SMTG.L Share News (SMTG)

LONDON (Alliance News) - UK shares have continued their rebound at the open Tuesday, ahead of UK inflation data and speeches and testimony by UK and US central bankers.

Telecom Plus leads the FTSE 250 in early trade, up 7.1%, after it gave a bullish forecast for its first half, saying its expects results "significantly ahead" of the previous year as it saw a strong performance in its first quarter to end-June.

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 6,762.15
FTSE 250: up 0.1% at 15,591.99
AIM ALL-SHARE: up 0.3% at 777.54
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Hang Seng: up 0.4% at 23,449.48
Nikkei 225: closed up 0.6% at 15,395.16
DJIA: closed up 0.7% at 17,055.42
S&P 500: closed up 0.5% at 1,977.10
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GBP-USD: down at USD1.7065
EUR-USD: down at USD1.3613

GOLD: down at USD1,308.63 per ounce
OIL (Brent): down at USD106.57 a barrel

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

09:00 Italy Consumer Price Index
09:30 UK Consumer Price, Retail Price and Producer Price indices
10:00 UK BOE's Governor Carney speech
10:00 EU and Germany ZEW Survey
13:30 US Import and Export Price indices
13:30 US NY Empire State Manufacturing Index
13:30 US Retail Sales
13:55 US Redbook index
15:00 US Business Inventories
15:00 US Fed's Yellen testifies
16:30 US 4-Week Bill Auction
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Like-for-like retail sales in the UK were down 0.8% on year in June, the British Retail Consortium said. That was well shy of forecasts for an increase of 1.0% following the 0.5% annual gain in May. "Consumers continue to benefit from competitive pricing, which may be the cause of softer like-for-like sales in June," BRC director-general Helen Dickinson said. Overall retail spending added an annual 0.6% in June, and it was up 2.6% in the second quarter of 2014.
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The Bank of Japan maintained its monetary stimulus unchanged as widely expected and reaffirmed its aim to achieve the 2% inflation in a stable manner. But the growth outlook for the current fiscal year was downgraded as exports and household spending remain weak. At the Monetary Policy Meeting held on Tuesday, members unanimously decided to continue to increase the monetary base at an annual pace of about JPY60-JPY70 trillion.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened his seven-member security cabinet early Tuesday to discuss an Egyptian proposal for a Gaza truce to take effect at 9 pm. Netanyahu was taking the proposal seriously, Israel Radio reported. But an official of Hamas, the Islamist movement that controls the Gaza Strip, called the Egyptian proposal a "close to a joke." Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas welcomed the initiative.
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British Foreign Secretary William Hague is resigning and will stand down at the next election, he said in an unexpected announcement late Monday, as part of a Cabinet reshuffle. "By the time of the general election next year, I will have served 26 years in the House of Commons and it will be 20 years since I first joined the Cabinet," said Hague in a statement.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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CITIGROUP RAISES ABERDEEN ASSET MANAGEMENT TO 'BUY' ('NEUTRAL')
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TRADERS: NUMIS CUTS ADMIRAL GROUP TO 'ADD' ('BUY')
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BERENBERG INITIATES ASHTEAD GROUP WITH 'BUY' - TARGET 1110 PENCE
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TRADERS: INVESTEC RAISES DEBENHAMS TO 'HOLD' ('SELL')
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TRADERS: NUMIS RAISES MORGAN ADVANCED MATERIALS TO 'HOLD' ('REDUCE')
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GOLDMAN CUTS HUNTING TO 'NEUTRAL' ('BUY') - TARGET 900 (965) PENCE
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GOLDMAN CUTS CAIRN ENERGY TO 'NEUTRAL' ('BUY') - TARGET 229 (250) PENCE
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UBS ADDS AFRICAN BARRICK TO 'EUROP. METALS & MINING MOST PREFERRED LIST'
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UBS INITIATES AFRICAN BARRICK GOLD WITH 'BUY' - TARGET 260 PENCE
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TRADERS: JPMORGAN CUTS PROVIDENT FINANCIAL TO 'NEUTRAL' ('OVERWEIGHT')
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PANMURE RAISES MICHAEL PAGE TO 'HOLD' ('SELL') - TARGET 399 PENCE
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UBS RAISES OLD MUTUAL TO 'BUY' ('NEUTRAL') - TARGET 227 (213) PENCE
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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Premier Inns hotels and Costa coffee chain operator Whitbread PLC said it has appointed Richard Baker as its new chairman, with effect from September 1. Baker will succeed Anthony Habgood, who earlier this year said he would be stepping down after nine years at the company. Baker has been on Whitbread's board as a non-executive director since September 2009. Baker also is currently chairman of Virgin Active Group and DFS Furniture Holdings.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Telecom Plus PLC gave a bullish forecast for its first half, saying its expects results "significantly ahead" of the previous year as it saw a strong performance in its first quarter to end-June. The utilities company, which provides services including gas, electricity and broadband, said it had seen customers rise during the quarter to 547,378 from 474,404 in the previous year. It expressed confidence in meeting its target of growing its customer base to around 600,000 by the end of the year.
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ITE Group PLC reiterated confidence in its outlook for the full year, even as it reported a decline in revenue amid a "challenging trading environment" during its third quarter to end-June. ITE saw revenue of GBP73 million in the quarter, down from GBP96 million, hit by the absence of its biennial Moscow International Oil & Gas Exhibition, negative currency movements, and the ongoing political crisis in Ukraine. The trade exhibitions company's construction event in Moscow, Mosbuild, saw a solid performance but lower volumes than in previous years, ITE said.
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Michael Page H1 Group Gross Profit Of GBP263.7M Vs GBP261.9M; Q2 Group Gross Profit Of GBP137.2M Vs GBP135.1M; Says Currency Movements Wiped GBP10M Of Q2 Gross Profit, GBP19M In H1; Expects To Continue Performing In Line With Expectations For Full Year
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City Of London Investment Expects FY Pretax Profit To Dip To GBP7.2M; Funds Under Management Rose In 13 Mon To June
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COMPANIES - MAIN MARKET AND AIM
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Household and personal-care products company McBride PLC said it has poached API Group PLC's finance director, Chris Smith, to assume the role as its new chief finance officer. Smith is currently the group finance director of foils and packaging material manufacturer API Group, where he has been since 2008, and helped turnaround the business. McBride said its current chief financial officer, Richard Armitage, will leave the company at the end of July, while Director of Finance David Main will act as interim CFO until Smith joins at the end of the year.
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Independent News & Media PLC said it has appointed Robert Pitt as group chief executive officer. Pitt will take on the role in the autumn of 2014, said the company. He joins from Tesco Czech Republic where he has been chief operations officer since May 2002. He has also previously held roles at Lidl and PwC. He takes on the role from outgoing CEO Vincent Crowley who stepped down in May this year.
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Commercial real estate business Summit Germany Ltd said it was active in the market during the first six months of 2014, signing 99 new leases and renewals worth EUR4.5 million a year in rent. The company which was admitted to trading on AIM in February said it acquired a EUR75.3 million loan facility at a cost of EUR46 million to regain control of a portfolio of 11 properties across Germany. The portfolio has a net annual rental income of around EUR6.3 million and an implied gross rental yield of 13.7%.
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Property fund management business Fletcher King PLC increased its final dividend threefold, doubling its total dividend for the year, after reporting a jump in annual profit. London-based Fletcher King posted pretax profit of GBP711,000 for the year ended April 30, up from GBP292,000 a year earlier, as revenue rose to GBP3.7 million from GBP3.0 million. The company was boosted by a GBP174,000 profit on the sale of investments. On the back of its performance, the company increased its final dividend to 2.25 pence from 0.75 pence, making a total dividend for the year of 3.0 pence compared with 1.5 pence.
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Africa-focused oil and gas exploration group Bowleven PLC said it has reached a mutual agreement with FTSE 100-listed Petrofac PLC to terminate their strategic alliance agreement. The AIM-listed company said that the termination satisfies one of the conditions of the LUKOIL and NewAge farm-out transaction announced June 24, 2014. The termination agreement is subject to completion of the farm-out. In June Bowleven said it had entered into a conditional sale and purchase agreement to sell an aggregate 50% operated interest in the Etinde Permit, Cameroon to LUKOIL and NewAge for a total cash payment of USD250 million.
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Oilex Raises GBP1.17M Via Draw Down On Equity Financing Facility With Darwin Strategic; Says Funds Raised Via Issue Of 18.6M Shares To Darwin Strategic At 6.3P Per Share; Receives Gas Sale Agreement Endorsement For Cambay Field
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Rare Earth Minerals: Assay Results Equal To Or Exceeded Expectations At Yangibana Prospect
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Ergomed Starts Trading On AIM Tuesday Following GBP11M Fundraising; Priced Shares At 160p, Giving GBP46M Market Cap; Will Acquire PrimeVigilance On Admission For GBP6M Cash, GBP3M Shares
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Carr's Milling Industries Says Trading Remains In Line With FY Expectations
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Flybe And Bombardier Sign Strategic Services Agreement
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Epwin Prices AIM IPO At 100p Per Share, Giving GBP135M Market Cap; To Start Trading On AIM On July 24 With 70% Free Float
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Tuesday's Scheduled AGMs/EGMs

Telecom Plus
Blinkx
Dairy Crest Group
Aberdeen Japan Investment Trust
Future
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com; @thomaslwaite

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