TOP NEWS: China's Fosun Seals Thomas Cook Partnership With 10% Stake

LONDON (Alliance News) - The following is a summary of top news stories Friday.
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COMPANIES
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AstraZeneca guided that it expects its total revenue to decline by a mid-single digit percentage at constant exchange rates in 2015, in line with previous sales revenue guidance it gave at the time of its full-year results, as it announced changes to the way it presents its revenue. At the time of its full-year results in February the company guided that it expects its overall sales revenue to decline by mid single-digit percent at constant exchange rates in 2015, while core EPS is expected to increase by low single-digit percent, also at constant rates. On Friday, AstraZeneca said that based on current exchange rates, total revenue is expected to decline by low double-digit percent at actual exchange rates, and core earnings per share is expected to be broadly in line with 2014.
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UK Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne has said he made a mistake in not radically restructuring Royal Bank of Scotland Group back in 2010 but adds he would now like to push ahead with selling the government's stake in the bank as quickly as possible, the Financial Times reported. The Chancellor, speaking in an interview with the paper's FT Weekend magazine, said he would like to proceed with a sale "as quickly as we can to get rid of it". Osborne conceded, however, that the size of the government's stake in the UK bank is "massive" and suggested the sale could take years to complete.
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BP said it has signed the final agreements for the West Nile Delta project in Egypt to develop 5 trillion cubic feet of gas and 55 million barrels of condensates by investing around USD12 billion with its partner. Production from the project, due in 2017, is expected to reach up to 1.2 billion cubic feet per day, which is the equivalent of 25% of Egypt's current gas production and will "significantly contribute" to the country's energy supply, with all the gas from the project being fed to the national grid. BP has a 65% stake in the project, but the partner has not been named.
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Rio Tinto said it has increased its reserves in the Diavik diamond project, the Pilbara iron project and the Hail Creek Coal project. The Anglo-Australian miner said the mineral resource at the Pilbara project in Western Australia has increased mainly due to the addition of the Yandicoogina braid deposit, which has contributed 488 million tonnes at 61.7% iron, 238 million tonnes at 57.7% iron and 62 million tonnes at 56.9% iron. That led to Hamersley Iron Brockman, one of the company's subsidiaries, having a mineral reserve increase to 2.99 billion tonnes from 681 million tonnes, and Brockman process ore increasing to 1.13 billion tonnes from 324 million tonnes.
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Thomas Cook Group said it has struck a strategic deal with Chinese investment group Fosun International Ltd under which the latter will acquire a 5% stake in the travel operator. Thomas Cook said Fosun will pay GBP91.8 million to acquire 73.1 million shares Thomas Cook will issue to it, giving Fosun a 5% stake in the company. The shares are valued at 125.58 pence, compared to the travel firm's price Friday of 143.73p, which is up 19% on the day. Fosun then intends to acquire further Thomas Cook shares via open market purchases, with plans to increase its shareholding in the company to around 10% of its enlarged share capital.
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Evraz said it has signed an agreement to sell its structural tubing business for a total of USD51 million in cash to Maruichi Oregon Steel Tube. The tubing business is owned by Evraz North America, and the USD51 million deal includes USD8.5 million of proceeds from the sale of inventories. The cash from the deal will be re-invested in the the North American subsidiary.
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Construction and support services company Kier Group said it has promoted three executive directors to its board, leading to the departure of its chief operating officer. The changes mean Steve Bowcott, Kier's chief operating officer, will leave the company on April 30.
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DFS Furniture said it has set a price for its initial public offering at the lower end of the company's guidance, with conditional dealings commencing Friday. The company set the offer price at 255.0 pence per share, which gives the sofa retailer a market capitalisation of GBP543.2 million. This is toward the lower end of the company's guidance in February, when it said the offer price would be between 245.0 pence to 310.0 pence per share.
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MARKETS
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The FTSE 100 is trading lower, weighed upon by the mining sector, which has been dragged down by weak commodity prices as investors look ahead to the highly anticipated US nonfarm payrolls report.
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FTSE 100: down 0.2% at 6,949.18
FTSE 250: up 0.2% at 17,347.54
AIM ALL-SHARE: up 0.3% at 716.43
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The euro fell to a fresh 11-year low even as fourth-quarter eurozone GDP figures met expectations.
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GBP-USD: down at USD1.5179
EUR-USD: down at USD1.0969

GOLD: down at USD1196.29 per ounce
OIL (Brent): up at USD60.87 a barrel

(changes since end of previous GMT day)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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Britons' inflation expectations for a year fell to its lowest level in more than 13 years and more people expect interest rates to remain unchanged over the next 12 months, results of a quarterly survey from the Bank of England showed. Median expectations of inflation over the coming year were 1.9%, compared with 2.5% in November, the survey said. It was the lowest since November 2001, when it was also 1.9%. The Bank of England/GfK NOP Inflation Attitudes survey was carried out in two phases, between February 5 and 17, among 4,112 people aged 16 and above.
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UK firms hired staff at the fastest rate in four months in February, results of a survey by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation, or REC, and KPMG showed. Permanent staff appointments continued to rise and the rate of increase was fastest since October 2014. Temporary staff appointments increased at the sharpest pace in five months. Overall job vacancies grew at the fastest rate in four months as growth in permanent and temporary vacancies quickened. Average starting salaries for people placed in permanent positions increased at a strong rate, unchanged from the previous month.
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The Eurozone economy expanded as initially estimated in the fourth quarter, second estimates from Eurostat showed. Gross domestic product grew 0.3% sequentially, slightly faster than the third quarter's 0.2% expansion. The statistical office confirmed the estimate released on February 13. Year-on-year, the economy expanded 0.9% as estimated, which was marginally above the 0.8% growth posted in the third quarter.
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The US Federal Reserve said the 31 largest US banks passed the first part of an annual stress test devised by financial regulators to check how banks react in a simulated crisis scenario. The Fed designed the stress tests to ensure the banks have enough capital to continue lending to US businesses and households in a severe economic downturn. The most severe hypothetical scenario in the stress test projected that loan losses at the 31 participating US bank holding companies would total USD340 billion during the nine quarters tested, the Fed said in a news release.
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Russia is happy to let the West play a bigger role in solving the conflict in Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin said, while his Foreign Ministry advised against sending Western military instructors to the country. "Right now, the role of all responsible members of the international community is growing, especially of those who have real influence on the Ukrainian leadership," Putin said after talks with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi in Moscow. He added that the conflict can be solved only after all sides properly observe last month's Minsk peace accords. He also reiterated Russian demand that Ukraine begin a direct dialogue with the separatists in the country's east.
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