Scholium Group Share News (SCHO)

LONDON (Alliance News) - The following is a summary of top news stories Monday.
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COMPANIES
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Electronics retailer Dixons Retail PLC and mobile phone retailer Carphone Warehouse Group PLC said that the Takeover Panel deadline for a possible merger has been extended to May 19.
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Kentz Corporation Ltd said its pretax profit increased in 2013 driven by revenue growth at its Technical Support Services division during the period, and it forecast a strong 2014. The major oil and gas engineering company said pretax profit increased 4.7% to USD109.7 million in 2013 from USD104.8 million the previous year, as revenue increased 6.4% to USD1.66 billion from USD1.56 billion in 2012. Kentz increased its final dividend 21% to 10.9 cents per share from 9.0 cents in 2012 bringing its total 2013 dividend up 21% to 17.5 cents from 14.5 cents the previous year.
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Diploma PLC shares fell more than 6% after it said it had been hit hard by the recent rise in sterling as well as the fall in the Canadian and Australian dollar, meaning its key profit measure will only be flat this year. In a trading statement, the company said its revenues in the six months to the end of March are expected to be up by about 7% on the year excluding the impact of acquisitions and at constant currencies. However, half-year revenues will only be up 5% including currency movements and acquisitions, while its adjusted pretax profit is expected to be flat on the year, Diploma said.
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Centamin PLC said pretax profit fell in 2013 due to a large exceptional cost, but that increased revenues and production meant pretax profit before such items increased during the period. The FTSE 250-listed metals and minerals producer said pretax profit fell 7.4% to USD184.0 million in 2013 from USD198.6 million in 2012. Not including exceptional items, the company would have posted a pretax profit increase of 1.4% to USD235.0 million from USD231.7 million in 2012, it said.
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Beverage can maker Rexam PLC said it has a binding deal to sell the rest of its healthcare containers and closures unit to Berry Plastics Group Inc for USD135 million in cash. Last month, Rexam had said it would return about GBP450 million to shareholders once it received USD805 million cash proceeds from the proposed sale of most of its healthcare packaging unit. In a statement Monday, the company said this deal is progressing according to plan and it expects the deal to complete in the second quarter of 2014, after which it make the shareholder payout.
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Segro PLC and Picton Property Income Ltd said they have completed an industrial property swap deal. In a statement, Segro said it had acquired a distribution warehouse at Magna Park, Lutterworth from Picton for GBP34.0 million, while Picton has bought from Segro an industrial estate at Parkbury, Radlett for GBP40.5 million. Picton has paid Segro the balance of GBP6.5 in cash.
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Rare antiquarian book dealer Scholium Group PLC said it has successfully raised GBP8 million in its initial public offering, having priced its shares at 100 pence each, giving it a market capitalisation of GBP13.2 million. The dealer in rare and antiquarian books is the newest addition to London's AIM market from the retail sector.
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Scholium's IPO was one of three new issues to take place Monday, as the recent pick up in London IPOs continued unabated. Horizon Discovery Group PLC, the life sciences company that supplies research tools for genomics research and the development of "personalised" medicines, said it raised GBP68.6 million in its flotation on AIM having priced its offering at 180 pence a share. Meanwhile, Nimrod Sea Assets Ltd started trading on the London Stock Exchange's Specialist Fund Market as 130 million shares were issued at USD1.00 each. The company's investment objective is to invest in vehicles which acquire, charter and sell marine assets associated with the offshore oil and gas industry.
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Two major consumer groups are calling for regulators to further investigate the UK's "broken" energy market, according to the BBC. Both Which? and the Federation of Small Businesses have said that nine out of 10 consumers think the firms need further probing. The consumer groups have written a joint letter to the Office of Fair Trading, energy regulator Ofgem and the new Competition and Markets Authority. The Big Six energy firms are Centrica PLC owned British Gas, E.ON, EDF, Npower, ScottishPower and SSE PLC.
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Standard Life PLC Sunday said it is in advanced talks over a potential deal to acquire Ignis Asset Management Ltd from FTSE 250 Phoenix Group PLC, a move that would add substantially to its assets under management. The Edinburgh-based long-term savings and investments provider said the talks over a potential deal for Ignis, which has some GBP67.6 billion in assets under management, are exclusive. Most of Ignis's assets under management are related to fixed income.
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MARKETS
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UK stocks are trading lower as investors grow increasingly concerned by the crisis in Ukraine and another set of weak Chinese data.
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FTSE 100: down 0.4% at 6,532.38
FTSE 250: down 0.6% at 16,069.84
AIM ALL-SHARE: down 0.5% at 852.36
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The euro, after jumping on the back of some stronger-than-expected PMI data from France, has been hit after PMI data for Germany and the eurozone as a whole missed expectations.
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GBP-USD: up at USD1.6494
EUR-USD: down at USD1.3769

GOLD: down at USD1,323.19 per ounce
OIL (Brent): flat at USD106.99 a barrel

(changes since end of previous GMT day)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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The Russian Defence Ministry Sunday denied reports that Russia was amassing troops along the border with Ukraine. Deputy Defence Minister Anatoly Antonov called on the US in particular to look at the activities of Russian troops "objectively" and not to escalate an already tense situation, Interfax news agency reported. Russia was abiding by all international agreements, including an accord on the number of Russian troops on the Ukrainian border, Antonov said.
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Russian troops stormed a Ukrainian navy base in Crimea on Monday, days after Moscow formally annexed the peninsula, while the leaders of the Group of Seven industrialized nations were due to hold talks on the crisis. The Russian assault on the Feodosia base began at 0230 GMT, according to Vladislav Seleznev, the Ukrainian military spokesman on the peninsula, who was quoted by the Russian-language Centre for Investigative Journalism. The troops used stun grenades, and smoke was visible from one of the barracks, the centre reported. The Russian special forces had seized between 60 and 80 of the Ukrainian personnel on the base, according to Seleznev.
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Business sentiment among Chinese purchasing managers dropped to an eight-month in March, according to preliminary survey findings released Monday. The index by financial services company HSBC showed a reading of 48.1, down from 48.5 in February, and the lowest since the 47.7 recorded in July. A figure above 50 generally means a positive outlook in the manufacturing sector, while below 50 is taken as a negative reading.
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China should unlock the substantial growth potential in the service sector in order to boost employment, consumption and living standards, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde said. Addressing an audience at the China Development Forum in the capital, Beijing, Lagarde noted that China's financial sector is a potential source of higher-quality growth and improved welfare.
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China's vice finance minister Zhu Guangyao said the first interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve six months after the end of quantitative easing would have a substantial impact on the global economy. "If interest rates rise six months after the QE exit, the impact on the US economy and the rest of the world would be substantial," Zhu said at the weekend. He expects the Fed to complete its exit from quantitative easing this October. Zhu observed signs of recovery in Europe but warned that structural reforms have been insufficient.
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A Chinese plane hunting for wreckage of a missing Malaysian passenger jet spotted unidentified "objects" Monday in an area of the southern Indian Ocean determined to be the most likely location for debris from flight MH370. Ten aircraft are patrolling a 59,000-square-kilometre patch of sea between Australia and Antarctica.
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The euro area private economy maintained its growth momentum in March, with activity expanding for the ninth consecutive month, preliminary survey data from Markit Economics showed Monday.
The flash composite output index came in at 53.2 in March. The above 50 score signals expansion. However, the score was slightly lower than February's 32-month high of 53.3.
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France's extreme right National Front party and the conservative opposition saw their fortunes increase in a number of cities in the first round of two-stage municipal elections on Sunday. The results were seen as a referendum on the leadership of Socialist President Francois Hollande in his first test at the polling booth since taking office nearly two years ago. France's lagging economy and record unemployment pose a major challenge for Hollande's party.
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Turkey shot down a Syrian jet Sunday near their common border, both governments said. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the fighter jet was downed after it had violated Turkish airspace while a Syrian military source quoted by Syria's official SANA news agency said the jet was shot down while it was chasing rebels inside Syrian territory. The Syrian official called the incident a "blatant aggression" carried out by Turkish air defences to support rebel groups inside Syria.
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An Egyptian court sentenced to death 528 supporters of toppled president Mohammed Morsi, state media reported. They were found guilty of rioting and attacking police facilities in the southern city of Minya in August, state television said. Judge Saeed Youssef acquitted 17 defendants. All defendants have the right to appeal.
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Anti-government protesters returned to the streets of Bangkok Monday, calling for renewed efforts to bring down the caretaker government of Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. People's Democratic Reform Committee head Suthep Thaugsuban, who has led a series of mass demonstrations since November, including the occupation of some of the city's main intersections, led the march from the group's main rally site in a park in central Bangkok.
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