WPP Share News (WPP)

LONDON (Alliance News) - UK shares have opened higher after the long weekend Tuesday, following gains on Monday by Wall Street and European exchanges.

Bunzl and WPP are near the top of the FTSE 100.

Distribution and outsourcing group Bunzl raised its interim dividend by 10% after posting an uptick in profit for the first half of the year, boosted by organic growth and recent acquisitions.

WPP said it is likely to achieve its targeted dividend pay-out ratio of 45% in 2014, a year ahead of schedule, as it saw pretax profit rise in the half-year to the end of June.

Here is what you need to know at the UK market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: up 0.4% at 6,799.93
FTSE 250: up 0.3% at 15,933.28
AIM ALL-SHARE: up 0.2% at 765.81
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Hang Seng: down 0.3% at 25,092.32
Nikkei 225: closed down 0.6% at 15,521.22
DJIA: closed up 0.4% at 17,076.87
S&P 500: closed up 0.5% at 1,997.92
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GBP-USD: up at USD1.6581
EUR-USD: up at USD1.3206

GOLD: up at USD1,289.14 per ounce
OIL (Brent): up at USD102.87 a barrel

(changes since end of previous GMT day)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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Tuesday's Key Economic Events still to come
(all times British Summer Time)

13:30 US Durable Goods Orders
14:00 US S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices
15:00 US Consumer Confidence
15:00 US Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index
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Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko dissolved Parliament and set early elections for October 26, on the eve of his expected meeting Tuesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin. "The early parliamentary elections are part of my peace plan," Poroshenko said in his announcement late Monday. The "key element" is political dialogue with pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine, he said. The dissolution of parliament fulfilled one of Poroshenko's campaign promises in the May presidential election. Surveys have shown 80% of Ukrainians in support of early elections.
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French President Francois Hollande on Monday asked Prime Minister Manuel Valls to form a new government in the wake of a showdown between Valls and Economy Minister Arnaud Montebourg about the government's controversial economic policies. In a statement, the presidency announced that the prime minister had presented his resignation and that of his ministers Monday morning after Montebourg publicly disavowed the government's deficit-reduction strategy. Hollande immediately reappointed Valls as prime minister and asked him to form a team.
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Damascus will cooperate with the West and the international community to combat terrorism, its foreign minister said Monday, but warned that any attacks against militants within its borders would be considered acts of aggression. "Whoever wants to coordinate and cooperate with us should be taking the matter seriously, and not with double standards," Walid al-Moallem told reporters in Damascus. The US has repeatedly rejected any cooperation with the government of President Bashar al-Assad in combatting Islamist terrorists in Syria, saying the leader was responsible for the current civil war, which arose after pro-reform protests were brutally put down.
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Western countries and North African states Monday called for calm in Libya amid a violent power struggle in parts of the country, and reports that Egypt and the United Arab Emirates had carried out airstrikes on Islamist-allied militias. France, Germany, Italy, Britain and the US "strongly condemn the escalation of fighting and violence in and around Tripoli, Benghazi, and across Libya," the US State Department said.
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Israel was attacked Monday from two sides, with one rocket fired out of southern Lebanon and 100 rockets launched from Gaza. The Israel Army and Lebanon's MTV television reported that the attack from southern Lebanon, where the Shiite militia Hezbollah has a stronghold, was the second attack from Lebanon in as many days. The development came on a day that saw 14 Palestinians killed by Israeli fire, medics said. The possibility emerged of a new breakthrough in indirect Palestinian-Israeli negotiations in Cairo for a durable ceasefire, according to a source in the Islamic Hamas movement and Israeli media.
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China's economy continued to expand in July at a steady pace, the latest survey from the Conference Board revealed, as its leading index added 1.3%. That follows the 1.3% increase in June and the 0.7% gain in May. The coincident index added 1.2% in July after gaining 0.9% in June and 0.7% in May. "The six-month growth rate of the China LEI increased considerably in July. However, the improvement was driven primarily by an increase in new floor space starts, which is unsustainable in the longer-term," said Andrew Polk, resident economist at The Conference Board China Center in Beijing.
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German business sentiment weakened for the fourth consecutive month to the lowest level in a year in August, as the escalating crisis in Ukraine and the resultant sanctions against Russia pose downside risks to the economic activity. The Ifo business climate index fell to 106.3 in August, the lowest since July 2013, from 108 a month ago, a monthly survey conducted by the Ifo institute among 7,000 firms showed Monday. The indicator was forecast to drop to 107 in August.
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Sales of new single-family homes fell 2.4% in July from June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 412,000, the US Commerce Department said Monday. It was the slowest pace of new home sales in four months, as demand was relatively weaker in all regions except the South. Economists expected a reading of 432,000. July sales were down 4.3% from a year earlier.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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GOLDMAN RAISES EXPERIAN PRICE TARGET TO 985 (965) PENCE - 'SELL'
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SOCGEN RAISES GLAXOSMITHKLINE PRICE TARGET TO 1920 (1900) PENCE - 'BUY'
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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Media buying giant WPP said it is likely to achieve its targeted dividend pay-out ratio of 45% in 2014, a year ahead of schedule, as it saw pretax profit rise in the half-year to the end of June. The company proposed an interim dividend of 11.62 pence, up from 10.56 pence in the previous year. WPP posted a pretax profit of GBP491.1 million, up from GBP427.1 million in the previous year, as revenue rose 2.7% to GBP5.47 billion from GBP5.33 billion as the strength of sterling continued to hamper results. Revenues rose 11% on a constant currency basis.
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Antofagasta reiterated its production guidance for the full-year as it reported a first-half fall in pretax profit and revenue as market conditions remained challenging and it was hit by the declining price of copper, despite production coming in ahead of expectations. In it first-half results for the six months to June 30, 2014 the miner said pretax profit fell 13% to USD850.7 million from USD981.0 million last year. Revenue declined 4.2% to USD2.66 billion from USD2.78 billion in the first-half of 2013, said the company, after copper prices fell by 2.2% as prices "trended downwards during the period, as well as lower gold sales and realised prices." Antofagasta increased its dividend for the half-year by 32% to USD11.7 cents per share from the USD8.9 cents per share paid the previous year.
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Petrofac posted a sharp drop in net profit on the back of decreased revenue in the first half, though the group reiterated its year is weighted to the second half and said its engineering, construction, operations and maintenance (ECOM) business posted record order intake in the period. The FTSE 100-listed oil services company said net profit for the six months to June 30 was USD136 million, sharply down from the USD243 million posted a year earlier. That came on the back of a fall in revenue in the period to USD2.5 billion from USD2.8 billion last year. The group said it remains on track to deliver net profit of USD580-600 million for the full year, in line with previous guidance.
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Bunzl raised its interim dividend by 10% after posting an uptick in profit for the first half of the year, boosted by organic growth and recent acquisitions. Bunzl said it traded against a background of "mixed macroeconomic conditions" in the first half of 2014, with continued challenging market conditions in some of its sectors, but said it improved profitability in all its business areas. "Significant adverse currency translation movements held back the reported growth rates at actual exchange rates by between 8% and 9%," the company said. Bunzl reported a pretax profit of GBP132.3 million for the six months to June 30, up 2.2% on a reported basis from GBP129.4 million in the first half of 2013.
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GlaxoSmithKline said ViiV Healthcare Ltd, its joint venture HIV company with Pfizer Inc and Shionogi Ltd, received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration for its Triumeq HIV-1 treatment late last Friday. The single-pill treatment combines integrase strand transfer inhibitor dolutegravir and nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors abacavir and lamivudine.
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Tesco-owned convenience store business, One Stop, is to rollout Apple Inc's beacon technology in its stores, allowing customers to use their smartphones to receive tailor-made discounts, according to the Financial Times on Sunday. One Stop, which has been a subsidiary of Tesco since 2003, will launch the in-store beacon system next week in its 740 stores.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Regus said the strong pound hit its reported profit in the first half of the year, taking the shine of strong revenue growth in the period on the back of network expansion and strong returns. The workplace provider declared an interim dividend of 1.25 pence, a 14% increase on last year, which it said reflects "strong underlying performance and prospects". Regus posted a flat pretax profit of GBP31.0 million for the six months to June 30, the same level as the GBP31.1 million reported in the first half of last year. Whilst flat on a reported basis, it said profit was up 23% at constant exchange rates, driven by strong revenue growth and a "tight grip on costs".
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Riverstone Energy said it will be one of three cornerstone investors in new Norway and UK-focused exploration and production company Origo Exploration AS, along with Barclays PLC's natural resources private equity business and Singapore-based investment company Temasek. In a statement, Riverstone said it and Barclays Natural Resource Investments will each contribute USD200 million of funding to Origo, while Singapore-based investment company Temasek will contribute an additional USD125 million.
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Telecity Group said Chief Executive Officer Michael Tobin will step down from the role October 31, 2014, following a handover period. The carrier-neutral data centre provider said it will commence an immediate search for a successor, with Chairman John Hughes assuming executive responsibilities until a new CEO is appointed.
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Cable & Wireless Subsidiary Acquires Grupo Sonitel For USD36M; Says Acquisition Has USD5M Contingent Consideration; Acquisition In Line With Business, Government Growth Capabilities
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Stagecoach Like-For-Like 12-Week UK Regional Bus Revenue Up 4%; 12-Week UK London Bus Revenue Up 14%; Like-For-Like 12-Week UK Rail Revenue Up 5%; Says No Material Change In Expected Adjusted EPS For FY
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COMPANIES - LONDON MAIN MARKET AND AIM
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Trakm8 Holdings said it has signed a new supply agreement with UK logistics firm CM Downton Ltd. In a statement, the designer, developer and manufacturer of GPRS-based hardware and software for the vehicle placement and security market said Downton will buy the UK manufactured T8 mini, alongside the Trakm8 branded SWIFT 6 web portal, and Trakm8 Secure. The contract is for 1,450 units for an initial period of five years. However, under the terms of the contract, a larger share of the revenue will be realised over the upcoming 12 months, according to Trakm8.
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SafeCharge International Group said it has been granted principal membership status for merchant acquiring by VISA Europe. The news comes after SafeCharge, which provides payments services, risk management and IT help for online businesses, was in December 2013 granted membership of MasterCard Europe. The latest step allows SafeCharge to directly acquire and process Visa and MasterCard transactions for merchants in the UK and across Europe.
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Plexus Holdings said it expects its full-year revenue to be in line with market expectations, but that it anticipates profit after tax to be "materially ahead" of what the market expects. Plexus also said it has made a "positive start" to the new financial year, with a "strong order book" in place for the supply of its POS-GRIP wellhead equipment.
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Kingspan Group H1 EBITDA EUR88.9M Vs EUR75.7M, Up 17%; Revenue EUR889.3M Vs EUR851.5M, Up 4%; Interim Dividend Up 14% To 6.25 Cent Vs 5.5 Cent
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Circle Oil Says EMD-1 Well Offshore Tunisia Has Found Good Light Oil Shows; EMD-1 Well Recoverable Resources Estimate 100 MMBO; EMD-1 Well Hole Deteriorated, Forcing Well To Be Suspended; Will Take Forward Mahdia Permit Appraisal Effort
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COMPANIES - INTERNATIONAL
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Aerospace and defence giant Boeing Co announced it has received an order by Singapore-based BOC Aviation for 82 airplanes, valued at USD8.8 billion at list prices. The order includes 50 737 MAX 8s, 30 Next-Generation 737-800s and two 777-300ERs (Extended Range). According to the firm, the order is the largest in BOC Aviation's 20-year history and part of the Commercial Aircraft Sales and Leasing company's effort to grow its portfolio of fuel-efficient airplanes.
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Diversified healthcare company Abbott Laboratories said Monday its wholly-owned subsidiary, Abbott Laboratories (Chile) Holdco (Dos) SpA, has commenced a tender offer to purchase CFR Pharmaceuticals S.A., a Chilean corporation.
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Amazon has reached an agreement to buy the video-game streaming service Twitch, the online retailer announced Monday. Amazon will pay about USD970 million for the video platform for gamers. "Broadcasting and watching gameplay is a global phenomenon, and Twitch has built a platform that brings together tens of millions of people who watch billions of minutes of games each month," Amazon founder and chief executive Jeff Bezos said. Launched in 2011, Twitch is a live video platform and community where gamers broadcast, watch and talk about video games.
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Media and entertainment giant Time Warner, Inc. is gearing up to send home up to 600 employees or about 4% of the workforce at its Turner Broadcasting cable TV division, according to media reports on Monday. The company is reportedly preparing to offer voluntary buyouts to these employees. The Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. division, which runs cable networks such as CNN, TNT, HLN, TBS and the Cartoon Network, has a total workforce of about 13,500 full-time employees.
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Tuesday's Scheduled AGMs/EGMs

Jubilant Energy
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com; @thomaslwaite

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