Centaur Share News (CAU)

LONDON (Alliance News) - UK shares have opened higher Wednesday on a day filled with key economic data reports from Asia, Europe, the UK and US.

Among reports out so far, German first quarter GDP has disappointed, while Chinese industrial production and retail sales figures for April were mixed.

Still to come is UK unemployment at 0930 BST and the Bank of England's quarterly inflation report at 1030 BST.

A number of large London-listed companies have reported earnings, with Mondi and Barratt Developments leading FTSE 100 gainers, up 7.6% and 2.4%, respectively, on positive trading updates.

Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: up 0.2% at 6,949.39
FTSE 250: up 0.5% at 17,775.02
AIM ALL-SHARE: up 0.2% at 758.28
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Hang Seng: down 0.5% at 27,268.32
Nikkei 225: closed up 0.7% at 19,764.72
DJIA: closed down 0.2% at 18,068.23
S&P 500: closed down 0.3% at 2,099.12
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GBP: flat at USD1.5666
EUR: up at USD1.1241

GOLD: up at USD1,194.55 per ounce
OIL (Brent): down at USD67.16 a barrel

(changes since end of previous GMT day)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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Wednesday's Key Economic Events still to come
(all times in BST)

09:00 Italy Gross Domestic Product Preliminary
09:30 UK ILO Unemployment Rate and Average Earnings
10:00 Italy Consumer Price Index
10:00 EU Gross Domestic Product Preliminary
10:00 EU Industrial Production
10:30 UK BOE Governor Carney speech
10:30 UK Bank of England Quarterly Inflation Report
12:00 US MBA Mortgage Applications
12:30 EU ECB Monetary Policy Meeting Accounts
13:30 US Retail Sales
14:30 US Export and Import Price indices
15:00 US Business Inventories
15:30 US EIA Crude Oil Stocks
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The German economy grew at a slower pace in the first quarter of the year, data released by Destatis showed. Gross domestic product rose 0.3% sequentially, slower than the 0.7% expansion seen a quarter ago. It was also weaker than the 0.5% growth forecast by economists. According to provisional calculations, positive contributions came mainly from domestic demand, while foreign trade had a downward effect. On a price-adjusted basis, annual growth eased to 1.1% from 1.6% in the fourth quarter. This was the slowest growth since the second quarter of 2014. Economists had forecast 1.2% growth.
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Germany's consumer price inflation accelerated for the third straight month in April at a faster than initially estimated pace, final data from Destatis showed. The consumer price index climbed 0.5% year-over-year in April, revised from a 0.4% increase estimated earlier. In March prices had risen 0.3%. The latest rate of inflation was the highest since November last year, when prices grew 0.6%.
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French consumer prices increased in April after falling for three straight months, the statistical office Insee reported. Consumer prices rose 0.1% from last year, reversing March's 0.1% fall. The annual rate came in line with expectations.
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China's industrial production grew at a faster pace in April, while retail sales growth eased for the third straight month, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed Wednesday. Industrial output expanded 5.9% year-on-year in April, faster than March's 5.6% increase. Nonetheless, it was slightly weaker than a 6% rise forecast by economists. Annual growth in retail sales slowed to 10% in April from 10.2% in March.
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Japan posted a current account surplus of JPY2.795 trillion in March, the Ministry of Finance said. The headline figure topped forecasts for a surplus of JPY2.061 trillion and was up from JPY1.440 trillion in February. The trade balance reflected a surplus of JPY671.4 billion - also topping expectations for a surplus of JPY527.5 billion following the JPY143.1 billion deficit in the previous month. Exports added 9.8% on year to JPY7.136 trillion, up from the 0.4% gain a month earlier. Imports tumbled an annual 15.8% to JPY6.465 trillion after falling 6.2% in February.
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A measure of peoples' assessment of the Japanese economy improved for the fifth straight month in April, exceeding consensus estimate, survey data from the Cabinet Office showed. The current index of the Economy Watchers' survey rose to 53.6 in April from 52.2 in the previous month. Economists had expected the index to increase slightly to 52.3. Any reading above 50 indicates optimism and a score below 50 suggests pessimism.
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US President Barack Obama's own party blocked legislation that is key to promoting two of his top economic priorities - trade deals with the Pacific Rim and with Europe. Forty-five Senators, most of them minority Democrats, opposed ending debate on the revival of fast-track trade authority, effectively using a procedural manoeuvre to keep it from proceeding to full debate and a vote.
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The death toll from another powerful earthquake centred in Nepal passed 80, authorities said, with reports still coming in of landslides and further casualties. Some 65 people were killed in Nepal alone by the 7.3-magnitude quake and aftershocks which hit after midday on Tuesday, authorities said, even as the country struggled to deal with the mass deaths and damage caused by a 7.8-magnitude tremor last month. About 17 people were reported to have died in India, mostly in the state of Bihar on Nepal's southern border, and one person was dead in China after the latest quake.
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A passenger train derailed outside the city of Philadelphia in the eastern US late Tuesday, killing five people, local authorities said. Mayor Michael Nutter told reporters that seven cars had derailed and described the scene as "an absolute, disastrous mess." He said over 50 people had been injured, local media reported. Some were in serious condition. Train operator Amtrak reported that there were about 238 passengers and five crew members on board the train, which was on its way from Washington, DC to New York City.
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A Saudi-led coalition halted its air raids on rebel-held positions in neighbouring Yemen late Tuesday as a 5-day ceasefire went into effect at 11 pm local time. The ceasefire, which is intended to allow badly-needed humanitarian aid reach people affected by the conflict, was preceded by a day of intensive airstrikes on positions held by the Houthi rebels in northern and central Yemen.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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Numis Downgrades EasyJet To Add From Buy, Cuts Price Target To 1,850p From 2,100p
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UBS INITIATES RANDGOLD RESOURCES WITH 'BUY' - TARGET 5600 PENCE
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CREDIT SUISSE INITIATES VICTREX WITH 'OUTPERFORM' - TARGET 2400 PENCE
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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TUI Group said its operating loss narrowed in the first half of its financial year, as revenue rose and its hotels and resorts and cruises businesses delivered a significant increase in profitability, and it retained its profit guidance for the year as a whole. The travel company, the result of a recent merger between Germany's TUI AG and the UK's TUI Travel, reported a loss before interest, tax and amortisation of EUR292.0 million for the six months to end-March, compared with EUR341.4 million a year earlier, when profits on asset sales and a refinancing benefit are excluded. Including these benefits, the loss narrowed to EUR272.6 million, from a EUR341.4 million loss, as revenue rose to EUR6.94 billion from EUR6.47 billion.
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Mondi reported a 29% increase in operating profit excluding exceptional items in the first quarter of 2015, driven by higher volumes and lower input costs across most of Europe, strong contributions from capital projects and acquisitions, and higher selling prices in Russia and South Africa. The paper company said its underlying operating profit in the three months to end-March, which excludes what it terms as special items, was EUR236 million, up from EUR183 million a year earlier, and up 9% from EUR216 million in the fourth quarter of 2014.
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Compass Group reported a rise in profit in the first half of its financial year, boosted by strong sales in North America and the emerging markets. The catering and outsourcing company reported a 4.9% rise in pretax profit for the six months to March 31 to GBP621 million, while its organic revenue grew 5.7% to GBP8.9 billion. Its operating margin increased by 10 basis points to 7.5%. Compass said it will pay an interim dividend of 9.8 pence, up 11% on the prior year.
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Admiral Group said Chief Executive Henry Engelhardt is to step down from the role in one year's time and will be replaced by company co-founder and current chief operating officer David Stevens. Engelhardt has been the chief executive of Admiral since its founding in June 1991. Stevens also has been with the company throughout its history and, in addition to the COO role, is the chief executive of the UK insurance business.
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Barratt Developments said it remains on track to report a significant improvement in its results in the year to end-June, as it expects housing completions to be ahead of previous guidance and as it reported a 17.9% increase in total forward sales by May 10. The housebuilder said it now expects housing completions for the year to June 30 to be about 16,100, up from 14,838 in its last financial year, and it said forward sales including joint ventures stood at GBP2.59 billion as of May 10, up from GBP2.20 billion on May 11, 2014.
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SABMiller reported flat pretax profit in its recently ended financial year, as its revenue fell very slightly, it was hit by currency exchange rate changes, and it booked costs associated with joint ventures and acquisitions. The brewer, whose brands include Grolsch, Peroni, Coors Light beers and Bulmers cider, reported a pretax profit for the year ended March 31 of USD4.8 million, flat on the year before, on revenue of USD22.1 million, down slightly from USD22.3 million.
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Severn Trent said it is selling its water purification business to joint venture partner Industrie De Nora in a deal that values the whole unit at USD99 million and Severn Trent's share at USD81.2 million. The water utility said its share will be settled by a cash payment of USD20.1 million, or GBP12.6 million, and the rest through the settlement of net intercompany debt. It expects the sale to complete at the end of June.
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Tesco has closed its last six Homeplus stores and has cut around 650 jobs in the process, Sky News reported. Tesco said the stores in Hartcliffe in Bristol, Bracknell, Nottingham, Denton, Bromborough and Preston will close on June 27. Six other stores were closed by the company in March. The decision brings down the curtain on Tesco's non-food retail business, which launched in 2005 as standalone outlets selling homeware, clothing, electrical goods and stationary products.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Premier Oil said production fell across all of its portfolio except in Vietnam in the first quarter, but the explorer and producer reiterated its full year guidance and said it will focus on reducing costs for the rest of the year. Premier said production averaged 60,200 barrels of oil equivalent per day in the first quarter of 2015, down from 65,800 barrels per day a year earlier. The fall was due to the sale of the Scott area in the UK and some natural decline across the portfolio.
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Saga's majority investor said it has sold a larger-than-expected stake in the company, raising a total of GBP239 million. Acromas Bid Co said it has sold 122.5 million shares, or around an 11% stake, in the over-50s insurance and travel company for 195 pence per share. On Tuesday, Acromas had said it would sell a minimum of 77 million shares in the company in a secondary placing. The sale of the stake brings Acromas' total shareholding in Saga down to 51%.
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Housebuilding and construction group Galliford Try said all of its business have performed well in 2015 to date, with good conditions still prevalent in the UK housing market and an improving outlook in the construction sector meaning it expects to meet market expectations for the financial year. The group said it has GBP982 million in sales reserved, contracted or completed across its Linden Homes and Galliford Try Partnerships housebuilding businesses, with GBP778 million of this to fall within its current financial year to the end of June.
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John Wood Group said its overall performance in 2015 is down from 2014, as expected, but "reflects the relative resilience" of its business model and said its full-year earnings should be in line with analysts consensus. The oil and gas service company said it has improved visibility on customers' spending plans for the rest of the year but reiterated that market conditions remain challenging.
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Centamin reported a year-on-year rise in revenue, earnings, pretax profit and production in the first quarter of 2015, but these all fell quarter-on-quarter. The FTSE 250 miner reported a pretax profit of USD28.6 million in the first quarter of 2015, up from USD20.6 million a year earlier whilst earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation came in at USD53.0 million, up 55% from a year earlier when earnings totalled USD34.3 million.
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COMPANIES - LONDON MAIN MARKET AND AIM
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Payment processing company Worldpay is understood to have hired advisers to work on a potential London flotation which may value the business at up to GBP6 billion, Sky News reported. The company, which is owned by private equity companies Bain Capital and Advent International, is believed to have hired investment bank Lazard to advise on the float. Worldpay was acquired by the private equity houses in 2010 from The Royal Bank of Scotland Group following the lender's bailout by the UK government.
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COMPANIES - INTERNATIONAL
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Deutsche Telekom reported that first-quarter net profit declined 57% to EUR787 million from EUR1.82 billion in the prior-year quarter, which included a gain from the partial sale of stake in Scout24 group. Excluding items, adjusted net profit for the quarter surged 76.5% to EUR1.04 billion from last year's EUR587 million. Revenue for the quarter grew 13% to EUR16.84 billion from EUR14.90 billion in the same quarter last year. Organic revenue growth was 4.7%. Deutsche Telekom confirmed its guidance for the full year.
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German utility RWE said its first-quarter net income surged to EUR2.166 billion from EUR995 million in the previous year. RWE said one-off items from the sale of securities had a positive effect on the financial result. Recurrent net income was EUR877 million, while it totalled EUR797 million last year.
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General Motors, the largest US automaker, recalled more than a half million cars and pickup trucks for safety-related defects. The affected cars are 469,000 Chevrolet Malibus built in 2011 and 2012 and about 53,000 Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon pickup trucks. The problem with the Malibus is the safety belt. A steel cable connected to the safety belt can fail over time. It is GM's largest recall of the year, according to the Detroit News. The other vehicles have a problem in their seats, which may not be properly anchored.
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French media and music company Vivendi said its first-quarter net income to shareholders dropped to EUR33 million from EUR431 million last year. Excluding items, Vivendi reported adjusted earnings of EUR136 million compared with EUR109 million in the prior year. Revenue for the quarter rose 7.5% to EUR2.49 billion from EUR2.32 billion a year ago. On a constant currency basis, revenue was up 2.5%.
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Wednesday's Scheduled AGMs/EGMs

Centaur Media
Mondi
Esure Group
Premier Oil
John Wood Group
HgCapital Trust
Direct Line Insurance Group
STM Group
Savills
Just Eat
Novae Group
Candover Investments
Indivior
Xaar
JPMorgan American Investment Trust
Rentokil Initial
APR Energy
888 Holdings
Zotefoams
Riverstone Energy
Lidco Group
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com; @thomaslwaite

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