Science Group Share News (SAG)

LONDON (Alliance News) - London's leading stock indices are narrowly mixed at the open Thursday, as the market puzzles over a mostly doveish statement from the US Federal Reserve and amid a slew of PMI readings from Asia and Europe.

Booker Group leads FTSE 250 risers, up 10%, after confirming it will buy the Londis and Budgens convenience store chains from Irish food wholesaler Musgrave Group, while also reporting growth in profit in its recently-ended financial year.

Electrocomponents is at the other end of the mid-cap list, down 5.8%, after reporting a "disappointing" financial year, with continued decline in UK sales.

Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: up 0.1% at 7,016.58
FTSE 250: down 0.1% at 18,123.82
AIM ALL-SHARE: flat at 762.39
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Hang Seng: flat at 27,585.13
Nikkei 225: closed flat at 20,202.87
DJIA: closed down 0.2% at 18,285.40
S&P 500: closed down 0.1% at 2,125.85
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GBP: up at USD1.5553
EUR: up at USD1.1137

GOLD: up at USD1,210.92 per ounce
OIL (Brent): up at USD65.36 a barrel

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

08:30 Germany Markit PMI Manufacturing, Services and Composite Preliminary
09:00 Italy Wage Inflation
09:00 EU Markit Manufacturing, Services and Composite PMI Preliminary
09:00 EU Current Account
09:30 UK Retail Sales
11:00 UK CBI Industrial Trends Survey
12:30 EU ECB Monetary Policy Meeting Accounts
13:30 US Initial and Continuing Jobless Claims
13:30 US Chicago Fed National Activity Index
15:00 US Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Survey
15:00 US CB Leading Indicator
15:00 US Existing Home Sales
15:00 EU Consumer Confidence Preliminary
15:30 US EIA Natural Gas Storage
16:00 US Kansas Fed manufacturing activity
18:30 US Fed's Stanley Fischer speech
18:30 EU ECB President Draghi's Speech
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Only a "few" Federal Reserve members anticipate raising US interest rates in June, according to the minutes of the central bank's April 29-30 meeting. Back in March, "several" members said the Fed was on track to raise rates in June, but policy makers appear more reluctant to tighten given the fragile nature of the economic recovery. April's dismal retail sales report came out days after the meeting and was therefore not factored in, meaning the Fed is even less likely to seriously consider a summertime rate hike than these minutes would indicate. Fed members say they will be keeping a close eye on incoming economic data.
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A new UK government-owned company has been created to sell off more than GBP23 billion in assets this fiscal year, Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne said. Speaking at the Confederation of British Industry's annual dinner, Osborne said Shareholder Executive, the body responsible for the government's holdings in companies such as Royal Mail and uranium enrichment company Urenco, will be unified with UK Financial Investments, which takes charge of the taxpayer's holdings in bailed out banking assets. The new company, named UK Government Investments, will be tasked with getting good value for taxpayers as shares in Lloyds Banking Group, UK Asset Resolution assets, Eurostar and some loans made to students are sold off.
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The manufacturing sector in China remained in contraction in May, albeit at a slower pace, the latest survey from HSBC revealed with a two-month high PMI score of 49.1. That was shy of expectations for a score of 49.3, although it was up from 48.9 in April. It also remained beneath the line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. "The Flash China Manufacturing PMI pointed to a further deterioration in operating conditions in April, with production declining for the first time in 2015 so far," said Markit economist Annabel Fiddes.
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The manufacturing sector in Japan turned back to expansion in May, according to the preliminary survey from Markit Economics - which showed a PMI score of 50.9. That beat forecasts for a score of 50.3, and it was up from 49.9 in April.
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Iraqi government troops were digging into the town of Khaldiya as they tried to prevent further advances by Islamic State forces in the western province of Anbar after the extremist militia captured its capital at the weekend. Security forces, backed by local militiamen and US-led warplanes, were engaged in fierce fighting against the jihadists near Khaldiya, about 30 kilometres east of Ramadi, which fell to Islamic State forces Sunday, according to Majeed al-Fahdawi, a leader of Anbar's Bufahd tribe.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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NOMURA RAISES VODAFONE TO 'NEUTRAL' ('REDUCE') - PRICE TARGET 235 (185) PENCE
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BARCLAYS RAISES MARKS & SPENCER TO EQUAL WEIGHT (UNDERWEIGHT)-TP 600 (390) PENCE
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CITIGROUP CUTS AVEVA GROUP TO 'NEUTRAL' ('BUY') - TARGET 2025 (1745) PENCE
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Liberum Downgrades ICAP To Sell From Hold, Price Target At 453p
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TRADERS: HSBC INITIATES PETS AT HOME WITH 'BUY'
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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Royal Mail reported higher profit for its last financial year as a better than expected performance in reducing costs in the UK offset lower-than-expected revenue in its parcels business, and the company said it will step up its transformation plan in the face of a challenging trading environment. It reported a pretax profit of GBP569 million for the year ended March 29, up from GBP421 million a year earlier, even though revenue declined to GBP9.42 billion from GBP9.46 billion. It raised its full-year dividend to 21.0 pence from 20.0 pence.
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Smiths Group said its outlook for the current financial year remains unchanged, as its underlying revenue and headline operating profit fell slightly year-on-year in the nine months to May 2. The engineering company said the slight fall in revenue and profit reflects continued like-for-like revenue growth in Smiths Medical and its Flex-Tek unit which are being offset by declines in Smiths Detection, Smiths Interconnect and John Crane. However, it said headline operating profit cash conversion is strong at 96% in the financial year to date.
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United Utilities Group reported annual results that beat analyst expectations and its dividend was increased as expected, but pretax profit after exceptional items experienced a substantial fall. The FTSE 100-listed water company reported a fall in pretax profit for the year ended March 31 of GBP341.6 million from GBP543.3 million a year earlier, while before exceptional items, pretax profit came in at GBP447.0 million, up from GBP388.0 million, as revenue rose to to GBP1.72 billion from GBP1.68 billion. United Utilities lifted its final dividend to 25.14 pence, resulting in a total dividend for the financial year rising to 37.70 pence from 36.04 pence, and it reiterated its commitment to grow the dividend in line with inflation over the next five years.
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National Grid reported profit before exceptional items that beat analyst expectations but said pretax profit after those items fell. The power grid operator increased its dividend as expected, but not as much as analysts had forecast. The FTSE 100-listed company reported a profit before tax of GBP2.62 billion in the year ended March 31, down from GBP2.74 billion a year earlier. Before exceptional items and remeasurements, pretax profit rose to GBP2.87 billion from GBP2.58 billion, as revenue experienced a lift to GBP15.20 billion from GBP14.80 billion. Pretax profit before exceptional items beat analyst expectations. National Grid will pay a final dividend of 28.16 pence per shares, up from 27.54 pence and leading to a full-year dividend of 42.87 pence, up 2% from 42.03 pence. This was slightly lower than the analyst consensus expectations.
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Halliburton said it has reached an agreement with BP Exploration & Production, part of BP, to resolve remaining issues, which includes indemnities between the parties and dismissal of all claims against each other, relating to the April 20, 2010, Deepwater Horizon well explosion in the Gulf of Mexico.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Booker Group confirmed that it will buy Musgrave Retail Partners GB, which comprises the Londis and Budgens convenience store chains, from Irish food wholesaler Musgrave Group, while also reporting growth in profit in its recently-ended financial year. Booker said it will purchase Musgrave Retail Partners for GBP40 million in cash. Londis operates 1,630 convenience stores, while Budgens operates 167 stores. Booker added that it anticipates the acquisition to be earnings neutral in the first year of ownership, but will be earnings enhancing thereafter. Booker Group reported a pretax profit of GBP138.8 million in the year to March 27, up 14% from GBP122.1 million the prior year, boosted by a 2% increase in revenue to GBP4.8 billion from GBP4.7 billion. Booker Group will pay a total dividend of 3.66 pence, a 14% increase on the year before.
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Ground engineering company Keller Group said it has struck a USD40 million deal in cash to acquire the GeoConstruction business from US water management, construction and drilling company Layne Christensen Co. GeoConstruction, which trades at Bencor, makes diaphragm walls, a product used in major infrastructure projects and which Keller has only been able to offer on a limited basis to date.
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Just Eat said it will launch a placing and open offer of shares to raise GBP445 million to back its acquisition of Australian online takeaway company Menulog Group Ltd, announced earlier this month. Just Eat said the funding will be raised via an accelerated bookbuild, run by JPMorgan Securities PLC and Goldman Sachs International.
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QinetiQ Group reported a higher pretax profit for its last financial year after the previous year was hit by a big impairment, while revenue fell as it continued to be hit by the withdrawal of US military from Afghanistan. The defence services company reported a pretax profit of GBP105.4 million for the year to end-March, up from GBP84.0 million a year earlier when it had booked a GBP41.9 million goodwill impairment that wasn't repeated. QinetiQ raised its full-year dividend to 5.4 pence, from 4.6p, including a final dividend of 3.6p up from 3.2p.
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Automotive retailer and distributor Inchcape said it has started 2015 in line with its expectations on the back of growth across its markets and solid demand in both its vehicles and aftersales businesses. FTSE 250-listed Inchcape said its revenue in the four months to the end of April was GBP2.19 billion, down 0.9% year-on-year due to the weakness of the euro but up 4.1% in constant currencies. Like-for-like revenue was down by 0.3% in the period, but up 4.9% in constant currencies.
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Electrocomponents announced that Finance Director Simon Boddie will be stepping down at the end of the first half of its current financial year, as it posted a decline in pretax profit for its recently ended financial year due to continued declines in the UK. The electronics company said that its performance had been "disappointing", with investments not yet delivering an expected step-up in revenue growth and with its UK business remaining in decline. Electrocomponents posted a pretax profit of GBP96.1 million for the year to end-March, down from GBP101.1 million a year before, as revenue declined to GBP1.266 billion from GBP1.27 billion. Electrocomponents maintained its final dividend at 6.75 pence per share, and its total dividend at 11.75 pence.
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Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment said its revenue in the first quarter to the end of March was down, as the online gaming operator said it expects takeover talks with its various suitors to complete in the next few weeks. Bwin.Party said its total revenue in the first quarter was EUR155.3 million, down 6% year-on-year against EUR165.7 million but up 6% on the fourth quarter of 2014.
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SSP Group said it will pay its maiden interim dividend for the first half of its financial year after pretax profit rose as an improvement in its operating margin offset a slight fall in revenue. FTSE 250-listed SSP, which operates food and drink concessions such as Upper Crust in airports and train stations, said its pretax profit in the six months to the end of March rose to GBP16.4 million, from GBP10.9 million a year earlier. The rise in profit meant the group declared its maiden interim dividend of 2.1 pence per share.
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Insurer and reinsurer Amlin said it has had a good start to 2015, with limited loss activity and a robust investment return, even as its gross written premiums fell in the first quarter due in part to the weakness of the euro but also due to a competitive reinsurance market. Amlin said gross written premiums in the first quarter to the end of March were GBP1.26 billion, down from GBP1.28 billion a year earlier.
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COMPANIES - LONDON MAIN MARKET AND AIM
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New World Oil & Gas said late Wednesday that resolutions related to its conditional placing in April were not passed at its extraordinary general meeting. As the placing was placing rejected by shareholders, the company will have to rely on the open offer to raise cash, which Cornhill Capital, the placing agent, has agreed to underwrite for up to GBP1.5 million. It said it will provide information on the intended open offer and other matters under consideration at a later stage. Earlier the company confirmed that Judith Williams has an interest in 173.1 million shares in the company, or a 24.63% interest in the company.
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COMPANIES - INTERNATIONAL
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Chinese personal computer maker Lenovo Group said its fourth-quarter profit attributable to equity holders fell to USD100 million from USD158 million in the previous year. Earnings per share were USD0.90, compared to USD1.51 last year, in a seasonally slow quarter with significant currency impacts. Revenue climbed 21% to USD11.334 billion from USD9.357 billion reported last year.
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Drugstore chain CVS Health, which changed its name from CVS Caremark in September, is in advanced talks to acquire pharmacy services provider Omnicare in a deal valued at more than USD12 billion, according to a Bloomberg report. A deal is expected to be reached as early as this week, as the two companies are in the process of finalizing the terms of the deal. However, no agreement is certain.
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Cloud computing company Salesforce.com reported a return to a profit in the first quarter, driven mainly by higher subscription revenues, partly offset by a stronger dollar. Quarterly earnings topped Wall Street estimates, with revenue a tad above expectations. The company provided a somewhat strong outlook for the second quarter and lifted its expectations for the full year.
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Thursday's Scheduled AGMs/EGMs

Legal & General Group
Hydrogen Group
Baillie Gifford Shin Nippon
Inchcape
Headlam Group
Amlin
Henry Boot
Ferrexpo
African Potash
Optimal Payments
Hvivo
Advanced Medical Solutions Group
North Midland Construction
PV Crystalox
Sagentia Group
Learning Technologies Group
S&U
Bank of Georgia
Spire Healthcare
Harworth Group
Corac
Safestyle UK
Rotala
XL Media
Gamma Communications
London Capital Group
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com; @thomaslwaite

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