TOP NEWS: Cameron To Remain In Office, Milliband Set To Resign

LONDON (Alliance News) - The following is a summary of top news stories Friday.
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COMPANIES
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BG Group said its earnings and revenue in the first quarter of 2015 were substantially hit by the fall in the oil price which caused a poor performance in its production and exploration division. The company, which is being acquired by Royal Dutch Shell, said its pretax profit for the three months to end-March was USD708 million, down from USD1.89 billion a year earlier. BG Group reported earnings before interest tax, depreciation and amortisation in the quarter of USD1.59 billion, down over 40% from the USD2.71 billion reported a year earlier, whilst earnings before interest and tax more than halving to USD945 million from USD1.97 billion.
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Shares in London-listed banks reacted positively as the Conservative Party looked set for a surprise majority victory in the UK's General Election. Lloyds Banking Group shares soared by 6.1% to 87.10 pence on Friday morning, Royal Bank of Scotland Group shares rose by 5.1% to 349.10p, while Barclays shares moved 4.0% higher to 258.85p. HSBC Holdings was up 0.9% at 636.40p, while Standard Chartered was up 1.4% at 1,049.00p, as the Asia-focused lenders continue to review whether to move their headquarters from the UK. The outcome was welcomed by Anthony Browne, the chief executive of the UK's British Bankers' Association, who said that a "clear result" in the General Election was "good news" for the economy.
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The UK listed companies from the 'Big Six' energy firms in the UK saw their shares rise after UK election results suggested the Conservative party are set to win an outright majority, putting fears about Labour's proposed energy market reforms aside. Back in March, Labour leader Ed Miliband detailed the party's proposed legislation for the "broken" energy, committing to a two-year price freeze and additionally saying it would empower the energy regulator to force price cuts and would require energy companies to separate out their generation units if his party won the election.
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Rolls-Royce Holdings maintained its earnings guidance for 2015, saying a ramp up in deliveries of Trent XWB engines for Airbus planes would help offset the impact of lower oil prices in its Land & Sea business. The aircraft and marine engine maker, which last year issued a string of profit warnings, said it expects its results to be weighted to the second half of the year.
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InterContinental Hotels Group growth in global revenue per available room in the first quarter of 2015, boosted by a strong performance in all of its operating regions, as it continues to expand its pipeline with the highest number of first quarter hotel signings in seven years. The hotel operator, which owns brands including Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza and InterContinental Hotels, said global revenue per available room grew 5.9% in the first quarter, driven by an increased rate of 3.4% and growth in all four of the regions it operates in.
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Shares in British bookmakers Ladbrokes and William Hill have soared as the UK General Election results suggest that the Conservatives will return to power alone and regulatory risks posed by Labour proposals have been avoided. Ladbrokes shares are up 10.1% at 116.30 pence, making it the best-performing stock in the FTSE 250, while William Hill's shares are up 4.5% at 392.7p, a welcome uplift as both bookmakers' shares slumped at the end of their first quarters in April. There was concern among bookmakers of the potential regulatory risk posed by a prospective Labour government, as its manifesto included an intention to give local authorities in the UK the power to reduce the number of, or ban entirely, fixed-odds gaming machines from betting shops.
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Just Eat will buy Australian online takeaway company Menulog Group for AUD855 million, financed from the proceeds of an equity issue, a move that expands its reach into both Australia and New Zealand. Menulog has more than 5,500 restaurants and 1.4 million consumers, Just Eat said, and its order volume grew 96% in the year in the three months ended March 31. It generated GBP13.5 million in revenue in the year to March 31. The equity fundraising is expected to be launched in mid- to late-May, following receipt of the approval of the acquisition by the Foreign Investment Review Board in Australia. Completion of the equity fundraising is expected early to mid June.
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Man Group reported a net outflow in the first quarter of 2015 but said funds under management increased, largely due to positive investment performance and the recent acquisition of Connecticut-based Silvermine. Separately, Man Group said it is looking for its next chairman as Jon Aisbitt intends to step down in May 2016. Phillip Colebatch, the hedge fund manager's senior independent director, will lead the board committee tasked with finding his successor. Funds under management increased to USD78.1 billion from USD72.9 billion in the first three months of 2015. Man reported a net outflow of USD1.3 billion as redemptions exceeded sales. Foreign exchange rate movements resulted in a USD2.0 billion hit to funds under management, largely due to the strengthening of the US dollar against the euro and sterling.
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Laird said trading was in line with expectations in the first quarter of 2015 and said new product launches in the second half of the year will underpin the company's current full year outlook. The wireless connectivity and radio frequency engineering company said first quarter revenue rose 24% to GBP149 million from GBP120 million, and in dollar terms it rose to USD226 million from USD199 million. Revenue rose due to increased demand in 2014 that was pushed into 2015.
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MARKETS
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London stock indices continue to surge higher mid-morning, with the pound also rising, on optimism of a Conservative government, as the Tories head towards an outright majority in the UK General Election. The FTSE 250 hit an all time high of 18,161.18.
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FTSE 100: up 1.7% at 7,002.26
FTSE 250: up 2.9% at 17,945.79
AIM ALL-SHARE: up 0.2% at 749.69
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The pound hit a 2-month high of USD1.5523 against the dollar as markets endorsed the Conservative win.
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GBP: up at USD1.5436
EUR: down at USD1.12

GOLD: up at USD1186.72 per ounce
OIL (Brent): down at USD1.1238 a barrel

(changes since end of previous GMT day)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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With the vast majority of seats declared in the 2015 UK General Election, the Conservatives are set to secure an outright majority, defying pre-election polls which had forecast a race which would be too close to call, with Labour leader Ed Miliband expected to resign following the results. With 635 of 650 seats now in, The Tories have secured 323 seats, leaving them only three seats short of an outright majority of 326. The BBC is forecasting the party will surpass that mark, predicting it will win 331 seats. Labour is currently on 228 seats, having so far lost a net 26 seats, the vast majority of which came in Scotland where the Scottish National Party surged to win 56 seats, a gain of 50 from the last time around.
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Labour leader Ed Miliband plans to resign following his party's poor showing in parliamentary elections, the BBC is quoting sources as saying. Miliband had earlier said his party had suffered a "difficult and disappointing night" as the rival Conservatives won a resounding victory that gave it a likely parliamentary majority.
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UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage has failed in his bid to win a seat in the British parliament, losing to Conservative candidate Craig Craig Mackinlay, a former UKIP deputy leader. Farage, a member of the European Parliament, had promised before the election that he would resign the party leadership if he failed to win the South Thanet seat. In a brief speech following the result he did not mention resignation.
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The Scottish National Party, the SNP, won half the votes in Scotland but took almost all the seats there. It becomes the third biggest party in a Westminster parliament likely to again be led by David Cameron's Conservatives. Labour, which has traditionally always done very well in Scotland, took a hammering there. And, under Britain's first-past-the-post constituency-based electoral system, a vote for the SNP favoured Cameron's Tories in the battle for control in London.
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UK house prices increased at a faster pace in April, data from Lloyds Banking Group's Halifax division showed. House prices advanced 1.6% in April from last month, when it gained 0.6%. This was the second consecutive growth in prices and exceeded a 0.3% rise forecast by economists. During three months to April, house prices rose 8.5% after rising 8.1% in three months to March. Economists had forecast a 7.8% annual growth. On a quarterly basis, house prices advanced 2.2%.
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China's exports logged an unexpected fall on weak demand in April and imports declined more than expected adding to hopes of more economic stimulus. Exports fell 6.2% in April from last year in yuan terms, data from the General Administration of Customs showed Friday. Economists had forecast a 0.9% rise for April. Imports registered a double-digit decrease of 16.1% annually, sharper than an expected drop of 8.4%. Consequently, the trade surplus came in at CNY 210.2 billion, below the consensus forecast of CNY 173.8 billion.
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Members of the Bank of Japan's monetary policy meeting said that the country's economic recovery remains on track, minutes from the central bank's April 7 and 8 meeting revealed on Friday. The members added that inflation expectations appear to be successfully rising following years of deflation. They added that business investment also looks to be on the uptick as corporate profits improve. "Japan's economy has continued its moderate recovery trend. Overseas economies -- mainly advanced economies -- have been recovering, albeit with a lackluster performance still seen in part," the minutes said. At the meeting, the BoJ decided to keep its benchmark interest rate steady at 0.10%.
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The US Senate voted Thursday 98 to 1 for legislation that would allow Congress to review the final nuclear deal with Iran. The measure, if adopted by the lower House of Representatives, would give Congress 30 days to approve or disapprove of the nuclear deal with Iran before any US sanctions are lifted. US President Barack Obama signaled he would sign the bill into law only after the Senate Foreign Relations Committee incorporated several amendments. The bill survived several efforts by opposition Republicans to add poison pills to the measure, such as demanding that Iran recognize Israel.
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