Vesuvius Share News (VSVS)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Shares in London opened firm Friday ahead of the US nonfarm payroll report due in the afternoon.

Mining stocks, such as Glencore and Anglo American, were joined by media buying giant WPP in leading blue-chip gainers.

WPP shares were up 2.8%. The company said pretax profit rose in 2015 despite a currency drag on its revenue, but it said that while 2016 had started well, the general sense of optimism in the ad industry for the coming year looks misplaced.

In the FTSE 250, Cineworld was down 4.1% after the stock was initiated at Sell by UBS.

Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: up 0.6% at 6,164.36
FTSE 250: up 0.3% at 16,797.13
AIM ALL-SHARE: up 0.1% at 697.24
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Hang Seng: closed up 1.2% at 20,176.70
Nikkei 225: closed up 0.3% at 17,014.78
DJIA: closed up 0.3% at 16,943.90
S&P 500: closed up 0.4% at 1,993.40
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GBP: flat at USD1.4163 (USD1.4169)
EUR: flat at USD1.0950 (USD1.0944)

GOLD: up at USD1,260.81 per ounce (USD1,257.30)
OIL (Brent): firm at USD37.15 a barrel (USD36.95)

(changes since previous London equities close)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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Friday's Key Economic Events still to come
(all times in GMT)

09:00 Italy Gross Domestic Product
09:30 UK Consumer Inflation Expectations
13:30 US Nonfarm Payrolls, Unemployment Rate, Average Earnings
13:30 US Trade Balance
13:30 Canada International Merchandise Trade
13:30 Canada Labor Productivity
15:00 Canada Ivey Purchasing Managers Index
18:00 US Baker Hughes US Oil Rig Count
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The Bank of Japan is not considering lowering interest rates further, Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said. The BoJ will continue to scrutinize risks and would not hesitate to adjust policy if necessary, he told parliament. Kuroda said the bank will use three dimensions of quantitative and qualitative easing and negative interest rates to achieve its inflation target. In January, the bank unexpectedly introduced negative interest rate to achieve its 2% inflation target.
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Total labour cash earnings in Japan increased as expected in January, after remaining flat in the previous two months, preliminary report from the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare showed. Gross cash earnings climbed 0.4% year-over-year in January, in line with expectations. In December, earnings showed no variations, which was revised from a 0.1% rise reported earlier.
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The establishment of the Republican Party pulled out all the stops, taking desperate steps to try and slow the march of businessman Donald Trump in his quest for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination. Hours after 2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney savaged the real estate mogul, fellow candidates Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz took turns attacking Trump in the 11th GOP debate of the election cycle. Facing off in the Fox Theatre in Detroit, Michigan, Trump took fire from all quarters as Rubio and Cruz finally found something they could agree on - stopping the bombastic GOP frontrunner. The primary schedule picks right back up with contests Saturday in Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana and Maine. Puerto Rico is Sunday, followed by Hawaii, Idaho, Michigan and Mississippi on Tuesday.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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GOLDMAN REINITIATES BT GROUP WITH 'BUY' - PRICE TARGET 640 PENCE
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UBS INITIATES CINEWORLD GROUP WITH 'SELL' - TARGET 490 PENCE
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TRADERS: BARCLAYS CUTS AB FOODS TO 'EQUAL WEIGHT' ('OVERWEIGHT')
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UBS CUTS WILLIAM HILL TO 'SELL' ('BUY') - TARGET 365 (410) PENCE
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JPMORGAN RAISES REDEFINE INTERNATIONAL TO 'NEUTRAL' ('UNDERWEIGHT') - TARGET 50 (53) PENCE
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JPMORGAN CUTS VESUVIUS TO 'NEUTRAL' ('OVERWEIGHT') - TARGET 310 (323) PENCE
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JPMORGAN CUTS COBHAM TO 'NEUTRAL' ('OVERWEIGHT') - TARGET 255 (305) PENCE
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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WPP said its pretax profit rose in 2015 despite a currency drag on its revenue, but it said that while 2016 had started well, the general sense of optimism in the industry for the coming year looks misplaced. The advertising and marketing giant said its pretax profit for the year to the end of December was GBP1.49 billion, up 2.8% year-on-year from GBP1.45 billion. Pretax profit would have increased 7.3% in constant currencies. WPP will pay a final dividend of 28.78 pence per share, up 8.3% year-on-year, meaning its total dividend will rise to 44.69p, a 17% increase. It noted that represents a payout ratio of 47.7%, up from 45.0%, progressing toward with a target payout ratio of 50% for 2017. WPP said 2016 had started well, with like-for-like revenue growth of 4.2%, ahead of budget. Despite that, WPP said the general optimism in the advertising industry for 2016 does appear misplaced, with general client behaviour not reflecting this amid "tepid" global GDP growth, weak inflation and a consequent lack of pricing power.
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London Stock Exchange Group reported higher annual operating profit and lifted its dividend, as merger talks with Deutsche Boerse continue. Adjusted operating profit, which is stated before amortisation of purchased intangible assets and non-recurring items, rose by 27% to GBP709.6 million in 2015, as total revenue increased by 72% to GBP2.38 billion. LSE Group declared a final dividend of 25.2 pence per share, resulting in an implied 20% increase in the total dividend to 36.0p per share.
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easyJet reported year-on-year growth in passenger numbers in February, but a slight slip in its load factor. The low-cost airline said its passenger numbers increased by 9.8% in February to 4.9 million from 4.5 million, but its load factor decreased by 0.4 percentage point to 90.5% from 90.9%.
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Bob Diamond, the former chief executive of Barclays, has held talks with investors to buy the bank's African operations outside of South Africa, the Financial Times reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Earlier this week, Barclays Chief Executive Jes Staley set out plans to sell down the bank's African operations, in a restructuring designed to focus the lender on its main activities in the UK and US. Diamond created the London-listed Atlas Mara vehicle to invest in African banks after he was ousted as Barclays' chief executive in 2012 amid the Libor interest-rate benchmark rigging scandal.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Alliance Trust said its net asset value total return beat the benchmark index in 2015, as it raised its dividend and said its investment arm managed more third-party assets in what Chairman Lord Smith of Kelvin described as an "eventful" year. The results come within weeks after Alliance Trust announced the departure of Katherine Garrett-Cox, the former group chief executive. Lord Smith himself replaced former chair Karin Forseke, who departed at the end of 2015. "I am acutely aware of the lack of gender diversity on the current board as a result of the recent changes. Alliance Trust has long been a leader in the area of board diversity, and this is an issue which I am determined to address at the earliest opportunity," Lord Smith said. The net asset value total return for the trust was 5.4% in 2015, compared to the MSCI ACWI benchmark return of 3.8%. Alliance Trust raised its dividend for the 49th year running, up by 0.4% to 12.43 pence.
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Assura said Chief Executive Graham Roberts is taking leave of absence as he receives further treatment following his cancer diagnosis last month. Chairman Simon Laffin has taken on an executive role during this period as a result.
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UDG Healthcare said it has received competition clearance from the European Commission for the proposed disposal of its United Drug Supply Chain and MASTA businesses. The group said in September it had entered into an agreement to sell the two units, which are based in Ireland, for EUR407.5 million to McKesson, the US drug distribution company. On Friday, UDG said the European Commission has granted clearance, and has referred the UK aspects of the proposed transaction to the UK Competition & Markets Authority for review. UDG said it now expects the transaction to complete on April 1.
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Friday's Scheduled AGMs/EGMs

SSP Group
Shoe Zone
River and Mercantile
Actual Experience
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com; @thomaslwaite

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