RHL.L Share News (RHL)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Shares have opened higher Wednesday, as the UK government completed its second sales of shares in Lloyds Bank.

The UK government said it has raised GBP4.2 billion from the sale, meaning it has now recouped GBP7.41 billion of the roughly GBP21 million it had to pump into the bank during the financial crisis. It continues to hold 24.9%.

Meanwhile, traders say HSBC has lifted FTSE 100 betting firm William Hill to Overweight from Underweight, after its shares were sold off following an increase in UK duty on gambling machines.

Here is what you need to know at the UK market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: up 0.2% at 6,616.82
FTSE 250: up 0.6% at 16,253.12
AIM ALL-SHARE: up 0.2% at 853.27
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Hang Seng: closed up 0.7% at 21,887.75
Nikkei 225: closed up 0.4% at 14,477.16
DJIA: closed up 0.6% at 16,367.88
S&P 500: closed up 0.4% at 1,865.62
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GBP-USD: up at USD1.6541
EUR-USD: down at USD1.3814

GOLD: up at USD1,314.49 per ounce
OIL (Brent): up at USD107.19 a barrel

(changes since end of previous GMT day)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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Wednesday's Key Economic Events still to come

09:00 Italy Retail Sales
10:00 Italy Consumer Confidence
11:00 US MBA Mortgage Applications
12:30 US Durable Goods Orders
13:45 US Markit Services PMI Preliminary
14:00 Switzerland SNB Quarterly Bulletin
14:30 US EIA Crude Oil Stocks change
17:00 US 5-Year Note Auction
20:30 US Bank Stress Test Info
23:50 Japan Foreign investment
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German consumer confidence is expected to remain stable in April, a closely watched survey from the market research group GfK showed. The forward-looking consumer confidence index remain unchanged at 8.5%, in line with forecast. The economic outlook of consumers in March was back on the road toward recovery. The indicator gained 1.3 points to 33.2 points. Meanwhile, income expectations dropped three points to 45.6 points in March.
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The US aid package of USD1 billion in loan guarantees for Ukraine neared final passage as early as this week, after Democrats in the Senate on Tuesday dropped a provision sought by the International Monetary Fund. A fight over a provision to ratify long-waiting reforms at the IMF had stalled passage of the urgent aid measure for two weeks.
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Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang urged Malaysia to provide more information about missing flight MH370, amid relatives' anger at the authorities in Kuala Lumpur, news reports said. Li "urged Malaysia to provide detailed and accurate information" on the Malaysia Airlines flight, which data analysis indicated crashed into the southern Indian Ocean on March 8, the official Xinhua news agency reported. The Malaysian government and Malaysia Airlines have been widely criticized in China, in particular by relatives of the 154 Chinese passengers on board the Boeing 777-200.
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North Korea test-fired two missiles into the sea early Wednesday, an official in Seoul said, prompting condemnation from South Korea, Japan and the US. It was the latest of several such launches this week, as South Korean, Japanese and US leaders criticized North Korea's nuclear weapons programme at a meeting in the Netherlands. The missiles were fired from north of Pyongyang and flew around 650 kilometres before falling into the waters east of the Korean Peninsula, a spokesman for the South's Defence Ministry said.
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An Egyptian court adjourned the trial of Muslim Brotherhood chief Mohammed Badie and 682 alleged supporters to April 28, when it will announce its verdict in the death penalty case. The opening session Tuesday of the trial in the Minya Criminal Court heard prosecution witnesses, who accused the defendants of storming a police station and killing officers in August in the southern town of Udwa. Defence lawyers boycotted the hearing in protest at the death sentences presiding Judge Saeed Youssef handed down Monday to 529 people charged with similar offences.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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TRADERS: NUMIS RAISES ALLIANCE PHARMA TO 'ADD' ('HOLD')
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TRADERS: NUMIS CUTS RBS TO 'HOLD' ('ADD') - TARGET 300 (374) PENCE
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CITIGROUP CUTS MAN GROUP TO 'SELL' ('NEUTRAL') - TARGET 85 (90) PENCE
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TRADERS: HSBC RAISES WILLIAM HILL TO 'OVERWEIGHT' ('UNDERWEIGHT')
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UBS CUTS ITV TO 'NEUTRAL' ('BUY') - TARGET 210 (230) PENCE
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BARCLAYS RAISES COBHAM TO 'EQUAL WEIGHT' ('UNDERW') - TARGET 315 (182) PENCE
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TRADERS: LIBERUM CUTS GO-AHEAD GROUP TO 'HOLD' ('BUY')
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TRADERS: LIBERUM RAISES FIRSTGROUP TO 'BUY' ('HOLD')
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CHARLES STANLEY RAISES KINGFISHER TO 'HOLD' ('REDUCE')
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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The UK government said it has raised GBP4.2 billion in its sale of a second tranche of Lloyds Banking Group PLC shares, meaning it has now recouped GBP7.41 billion of the roughly GBP21 million it had to pump into the bank during the financial crisis. In a statement, UK Financial Investments Ltd, which manages the government's stakes in bailed out banks, said it had sold a 7.8% stake in Lloyds at 75.5 pence a share, taking the UK government stake down to 24.9%, from 32.7%. UKFI sold an initial 6% stake in the bank last September at 75 pence a share, raising about GBP3.21 billion for government coffers.
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Legal & General Group PLC has forecast that Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne's changes to pensions rules could result in the GBP12 billion a year annuity market more than halving in size, according to the Financial Times. The measures introduced in the Chancellor's 2014 Budget will give savers savers more flexibility in how they use their pension pots in retirement. According to the FT, Legal & General said the measures could cut total annuity sales by all providers to GBP4.4 billion.
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Legal & General also said it has won a bulk annuity contract with ICI Pension Fund, covering GBP3.00 billion of its liabilities, as the life insurer moved to reinforce its expectation that it will exceed the GBP2.1 billion of annuity net flows in 2013. Legal & General said the deal is the largest ever bulk annuity contract arranged by a pension scheme in the UK.
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UK-based travel operator TUI Travel PLC said it remains on track to deliver first half results broadly in line with last year, excluding Easter, and is still confident of growing its underlying operating profit by 7% to 10% in the full financial year. In a trading update, Chief Executive Peter Long said the company was pleased with its performance during the winter trading season, with most of its programmes now almost fully sold, while trading of the summer season is so far in line with expectations.
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SSE PLC announced a major asset disposal plan, cost cutting initiatives and a freezing of UK household energy bills ahead of its full year results next week. The major UK energy supplier said that as part of its value programme, it is now planning asset and business disposals that will secure proceeds and debt reduction estimated to total around GBP1 billion. The company said it has started the disposal process which is expected to take two years, with the disposal of SSE's portfolio of PFI street lighting contracts already under way and a GBP500 million disposal of the company's onshore wind farms planned.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC said it expects to post an adjusted pretax profit for the half year ending March 31 that is broadly in line with the previous year, although it cautioned that a reduction in adjusted operating margin and the strong pound will hit its second half. The financial magazine publisher and conference company expects to see an adjusted pretax profit for the half year of no less than GBP52 million, in line with GBP52.4 million in the previous year.
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Housebuilder Bellway PLC said its profit almost doubled in the first half of its financial year, as it took advantage of recovery in the UK housing market. The company posted pretax profit of GBP103.8 million for the six months ended January 31, up from GBP59.9 million, as revenue rose to GBP701.1 million from GBP502.5 million a year earlier. Bellway said it "has responded to the strengthening market conditions across all regions by increasing the number of homes under construction to accommodate additional consumer demand".
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John Laing Investments To Sell 4.5% Stake In John Laing Infrastructure Fund Via Placing; Placing Is Via Accelerated Bookbuild Led By JP Morgan Cazenove
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LondonMetric Completes Buy Of 27 DFS Assets, Sells 10 For GBP47.1M
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Entertainment One Says FY Earnings To Be In Line With Management Expectations
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Phoenix Group FY Pretax Profit GBP190.0M Vs GBP342.0M; Divests Ignis Asset Management To Standard Life For GBP390M
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Salamander Energy Successfully Drill Stem Tests Top Of Upper Berai In West Kerendan-1 Well; West Kerendan-1 Well Flowed At Max 32.1Mcfg/d
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COMPANIES - ALL-SHARE AND AIM
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Carpetright Says Like-For-Like Sales In UK Up 0.2% In 8 Weeks To March 22; Like-For-Like Sales In Rest Of Europe Down 5.3% In 8 Weeks March 22; Not Seen Any Significant Benefit From Housing Market Recovery; Says Pace Of Recovery Seen In Q3 Not Sustained
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Moss Bros FY Pretax Profit GBP4.4M Vs GBP3.1M; Revenue GBP109.1M Vs GBP105.5M; Says E-Commerce Sales Now 5.1% Of Total Sales
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Numis Corporation: Momentum In H2 2013 Has Continued To Six Months March 31;Revenue And Profit Expected To Be Above H2 Last Year
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Cenkos Securities 2013 Pretax Profit From Continuing Ops GBP10.7M, Vs GBP7.0M; Revenue From Continuing Ops GBP51.4M, Vs GBP43.2M In 2012; Says 2014 Revenue To Date "Materially Ahead" Of Same 2013 Period; Pipeline Strong
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Caza Oil & Gas Announces Strong Results On 3rd Bone Spring Test Well At Marathon Road
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Redhall Group Says Trading In 1st Half To Be Marginally Ahead Of Last Year, As Delays In Projects Move Profits To 2nd Half; Confident To Meet Expectations For Full Year
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Alliance Pharma FY Pretax Profit GBP12.0M Vs GBP10.8M; Revenue GBP45.4M Vs GBP44.9M; Total Dividend 0.908p Vs 0.825p; Confident Of Good Revenue & Profit Growth Over Next Few Years
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APR Energy FY Pretax Profit USD27.5M Vs Pretax Loss USD4.9M; Revenues Up, USD308.3M Vs USD265.7M; Signs Its Largest Ever Industrial Contract For Mobile Turbine Plant In South Asia
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COMPANIES - OTHER
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Facebook acquired virtual-reality gaming startup Oculus VR Inc for approximately USD2 billion, the California-based company announced Tuesday on its website. The deal includes USD400 million in cash and about USD1.6 billion in shares of Facebook common stock, according to the announcement. "Mobile is the platform of today, and now we're also getting ready for the platforms of tomorrow," Facebook founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said. "Oculus has the chance to create the most social platform ever, and change the way we work, play and communicate."
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King Digital Entertainment, the developer of the popular smartphone game Candy Crush, announced the pricing of its initial public offering of USD22.50 dollars per share, the company said on its website Tuesday. King sold more than 22.2 million shares, raising nearly USD500 million from the initial offering. The shares are expected to begin trading Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol KING, according to the company's website.
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Wednesday's Scheduled AGMs/EGMs

BlackRock Throgmorton Trust
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com; @thomaslwaite

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