TOP NEWS: Liberty Global Buys 6.4% Stake In ITV From BSkyB

LONDON (Alliance News) - The following is a summary of top news stories Thursday.
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COMPANIES
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British Sky Broadcasting Group PLC said it has sold its 6.4% interest in ITV PLC to Liberty Global Incorporated Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of John Malone's Liberty Global PLC. The sale has been made at 185 pence per share, a small premium to ITV's closing price Wednesday of 182.95p. BSkyB said it intends to use the aggregate consideration of GBP481 million for general corporate purposes. Liberty Global noted that it does not intend to make an offer to acquire ITV.
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Anglo American PLC said its platinum production fell 40% in the second quarter as the now-finished platinum miners strike in South Africa hurt operations, but the majority of its other operations saw production increases during the period. The miner said its platinum production fell 40% to 358,000 ounces for the three months ended June 30 from 594,000 during the same period the previous year as workers from the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union only returned to work at the end of June. Anglo American said its iron ore production increased 2% to 11.5 million tonnes during the quarter from 11.3 million tonnes following strong performance at both its Sishen and Kolomela mines in South Africa. The company said its export metallurgical coal production increased 10% and copper production by 6%.
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Sports Direct International PLC said full-year revenues and pretax profit rose, boosted by strong growth in its Sports Retail division, as it continues to trade in line with management expectations. Sports Direct, the UK's biggest sporting goods retailer by revenue said group revenue rose 24% to GBP2.71 billion from GBP2.19 billion last year. Revenue metrics were significantly boosted by growth in the Sports Retail division, with revenues up 24% to GBP2.27 billion from GBP1.83 billion last year.
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SSE PLC said in a statement prepared for its annual general meeting that its financial outlook for 2014/15 is unchanged, and it is on course to give out an increased full-year dividend that keeps up with inflation despite customer losses in its first quarter. The major UK energy supplier is holding its AGM in Perth, Scotland on Thursday. It said that, in spite of challenging market conditions, it continues to expect that its adjusted earnings per share for 2014/15 will be around or slightly greater than the 123.4 pence achieved in the previous year.
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Commercial property investors Land Securities Group PLC said it made a strong start to 2014, as it attempts to shift its retail portfolio towards "dominance, experience and convenience" through the sale of assets which do not fit well with its strategy going forward. In a first quarter interim management statement, the real estate investment trust said it sold the The Bridges shopping centre in Sutherland for GBP125 million, and acquired a 30% stake in Bluewater shopping centre, Kent for GBP696 million. In London the company said it signed GBP15.2 million worth of development lettings since April 1, with a further GBP6.7 million currently in solicitors' hands.
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Security and outsourcing group G4S PLC said it has agreed to sell G4S Sweden to Sector Alarm Sverige AS in a GBP37.4 million deal, including cash and debt. The company said the disposal is part of the company's restructuring programme to restructure its portfolio as it works to improve its strategic focus, capital discipline and returns. "We have implemented a number of operational improvements in G4S Sweden in the last 12 months, and this sale realises an attractive premium for shareholders while providing customers and employees with the prospect of a sustainable business in Sweden," said CEO Ashley Almanza. G4S Sweden provides manned security and security systems to customers across Sweden.
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Digital inkjet printing technology group Xaar PLC said revenue in the first half to June 30 fell by around GBP7 million, although it expects higher levels of sales in the second half of the year, with full-year revenue of around GBP130 million compared with GBP134.1 million a year earlier. Xaar said it expects to report GBP60 million in revenue for the first half, compared with GBP67.2 million a year earlier. The company said it continues to maintain a strong balance sheet with net cash at June 30 of GBP48.1 million, compared with GBP53.5 million at December 31.
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Trinity Exploration & Production PLC said it has signed a deal to acquire Centrica PLC's 80% interests in two offshore Trinidad blocks for a headline payment of USD23 million, while warning that it expects to be at the low end of full-year production guidance after production rates fell in its second quarter. The company with operations in Trinidad and Tobago said the agreement is for Centrica's interests in Blocks 1a and 1b, which contain four gas discoveries and have aggregate gross 2C resources of 268 billion cubic feet, increasing the company's resource base by 42%. Trinity said the gas is fully appraised but currently undeveloped, so the company is targeting first production from the project in 2017 or 2018 for sale to the domestic gas market in Trinidad.
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The UK government will have to guarantee the payment of BT Group PLC's pension scheme should the company become insolvent, following a court of appeal ruling Wednesday, the Financial Times reported. The court of appeal decision confirmed an earlier High Court judgement. The government had challenged the need to cover pensions agreed after privatisation in 1984.
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GlaxoSmithKline PLC faces further scrutiny after it has emerged that its staff were caught bribing Chinese officials more than a decade ago, The Financial Times reported late Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter. Glaxo also found problems with its China vaccine business in 2001, which led to the firing of about 30 employees, the report said. The US Department of Justice, which is investigating the current allegations of bribery at Glaxo, will take a close look at the earlier scandal. Glaxo is currently weathering investigations from Chinese authorities over allegations it paid up to USD500 million to doctors and hospital executives over the past six years.
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MARKETS
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The main UK stock indices are trading a little lower given the lack of UK data drivers and the fact that the leading index recorded its best day in more than four months on Wednesday, boosted by positive Chinese data and global merger and acquisition activity. While overall sentiment is weighted more to the downside Thursday, M&A talk continues to drive some big individual stock movers.
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FTSE 100: down 0.4% at 6757.8
FTSE 250: down 0.4% at 15544.12
AIM ALL-SHARE: down 0.3% at 773.12
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GBP-USD: down at USD1.7113
EUR-USD: flat at USD1.3531

GOLD: up at USD1301.9 per ounce
OIL (Brent): up at USD107.59 a barrel

(changes since end of previous GMT day)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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Eurozone inflation held steady at 0.5% as initially estimated in June, final data from Eurostat showed. Month-on-month, prices gained only 0.1%. Headline inflation continues to remain below the European Central Bank's target of 'below, but close to 2%'.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin labelled the latest US sanctions an act of "aggressive foreign policy" that will seriously undermine relations with Washington. "Unfortunately, those who plan foreign policy in the US are conducting an aggressive foreign policy and, in my view, a rather unprofessional one," Putin said Wednesday during a visit to Brasilia, according to a Kremlin transcript. The Russian president accused Washington of encouraging the Ukrainian government "to carry on the fratricidal war and the punitive operation" against separatist rebels in the country's east. "Such policies have no perspective," he said. Putin compared US policy on Ukraine with American intervention in countries like Iraq and Libya, which he said were "falling apart" as a result.
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EU leaders failed Wednesday to agree on top political appointments to the bloc at a specially-convened summit, delaying the decision until a new round of extraordinary talks on August 30. The EU is in the midst of a leadership overhaul, following elections in May. Successors need to be found most urgently for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and President Herman Van Rompuy. "To reach agreement on names for extremely important positions, it often takes time ... this is not done in one day," Van Rompuy said after the summit in Brussels. "I am absolutely certain that we will take a decision on August 30," he added.
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A brief truce was being observed in the Gaza Strip as Israel and Hamas suspended nine days of hostilities to allow civilians to stock up on essential supplies. Residents poured onto the streets of Gaza City as the five-hour ceasefire took effect. In Israel, especially in the south, people were taking a breather from shelters. There was heavy traffic on the coastal enclave's main streets, as residents went out to buy food, water and medicine. Many visited their destroyed homes, shifting through the debris for items such as chairs and blankets. Others checked in wounded relatives in hospital. Israel agreed to the humanitarian truce from 10 am until 3 pm at the request of the United Nations.
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By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com; @ArvindBhunjun

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