Barr (A.G.) Share News (BAG)

LONDON (Alliance News) - The following is a summary of top news stories Tuesday.
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COMPANIES
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Kingfisher said it has noted the suspension of shares in Mr Bricolage, the French DIY retail chain, and said it has been made aware of reservations held by the board and a major shareholder over its acquisition of the company. Kingfisher said both the board of Mr Bricolage and the ANPF, a major shareholder in Mr Bricolage, have reservations in relation to the acquisition of the company, though Kingfisher said it has not yet received any clarification of their position. The Tabur family, another major shareholder in Kingfisher, has confirmed it remains in favour of the deal, Kingfisher said.
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Wolseley said its pretax profit fell by two-thirds in the first half of the financial year, as it booked a large impairment due to challenging market conditions in the Nordic region, but its closely-watched trading profit rose on the back of a strong performance in the US, by far its biggest market. The building materials company reported a pretax profit of GBP103 million for the six months to end-January, down from GBP312 million a year earlier, as it booked a GBP245 million impairment for the DT Group business in the Nordics it bought back in 2006. It blamed challenging market conditions in the region and reduced expectations of future profitability at the business. Still, Wolseley raised its interim dividend to 30.25 pence, from 27.50 pence a year earlier, on the back of a 13.3% increase in its headline earnings per share, a figure that strips out exceptional items and impairments. Its trading profit from ongoing businesses rose 11% to GBP390 million, from GBP351 million, as revenue rose 8.9% to GBP6.44 billion from GBP5.91 billion and its trading margin rose 20 basis points to 6.1%..
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Land Securities Group said it has exchange contracts for the sale of its 95% stake in Times Square in the City of London for GBP268.4 million. The FTSE 100-listed property company is selling the 380,000 square foot office building to real estate funds managed by US private equity group The Blackstone Group LP.
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HSBC Holdings said it will issue USD2.25 billion of 6.375% perpetual subordinated contingent convertible bonds, with the proceeds to be used to strengthen its capital position and for general corporate purposes. Contingent convertible securities, known as cocos, are being used by banks to bolster their capital ratios to meet tougher regulatory requirements following the financial crisis of 2007-09. HSBC has previously issued EUR1.50 billion of 5.25% cocos, USD2.25 billion of 6.375% cocos, and USD1.50 billion of 5.625% cocos. HSBC said the bonds, which have no fixed maturity date, are callable in March 2025 and every five years beyond that point, with interest payments to be paid semi-annually.
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British American Tobacco appointed KPMG LLP as its new external auditor, replacing PricewaterhouseCoopers which had been the company's auditor since it listed in 1998. The switch is the latest amongst a rash of auditor changes by London-listed companies, after the UK anti-trust regulator and the European Commission put in new rules in the wake of the financial crisis requiring companies in the FTSE 350 to re-tender for auditing business every 10 years. BAT said PwC has resigned with immediate effect, with KPMG taking over for 2015. The switch will need to be approved by BAT shareholders at its Annual General Meeting on April 29.
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Spire Healthcare Group has guided mid-to-high single-digit revenue growth for 2015, as it posted a narrowed pretax loss for 2014 on strong revenue growth in its first results since listing on the London Stock Exchange last July. The independent hospital group proposed a maiden final dividend of 1.8 pence, and said that, as it detailed at the time of its IPO last July, it plans to adopt a progressive dividend policy based on a payout ratio of around 20% of pretax profit. Spire posted a pretax loss of GBP7.0 million in 2014, narrowed from a pretax loss of GBP51.9 million in 2013, as a rise in revenue to GBP856.0 million from GBP764.5 million helped offset GBP54.0 million in exceptional costs primarily relating to its listing and GBP85.9 million in finance costs including interest on loans and bank facilities.
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AG Barr reported higher pretax profit and revenue for its last financial year, as its key IRN-BRU, Barr, Rubicon and Strathmore brands all grew and outperformed the broader market, particularly the Strathmore water brand. The soft drinks manufacturer said pretax profit rose to GBP38.6 million, compared with GBP34.3 million a year earlier, as revenue rose to GBP260.9 million, from GBP254.1 million, and margins increased as it cut overheads, improved its supply chain and as input costs fell. It closely-watched pretax profit excluding exceptional items rose to GBP41.9 million from GBP38.1 million. It will pay a final dividend of 9.01 pence per share, up from 8.19 pence a year before, bringing the total dividend for the year to 12.12p, up 10% on the year.
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888 Holdings reported strong growth in pretax profit and revenue in 2014, driven by the continued growth of its casino, poker and sport products, but its first-quarter is already showing a hit from tax changes in various jurisdictions. The online gaming provider said pretax profit rose 28% to USD68 million in 2014, from USD53 million in 2013, as revenue increased 14% to USD455 million from USD401 million, and margins increased. It said it will pay a final dividend of 4.5 cents per share compared with 4.0 cents the year before, bringing the total dividend for the year to 15 cents per share. However, the company said average daily revenue during the first quarter of the current financial year was 6% lower than the previous year, but was up 7% on a constant currency basis excluding VAT.
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GAME Digital reported lower profits and revenue for the first half of its financial year, after it was hit by difficult trading over the key Christmas period, and it also warned that 2015 has got off to a slower start than it had expected although it's hoping for a pickup in coming weeks. It sweetened the news by declaring a maiden interim dividend of 7.35 pence a share and a special dividend of 14.7 pence, or GBP25 million, a move it said reflected its longer-term prospects and a strong cash position. The video game and console retailer reported a pretax profit of GBP33.2 million for the 26 weeks to January 24, down from GBP33.8 million a year earlier, as revenue slipped to GBP582.1 million from GBP586.4 million.
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MARKETS
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UK equities have reversed an initial fall to move higher, with the FTSE 100 setting a new intraday high of 7,065.08.
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FTSE 100: up 0.2% at 7,054.18
FTSE 250: up 0.5% at 17,630.56
AIM ALL-SHARE: up 0.7% at 721.18
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The pound is down against the dollar after UK inflation fell to zero for the first time on record in February.
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GBP-USD: down at USD1.4922
EUR-USD: up at USD1.0987

GOLD: up at USD1194.46 per ounce
OIL (Brent): up at USD56.37 a barrel

(changes since end of previous GMT day)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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UK inflation fell to zero for the first time on record in February, the Office for National Statistics showed. Consumer prices remained flat in February from last year after rising 0.3% in January. Prices were expected to rise 0.1%. On a monthly basis, consumer prices gained 0.3%, in line with expectations. In January, prices had dropped 0.9%. Core inflation that excludes energy, food, alcoholic beverages and tobacco, eased to 1.2% from 1.4% in January.
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British Prime Minister David Cameron has ruled out going on to stand for a third term if he gets elected for a second five-year term at the general election in May. Conservative leader Cameron, who has led a coalition government with the Liberal Democrats through the last five years, told the BBC that he wants to be re-elected for the next five years so that he can finish the job of implementing reforms and improving the economy. "I feel I've got more to bring to this job, I feel the job is half done. The economy is turned round and the deficit is halved down and I want to finish the job. I want to go on with the education reforms and the welfare reforms," he told the BBC.
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The Eurozone private sector grew at the fastest pace in almost four years in March, flash data from Markit Economics showed. The flash composite PMI rose more-than-expected to 54.1 in March from 53.3 in February. The index rose for the fourth consecutive month to reach the highest since May 2011. The reading stayed above the forecast of 53.6. At 53.3, the average PMI reading for the first quarter was the highest since the second quarter of last year.
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Greece will present a list of economic reforms to its eurozone partners by Monday, a government spokesman said. "We will present the reforms at the latest by Monday," Gabriel Sakellaridis told private Mega television. The proposed reforms will not include measures that hamper growth, Sakellaridis said, adding that the measures will be structural. There was no apparent sign of a breakthrough on the reforms that Greece must present to secure the release of bailout funds after a meeting on Monday in Berlin between Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and Chancellor Angela Merkel.
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The manufacturing sector in China moved into contraction in March, the latest survey from HSBC Bank showed, with a PMI score of 49.2. That was well shy of forecasts for 50.5, and it was down sharply from 50.7 in February. Now at an 11-month low, the index also dipped below the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. "The HSBC Flash China Manufacturing PMI signalled a slight deterioration in the health of China's manufacturing sector in March. A renewed fall in total new business contributed to a weaker expansion of output, while companies continued to trim their workforce numbers," said Markit economist Annabel Fiddes.
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The manufacturing sector in Japan was barely in expansion in March, the latest survey from Markit Economics revealed, with a PMI score of 50.4. That was well shy of forecasts for 52.0, and it was down from 51.6 in February. It was also the lowest reading since October.
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Developing Asia will see steady growth this year and next year, underpinned by soft commodity prices and recovery in major industrial economies, the Asian Development Bank said. China's growth is expected to moderate as the economy adjusts to a new normal, while pick-ups in India and other Southeast Asian nations are set to balance the deceleration in China, the Manila-based lender said in a report. The annual economic publication named Asian Development Outlook 2015 predicted 6.3% growth for developing Asia in 2015 as well as 2016. The region expanded 6.3% in 2014.
In December, the ADB had estimated 6.1% growth for 2014 and forecast 6.2% for 2015.
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China's economic growth could ease further in the first quarter of this year from a five-year low logged in the final three months of 2014, a top government think-tank predicted this week. Gross domestic product growth could ease to 6.85% in the first quarter of the year from 7.3% in the fourth quarter of 2014, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences said.
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The Federal Reserve should probably hike interest rates by the end of the year, Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer said in New York. "Whether it's going to be June or September, or some later date, or some date in between, will depend on the data," said Fischer to the Economic Club of New York. "We've got two very positive numbers for the first quarter of 2015 and we're waiting for another one," he added, referring to the strong US jobs reports from January and February.
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The US committed to funding peak troops levels for the Afghan military as President Barack Obama considers whether to slow the pace of the US drawdown in Afghanistan. The US Department of Defence will seek to fund the Afghan military at peak troop levels through 2017, Defence Secretary Ashton Carter told reporters after a day of talks between US and Afghan officials at the presidential retreat Camp David. The commitment will keep the number of Afghan soldiers at 352,000, he said after talks with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah.
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