Worldpay Group Share News (WPG)

LONDON (Alliance News) - London share prices were enjoying a second straight positive open Tuesday, though much of Monday's early gains were lost by the close.

Early Tuesday, blue-chip gainers were led by Anglo American, up 5.0%. The miner promoted Ruben Fernades to lead its operations in Brazil.

Just behind was Capita, up 3.7%, after the outsourcing firm said it has made a solid start to the year and remains on track to hit market expectations for 2016.

Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: up 0.7% at 6,158.58
FTSE 250: up 0.6% at 16,784.30
AIM ALL-SHARE: flat at 723.66
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Hang Seng: up 0.2% at 20,194.25
Nikkei 225: closed up 2.2% at 16,565.19
DJIA: closed down 0.2% at 17,705.91
S&P 500: closed up 0.1% at 2,058.69
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GBP: flat at USD1.4418 (USD1.4406)
EUR: down at USD1.1383 (USD1.1405)

GOLD: firm at USD1,266.53 per ounce (USD1,266.09)
OIL (Brent): firm at USD44.06 a barrel (USD43.83)

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

07:45 France industrial output
07:45 France budget
09:00 Italy industrial output
09:30 UK trade balance
11:00 US NFIB business optimism index
15:00 US JOLTS job openings
15:00 US wholesale inventories
21:30 US API weekly crude oil stocks
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China's consumer price inflation remained stable yet again below the government's full-year target in April and producer prices dropped at a slower pace from last year, providing ample space for policy maneuver, official data revealed. Consumer prices climbed 2.3% on a yearly basis for the third straight month in April, the National Bureau of Statistics reported. The annual rate matched economists' expectations and remained below the full-year target of 3%. Another report from the NBS showed that producer prices declined by a less-than-expected 3.4% in April from last year. Economists had forecast prices to decrease 3.7% after easing 4.3% in March.
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Warnings that Britain leaving the EU would damage Western security have been backed by former Nato chiefs and senior Washington figures - in a boost to UK Prime Minister David Cameron. Pro-Brexit campaigners led by Boris Johnson dismissed the Prime Minister's claim that peace in Europe could be threatened by a Leave vote - arguing NATO, not Brussels, had been the key to security. In a concerted pitch to voters to back continued membership, five former secretaries general of the transatlantic alliance said pulling out would "give succour to the West's enemies". And 13 former US secretaries of state and defence and national security advisers said Europe would be "dangerously weakened" and cautioned Britain not to believe its close ties with Washington would compensate.
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Like-for-like sales in the UK were down 0.9% on year in April, the British Retail Consortium said. That was well shy of forecasts for an increase of 0.5% and it followed the 0.7% decline in March. Overall retail sales were roughly flat on year. "Overall, flat total sales mask a very mixed picture; some retailers benefiting from the healthy housing market, while others are evidently more susceptible to the effects of lower consumer confidence and a higher proportion of disposable income going into leisure and entertainment," said Helen Dickinson, BRC's chief executive.
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Permanent job placements in the UK grew at the weakest pace in seven months in April, the Report on Jobs compiled by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation and Markit Economics showed. The number of people placed in permanent jobs rose again in April. However, the rate of growth eased to the lowest since September 2015 amid reports of increased client uncertainty. At the same time, temporary and contract staff billings grew at the strongest rate in thirteen months in April.
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Eurozone finance ministers expressed hope that a deal allowing cash-strapped Greece to tap further bailout aid and ease its debt burden can be reached within the next two weeks but warned that tough work still lies ahead. Athens and its creditors have struggled for months to agree on new reforms and cost-cutting measures that will allow Greece to receive the next tranche of its third, EUR86 billion bailout, fuelling fears that it is headed back towards bankruptcy. But pension cuts and income tax hikes voted by the Greek parliament late Sunday helped reinvigorate the negotiations. Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos described the talks on Monday in Brussels with his eurozone counterparts as "very good" for Greece and Europe.
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Despite heartbreaking scenes of utter destruction, firefighters managed to protect most of the oil town of Fort McMurray in the western Canadian province of Alberta, officials said after touring the devastated town. Alberta Premier Rachel Notley joined with a group of government officials and journalists to see for the first time the destruction caused by the raging wildfire after it roared through Fort McMurray last Tuesday. Notley credited the firefighters' heroism for helping stop the ferocious blaze that was capable of "levelling blocks and blocks of houses."
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Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff said she was surprised by the decision of the interim head of the country's House of Deputies to overturn last month's vote by the lower chamber to impeach her. Waldir Maranhao cited procedural mistakes in making his decision to annul the April 17 vote and call for a new vote. Rousseff said on Twitter that she had not officially received the information and did not know the consequences of Maranhao's decision. Opposition parliamentarians said they would go to the Supreme Court to block Maranhao's decision, news portal G1 reported. Pauderney Avelino, a deputy in the lower chamber, said the impeachment is now before the Senate and therefore cannot be reversed by the House.
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Russia and the US vowed to put pressure on both the Syrian government and rebel forces to shore up a crumbling ceasefire after more than two weeks of deadly clashes and airstrikes in the north of the country. A joint statement from the two countries said that Moscow, a close ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, would "work with Syrian authorities" to cut down on air operations over civilian areas. Airstrikes on a hospital and a refugee camp in rebel-held areas of northern Syria in recent weeks killed an estimated 80 people, causing international outrage. The opposition, which has no air force, blamed the government for both strikes.
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Iran's defence minister denied that Iranian forces have tested a medium-range missile with improved accuracy compared to its predecessors. "We have not conducted such a test," said Hussein Dehghan, according to the ISNA news agency. His comments followed a statement by an unidentified high-ranking military official quoted by the Tasnim news agency as saying a rocket with a range of 2,000 kilometres had been tested two weeks ago.
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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un received a new designation from the ruling Workers' Party on Monday, the last day of the party's first congress in more than 30 years, according to media reports. Kim Yong Nam, chairman of the presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly, introduced Kim as the party's chairman, a symbolic move meant to officially endorse his leadership, Japanese media reported from Pyongyang. The new title came four days into the rare gathering, the first in which foreign journalists were allowed inside. The BBC reported that one of its journalists was expelled from the country along with his team because he had been "speaking very ill of the system" in his reporting. Reporter Rupert Wingfield-Hayes, producer Maria Byrne and camera operator Matthew Goddard were detained Friday when they were about to leave the isolated communist country. They remained in Pyongyang over the weekend and flew to Beijing on Monday, the BBC said.
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If Donald Trump manages to become president, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie will lead his transition to the White House, the presumptive Republican nominee announced. The Trump campaign said the selection of Christie as Transition Team chairman comes as the real estate tycoon continues to take critical steps to gear up for the general election.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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Berenberg Initiates Worldpay Group With Buy, Target At 327p
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TRADERS: CITIGROUP RAISES FOXTONS TO 'NEUTRAL' ('SELL')
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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easyJet said it swung to a loss in the first half of its financial year due to negative movements in foreign exchange rates, and warned about the effect the recent terrorist attacks in Brussels will have on its third-quarter performance, but it increased its dividend payout ratio. The low-cost airline said it suffered a GBP24 million pretax loss in the six months ended March 31, having made a GBP7 million pretax profit in the first half of the prior year. easyJet said it will increase its annual dividend payout ratio to 50% of post-tax income from 40% previously.
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Anglo American said it has chosen Ruben Fernades to lead the company's operations in Brazil as the miner shuffles its management whilst progressing with its restructuring efforts. Fernades will become the chief executive of Anglo American in Brazil from June 20 and his primary focus will be on the company's iron ore operations, including the Minas Rio mine.
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Outsourcer Capita said it has made a solid start to the year and remains on track to hit market expectations for 2016. The company, which handles back-office tasks on behalf of a range of private and public sector clients, said it has secured GBP458.0 million in major contracts in 2016 so far.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Bovis Homes Group said it is on track to deliver its planned growth for 2016 as sales prices continue to rise and said the upcoming UK vote on EU membership in June has had "no discernible impact" on the business. The housebuilder said the housing market conditions remain positive, with strong demand from home buyers benefiting from good access to mortgage finance and growth in its sales prices, driven by its "improving mix of homes". Bovis said weekly sales rates have improved in recent weeks and in the year to date, it has achieved 0.65 net private reservations per site, in line with a year earlier.
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Builders' merchant and DIY company Grafton Group said it has enjoyed a "broadly positive" start to the year across its end-markets, but noted uncertainty over the outcome of the UK referendum on European Union membership appears to be having a bearing on current activity levels. Grafton said revenue in the four months to the end of April was GBP790.0 million, up 13% from GBP698.0 million for the same period a year earlier. In constant currency this was 12% higher than the same period a year earlier.
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Specialty insurer Hiscox posted a rise in gross written premiums in the first quarter and said it saw a strong performance from all its business segments. Hiscox said gross written premiums in the first quarter grew to GBP640.5 million from GBP561.7 million in the first quarter to the end of March.
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Spirax-Sarco Engineering said organic sales were broadly in line with 2015 in the first four months of 2016 and said it is keeping a tight control on costs amid a still-uncertain industrial market. The company, which makes steam management systems and peristaltic pumps, said organic sales, stripping out acquisitions effects and in constant currencies, were in line with trends seen over 2015 in the first four months of 2016.
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COMPANIES - INTERNATIONAL
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Credit Suisse Group reported its first-quarter net loss attributable to shareholders was CHF302 million, compared to net income of CHF1.05 billion in the year-earlier period. Net revenue for the quarter fell 30% to CHF4.64 billion from CHF6.65 billion in the same period last year. Tidjane Thiam, chief executive officer, said: "In the first three months of the year, we have remained focused on executing our strategy with three clear priorities: accelerating our cost and headcount reduction efforts, delivering profitable growth in wealth management focused divisions and maintaining our strong capital position. We have been able to make good progress in all of these areas against an extremely challenging market backdrop."
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Dutch banking firm ING Group reported its first-quarter net result plunged 29% to EUR1.257 billion from last year's EUR1.769 billion. The latest results included profit on sales of NN Group shares in January. ING Bank underlying net result was EUR842 million despite a significant increase in regulatory expenses. The prior year's underlying net result was EUR1.187 billion. Total underlying income dropped 5.7% to EUR4.09 billion from EUR4.34 billion a year ago.
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Nokia reported its loss attributable to equity holders of the parent for the first-quarter of 2016 was EUR513 million, compared to profit of EUR177 million in same quarter last year. Net sales for the quarter were EUR5.499 billion, compared to EUR2.935 billion last year. Nokia announced that it has started actions to reduce company personnel globally as part of its synergy and transformation program. The headcount reductions are expected to take place between now and the end of 2018.
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Tuesday's Scheduled AGMs/EGMs

Grafton Group
Spirax-Sarco Engineering
Macfarlane Group
Worldpay Group
Greggs
Capita
Anglo Pacific Group
Plus500
Ophir Energy
Publishing Technology
Capital & Regional
MartinCo
Cello Group
Interserve
IP Group
Cairn Homes
Bovis Homes Group
4imprint Group
Patagonia Gold
British Polythene Industries
Michelmersh Brick Holdings
Juridica Investments
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com; @thomaslwaite

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