Spire Healthcare Share News (SPI)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Shares were back in favour Friday after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen repeated in a speech that a US interest rate hike "later this year" is likely, citing her confidence in a continued improvement in the US economy.

Synergy Health leads the FTSE 250 by a country mile, up 44%. STERIS Corp's acquisition of the company cleared a major hurdle when the US District Court for the Northern District of Ohio denied the Federal Trade Commission's request for a preliminary injunction to block the takeover.

Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: up 1.6% at 6,055.78
FTSE 250: up 1.2% at 16,708.79
AIM ALL-SHARE: up 0.4% at 731.47
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Hang Seng: up 0.2% at 21,136.81
Nikkei 225: closed up 1.8% at 17,880.51
DJIA: closed down 0.5% at 16,201.32
S&P 500: closed down 0.3% at 1,932.24
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GBP: up at USD1.5229
EUR: down at USD1.1158

GOLD: down at USD1,146.24 per ounce
OIL (Brent): up at USD48.38 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
(all times in BST)

09:00 Italy Wage Inflation
09:00 EU M3 Money Supply and Private Loans
13:30 US Gross Domestic Product
13:30 US Personal Consumption Expenditures Prices
13:30 US Core Personal Consumption Expenditures
14:15 US Fed's Bullard speech
14:45 US Markit PMI Services and Composite Preliminary
15:00 US Reuters/Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index
18:25 US Fed's George Speech
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US Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said she expects the long-anticipated rise in interest rates to begin gradually before the end of 2015, to avoid an abrupt hike later on. Yellen, who was speaking at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, said that projection was based on her expectation that the labour market and economy continue to improve, and the projection that inflation will gradually move up towards the 2% goal set by the Fed. "Most [Federal Open Market Committee] participants, including myself, currently anticipate that achieving these conditions will likely entail an initial increase in the federal funds rate later this year, followed by a gradual pace of tightening thereafter," she said, according to a transcript of her speech. The final scheduled 2015 policy statement is December 16, with one other scheduled for October 28.
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The death toll in the stampede in Mecca has risen to 717, with about 870 others injured. The incident took place at Mina where thousand of pilgrims had gathered to perform the 'stoning of the devil' ritual. This is the worst incident at Mecca since the deadliest in 1990, when over 1,400 pilgrims died in an overcrowded pedestrian tunnel. Saudi Arabia has more than 4,000 rescue workers and over 200 ambulances in place to tackle the catastrophe. Earlier this month, at least 109 people were killed and about 400 people were injured when a crane collapsed at the Grand Mosque.
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The Japanese government downgraded its economic view for the first time since last October as it sees risks from slowdown in China and normalization of interest rate in the US. In its monthly report, the Cabinet Office said Friday the economy is on a moderate recovery, while slowness can be seen in some areas.
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Overall nationwide consumer prices in Japan gained 0.2% on year in August, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said - unchanged from the July reading and exceeded forecasts for an increase of 0.1% Core inflation, which excludes the volatile costs of food, was down 0.1% on year in August - matching expectations following the flat reading in the previous month. Also on Friday, the Bank of Japan said that producer prices were up 0.7% on year in August - exceeding expectations for an increase of 0.5% following the 0.6% gain in July.
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US President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping sat down for a private dinner Thursday at the start of a state visit set to be dominated by concerns about cyber-security, the Chinese economy and climate change. The White House likened the dinner to a private meal the two leaders had in China last year designed to get the men to talk candidly. The US and China were due to outline Friday details of how they will reach goals set last year to reduce carbon emissions, including an announcement of a cap and trade system for Chinese companies and a move to prioritize green energy use.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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BERENBERG RAISES UNILEVER TO 'BUY' ('HOLD') - PRICE TARGET 3050 PENCE
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BARCLAYS INITIATES DRAX GROUP WITH 'OVERWEIGHT' - TARGET 380 PENCE
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TRADERS: MORGAN STANLEY RESUMES SPIRE HEALTHCARE WITH 'EQUAL-WEIGHT'
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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The UK government has cut its stake in Lloyds Banking Group, meaning it now owns 11.98% of the lender, according to a stock exchange filing. The further reduction to its stake is down from the 12.97% it held at the end of August, the last time the government sold off some of its holding. The government is in the process of returning the lender to private ownership after taking a 43% stake in the lender through a GBP20 billion bailout in the global financial crisis of 2007-09.
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Irish pharmaceuticals company Shire said a US court of appeals has upheld a previous judgement protecting certain patent claims on its Vyvanse attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder treatment which will keep generic version of the drug off the market until 2023. Shire said the Court of Appeals of the Federal Circuit upheld the summary judgement made by the US District Court for the District of New Jersey affirming the validity of its patents.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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STERIS Corp's acquisition of Synergy Health cleared a major hurdle, after the US District Court for the Northern District of Ohio denied the Federal Trade Commission's request for a preliminary injunction to block the takeover. The FTC revealed earlier in the year it intended to block STERIS's proposed USD1.9 billion cash and share takeover of Synergy, as a result of concerns relating to competition in the market for contract radiation sterilisation services. STERIS noted that as a result of the delay and the FTC review, the new combined company's legal expenses in connection to the deal are estimated to be increased by around GBP16 million, and finance expenses in connection to the deal may increase to up to GBP22 million.
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Just Retirement Group and Partnership Assurance Group both announced share placings in relation to the all-share merger between the two companies. Just Retirement, the retirement products company, and smaller rival Partnership Assurance said the two issues will raise a total of GBP150.0 million to back their proposed merger, under which they will combine under the name JRP Group PLC.
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Drax Group said it will pull out as a partner of the consortium developing the White Rose carbon capture and storage project. The company said it "remained committed" to fulfilling the front-end engineering and design work on the carbon, capture and storage project, but said once completed, it will not invest any further funds into the project and will withdraw as a partner. The White Rose project is led by Capture Power Ltd, a consortium of Drax, Alstom and BOC, which is aiming to develop a project capable of of capturing up to 90% of carbon emissions from a new coal-fired power plant and storing it underneath the UK North Sea.
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COMPANIES - LONDON MAIN MARKET AND AIM
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Tool and equipment hire company HSS Hire Group said its chief executive will step down from the company and be replaced by its chief operating officer, a move that comes following a torrid time for the company characterised by tough trading conditions and profit warnings. HSS said Chris Davies, who has been with the company for nine years, will leave the chief executive role and will be replaced with immediate effect by John Gill. Davies will remain with the company until the end of the year to help with the transition.
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CVS Group lifted its dividend for its recently ended financial year as it reported a rise in pretax profit, and said its outlook "remains very promising". For the year to end-June, the veterinary services provider reported a pretax profit of GBP8.5 million, up from GBP6.3 million a year before, as revenue rose to GBP167.3 million from GBP142.9 million. The company proposed a final and total dividend of 3.0 pence per share, up from 2.5p a year before.
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Falkland Oil and Gas said it has agreed with Rockhopper Exploration and Premier Oil to drill another well on the Isobel/Elaine complex to replace the planned Jayne East well. The companies are working together offshore the Falkland Islands in the Sea Lion project and plan to recommence exploration drilling in the North Falkland basin in late September. Premier Oil is the operator of the project with a 36% stake, with Falkland Oil and Gas holding a 40% stake and Rockhopper Exploration holding the balance.
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Pub companies Fuller, Smith & Turner and Young & Co's Brewery are understood to be among those seeking to buy a set of central London drinking venues, Sky News reported. Fuller and Young's are among those to have lodged bids to buy Cubitt House, which owns three pubs in Belgravia and one north of Oxford Street. The portfolio includes some of the capital's best-known pubs, including The Orange, The Alfred Tennyson and The Grazing Goat.
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COMPANIES - INTERNATIONAL
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German automaker Volkswagen is poised to name Matthias Mueller, the head of its Porsche Sports car brand, as its new chief executive amid the widening diesel emissions scandal, according to media reports. Mueller, aged 62, will succeed Martin Winterkorn, who resigned on Wednesday after taking responsibility for the emissions scandal that has played havoc with Volkswagen's reputation and market value. Volkswagen's supervisory board will meet on Friday and is expected to name Mueller as the company's new chief executive.
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Japan Tobacco is in talks to buy assets worth about USD5 billion from Reynolds American Inc, including some of the Natural American Spirit tobacco brand, Bloomberg reported citing people familiar with the matter. While discussions are advanced, talks could still fall apart and the size of the deal and the makeup of the assets could still change, the report said.
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Nike, the world's largest athletic shoes and apparel maker, said its first quarter profit rose 23% from last year, helped by higher revenue, improved gross margin and a lower effective tax rate. The company's quarterly earnings per share also came in above analysts' expectations as did its quarterly revenue.
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Friday's Scheduled AGMs/EGMs

Sirius Minerals
Empyrean Energy
Penna Consulting
Victoria
Vela Technologies
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com; @thomaslwaite

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