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LONDON (Alliance News) - Shares have opened mostly higher in London Wednesday, the last day before the UK General Election, amid some good economic data from China.

Imperial Tobacco leads blue-chip gainers, up 2.4%, as investors draw positives from its half-year profit report.

Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: up 0.3% at 6,944.68
FTSE 250: flat at 17,457.95
AIM ALL-SHARE: up 0.2% at 753.15
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Hang Seng: down 0.4% at 27,655.08
Nikkei 225: market closed for holiday
DJIA: closed down 0.8% at 17,928.20
S&P 500: closed down 1.2% at 2,089.46
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GBP: up at USD1.5218
EUR: up at USD1.1245

GOLD: down at USD1,194.19 per ounce
OIL (Brent): up at USD68.34 a barrel

(changes since end of previous GMT day)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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Wednesday's Key Economic Events still to come
(all times in BST)

08:45 Italy Markit Services PMI
08:50 France Markit Services and Composite PMI
08:55 Germany Markit Services and Composite PMI
09:00 EU Markit Services and Composite PMI
09:30 UK Markit Services PMI
10:00 EU Retail Sales
12:00 US MBA Mortgage Applications
13:15 US ADP Employment Change
13:30 US Nonfarm Productivity and Unit Labor Costs Preliminary
15:00 Canada Ivey Purchasing Managers Index
15:30 US EIA Crude Oil Stocks
18:30 US Fed's Lockhart speech
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The Conservatives appear to have a narrow lead going into the final day of campaigning, though the majority of polls still have the UK General Election too close to call 24 hours before voting is set to begin. The latest ComRes poll for the Daily Mail and ITV News has the Tories leading by three points, having gained two points since the last phone poll conducted by the company a week ago. The Tories are on 35%, with Labour losing a point since the last poll to sit at 32%. The two main parties remain neck-and-neck in the daily YouGov/The Sun and in the latest FT/Populus polls. Both have the pair locked at 34%. The Financial Times' national seat projections, providing by university research group Election Forecast, still has the Tories winning the most seats, at 281, with Labour set to win 266. Securing a majority requires 326 seats.
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The National Institute of Economic and Social Research downgraded its growth outlook for the UK ahead of the general election. The think tank forecast 2.5% economic growth this year, which was weaker than the 2.9% projected in February. For 2016, the think tank estimated 2.4% growth. Although growth weakened in the first quarter of 2015, the institute said it is likely to be a temporary deceleration and growth would rebound through the remainder of this year. This will be driven largely by consumer spending, supported by the positive terms of trade effect.
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Shop prices in the UK were down 1.9% on year in April, the British Retail Consortium said. That missed forecasts for a decline of 1.7% following the 2.1% contraction in March. Food prices were down 0.9% on year in April for the second straight month, while non-food prices fell an annual 2.5% after losing 2.8% in the previous month.
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The services sector in China expanded at an accelerated pace in April, the latest survey from HSBC showed on Wednesday, with a PMI score of 52.9. That's up from 52.3 in March.
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Ireland April Services PMI 60.6 versus 60.9 in March
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German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble and his Greek counterpart, Yanis Varoufakis, played down expectations that a breakthrough in Greece's economic crisis will materialize at a meeting of eurozone finance ministers next week. Their statements came as Athens embarked on a diplomatic push ahead of deadlines for two Greek payments to the International Monetary Fund. Greece has been trying to access EUR7.2 billion remaining in its bailout. But Schaeuble told foreign correspondents in Berlin that a prerequisite deal with its creditors is unlikely before the eurozone ministers' meeting on Monday. "I am at the moment...somewhat sceptical about whether this will happen before Monday, but I do not rule it out," Schaeuble said.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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EXANE BNP RAISES VODAFONE TO 'OUTPERFORM' ('NEUTRAL') - PRICE TARGET 270 (220) PENCE
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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J Sainsbury reported a pretax loss for its recently ended financial year, while its underlying profit before tax and revenue also fell, as it invested in price cuts to compete against its rivals in a deflationary food market. The supermarket chain reported a pretax loss of GBP72 million for the year ended March 14, compared with a pretax profit of GBP898 million the year before. Its underlying profit before tax fell 15% to GBP681 million from GBP798 million, while underlying group sales fell 0.9% to GBP26.1 billion from GBP26.4 billion. Sainsbury's will pay a full-year dividend of 13.2 pence per share, down 24% from the 17.3p paid last year.
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Imperial Tobacco reported lower operating profit for the first half of its financial year as total tobacco volume declined, partly due to reduced sales in Iraq, but its results improved excluding the impact of a stock optimisation programme it undertook last year, partly thanks to price increases and growth for its key brands. The company reported an operating profit of GBP959 million for the six months to the end of March, down from GBP978 million a year earlier, as revenue declined to GBP12.13 billion from GBP12.63 billion on the back of a 1% decline in total tobacco volume to 138.2 billion.
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Irish building materials company CRH predicted strong growth in operating earnings in the first half of 2015 and further growth in the second half, even when its expected acquisition of business from Lafarge and Holcim are excluded, as it got off to a "satisfactory" start to the year. In a statement, the company said it expects to deliver growth in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of close to 10% on a constant currency basis in the first half of the year and then "further progress" in the more important second half of the year.
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The Sage Group said it remains on track to meet its financial targets for its current financial year, as it saw revenue rise 6.5% in its first half. The company is targeting 6% organic revenue growth and 28% operating margin in its current financial year. In the half year to end-March, the company posted a pretax profit of GBP172.6 million, up from GBP170.9 million a year before, as revenue rose to GBP699.2 million from GBP656.5 million. Sage proposed an interim dividend of 4.45 pence, up from 4.12 pence a year before.
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Aerospace engineer GKN said sales rose 1% in the first quarter of 2015, as a benefit from the strengthening of the US dollar against sterling was largely offset by disposals, and its trading margin was also up thanks to the exchange rate movement boost. In a trading update, the maker of wings and parts for Airbus aircraft said its main markets performed in line with expectations in the three months to end-March, with its automotive business continuing to outperform, its aerospace unit meeting the company's hopes, while its Land Systems business continued to face challenging agricultural markets in North America.
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Direct Line Insurance Group said it is in a good position to meet the goals it has set for 2015, even as the insurer reported lower gross written premium for the first quarter. In a statement, the home and motor insurer said that gross written premium for its continuing operations fell to GBP746.5 million in the three months ended March 31, compared with GBP753.3 million in the corresponding quarter of the prior year. Premium from motor, home and commercial business was down, partly offset by higher premium from rescue and other personal lines of business.
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Legal & General Group said its first-quarter cash generation increased, driven by growth in its stock of assets. In a statement, the group said that net cash generation was GBP326 million in the three months ended March 31, compared with GBP301 million in the corresponding quarter of the prior year.
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Intu Properties said its key operating metrics have been stable so far in 2015, with footfall in its retail properties unchanged and occupancy falling to 94% from 95% reflecting seasonal patterns. The retail property investor said it was seeing a continued improvement in retailer demand, with 44 new long-term leases agreed in the weeks from the start of the year to May 6 for GBP7 million in new annual rent, 10% above previous passing rent and in line with valuation assumptions.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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JD Wetherspoon said its like-for like sales in the 13 weeks to April 26 increased by 1.7%, while total sales were up by 5.8%, but its operating margin fell from the corresponding period last year. In a statement, the pub chain said that its operating margin in the 13 weeks to April 26 was 7.5%, compared with 8.0% in the corresponding period of the prior year. It expects its operating margin to be in the region of 7.3% to 7.7% for the full-year ending in July. The pub chain said like-for-like sales increased by 3.6% and total sales increased by 7.9% in the 39 weeks to April 26.
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Inmarsat maintained its expectations for 2015 and its longer-term guidance, as lower revenue from its cooperation agreement with LightSquared Inc and the sale of some retail-energy related assets led to a fall in pretax profit in its first quarter. The satellite services company posted a pretax profit of USD96.3 million for the quarter to end-March, down from USD126.3 million a year before, as revenue declined to USD304.8 million from USD344.7 million. Its expectations for the full year are unchanged, the company said.
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SuperGroup reported growth in sales for the fourth quarter of its financial year and in the full year as a whole and said it expects its underlying profit for the year to meet previous guidance. The retailer reported revenue for the 15 weeks to April 25 of GBP134.8 million, up from GBP113.8 million in the same period the year before, while revenue for the full financial year grew 12.5% to GBP484.7 million from GBP430.9 million. SuperGroup said the strong performance within its retail division was sustained, following "clearance activity" in the third quarter, and benefited from softer comparatives.
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Public transport company National Express Group said it is on track to meet its expectations for the year on the back of revenue growth across its divisions in the first four months of the year. The company said revenue in the first quarter rose 4% at constant currencies, with passenger volumes rising by 2% across its divisions. Group profit is ahead year-on-year so far in 2015, the company said, after adjusting for costs related to poor weather conditions in North America and the strike which hit the company in Spain last year and after absorbing increased premium charges for its c2c franchise this year.
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Poundland Group said it has decided to proceed with the phase-two review of its GBP55 million takeover of rival 99p Stores Ltd by the UK's Competition and Markets Authority. FTSE 250-listed Poundland said in April it had decided not to offer any remedies to the competition regulator and had written to the CMA to request the standard three-week suspension of the start of the phase two review of the deal.
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Tullett Prebon said the performance of PVM Oil Associated has been ahead of its expectations since completing the acquisition of the oil futures broker in November. In a statement, the interdealer broker said its total revenue for the first four months of 2015 increased to GBP284 million from GBP248 million in the corresponding period of the prior year, with the increase being a result of acquiring PVM. Excluding PVM, revenue was "unchanged" and 2% lower at constant exchange rates, according to Tullett.
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Acacia Mining said it has secured final approval for the start of mining at the Gokona underground gold mining project in North Mara in Tanzania. Acacia said the timing of the approval with the environmental impact assessment conducted on the site is in line with its expectations, with commercial production from the mine set to start in late in the second quarter of 2015 and production to ramp up over the course of the year.
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Packaging company DS Smith said it is trading in line with expectations and with its medium-term growth targets as its underlying growth offsets a continued challenge posed to its results by the strength of sterling. The group said its outlook remains positive and it is trading in line with its medium-term financial targets, in spite of economic challenges in a number of its key markets.
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COMPANIES - LONDON MAIN MARKET AND AIM
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GAME Digital poached House of Fraser Chief Financial Officer Mark Gifford as its own finance chief from October, succeeding Benedict Smith who announced he would be stepping down in March.
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Xtract Resources said concentrate gold grades at the Chepica mine in Chile have been increased ten-fold following the start of surface mining at the site, boosting its revenue and with expectations that revenue from the site will increase significantly in May. Xtract said gold concentrate grades at the site have been increased to more than 400 grams per tonne, from 40 grams per tonne previously, with copper and silver values both remaining stable. The higher grade has pushed up Xtract's revenue from the site, and revenue is now expected to increase significantly in March from the sale of the concentrate.
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COMPANIES - INTERNATIONAL
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Anheuser-Busch InBev reported that its first-quarter profit attributable to equity holders of the company climbed to USD2.68 billion from last year's USD1.37 billion. Normalized profit attributable to equity holders of AB InBev was USD2.294 billion, compared to USD1.416 billion a year ago, driven by strong top line growth and favorable net finance results. Revenue, meanwhile, declined to USD10.45 billion from USD10.61 billion last year. On an organic basis, revenue grew 6.2% in the quarter, with revenue per hl growth of 7.5% on both a reported and constant geographic mix basis, driven by revenue management and premiumization initiatives.
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US antitrust officials are scrutinizing Apple's efforts to line up deals with record labels as it prepares to debut a new version of the Beats Music streaming service, Bloomberg reported citing people familiar with the matter. The report said that the Federal Trade Commission is looking at whether Apple is using its position as the largest seller of music downloads through its iTunes store to put rival music services such as Spotify at a disadvantage.
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Microsoft is evaluating a bid for Salesforce.com, after the cloud software provider was approached by another would-be buyer, Bloomberg reported citing people familiar with the matter. Salesforce reportedly is working with two investment banks to determine a response to approaches. Quoting the people, the report said that Microsoft isn't in talks with Salesforce, and no deal is imminent, the people said.
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French lender Societe Generale reported that its first-quarter group net income surged to EUR868 million from the prior year's EUR169 million. Group net income pro forma for the effect of the new accounting and regulatory rules was EUR1.078 billion, compared to EUR415 million last year. The prior year result included a goodwill write-down amounted to EUR525 million. The group's net banking income rose to EUR6.353 billion from last year's EUR5.656 billion in the prior year.
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BMW Group reported first-quarter net profit of EUR1.52 billion, 4% higher than last year's EUR1.46 billion. Profit before tax improved 5.1% to EUR2.27 billion. Group revenues went up by 15% to EUR20.92 billion from EUR18.24 billion last year. Automobile sales volume of the BMW Group climbed 8.1% to 526,669 units. The company confirmed earnings outlook for the current year.
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Wednesday's Scheduled AGMs/EGMs

National Express
4imprint
Carillion
Tullett Prebon
Costain
Howden Joinery
Medaphor
Amerisur Resources
Inmarsat
Intu Properties
Serco
Standard Chartered
BHP Billiton
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com; @thomaslwaite

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