Utilitywise Share News (UTW)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Shares are modestly higher Friday with mid-caps slightly outperforming and the pound holding above USD1.70, following a firm close by Wall Street Thursday.

Early focus is on new listing TSB Banking, whose shares are quoted early Friday at 289.50 pence, 11% above its IPO price of 260p. Lloyds Banking increased the stake it offered in the high-street lender to 35% from 25%.

Here is what you need to know at the UK market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: up 0.3% at 6,828.08
FTSE 250: up 0.5% at 15,755.95
AIM ALL-SHARE: flat at 784.39
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Hang Seng: up 0.2% at 23,220.25
Nikkei 225: closed down 0.1% at 15,349.42
DJIA: closed up 0.1% at 16,921.46
S&P 500: closed up 0.1% at 1,959.48
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GBP-USD: up at USD1.7053
EUR-USD: up at USD1.3610

GOLD: down at USD1,310.90 per ounce
OIL (Brent): down at USD114.76 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 British Summer Time)

all day EU EcoFin Meeting
09:00 EU Current Account
09:00 Italy Industrial Sales
09:30 UK Public Sector Net Borrowing
15:00 EU Consumer Confidence Preliminary
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Iraq must move urgently to form a new government that includes all sectors of Iraqi society, not just the Shiite majority, if it is to survive the onslaught of Islamist militants. That was the message Thursday from US President Barack Obama, who is sending military advisors to Iraq and could approve airstrikes if intelligence on the ground is good enough and if the situation warrants. In announcing his decision, Obama made clear that there was "no military solution" to the growing threat within Iraq, but rather a political solution that must come from the Iraqi people themselves.
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US President Barack Obama Thursday said he is prepared to send up to 300 military advisors to Iraq to help the Iraqi military fend off the militant Islamist threat. But he will only deploy "precise military actions" - an apparent reference to the airstrikes requested by the Iraqi government - once intelligence on the ground improves and if the situation demands it. Obama insisted that the presence of advisors would not signal a return to combat in Iraq, and his administration was careful to refer to the military personnel as advisors, not troops. "We do not have the ability to simply solve this problem by sending in tens of thousands of troops and committing the kinds of blood and treasure that has already been expended in Iraq," he said.
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Republicans in the US House of Representatives Thursday elected Kevin McCarthy of California as their new leader to replace the outgoing Eric Cantor, who unexpectedly lost in a primary election earlier in the month. Cantor, a Republican from Virginia, announced that he would step down as majority leader on July 31. McCarthy, 49, who was first elected to the House in 2006, was previously the number three Republican in the chamber and had served as Cantor's majority whip.
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Germany's producer prices declined for the tenth consecutive month in May, Destatis reported. Producer prices were down 0.8% year-over-year in May, but slightly slower than the 0.9% drop seen in April. Economists had forecast a 0.7% fall. Excluding energy, producer prices dropped 0.2% from May 2013. While prices of consumer non-durable goods increased 1.2% annually, prices of intermediate goods decreased 1.3% and cost of energy by 2.6%. On a monthly basis, producer prices slipped 0.2% versus April's 0.1% drop. Prices were expected to remain flat in May.
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Eurozone finance ministers approved the next bailout tranche for Cyprus on Thursday, praising its reform progress, amid concerns that neighbouring Greece is veering off its path to economic health. "Cyprus's positive track record ... has played an important role in enhancing confidence and permitting the successful return to the financial markets," the ministers said in a statement issued after their talks in Luxembourg. The decision puts Cyprus on track to receive EUR600 million from the eurozone's bailout fund in the first half of July, the ministers said, with the International Monetary Fund expected to contribute a further EUR86 million.
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A review of EU rules on budgetary discipline is due to take place at the end of the year, says Jeroen Dijsselbloom, the chief of the Eurogroup of eurozone finance ministers. The decision came following a debate over whether the bloc should focus more on promoting growth. Such a review clause is "baked in" to two sets of rules granting the EU's executive greater scrutiny of national budgets, said EU Economy Commissioner Olli Rehn. "We have a good chance of assessing what works and what might be improved in this context," he added. Meanwhile, International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde said the EU should pay more attention to countries' ratio of debt to gross domestic product - a figure that can be curbed by boosting economic growth.
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Luis Suarez scored twice to give Uruguay victory a 2-1 over England in Group D, all but knocking out Roy Hodgson's team. The Liverpool striker headed Uruguay in front on 39 minutes from an Edinson Cavani cross, losing Phil Jagielka at the back post to head past Joe Hart. Wayne Rooney, who had hit the bar from a Steven Gerrard free-kick before Uruguay scored, equalised in the second half turning in Glen Johnson's cross. But Suarez got the winner running on to a inadvertent flick from Steven Gerrard to fire past Hart. The win means Uruguay join Costa Rica and Italy, who play on Friday in Recife, on three points in Group D.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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PANMURE RAISES SHIRE PRICE TARGET TO 4626 (3800) PENCE - 'BUY'
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SOCGEN RAISES ROLLS-ROYCE TO 'HOLD' ('SELL') - TARGET 1090 (950) PENCE
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DEUTSCHE BANK RAISES ROLLS-ROYCE PRICE TARGET TO 900 (860) PENCE - 'SELL'
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TRADERS: MERRILL LYNCH REMOVED PREMIER OIL FROM MOST PREFERRED OILS LIST
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DEUTSCHE BANK CUTS INFINIS ENERGY TO 'HOLD' ('BUY') - TARGET 240 (220) PENCE
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TRADERS: CITIGROUP RAISES MAN GROUP TO 'NEUTRAL' ('SELL')
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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Lloyds Banking Group PLC increased the stake it is selling in TSB Banking Group PLC, the high-street bank it is divesting to meet conditions of its state bailout during the financial crisis, after investors showed strong appetite for the shares. In a statement, Lloyds said it is selling 35% of the 500 million shares that TSB will have in issue on admission to trading on the London main market, an increase on the initial 25% it was set to sell. The share offer at 260 pence per share will raise GBP455 million gross and give TSB an initial market capitalisation about GBP1.3 billion, which is below its book value of about GBP1.5 billion but is enough to put it into the FTSE 250 index at the next review.
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US pharmaceutical research and development company AbbVie Inc confirmed it has made three indicative takeover approaches which have been rejected by British pharma company Shire PLC, and talks between the two companies have now ended. Shire shares have been soaring in recent weeks, driven by speculation that it would be a target amid a pickup in merger and acquisition activity in the pharmaceuticals sector. In recent weeks, AstraZeneca PLC successfully fended off a takeover approach from US rival Pfizer Inc, while Valeant Pharmaceuticals Inc has taken a USD53 billion offer for Botox maker Allergan Inc direct to shareholders after repeatedly being rebuffed. Allergan was reported previously to have approached Shire.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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High street department store chain Debenhams PLC said like-for-like sales rose slightly in the first 14 weeks of the second half of its financial year, supported an increase in the gross value of transactions. Debenhams said like-for-like sales were up 0.7% in the 14 weeks to June 7, as it recorded a 1.6% increase in gross transaction value, which are sales on a gross basis before adjusting for concessions, consignments and staff discounts. "We expect our revised promotional strategy will continue to result in lower markdown leading to a stronger gross margin performance for the second half," the company said in a statement. Debenhams said its gross margin guidance for the full year remains unchanged, as it still expects to see a decline in margins of between 50 to 70 basis points, hit by heavy discounting earlier in the year, but supported by lower markdown in the second half of the year.
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James Fisher & Sons PLC said it has bought monitoring, instrumentation and testing services company Testconsult Ltd for GBP8.0 million in cash, a deal that will extend the range of services offered by its own monitoring business Strainstall, particularly in international markets. In a statement, James Fisher said Testconsult made earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation of GBP1.4 million for the year ended March 31.
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Balfour Beatty PLC said it has reached financial close for phase one of the Texas A&M University student accommodation project valued at USD104 million. Phase one of the development at College Station, Texas will feature 1,274 beds configured in apartment designs, as well as community areas and other amenities for the university's undergraduate population. This is the first phase of a two-phase project with an estimated combined value of USD200 million.
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Interserve Completes USD350M Issue Of US Private Placement Loan Notes
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COMPANIES - ALL-SHARE AND AIM
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Globalworth Real Estate Investments Ltd said it has acquired 30,000 square meters of land in Bucharest, close to its flagship mixed-use development Boc Tower for EUR14.3 million. The real estate company did not name the seller.
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Polar Capital FY Pretax Profit Of GBP32.7M Vs GBP15.3M; Assets Under Management At March 31 Of USD13.2Bn Vs USD7.2Bn; Declares Dividend For The Year Of 25.0P Per Share Vs 13.0P; Says Q1 Of Current Financial Year Has Seen More Challenging Market Conditions
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Utilitywise Says Some Directors, Employees Selling 10.4M Shares Following Incentive Plan Maturation
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Cupid Says Has Made Significant Progress In H1; H1 Ebitda Loss About GBP3M, Better Than Hoped; Estmates H1 Revenue At About GBP7M
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Reach4Entertainment Says Trading In Current Financial Year Will Be More Equally Balanced Between Half Year Periods; Says Theatre And Live Entertainment Arm Has Performed Strongly
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Alecto Minerals Announces 28% Increase In Independent Mineral Resources Estimate For Gourbassi To 247K Ounces Gold; Says Resource Increase At Mali Project Follows Additional Drilling At Gourbassi West
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Mosman Oil and Gas Raises GBP3.0M By Placing 13.0M New Shares At 23p
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Tritax Big Box Looking To Raise GBP150M In Placing, Open Offer And Offer For Subscription; Looking To Move From Specialist Fund Market To The Premium Listing Segment Of The Official List
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Elektron Technology Got Several Takeover Approaches During Review; Says Most Attractive Approach 10P A Share; Says Approach Was Rejected By 2 Major Shareholders
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Friday's Scheduled AGMs/EGMs

Cupid
Eland Oil & Gas
Lekoil
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com; @thomaslwaite

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