TOP NEWS: UK Consumer Confidence Hits Nine-Year High

LONDON (Alliance News) - The following is a summary of top news stories Friday.
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COMPANIES
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Polymer products manufacturer Fenner PLC said underlying pretax profit for the year will be 10% to 15% below the prevailing market consensus forecast of GBP77.6 million, as trading conditions in the US continue to deteriorate while its Australian arm suffered a setback following the loss of a profitable contract. In the year ended August 31, 2013, Fenner's pretax profit was GBP67.9 million, down from GBP86.6 million a year earlier. The company, which reported a fall in profit and revenue for the first half earlier this year, said trading conditions in the US have shown no sign of imminent improvement, while the coal industry remains cautious. It therefore expects its Engineered Conveyor Solutions arm to report significantly weaker results in the US than previously expected for the rest of the financial year.
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P2P Global Investments PLC will start trading on the London Stock Exchange's main market after its initial public offering, while Clipper Logistics PLC has priced its IPO at 100 pence a share, meaning it will raise about GBP100 million. P2P closed its placing and intermediaries offer on Wednesday, ahead of its admission. It had offered 20 million shares at 1,000 pence a share, meaning it will have an initial market capitalisation of GBP200 million. The company will invest in online and peer-to-peer lending, a small, but fast-growing part of the global financial system. Retail logistics company Clipper, meanwhile, said it will place 49.9 million shares in its IPO, with conditional dealings also starting. It will have 100 million shares in issue in total.
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GlaxoSmithKline PLC has invited private equity firms to bid for some of its older drugs in the latest step by Chief Executive Andrew Witty to reshape the UK’s biggest drugmaker, the Financial Times reports, citing people familiar with the situation. Private equity companies including Advent International, Blackstone and KKR are among those to have been alerted to the opportunity, The FT quoted the people as saying.
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Unite Group PLC said it has agreed to acquire and redevelop a 0.77 acre site from Portsmouth City Council, which subject to planning permission will be turned into a 830 bed student halls of residence. The financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed. Student accommodation provider Unite said the site which is located in Portsmouth's city centre should be completed in time for the 2016/17 academic year if planning permission is granted.
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MARKETS
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UK stocks trade mixed, with the FTSE 100 struggling to add to its recent strong gains, as it is weighed down by some of its mining constituents.
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FTSE 100: down 0.1% at 6864.41
FTSE 250: up 0.4% at 16011.62
AIM ALL-SHARE: down 0.1% at 810.56
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The pound has hit a two-day high against the dollar as a consumer sentiment index indicates that Britons have become more optimistic over nation's recovery.
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GBP-USD: up at USD1.6735
EUR-USD: up at USD1.3613

GOLD: down at USD1254.79 per ounce
OIL (Brent): down at USD109.84 a barrel

(changes since end of previous GMT day)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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An index measuring consumer sentiment in the UK came in with a score of 0 in May, polling company GfK said. That beat forecasts for a score of -2 and was up from -3 in April. The May reading represents a nine-year high score for the index. All the five sub-indicators, used to calculate the total index, witnessed growth in May.
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Germany's retail sales fell unexpectedly in April after rising for three consecutive months, official figures revealed. Retail sales turnover declined by a real 0.9% from March, when it was up 0.1%, Destatis reported. Sales were expected to rise by 0.2%. Meanwhile, on a yearly basis, retail sales grew 3.4%, reversing the 1.1% drop in March. The rate also exceeded 1.5% rise expected by economists.
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Italy's harmonized consumer price inflation slowed unexpectedly in May, preliminary estimate from the statistical office Istat showed. The harmonized index of consumer prices rose 0.4% year-on-year in May, slightly slower than the 0.5% increase posted in April. The rate was expected to remain at 0.5%. Similarly, consumer price inflation eased marginally to 0.5% from 0.6% a month ago. Prices were forecast to rise by 0.6%.
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Industrial output in Japan dipped 2.5% on month in April, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said. That missed forecasts for a decline of 2.0% following the 0.7% increase in March. On a yearly basis, industrial production added 4.1% - also missing expectations for 4.5% and down from 7.4% in the previous month.
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Nationwide core inflation in Japan was up 3.2% on year in April, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said. That topped forecasts for 3.1% and was up sharply from 1.3% in March. Overall nationwide CPI climbed 3.4% - in line with expectations and up from 1.6% in the previous month. Meanwhile, the same government ministry said average of household spending in Japan was down 4.6% on year in April, standing at 302,141. That missed forecasts for a decline of 3.4% following the 7.2% jump in March. It also said the unemployment rate in Japan was a seasonally adjusted 3.6% in April, unchanged from the previous month and in line with expectations.
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Four civilian observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe held captive by pro-Russian militiamen in eastern Ukraine have been freed, separatist leader Alexei Chmilenko told Interfax. However, there was no official confirmation from the OSCE. Chmilenko, a leader of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic, said the incident was a warning to outsiders that they should not enter the area without prior notification, the Interfax news agency reported.
The Thai military junta is to send representatives to social media companies to ask them for access to chatrooms and groups that are deemed harmful to national security, reports said Friday.
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Facebook, Twitter, Google and popular instant messaging application Line are companies which the junta plans to talk to, a representative from Thailand's Ministry of Information and Communication Technology told Matichon Newspaper. The military government is asking for cooperation from the companies in taking down posts that are "sensitive" in the current political situation as well as group chats which might contain information deemed vital in protecting the nation.
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