LONDON MORNING BRIEFING: Land Securities Up, Vodafone Down On Results

LONDON (Alliance News) - Shares have opened higher in London Tuesday, as the market awaits inflation data from the UK and eurozone.

Land Securities leads FTSE 100 gainers, up 2.6%, as reported strong growth in returns and profits in its last financial year amid a booming London property market.

Vodafone shares lead blue-chip decliners, down 1.8%, despite posting earnings and revenue ahead of expectations for its recently ended financial year.

Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: up 0.4% at 6,997.78
FTSE 250: up 0.4% at 18,102.40
AIM ALL-SHARE: up 0.1% at 760.89
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Hang Seng: up 0.5% at 27,736.21
Nikkei 225: closed up 0.7% at 20,026.38
DJIA: closed up 0.1% at 18,298.88
S&P 500: closed up 0.3% at 2,129.20
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GBP: down at USD1.5644
EUR: down at USD1.1214

GOLD: down at USD1,221.17 per ounce
OIL (Brent): down at USD65.67 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 in BST)

09:30 UK Consumer, Retail and Producer Price indices
09:30 UK DCLG House Price Index
10:00 EU and Germany ZEW surveys
10:00 EU Trade Balance
10:00 EU Consumer Price Index
13:30 US Building Permits and Housing Starts
13:55 US Redbook index
15:00 Switzerland Gov Board Member Danthine Speech
16:45 Canada BoC Governor Poloz Speech
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EU foreign and defence ministers agreed to establish a naval mission to crack down on migrant smuggling networks in the Mediterranean Sea, but the mission will need a United Nations Security Council mandate to meet its target launch date in June. The mission, codenamed EUNAVFOR Med, will aim to "break the business model of smugglers and traffickers of people in the Mediterranean," ministers said in a statement. It will be headquartered in Rome, under the command of Rear Admiral Enrico Credendino.
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A free trade deal between the EU and Ukraine will enter into force on January 1 despite Russian concerns, EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said Monday after talks with ministers from Moscow and Kiev. "There will be no amendments," she said after meeting with Russian Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukayev and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin.
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Airstrikes aimed at Houthi rebel groups in Yemen targeted the key southern city of Aden and areas in the north as a Saudi-led coalition resumed its attacks after the sunset of a five-day humanitarian truce. UN diplomats had pushed for the truce to be extended, pointing out the amount of aid they had managed to bring into the region during nearly a week in which the fighting had waned although not entirely stopped. The ceasefire, which was marred by repeated clashes between Houthi fighters and local militias in southern and central Yemen, expired at 11 pm (2000 GMT) on Sunday.
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The UN office tasked with coordinating relief operations said almost 25,000 people have fled Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province, following recent attacks by Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). With fierce fighting in the city, most of the displaced are heading towards Baghdad, with several thousands of families fleeing for the second time in a month.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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GOLDMAN RAISES REED ELSEVIER TO 'BUY' ('NEUTRAL') - TARGET 1230 (1210) PENCE
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BERNSTEIN CUTS HSBC TO 'MARKET-PERFORM' ('OUTPERFORM') - PRICE TARGET 650 (660) PENCE
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TRADERS: HSBC CUTS BHP BILLITON TO 'REDUCE' ('HOLD')
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TRADERS: JEFFERIES CUTS MITCHELLS & BUTLERS TO 'HOLD' ('BUY')
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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Vodafone posted earnings and revenue ahead of expectations for its recently ended financial year, and delivered a return to organic growth in its fourth quarter as it saw "increasing signs of stabilisation" in many of its European markets. For the year to end-March Vodafone reported earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of GBP11.92 billion, up from GBP11.08 billion a year before, and beating analyst expectations of GBP11.87 billion. Vodafone proposed a final dividend of 7.62 pence per share, taking its total dividend for the year to 11.22 pence, up from 11.0 pence a year before.
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Land Securities Group reported strong growth in returns and profits in its last financial year as property valuations continued to surge and it achieved strong leasing levels across its new developments in London, and it also said the outlook remains positive as London remains supply constrained despite the growth in new developments. The real estate development trust reported a total business return of 30.7% for the year to March 31, with net asset value per share rising to 1,343 pence from 1,069 pence a year earlier. The company raised its dividend for the year to 31.85 pence, from 30.70p a year earlier, as it raised its final dividend to 8.15p from 7.90p.
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Rio Tinto said the development of the underground mine at Oyu Tolgoi in Mongolia has taken a significant step forward after the shareholders in the project signed a deal that sets out the development plan. The mining giant said the government of Mongolia, Turquoise Hill Resources and Rio Tinto have signed a deal that addresses the key outstanding shareholder issues and sets out an agreed basis for the funding of the project. It will now shift focus to finalising the project finance, the feasibility study and securing all necessary permits so that the underground mine development can proceed.
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Unilever said Chief Financial Officer Jean-Marc Huët has decided to step down and will leave on October 1 after more then five years in the role, with Graeme Pitkethly, the consumer goods giant's current head of UK and Ireland, moving into the role at that time.
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WPP has made a move into the sports rights sector by creating a new agency under its GroupM media-buying banner, the Financial Times reported. ESP Properties will represent clients including the Cleveland Cavaliers basketball team, Manchester City Football Club and the England and Wales Cricket Board, the FT said. The agency will build on the investment WPP made in Bruin Sports Capital, which is seeking to spend around USD250 million on buying up sports rights.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Distribution company DCC Group said it struck a EUR464 million deal to acquire liquefied petroleum gas company Butagaz SAS from Royal Dutch Shell as DCC also posted a rise in pretax profit for the year to the end of March. DCC said the acquisition of Butagaz, which operates in the liquefied petroleum gas cylinder and small bulk market segments, will provide its DCC Energy business with a substantial presence in the French market. It said Butagaz holds a 25% share of the French LPG market. DCC said it will partly fund the acquisition via the issue of at least 4.2 million shares, raising GBP184.3 million based on its closing price of 4,390 pence on Monday. The remainder of the funding required for the acquisition will come from existing cash resources.
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MoneySupermarket.com Group founder Simon Nixon sold a 3.7% stake in the company, Credit Suisse Securities (Europe) Ltd announced. The sale of 20.0 million shares at 280 pence per share raised GBP56 million before expenses for Nixon. The amount of shares sold is at the top end of the range announced late Monday. Following the sale, Nixon continues to hold 69.8 million shares, about 12.8% of the total, with this shareholding subject to a 180-day lock up.
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ICAP reported lower profit for its last financial year, as the interdealer broker continues with a shift to electronic markets and post trade risk and information divisions from voice broking. ICAP said it made a GBP95 million pretax profit in the year ended March 31, compared with GBP121 million in the prior year. Revenue was down to GBP1.28 billion from GBP1.38 billion, as higher revenue in its post trade risk and information division was more than offset by slower revenue in electronic markets and a 13% drop in global broking, its voice broking division. ICAP maintained its dividend for the year at 22.0 pence per share.
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AIM-listed GVC Holdings confirmed its reverse takeover bid for Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment would be jointly financed by GVC and Canadian gaming and gambling company Amaya. Toronto-listed Amaya is the owner of the PokerStars, Full Tilt and the European Poker Tour gaming brands. It has a market capitalisation of CAD4.31 billion, GVC noted. GVC and Amaya face a rival bid in the cash and shares proposal tabled by 888 Holdings on Monday.
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Specialty chemicals company Elementis said Chief Executive David Dutro has given notice that he intends to step down sometime in 2016. Dutro has been with the company for 17 years and has been the CEO for 9 of those. Elementis said it has started an internal and external search for a replacement for Dutro.
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Engineering software company Aveva Group said its pretax profit fell by 20% in the year to the end of March, as revenue was hit by falling demand in the oil and gas industry, though the group tried to sweeten the pill for shareholders by hiking its final dividend by 14%. FTSE 250-listed Aveva said its pretax profit for the year to the end of March was GBP54.9 million, down from GBP69 million a year earlier. The fall in profit was driven by a 12% decline in revenue in the year to GBP208.7 million from GBP237.3 million.
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Greencore Group reported huge growth in profit in the first half of its financial year, boosted by sales growth particularly in its food-to-go business in the UK and US, and as it recovered from a loss made the prior year. The food producer reported pretax profit of GBP26.3 million in the half year ended March 27, more than treble the GBP8 million profit made in the same period the prior year, which it said was driven by growth in revenue of 3.2% to GBP639.8 million from GBP619.8 million, as well as continued operational improvements and focus on cost control. Greencore will pay an interim dividend of 2.4 pence, an increase of 9.1%.
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COMPANIES - INTERNATIONAL
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German drug maker Merck reported that first-quarter net income declined 13% to EUR281.7 million from EUR325.2 million in the prior-year quarter. The company said its EBITDA grew 4.6% to EUR805.4 million from EUR770.2 million a year ago. EBITDA pre-exceptionals was up 5.7%. Net sales for the quarter increased 15.7% to EUR3.04 billion from EUR2.63 billion in the same quarter last year. Organic sales growth was 1.3%.
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A US appeals court confirmed most of Apple's claims against smartphone rival Samsung Electronics Co, but decided the appearance of the South Korean manufacturer's phones did not violate Apple's intellectual property rights. The US Court of Appeals confirmed that several Samsung mobile devices, including the Galaxy range of smartphones, contained technology that infringed on Apple's intellectual property. Most of the USD930 million damages would still stand, it said.
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Tech giant Apple quietly abandoned plans to make an ultra-high definition television set over a year ago, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. However, activist investor Carl Icahn said he expects Apple to launch an ultra-high definition TV in 2016.
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Starbucks Coffee entered into a letter of intent with music streaming service, Spotify, to establish a multi-year relationship that will link its 7,000 company-operated stores in the US and 10 million My Starbucks Rewards loyalty members with Spotify's more than 60 million global users to offer a unique music ecosystem. The coffee retailer said the interconnectivity will allow Starbucks MSR members unique access to Starbucks music on Spotify, and the ability to influence in-store playlists.
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Tuesday's Scheduled AGMs/EGMs

Royal Dutch Shell
Microsaic Systems
Computacenter
Stock Spirits Group
Synectics
Crossrider
MyCelX Technologies Corp
Regus
Impax Environmental Markets
Partnership Assurance
Accesso Technology
Rockhopper Exploration
Somero Enterprise
Cloudbuy
Instem
Safecharge International
EKF Diagnostics Holdings
Synety Group
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com; @thomaslwaite

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