Wood Group (J) Share News (WG.)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Growing concern about Greece and an ambiguous statement from the US Federal Reserve have left UK share prices weak early Thursday.

Poundland and Premier Farnell lead FTSE 250 decliners, off 5.1% and 4.6%, respectively.

Discount retailer Poundland reported a rise in profit in its recently-ended financial year, as sales broke through the GBP1 billion mark for the first time, but said sales growth is slowing in the new year.

Premier Farnell said sales per day grew 5.4% in the first quarter of its financial year, but it warned that it is continuing to battle adverse exchange rate movements, particularly the weakness of the euro.

Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: down 0.2% at 6,665.66
FTSE 250: down 0.2% at 17,662.83
AIM ALL-SHARE: down 0.3% at 763.83
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Hang Seng: down 0.3% at 26,666.69
Nikkei 225: closed down 1.1% at 19,990.82
DJIA: closed up 0.2% at 17,935.74
S&P 500: closed up 0.2% at 2,100.44
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GBP: flat at USD1.5831
EUR: up at USD1.1349

GOLD: up at USD1,187.97 per ounce
OIL (Brent): down at USD63.53 a barrel

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

08:30 Switzerland SNB interest rate decision and press conference
09:00 EU Economic Bulletin
09:30 UK Retail Sales
10:00 EU Labour cost
10:15 EU Targeted LTRO
13:30 US Initial and Continuing Jobless Claims
13:30 US Current Account
14:30 US Consumer Price Index
15:00 US Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Survey
15:00 US CB Leading Indicator
15:30 US EIA Natural Gas Storage
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With no sign of progress between negotiators for Greece and its international creditors, EU officials have all but ruled out a deal in time for a meeting of eurozone finance ministers Thursday in Luxembourg. Eurogroup chief Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the Dutch finance minister, stressed that his fellow finance ministers would not be prepared to make much in the way of concessions: "If we conclude a deal that undermines the credibility of the eurozone, then that will explode in front of our eyes." The Eurogroup meeting has been viewed as one of the last opportunities to achieve a breakthrough in the long-running talks. Contingency plans are now being considered in Brussels. European Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis said: "There are of course some discussions also on less favourable scenarios." Greece's central bank urged Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Wednesday to compromise or face a possible Greek exit from the EU. "Failure to reach an agreement would...mark the beginning of a painful course that would lead initially to a Greek default and ultimately to the country's exit from the euro area and - most likely - from the EU," Bank of Greece Governor Yannis Stournaras said in a report on monetary policy for 2014-15.
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Despite a modest improvement in the US economic outlook, the Federal Reserve offered no explicit guidance indicating that it will soon raise interest rates from zero. As expected, the Fed kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged near zero, where it has been since 2008. Many market watchers thought the Fed would lay further groundwork for a rate hike as soon as September, but policy makers remain reluctant to tip their hand even though economic activity seems to be picking up after a second consecutive rough winter. Only 2 of 17 Fed officials want to wait until 2016 to hike, but the decision to hold off for now was unanimous. A September rate hike is by no means off the table, as the Fed's "dot plot" confirms most members want to see two modest rate hikes before year's end.
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The White House warned that plans by Russian President Vladimir Putin to add at least 40 new intercontinental ballistic missiles to its nuclear arsenal this year were an "escalation" of Russian "sabre rattling" over Ukraine. Spokesman Josh Earnest called the escalation "unnecessary and not constructive." The US is willing to uphold its commitments to the collective defence of NATO allies with action, he said. "We continue to be concerned by sabre rattling that does nothing to de-escalate conflict in that region of the world, and it's why we continue to take very seriously our Article V commitments under the NATO treaty, and continue to take steps that we believe are necessary to prepare for the collective defence of the US and our allies," he said.
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Controversial election reforms were voted down by legislators in Hong Kong after the bill triggered the biggest unrest in years in the Chinese territory. Just 36 legislators voted, with eight voting in favour of the reform package and 28 voting against, according to reports. The Beijing-backed reforms needed at least a two-thirds majority to pass. About 30 pro-establishment lawmakers walked out of the Legislative Council chamber less than a minute ahead of the vote, South China Morning Post reported. The reform would have allowed the direct election of the city's next chief executive, but from a list of candidates pre-approved by Beijing. The pan-democrats want publicly nominated candidates.
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China invested more than CNY278.4 billion in overseas markets in the first five months of 2015, China's Ministry of Commerce said. China's outbound direct investment surged 47.4% during the period and covered 3,426 overseas-based companies across 146 countries and regions, the ministry said. Meanwhile the latest data showed foreign direct investment into China increased at a slower rate of 11.1% year on year in the first four months of 2015, settling at CNY273.61 billion.
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China will increase its targets for cutting carbon emissions ahead of a key UN climate change conference later this year, media reports said. In 2009, China pledged to cut emissions by 40 to 45% per unit of economic growth within a decade, and the new target would be even more aggressive, the South China Morning Post reported. The new target would cover up to 2030, and officials said details could be released later this week, the report said.
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With three more deaths reported, the fatality rate in an outbreak of an infectious respiratory disease in South Korea climbed to its highest level so far, according to government figures. The latest victims, all over 60 and two of whom had pre-existing medical conditions, brought the death toll to 23 in the nearly month-long outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, or MERS, Yonhap News Agency reported.
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Several people were shot dead at an African American church in the US late Wednesday, CNN reported, citing a source close to the police investigation. It reported the death toll as nine in a later news flash. The killings happened at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina. The shooter was a white man in his 20s and was still at large, police said.
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The 10-dollar bill will be the first US paper money to bear the face of a woman, the Treasury said. "The new USD10 will feature a notable woman," it said, calling on members of the public to make suggestions. She will replace Alexander Hamilton, one of the US founding fathers, an aide to George Washington, and the first Secretary of the Treasury. He also led the establishment of a national bank.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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EXANE BNP RAISES MEGGITT TO 'NEUTRAL' ('UNDERPERFORM') - TARGET 475 PENCE
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TRADERS: INVESTEC CUTS PEARSON TO 'REDUCE' ('HOLD')
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TRADERS: CANACCORD RAISES RECKITT BENCKISER TO 'HOLD' ('SELL')
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TRADERS: NUMIS RAISES REED ELSEVIER TO 'ADD' ('HOLD')
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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Housebuilder Barratt Developments poached William Hill's Finance Director Neil Cooper as its new chief financial officer, although it isn't clear when he will make the transition. Barratt Developments said Cooper will join once he's filled "his contractual obligations to his existing employer". Betting operator William Hill said he has a 12 month notice period "but his actual departure date will be confirmed in due course. In the meantime, Neil will continue with his existing responsibilities". William Hill is now starting to search for a successor to Cooper.
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Media buying giant WPP said its GroupM unit has bought digital media and marketing services company Greenhouse Group in the Netherlands. It didn't provide any financial details about the transaction.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Poundland Group reported a rise in profit in its recently-ended financial year as sales broke through the GBP1 billion mark for the first time and it continues expanding its store estate in the UK, Ireland and Spain. The discount retailer reported a pretax profit in the year to March 29 of GBP36.2 million, a rise of more than half the GBP21.5 million made the year before. Revenue was GBP1.1 billion, up 12% on the GBP997.8 million reported the prior year, which it said was driven by contributions from both its store-opening programme and like-for-like sales growth.
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Premier Farnell said sales per day grew 5.4% in the first quarter of its financial year, with most of the growth driven by further strong demand for the Raspberry Pi single board computers, but it warned that it is continuing to battle adverse exchange rate movements, particularly the weakness of the euro. The electronics distributor said sales per day rose 5.9% in Europe, 2.2% in the Americas, and 16.2% in Asia Pacific between February 2 and May 3.
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Playtech unveiled plans for an equity fundraising, with the sale of new shares in the gambling and financial trading company to fund the proposed purchase of Plus500 and other acquisitions. In a statement, Playtech said it is placing up to 29.1 million new shares with investors through an accelerated bookbuild, with the pricing of the shares yet to be determined. The shares equate to 9.9% of the company's existing shares in issue. Brickington, the company's largest shareholder, wants to take up about one-third of the placing so it can maintain its 33.6% stake in the company.
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John Wood Group said it has been awarded an offshore maintain potential programme contract by Saudi Aramco for greenfield and brownfield engineering services, procurement, and construction management support for new facilities in the Arabian Gulf. It did not give any financial details about the contract, but said it is a six-year deal with the option for two three-year renewals.
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COMPANIES - INTERNATIONAL
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The Swiss big banks have continued to improve their capital situation and already complied with most of the 'too big to fail' regulations and the international Basel III norms, the Swiss National Bank said in its Financial Stability Report. The bank cautioned that substantial risks remain despite an improvement in the international economic and financial conditions for the Swiss banking sector.
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Fitbit, maker of wearable activity trackers, priced its initial public offering at USD20 a share ahead of the start of trading on Thursday. It had previously said its IPO price range would be between USD17 and USD19 a share. At the 20-dollar-a-share level the San Francisco-based company will raise USD732 million for itself and its selling stockholders - up from an estimate of USD656 million based on the initial price range. The company also increased the number of shares to be sold from 34.5 million to 36.6 million. Shares in the popular fitness tracking device maker will begin trading on Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol FIT.
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Swiss drug giant Novartis said it expects to increase core margin in constant currencies in 2015 in line with 2015 full year guidance, due to portfolio transformation and productivity improvements. The company said its portfolio transformation is largely completed, with the last step - the divestiture of the influenza vaccines business to CSL - expected to close in the second half of 2015.
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Oracle Corp said its fourth quarter profit fell 24% from last year, hurt significantly by a stronger US dollar. The company's quarterly earnings per share, excluding items, also came in below analysts' expectations as did its quarterly revenue.
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The US Federal Communications Commission said it plans to fine AT&T Mobility USD100 million for misleading its customers about unlimited mobile data plans. The FCC's investigation alleged that AT&T severely slowed down the data speeds for customers with unlimited data plans and that the company failed to adequately notify its customers that they could receive speeds slower than the normal network speeds AT&T advertised.
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Thursday's Scheduled AGMs/EGMs

Taliesin Property Fund
Tower Resources
Goldenport Holdings
BlackRock Smaller Companies Trust
Petropavlovsk
Evraz
HC Slingsby
Aureus Mining
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com; @thomaslwaite

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