SpaceandPeople Share News (SAL)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Shares have opened firm in London Wednesday, pulling back some of Tuesday's losses after Asian equities partially recovered from early losses.

In the FTSE 100, Hikma Pharmaceuticals is the top gainer, up 5.3% after Barclays dramatically raised its price target 35%.

Ashtead is up 4.8% after the equipment hire firm said pretax profit and revenue both surged higher in the first quarter of its financial year and said its full-year results look set to meet its expectations.

Shares in Merlin Entertainment are up 1.6% after being raised to Buy from Neutral by UBS, according to traders.

In the FTSE 250, Halfords is down 8.0%, after warning about a slowdown in bicycle sales.

Shares in Diploma are down 3.9% after the technical products and services company said its revenue growth in the first nine months was held back by the slowdown in the oil and gas industry and sluggish European industrial markets.

On AIM, online retailer ASOS confirmed press reports that its chief executive and co-founder, Nick Robertson, will step down, replaced by the current COO. The stock up 1.0%.

Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: up 0.6% at 6,095.37
FTSE 250: up 0.4% at 16,908.09
AIM ALL-SHARE: flat at 730.88
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Hang Seng: down 1.2% at 20,935.65
Nikkei 225: closed down 0.4% at 18,095.40
DJIA: closed down 2.8% at 16,058.35
S&P 500: closed down 3.0% at 1,913.85
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GBP: flat at USD1.5297
EUR: down at USD1.1279

GOLD: up at USD1,140.78 per ounce
OIL (Brent): up at USD48.66 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
(all times in BST)

09:30 UK PMI Construction
10:00 EU Producer Price Index
12:00 US MBA Mortgage Applications
13:15 US ADP Employment Change
13:30 US Nonfarm Productivity and Unit Labor Costs
14:45 US ISM New York index
15:00 US Factory Orders
15:30 US EIA Crude Oil Stocks
19:00 US Fed's Beige Book
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Boston Federal Reserve President Eric Rosengren has said slowing overseas economies, stock market volatility and falling commodity prices may have an impact on US growth, making the case for more modest monetary policy tightening, the Financial Times reported. Speaking in a speech in New York, Rosengren, a dovish member of the US Federal Reserve's rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee, said the slowdown in overseas economies may prompt him to cut his growth outlook in the central bank's next forecasting round and dent his confidence that inflation will accelerate. The FT noted Rosengren made no explicit comment on when he thought short-term US interest rates should start rising, but said that he did not believe moving the timing forward or back a couple of months would make a big economic difference.
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Automakers reported some mixed US sales for August, marked by fewer working days and a delayed Labor Day, even as the month was largely bullish, spurred by lower interest rates, cheaper gas, and some strong employment data that buoyed consumer confidence. General Motors Co said its US sales in August edged down 0.7% from a year ago, while Ford Motor Co gained 5.4% and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV was up 2%. Toyota sales fell 8.8%.
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US President Barack Obama toured an Alaska glacier that he said illustrated the dangers of climate change. Obama noted that the Exit Glacier near Seward has receded every year as the climate warms and that the process has been accelerating, noting that it "sends a message". Obama will cross the Arctic Circle Wednesday, becoming the first sitting US president to do so.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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TRADERS: BARCLAYS RAISES HIKMA PHARMACEUTICALS TARGET TO 2,760 (2,050) PENCE
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SOCGEN RAISES RBS TO 'HOLD' ('SELL') - TARGET 330 PENCE
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TRADERS: JPMORGAN RAISES ARM TO 'NEUTRAL' ('UNDERWEIGHT')
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TRADERS: HSBC RAISES ASTRAZENECA TO 'BUY' ('HOLD')
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TRADERS: UBS RAISES MERLIN ENTERTAINMENTS TO 'BUY' ('NEUTRAL')
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GOLDMAN CUTS MERLIN ENTERTAINMENTS PRICE TARGET TO 475 (490) PENCE - 'NEUTRAL'
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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Industrial equipment rental company Ashtead Group said its pretax profit and revenue both surged higher in the first quarter of its financial year and said its full-year results look set to meet its expectations. The company said pretax profit rose 23% in the quarter to the end of July to GBP155.4 million from GBP117.5 million a year earlier, as its revenue rose to GBP618.6 million from GBP457.9 million, driven by a rise in its rental revenue to GBP539.6 million from GBP417.7 million.
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A bidding group led by private equity house MBK Partners is close to agreeing a deal to acquire Tesco's South Korean business for around USD6.0 billion including debt, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, citing people with knowledge of the matter. The MBK-led group, which also includes South Korea's National Pension Service, is understood to have moved into exclusive negotiations with the retailer on Wednesday morning to acquire the Homeplus business, Bloomberg said.
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Engineering company Weir Group is likely to drop out of the FTSE 100 after a continued decline in its share price since June, mostly due to weak demand in oil and gas markets, while housebuilder Berkeley is set to join the blue-chip index after a strong run in its shares that started with the Conservative Party's majority victory in the UK's General Election in May. Also joining the FTSE 100 is expected to be lender Provident Financial, while engineering company Meggitt is expected to drop out. The index changes will be issued after market close Wednesday, based on closing prices from Tuesday. The changes come into effect from the start of trading on Monday, 21 September.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Car and bicycle parts retailer Halfords Group said its cycling sales have declined so far in the second quarter and will be below expectations for the period, though trading elsewhere in the business remains robust. Halfords said its cycling sales in the eight weeks from July 4 to August 28 were down 11% on a like-for-like basis against tough comparatives and will now be below its expectations for the second quarter. Trading elsewhere in the business was robust in the eight-week period, with like-for-like retail sales down 1.3% overall, due to the cycling decline, but like-for-like sales rising in its car maintenance, car enhancement and travel solutions divisions. The company still expects its full-year pretax profit to be in line with market consensus and said its retail gross margin should be at the high end of guidance.
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Temporary power company Aggreko said it has struck a deal to acquire the majority of the assets owned by Canada's ICS Group for CAD37.0 million. Aggreko said the acquisition of the company, which provides mobile temperature control services in the Canadian market, will give it a presence in the North American heater market and will expand its operations into new North American locations.
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Technical products and services company Diploma said its revenue growth in the first nine months was held back by the slowdown in the oil and gas industry and sluggish European industrial markets and said its underlying operating margin will take a hit. The company said its revenue for the nine months to the end of September is expected to rise by around 9.0%, driven primarily by acquisitions but offset slightly by translational currency effects. But the group said the issues it has faced so far in its current financial year have continued to be an issue and said its underlying revenue growth, stripping out acquisitions and currency effects, will be around 1.0%.
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International Public Partnerships said it has been chosen as a preferred bidder as part of a consortium to design and deliver 15 schools across 12 sites in Australia. The infrastructure investment company said the Learning Communities Victoria Consortium has been chosen as the preferred bidder to design, build, finance and maintain the New Schools Public Private Partnership project by the Victorian Department of Education and Training.
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The chairman of AIM-listed gaming company GVC Holdings said the company would consider going hostile in its takeover bid for larger target Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment should the latter decide to go with a rival offer from 888 Holdings, The Times reported. Lee Feldman said GVC would consider taking its offer directly to shareholders should the Bwin.Party board recommend the lower offer made for the company by 888, according to the newspaper. On Monday, Bwin.Party said 888 had entered a revised offer, having seen its original, agreed bid trumped in by GVC.
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Potential additions to the FTSE 250 in Wednesday's index review are security software firm Sophos Group, Circassia Pharmaceuticals, peer-to-peer investor P2P Global Investments and plastic pipe maker Polypipe. In line to drop out are miner Lonmin, electronics distributor Premier Farnell, marine engineering services firm James Fisher and Premier Oil.
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COMPANIES - LONDON MAIN MARKET AND AIM
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Irish low-cost airline Ryanair Holdings said its customer traffic and load factor both improved in August. The company said it carried 10.4 million passengers in August, up 10% from the 9.4 million it carried a year earlier, while its load factor increased by 2 percentage points to 95% from 93%.
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Online fashion retailer ASOS confirmed press reports that its chief executive and co-founder, Nick Robertson, is to step down after 15 years in the role with immediate effect. Robertson will be replaced by Nick Beighton, who joined the company in April as chief financial officer and who was last October promoted to the role of chief operating officer. Robertson will remain with the company as a non-executive director.
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Textile services company Johnson Service Group said its pretax profit was dragged lower by one-off costs it booked in the first half, though revenue for the group was higher and it said it expects to beat market forecasts for the full year. Johnson Service said its pretax profit in the six months to the end of June was GBP1.2 million, down from GBP6.4 million a year earlier thanks primarily to it booking GBP6.8 million in restructuring costs related to its drycleaning business. The confidence in its outlook prompted the company to hike its interim dividend to 0.65 pence per share from 0.50p.
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Marketing company SpaceandPeople said it has secured an exclusive deal to promote brands across all Network Rail stations in the UK for five years. The agency said it now holds the exclusive rights to promote brands in Network Rail stations under the deal. No financial details were disclosed.
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COMPANIES - INTERNATIONAL
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Yahoo! Chief Executive Officer Marissa Mayer revealed Tuesday that she is pregnant with identical twin girls, likely to arrive in December. However, Mayer said she would take limited time away and will work throughout at the company, which is in the midst of a turnaround. In a blog post, Mayer said, "Since my pregnancy has been healthy and uncomplicated and since this is a unique time in Yahoo's transformation, I plan to approach the pregnancy and delivery as I did with my son three years ago, taking limited time away and working throughout."
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McDonald's plans to start selling all-day breakfast across the US on October 6. The company's franchisees have voted to approve the plan and it's being implemented nationwide, according to reports. The move follows months of testing the idea at various locations. The company aims to reinvigorate sluggish sales by fulfilling a longstanding customer request.
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Wednesday's Scheduled AGMs/EGMs

Ashtead Group
Aberdeen New Dawn Investment Trust
Lindsell Train Investment Trust
Severfield
Jupiter Green Investment Trust
Quindell
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com; @thomaslwaite

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