcam images from internet users not suspected of wrongdoing were collected by British spy agency GCHQ with the help of the US National Security Agency (NSA), secret documents seen by the Guardian newspaper revealed Thursday. The programme, codenamed Optic Nerve, gathered millions of webcam images from Yahoo users from 2008-12, transferring them to agency databases regardless of whether users were terrorism suspects, the report says.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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CITIGROUP RAISES EUROPEAN UTILITIES TO 'NEUTRAL' ('UNDERWEIGHT')
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NOMURA STARTS PLAYTECH WITH 'NEUTRAL' - TARGET 776 PENCE
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TRADERS: EXANE BNP STARTS PLAYTECH WITH 'OUTPERFORM' - TARGET 1000 PENCE
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TRADERS: PANMURE CUTS BARRATT DEV TO 'HOLD' ('BUY') - TARGET 403 (398) PENCE
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TRADERS: JPM RAISES KAZAKHMYS TO 'OVERWEIGHT' ('UW') - TARGET 320 (190) PENCE
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TRADERS: MERRILL LYNCH RAISES MAN GROUP TO 'BUY' ('NEUTRAL')
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TRADERS: JEFFERIES RAISES MAN GROUP TO 'HOLD' ('UNDERPERFORM')
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TRADERS: MORGAN STANLEY CUTS STAN CHARTERED TO 'UNDERWEIGHT' ('EQUAL-WEIGHT')
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TRADERS: UBS CUTS RSA INSURANCE TO 'NEUTRAL' ('BUY')
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TRADERS: LIBERUM RAISES COSTAIN GROUP TO 'BUY' ('HOLD')
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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Mondi PLC said underlying operating profit was up 22% for the year, convincingly beating 2012 results, as the firm delivered a "record financial performance." The international packaging and paper company leads the FTSE 100 after it said underlying operating profit came in at EUR699 million, up 22% from the EUR574 million reported in 2012, boosted somewhat by its low cost position and exposure to higher growth markets.
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Struggling outsourcing company Serco Group PLC Friday said it had poached the chief executive of Aggreko PLC to be its next boss, tasking him with the revival of the business after its recent government contract woes. In a statement, Serco said Rupert Soames will take the helm June 1, with acting CEO Ed Casey continuing in the role until then. The move is a coup for Serco. Soames has been head of Aggreko for 11 years, overseeing the temporary power unit company's steady but relentless growth over that period.
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Aviva Appoints Tom Stoddard As Chief Financial Officer
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IAG FY Operating Profit Before Exceptional Items EUR770M Vs EUR23M Loss; FY Revenues Up 3.1%, Fuel Costs Down 2.5%; Expects Relatively Flat Unit Revenue Growth In 2014
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William Hill FY Pretax Profit GBP277.7M Vs GBP274.2M; Revenue GBP1.28B Vs GBP1.25B; Raises FY Dividend To 11.6P Vs 10.4P; Says Online Net Gaming Revenue Rose 166%
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Old Mutual FY Pretax Profit GBP1.53B Vs GBP1.39B; Funds Under Management Up 19% To GBP294M On Constant Currency Basis; Funds Under Management (Not Constant Currency) GBP293.8B Vs GBP262.2B; FY Dividend 8.1p Vs 7.0p; Acquiring Intrinsic Financial Services
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Pearson FY Adjusting Operating Profit Down 6% At GBP871M; Blames Lower Margins In North America, Revenue Mix, Investments; FY Sales Up 2% To GBP5.2B At Constant Exchange Rates; Raises Dividend 7% To 48P To Reflect Confidence In Prospects; Warns Of Sterling Strength Hit On 2014 Earnings; Expects 2014 Adjusted EPS Of 62P To 67P In 2014
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Berendsen FY Adjusted Pretax Profit GBP136.3M Vs GBP116.8M; Pretax Profit GBP112.4M Vs GBP91.7M; Revenue GBP1.05B Vs GBP985.1M; FY Dividend To 28.0P Vs 25.5P; Expects 2014 To be Another Year Of Progress
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UBM 2013 Adjusted Pretax Profit From Continuing Operations GBP160.6M Vs GBP146.1M; Revenue From Continuing Operations GBP793.9M Vs GBP769.4M; 2013 Dividend 27.2p Vs 26.7p, Up 1.9%;Says 2014 Has Started In Line With Expectations, Expects Adjusted Operating Margin Better Than 2012, Its Previous Biennial Down Year; Says 2014 Has Started With Strong Foreign Exchange Headwind
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Rentokil Initial Says FY Pretax Profit GBP122.6M, Up 14%; FY Revenue GBP2.3B, Up 4.5%; Final Dividend Of 1.61P, FY Dividend Of 2.31P, Up 10%;
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Synthomer Says FY Pretax Profit Down 4.7% To GBP90.1M Vs GBP94.6M; Sales Down 5.1% To GBP1.05B Vs 1.11B
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Laird FY Pretax Profit GBP43.2M Vs GBP45.1M; Revenue GBP537M Vs GBP520.2M; Total Dividend To 12.0 Pence Vs 10.0 Pence
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Rightmove PLC said its property website continues to be popular with advertisers and consumers, as profit and revenue rose significantly in 2013. The company, which runs rightmove.co.uk, posted pretax profit of GBP97.0 million for 2013, from GBP83.2 million in 2012, as revenue rose 17% to GBP139.9 million from GBP119.4 million.
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COMPANIES - ALL-SHARE AND AIM
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Speedy Hire Says Total Impact Of Irregularities GBP4.8M Plus Fees; Says Profit & Loss Adjustment In Fiscal 2014 To Be GBP2.7M
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Helical Bar Sells Battersea Studios For GBP35M
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Cineworld Says Combination Of Company With Cinema Operations Of Global City Holdings Has Now Completed; Says It Issued 65M New Shares To GCH Under Terms Of The Deal; Says Deal Accounts For 24.9% Of Company; Says CEO Stephen Weiner Steps Down; Will Depart March 31, 2014; Moshe Greidinger, CEO Of GCH, Has Been Appointed To Replace Weiner
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Punch Taverns Says Trading In Line With Managament Expectations For H1; Says Expects To Report H1 In Line With 1.5% Growth Reported For 20 Weeks To January; Says Management Retains FY Expectations; Says It Is On Track For FY Capital Investment Of c.GBP45M, Disposal Proceeds Expected c.GBP100M; Says It Remains Of The View That Consensual Restructuring Is In The Best Interests Of All Stakeholders
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Plexus Holdings Gets New 3-Year POS-GRIP Contract; Initial Order Worth An Estimated GBP400,000
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Independent News & Media CEO To Step Down; Begins Search For New CEO Immediately; Expects FY Results To Be In Line With Market Expectations
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Randall & Quilter Expects 2013 Pretax Profit To Be In Line With Its Expectations
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Friday's Scheduled AGMs/EGMs

VERIPOS
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com; @thomaslwaite

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