TCM.L Share News (TCM)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Strong stock-market performances in the US and Asia overnight gave London a firm open Wednesday, led by miners Antofagasta, Anglo American, BHP Billiton and Glencore.

Television broadcaster ITV led FTSE 100 decliners, off 3.1%, following its 2015 earnings release.

FTSE Russell will release the result of its quarterly FTSE index review after the London equities close. Paddy Power Betfair and Mediclinic International are set to join the FTSE 100 after growing bigger from their recent mergers.

The betting firm and the hospital operator are expected to be joined by business-information publisher Informa and Wm Morrison Supermarkets, which bounces back into the blue-chip index having just been relegated in the last FTSE index review in December.

Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
----------
MARKETS
----------
FTSE 100: up 0.6% at 6,189.50
FTSE 250: up 0.5% at 16,876.94
AIM ALL-SHARE: flat at 696.98
----------
Hang Seng: closed up 3.1% at 20,003.49
Nikkei 225: closed up 4.1% at 16,746.55
DJIA: closed up 2.1% at 16,865.08
S&P 500: closed up 2.4% at 1,978.35
----------
GBP: up at USD1.3978 (USD1.3928)
EUR: up at USD1.0873 (USD1.0851)

GOLD: down at USD1,227.67 per ounce (USD1,233.30)
OIL (Brent): firm at USD36.61 a barrel (USD36.47)

(changes since previous London equities close)
----------
ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
----------
Wednesday's Key Economic Events still to come
(all times in GMT)

09:30 UK PMI Construction
10:00 EU Producer Price Index
12:00 US MBA Mortgage Applications
13:15 US ADP Employment Change
14:45 US ISM New York index
15:30 US EIA Crude Oil Stocks
19:00 US Fed's Beige Book
----------
The UK government is stepping up its warnings over the dangers of leaving the EU, with a fresh analysis by officials concluding that any of the alternative arrangements for relations with Europe would leave Britain worse off. The paper, which looks at arrangements adopted by Norway, Switzerland and Canada as well as the option of falling back on World Trade Organisation rules, is expected to say each would carry serious risks if they were adopted by the UK. Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said the "hard-headed analysis" showed it was working people who would pay the price, with lost jobs and higher prices, if the country votes for "out" in the referendum on June 23.
----------
UK shop prices declined for the thirty-forth consecutive month in February, British Retail Consortium said. Shop prices declined 2% year-on-year in February, faster than January's 1.8% fall. Food prices returned to deflationary territory, falling 0.4% in February reversing a 0.1% rise in January. Meanwhile, non-food deflation remained at 3% for the third straight month. "With consumer confidence falling back and wage growth remaining subdued, retailers continue to support their customers with prices and promotions to maintain market share in the tough trading environment," BRC Chief Executive Helen Dickinson said.
----------
China's credit rating outlook was downgraded by Moody's, premised on weak fiscal metrics, a fall in reserve buffers and uncertainty about the government's ability to implement reforms. Moody's Investors Service lowered the outlook to 'negative' from 'stable', while affirming the government bond ratings. The sizeable foreign exchange reserve buffers give the authorities time to implement reforms and gradually address imbalances in the economy. This underpins the decision to retain its Aa3 rating, Moody's said.
----------
Frontrunners Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump were the big winners on Super Tuesday, as the race for the White House in November begins to see clarity. Neither candidate was in position to lock down enough delegates to secure a nomination, but both were able to consolidate their leads as clear favourites. Trump was the winner in Republican primaries in Virginia, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Vermont, Arkansas and Massachusetts. Ted Cruz won his home state of Texas, and added Oklahoma to give him three wins overall after opening on top in Iowa. Marco Rubio finally broke into the win column with a victory in the Minnesota caucuses. Clinton, the former First Lady and Secretary of State, picked up wins in Virginia, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Arkansas, Massachusetts and Texas. Bernie Sanders won his home state of Vermont, as well as Oklahoma, Minnesota and Colorado.
----------
BROKER RATING CHANGES
----------
GOLDMAN CUTS PEARSON TO 'SELL' ('NEUTRAL') - TARGET 800 (870) PENCE
----------
TRADERS: JEFFERIES RAISES RIGHTMOVE TO 'HOLD' ('UNDERPERFORM')
----------
TRADERS: INVESTEC CUTS PETROFAC TO 'HOLD' ('BUY')
----------
BERENBERG CUTS TELIT COMMUNICATIONS TO 'HOLD' ('BUY') - TARGET 250 (380) PENCE
----------
COMPANIES - FTSE 100
----------
ITV said it expects "another good year" in 2016, after it reported a rise in pretax profit for 2015, increased its regular dividend, and announced a bigger special dividend as well. ITV proposed a final dividend of 4.1 pence per share, taking its total dividend for 2015 to 6.0p, up from 4.7p in 2014. Additionally, it plans a 10.0p per share special dividend, ahead of the 6.25p special dividend it paid in 2014, which ITV said reflects its strong cash generation and confidence in its business. ITV reported a pretax profit of GBP641 million in 2015, up from GBP605 million the year before, on revenue of GBP2.97 billion, up from GBP2.59 billion.
----------
Rolls-Royce Holdings said it has appointed a representative of hedge fund ValueAct Capital to its board, yielding to the demands of the activist investor. ValueAct built up a stake in Rolls-Royce last year after the aerospace group delivered a series of profit warnings, driving down its share price. The fund now owns around an 11% stake in the FTSE 100 engineer and has been pushing for a seat on the board. On Wednesday, it won that battle as Bradley Singer, a ValueAct partner and chief operating officer, was appointed as a non-executive director.
----------
SABMiller confirmed Anheuser-Busch InBev is selling SAB's 49% interest in its Chinese joint venture, China Resources Snow Breweries Ltd to China Resources Beer for USD1.60 billion. CRB already owns the remaining 51% of the joint venture. SABMiller said the sale is in line with AB InBev's commitment to address potential regulatory concerns relating to the GBP71 billion takeover of Anglo-African SABMiller by its Belgian-American rival. The transaction is expected to close in conjunction with the completion of the takeover, which is currently anticipated to occur in the second half of 2016.
----------
Michael Dobson is set to step down as the chief executive of blue-chip fund manager Schroders this week after more than 14 years running the business, the Financial Times reported. Peter Harrison, the head of investment at Schroders, will take over from Dobson, according to people familiar with the matter. He had been widely-tipped as Dobson's heir after being appointed to the board in 2014, the FT said. Dobson's departure is expected to be announced on Thursday alongside Schroders' 2015 results.
----------
Intertek Group booked a big impairment charge in its 2015 results related to the weakness of the oil and gas industry, causing the testing, inspection and certification services company to swing to a significant loss. Intertek said its pretax loss for the year to the end of December was GBP307.7 million, swung from a GBP252.2 million profit a year earlier. The loss was driven by a GBP577.0 million non-cash impairment charge Intertek booked on past acquisitions as a result of the continued difficulties facing its oil and gas-related businesses. Intertek said it will pay a final dividend of 35.3 pence per share, up from 33.1p in 2014, taking its total dividend for 2015 up to 52.3p from 49.1p.
----------
Specialty chemicals company Johnson Matthey said Den Jones will step down from his role as finance director this summer. The company said Jones will step down for personal reasons and following a mutual agreement with Johnson Matthey. The company said the process of recruiting his successor has started and an appointment will be announced in due course. It expects the process to be completed by the time Jones steps down in the summer.
----------
COMPANIES - FTSE 250
----------
Virgin Money Holdings said its pretax profit surged in 2015 as it performed ahead of the wider market on core mortgages, savings and credit card growth. In it first set of full-year results since floating in late 2014, the lender said its pretax profit for the year to the end of December increased to GBP138.0 million from GBP34.0 million a year earlier, helped by higher income and one-off costs it booked the year prior on its listing in London and the acquisition of mortgage lender Northern Rock. Virgin Money will pay a final dividend of 3.1 pence per share, taking its total dividend payout to 4.5p.
----------
Funeral services provider Dignity swung to a pretax profit in 2015 due to financing costs not repeating, though its revenue and underlying results were robust without the one-off boost. Pretax profit for the FTSE 250-listed company was GBP69.0 million, compared to a GBP67.7 million loss a year earlier when Dignity booked significant costs related to its refinancing. Underlying pretax profit, stripping out one-offs, rose to GBP72.2 million from GBP58.5 million. Revenue increased to GBP305.3 million from GBP268.9 million, up 14%, as deaths in the UK rose 7.0% year-on-year to 588,000, the largest growth in the country's death rate for 60 years.
----------
Stagecoach Group said it is on track to meet its expectations for the financial year ending April, with revenue growth in its UK rail and regional bus businesses coming in lower for its second half, as predicted in its interim statement. The transport company reported weaker revenue growth from its UK regional bus and rail businesses during the second half, which meant like-for-like revenue growth in its financial year to February 6 was 0.7% for its regional bus division and 4.6% for its UK rail division. This is in line with trends reported in November by Stagecoach, when it downgraded its adjusted earnings per share guidance for the full year. Stagecoach said that since then its expectation "has not significantly changed".
----------
Discount retailer Poundland Group named Kevin O'Byrne as chief executive to succeed current CEO Jim McCarthy, who is retiring. O'Byrne will begin his role as chief executive designate on April 4 and will then become CEO on July 1. He was previously a director at electronics retailer Dixons Retail, now Dixons Carphone, and at DIY retailer Kingfisher, where he was CEO of B&Q UK and Ireland. McCarthy has been CEO of Poundland since 2006.
----------
Low-cost airline Wizz Air Holdings reported growth in passenger numbers and load factor in February, year-on-year. The Central and Eastern European-focused carrier said its load factor increased by 2.6 percentage points in February to 86.4% from 83.7%, as the number of passengers carried grew 22% to 1.4 million from 1.2 million.
----------
COMPANIES - INTERNATIONAL
----------
Brazilian authorities arrested a Facebook executive for allegedly refusing to cooperate with law enforcement officials, Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper reported. Diego Dzodan, Facebook's vice president for Latin America, was arrested in his apartment in Sao Paulo four months after a judge had asked the company to hand over an exchange on its WhatsApp messaging service between two suspected drug dealers.
----------
The US Securities and Exchange Commission announced that Qualcomm has agreed to pay USD7.5 million to settle charges that it violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by hiring relatives of Chinese government officials deciding whether to select the company's mobile technology products amid increasing competition in the international telecommunications market. An SEC investigation found that Qualcomm also provided gifts, travel, and entertainment to try to influence officials at government-owned telecom companies in China.
----------
US legislators accused the FBI of trying to evade congressional authority in its encryption showdown with Apple, suggesting the agency might be exploiting the San Bernardino terror attack to strengthen its position in a national debate over security and privacy. In a hearing before the House Judiciary Committee, FBI Director James Comey came under bipartisan fire for his agency's attempts to use the courts to force Apple to hack the encryption on an iPhone linked to one of the assailants in the December 2 attack, which killed 14 people.
----------
Wednesday's Scheduled AGMs/EGMs

Driver Group
Regenersis (re disposal of company's repair services business)
----------
By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com; @thomaslwaite

Copyright 2016 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.