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LONDON (Alliance News) - London Stock Exchange Group is one of the best-performing stocks in the FTSE 100 Thursday after it reported a rise in first-half pretax profit as it continues to prepare for life following the acquisition of Frank Russell Co.

It made a GBP136.8 million pretax profit in the six months ended September 30, compared with GBP116.0 million in the corresponding period last year, as revenue rose to GBP592.6 million from GBP504.2 million. It said all its business areas grew, but in particular, its capital markets division delivered good growth in both primary and secondary market activities.

The number of new issues on its primary markets rose to 126 in the six months from 79 in the corresponding period last year. In secondary markets, revenue from UK cash equities trading increased by 4%, driven by 38% growth in value traded on Turquoise, its multilateral trading facility.

Chief Executive Xavier Rolet said the pipeline for initial public offerings remains strong, though he noted that the combination of Scotland's independence referendum and recent market wobbles created uncertainty about valuations. He also suggested larger IPOs could come back to the market.

He said there was no letdown in the group's growth market, AIM, which saw 62 new issues in the six months to the end of September. "A lot of these [AIM] companies are minnows in comparison to the large companies but they power the ongoing tech revolution in the UK," Rolet said.

FTSE revenues grew 10% and LCH.Clearnet also performed well with increases in OTC and listed product clearing revenues, it added.

Rolet also said the group expects to complete the acquisition of Frank Russell Co within the next few weeks, after agreeing a deal to acquire the business for USD2.7 billion. The CEO said "good progress" is being made on its review of Russell's investment management business, which analysts expect to be sold.

Brewing giant SABMiller also reported higher first-half profit and revenue, driven by growth in Africa and Latin America, notably for soft drinks, but held back by weaker sales in China and Australia.

The company reported a pretax profit of USD2.83 billion for the six months to end-September, up from USD2.43 billion a year earlier, as revenue grew to USD11.37 billion, from USD11.10 billion, and the company made cost savings.

"We anticipate that trading conditions will remain challenging but we expect to continue to grow volume and net producer revenue. Raw material unit input costs are expected to increase by low single digits in constant currency terms with some markets continuing to be impacted by foreign exchange movements on imported raw materials," the company said in a statement.

SABMiller raised its interim dividend to 26.0 US cents, from 25.0 cents, and its shares are trading higher.
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Markets: UK shares are higher, rallying back from a lower close Wednesday amid some positive UK company updates and despite weaker than expected Chinese industrial production and retail sales data for October.

Brent oil prices have hit a new four-year low, and are now below USD80 for the first time since September 2010. Travel-related stocks are amongst the best-performers on the FTSE 100, while oil-related stocks are amongst the worst performers.

Futures indicate a higher open on Wall Street. The DJIA is indicated to open up 0.2% and the Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 are set to open up 0.3%.

FTSE 100: up 0.1% at 6,615.65
FTSE 250: up 0.2% at 15,635.69
AIM ALL-SHARE: up 0.2% at 719.39
GBP-USD: down at USD1.5741
EUR-USD: up at USD1.2456
GOLD: up at USD1,162.04 an ounce
OIL (Brent): down at USD79.40 a barrel
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Other Top UK Corporate News
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AstraZeneca said it has launched a pre-clinical development programme to evaluate its investigation antibody MEDI2452 as a reversal agent for its compound Brilinta in rare emergency situations. The company said that in certain emergency situations, doctors need to be able to swiftly reverse the effects of oral antiplatelet agents to enable emergency surgery, or quickly respond to a major bleeding event. Currently, there are no US Food and Drug Administration approved medications to counteract the antiplatelet effect, AstraZeneca said.
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ITV expressed confidence in seeing "another year of double digit profit growth", as it saw total external revenues rise 8% in its first nine months, driven by "strong progress" across all of its segments. The broadcaster said external revenues rose to GBP1.80 billion from GBP1.66 billion a year before.
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British Sky Broadcasting Group confirmed it plans to change its name to Sky PLC following the completion of its acquisition of Sky Italia SrL and a 89.71% stake in Sky Deutschland AG. The name change is subject to shareholder approval at the company's annual general meeting November 21. Its stock exchange ticker will change to SKY from BSY starting Friday.
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Aircraft and marine engine maker Rolls-Royce Holdings reiterated that it expects to complete the sale of its energy gas turbines and compressor business to Germany's Siemens AG before the end of 2014, and plans to return the proceeds from the sale to shareholders through a GBP1 billion share buyback. The company also reiterated its recent profit warning, saying that extra restructuring costs will reduce its expected underlying profit in both 2014 and 2015 by about GBP60 million.
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Vedanta Resources said its pretax profit more than doubled in the first half of its financial year as currency volatility eased, but its operating profit was hit by lower volumes at several of its operations, offsetting a 6% revenue increase on the back of higher metals prices.
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3i Group is seeking out new investment opportunities but warned that political instability and the weakness of the economy in Europe is making it think hard before parting with its cash. According to Chief Executive Simon Borrows, 3i is seeing "good earnings momentum" in its larger investments and has a number of realisation and refinancing projects in process, though he remains cautious of new investments. 3i's net asset value per share rose to 358 pence at the end of September, after the payment of the 13.3 pence final dividend in July, from 348 pence at the end of March.
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Drinks can maker Rexam said it is expecting the global beverage can market to grow in 2015 even though the environment will remain challenging, but a recent rise in aluminium prices could add about GBP30 million to its costs next year if they are sustained. It also said its reviewing its costs because it expects margins on some US specialty cans to fall next year. The company said its results since July 1 are in line with its plans and it expects to "make further progress" for the full year on a constant currency basis. It said overall global beverage can volumes were up 4% since the start of July.
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Grafton Group said its sales growth had moderated in the last four months after a very strong first half of 2014, but it said the outlook remains positive and it's expecting to report a full-year operating profit in line with its expectations. The builders merchanting and DIY group, which has operations in the UK, Ireland and Belgium, said revenue in the ten months to October 31 was GBP1.76 billion, up 10.1% from GBP1.60 billion a year earlier, but its average daily like-for-like revenue growth at constant currencies slowed to 6.1% in the four months to the end of October, from 7.5% growth in the second quarter and 10.3% growth in the first quarter.
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Spirent Communications reiterated is fourth-quarter revenue expectations, although it warned it expects weaker market conditions to continue throughout the rest of 2014, as acquisitions helped boost revenue in its third quarter. The communications technology company continues to expect revenue of between USD120 million to USD125 million for its fourth quarter. The company said that it is reviewing its cost structure to align costs with changes in the market whilst also protecting the execution of its strategic plan. Revenue for the quarter rose to USD110.1 million, up from USD107.7 million a year before, boosted by acquisitions.
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Electrocomponents posted a fall in pretax profit and revenue for the first half as the group was hit by the strength of sterling and said its chief executive is stepping down. Pretax profit was down 16% to GBP37.4 million in the six months to the end of September against GBP44.6 million a year earlier, on the back of a fall in revenue to GBP616.4 million from GBP635.4 million a year earlier.
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Great Portland Estates reported strong growth in its net asset value for the first half of its financial year, driven by 8.9% growth in its property portfolio valuation. The company said its EPRA net asset value per share was 636 pence at the end of September, up 11.8% over the half. It grew 7.3% in the second quarter of its fiscal year. It had net assets of GBP2.16 billion On September 30, up from GBP1.93 billion at the end of March.
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SOCO International cut its production guidance for the full year on the back of higher-than-expected shutdowns due to additional rig moves across its operations. FTSE 250-listed SOCO said production for the year to the end of October averaged 13,598 barrels of oil equivalent per day. The group said it has cut its full year production guidance, owing to shutdowns related to rig moves, to 13,300 to 13,800 boepd. It had previously forecast average production of 14,000 to 15,000 boepd.
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Premier Oil said production for the first ten months of the year has increased and said levels should remain flat throughout next year as the planned disposal of some of its assets will be offset by increased production from the Solan field in the North Sea. For the ten months ended October 31, the company's production increased 12.6% to 64,036 barrels of oil equivalent per day compared to 56,882 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
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James Fisher & Sons said it was trading in line with its expectations as it posted revenue growth in the third quarter year-on-year. The FTSE 250-listed marine services company said its offshore oil business performed well in the quarter, with continued growth in Africa, South America and the Far East offsetting weaker trading in its Norwegian operation. The Norwegian business is mostly focused on maintenance and production activities rather than exploration. The group said the recent decline in the oil price has not impacted trading in the offshore oil arm and said it expects revenue for the unit to be significantly higher year-on-year.
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St Modwen Properties said its joint venture with Vinci has received resolution to grant planning permission for the redevelopment of the 57 acre New Covent Garden Market site in Nine Elms, London.
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WS Atkins posted a big drop in pretax profit on a fall in revenue for the first half as the group was hit by the strength of sterling, though it maintained its outlook for the full year. Pretax profit in the six months to September 30 was GBP39 million, down 29% against the GBP54.8 million posted a year earlier. Revenue in the period was down 9.2% to GBP831.4 million from GBP915.4 million last year. The company hiked its interim dividend by 4.8% to 11 pence per share from 10.5 pence for the first half of 2013.
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Fashion company Ted Baker said revenue grew 15.7% in the 13 weeks to November 8 as it grew sales from existing space and expanded, but it cautioned that gross margin in the second half of the year will be slightly down on the year because it's selling a greater proportion of lower-margin goods. The maker of men's and women's fashions and accessories said retail sales were up 12.7% in the 13 weeks between August 10 and November 8 compared with a year earlier, as average retail square footage rose 9.5%. Sales would have been up 14.7% if currency exchange rates had remained constant, it said.
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AIM Movers
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CityFibre shares are up after it signed a long-term national framework agreement with mobile network operators EE and Hutchison 3G UK. Coal of Africa is also up after it completed the first stage of its share placement and received the funds from the issue. Frontier Resources is another gainer after it appointed Neil Herbert as chairman, replacing Ric Piper who is stepping down from the board. San Leon Energy shares are down after it said that Genel Energy, operator of the Sidi Moussa licence offshore Morocco, was plugging and abandoning the SM-1 well on the block after failing to produce oil at sustainable rates. San Leon holds a 10% net working interest in the Sidi Moussa block. Serica Energy is also down - it has a 5% interest in the Sidi Moussa block. Randall & Quilter is another faller after it warned pretax profit for the year will be materially lower than market expectations because of higher net provisions to cover asbestos-related claims, disappointing trading in its US insurance services arm, and lower than expected investment income.
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Top Economics And General
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House prices in the UK grew at the slowest pace since May 2013 in the three months ended October, results of a survey by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveryors showed. The house prices balance fell to 20% in October from 30% in the previous month. This marked the weakest reading in seventeen months. The house prices balance in London registered the steepest fall in almost four years.
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Ireland's EU measure of inflation slowed in October for a second consecutive month, figures from the Central Statistics Office showed. The harmonized index of consumer prices, or HICP, rose 0.4% annually following 0.5% increase in September. In August, the inflation figure was 0.6%. HICP inflation was at the lowest level since March, when it was 0.3%. Month-on-month, the HICP declined for a second straight month. The measure fell 0.3% each in September and October.
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Ireland's merchandise trade surplus for September grew from a year ago, figures from the Central Statistics Office separately showed. The seasonally adjusted trade surplus rose to EUR 3.25 billion from EUR 3.18 billion in the same month last year. In August, the trade surplus was 3.39 billion. Year-on-year, exports grew 8% in September, led by a 22% jump in shipments of medical and pharmaceutical products as well as a 25% surge in exports of essential oils. Imports rose 10% annually in September. On a monthly basis, exports and imports declined 4% each in September.
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China's industrial production and retail sales growth slowed unexpectedly in October, while fixed investment grew less-than-expected, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed. Industrial production rose 7.7% year-over-year in October following the 8% growth in September. Economists had expected production to rise at the stable rate of 8%. A separate report showed that retail sales growth slowed for the fifth straight month in October. Retail sales advanced 11.5% on a yearly basis in October following September's 11.6% increase.
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Germany's harmonised index of consumer prices, or HICP, was unrevised in October, final data from Destatis showed. The annual HICP inflation slowed to 0.7% in October, confirming the flash estimate, from 0.8% in September. HICP inflation in October was the lowest since May, when it was 0.6%.
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France's EU measure of inflation unexpectedly accelerated in October after easing in September, figures from the statistical office INSEE showed. The harmonized index of consumer prices, or HICP, rose 0.5% annually following 0.4% rise in September. Economists had forecast the figure remain steady at 0.4%.
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NATO said that it has sighted Russian troops and heavy weapons entering Ukraine, while the government in Kiev said that it was again preparing for war in the country's east. The United Nations warned of the possibility of a return to "full-scale fighting." NATO reported seeing columns of Russian tanks, artillery and air defence systems and Russian combat troops entering Ukraine, NATO's supreme allied commander Europe, General Philip Breedlove, said in Sofia, the Bulgarian capital, according to an emailed transcript.
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The world's largest emitters of greenhouse gasses, China and the US, boosted hopes for a new global deal on climate change with their landmark joint announcement. US President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping announced targets for reducing emissions, a step toward the next major effort culminating in late 2015 for a new global agreement. The announcement at the end of their two-day talks in Beijing marked a first for China, with Xi's declaration that China's carbon-dioxide emissions would peak around 2030. He projected that non-fossil fuel sources would make up 20% of the country's energy sources by then. Obama announced the US will cut its net greenhouse gas emissions to 26-28% below 2005 levels by 2025, compared with the previous target of a 17% cut by 2020.
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The top Republican in the US Senate called on Obama not to damage fragile trust with lawmakers by acting unilaterally following elections that saw the centre-right party take control of the Senate in a blow to the president. "Let's not do things to hurt the possibility of cooperative partnership. Let's step back and focus on what can be accomplished together," Senator Mitch McConnell said in the first session of Congress since last week's elections. "Let's listen to the American people." McConnell expressed optimism that the sides could work together, but warned it would be a "mistake" for Obama to issue so-called executive action on immigration reform, essentially by-passing the legislative process. He also denounced the climate deal with China as damaging to cooperation with the freshly empowered Republicans.
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FIFA judge Hans Joachim Eckert has cleared Qatar and Russia of corruption in their successful World Cup bids, football's ruling body said. Eckert formally closed the investigation into the bid process but individual cases around the bid process FIFA vote in December 2010 should be prosecuted. FIFA President Joseph Blatter was also cleared from wrongdoings.
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Afternoon Watchlist (all times in GMT)

13:30 US Jobless Claims
15:00 US JOLTS Job Openings
16:00 US EIA Crude Oil Stocks change
19:00 US Monthly Budget Statement
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Friday's Key UK Corporate Events

IMI - Interim Management Statement
Aggreko - Interim Management Statement
Premier Farnell - Interim Management Statement
Hill & Smith Holdings - Interim Management Statement
Macfarlane Group - Interim Management Statement
New Star Investment Trust - Interim Management Statement
Capital Gearing Trust - Interim Management Statement
Record - Half Year Results
Rotork - Interim Management Statement
Stanley Gibbons Group - Half Year Results
Centamin - Q3 Results
Castings - Interim Results
The Restaurant Group - Interim Management Statement
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Friday's Key Economic Events (all times in GMT)

n/a China FDI - Foreign Direct Investment
06:30 France Gross Domestic Product
07:00 Germany Gross Domestic Product
07:45 France Inflation ex-tobacco
07:45 France Nonfarm Payrolls
09:00 Italy Gross Domestic Product
10:00 EU Consumer Price Index
10:00 EU Gross Domestic Product
13:30 US Export/Import Price Index
13:30 US Retail Sales
14:10 US Fed's Bullard speech
14:55 US Reuters/Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index Preliminary
15:00 US Business Inventories
15:30 US EIA Natural Gas Storage change
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