15th Jan 2014 11:50
LONDON (Alliance News) - The following is a summary of top news stories Wednesday.
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COMPANIES
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British luxury fashion retailer Burberry Group PLC said retail revenue rose 14% in the third quarter, while comparable sales rose 12%, as the group continues to be driven by Asia, online business, and sales of its outerwear and large leather goods. As the group prepares to lose Chief Executive Officer Angela Ahrendts in the next few months, and hand over to Christopher Bailey, the high-end brand said that retail revenue increased to GBP528 million in the three months to December 31, 2013, a 14% increase at both constant and reported currency rates. However Ahrendts said the group is facing foreign-exchange headwinds, due to the strong pound.
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GAME Retail Ltd reported impressive sales growth over the Christmas trading period, as both its store sales and online business saw sales soar. Earlier this week, Sky News reported that the video games retailer is planning a GBP300 million flotation later on this year, without citing sources, just a year after being bought out of administration. In contrast to 18 months ago, when the troubled chain was bought out of administration following operational and financial problems, GAME reported Wednesday that total sales over the six week Christmas period to January 4, were up 83%, with like-for-like store sales up 90% and online sales surging by a huge 213%.
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Polymer products manufacturer Fenner PLC kept its full-year guidance unchanged in constant current terms, but warned that it has been hurt by sterling strengthening against all major currencies in which its revenues are generated. In an interim management statement, the firm said results for its financial year ended August 31, 2013, using rates as at December 31, 2013, would have reduced underlying operating profit by approximately GBP9 million. Despite this, Fenner said it has made progress since September, as its two main arms, Engineered Conveyor Solutions and Advanced Engineered Products made strides, reflecting improved macro-economic conditions.
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Tullow Oil PLC announced higher profit and sales in 2013 but lowered its production guidance for 2014. The oil and gas company said gross profit increased to USD1.40 billion for the twelve months ended December 31, 2013 from USD1.35 billion the previous year. Tullow said its sales volumes increased to 74,400 barrels of oil equivalent per day from 68,000 barrels per day the previous year, leading to higher total sales for the year of USD2.60 billion from USD2.34 billion the previous year. However, Tullow announced a lower 2014 average net working interest production guidance of 82,200 barrels of oil equivalent per day after the sale of assets in Bangladesh.
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Japanese smelter Pan Pacific Copper said it could not reach an agreement with BHP Billiton on processing fees for copper and hence would not sign a long-term contract with the miner, reports said. The Japanese firm is said to have asked for USD92 per ton to treat copper concentrate and 9.2 cents per pound to refine the metal. The rates are the same as it had agreed with Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc late last year for 2014. For 2013, Pan Pacific and Freeport had agreed on USD70 per ton and 7 cents per pound. Pan Pacific reportedly ended discussions with BHP on January 10 for the annual supply contract.
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Hargreaves Lansdown PLC saw its shares decline as it warned that it will have to seek billions of pounds in new assets over the next three years to offset lower prices and commission it will charge clients for investing with it. In a statement, the stockbroker said its lower pricing is expected to reduce client charges by GBP8 million over a year, while it is also predicting a revenues hit of about GBP9 million from enforced changes to the amount of commission it will be able to charge on its products from April 2016. It said it will have to gather about GBP3.5 billion of new assets over the next three year to offset the overall impact of the pricing changes.
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Sandell Asset Management Corp called on FirstGroup PLC to reconsider its "premature" rejection of a plan it put forward calling on the company to split itself up and sell assets in order to drive shareholder value. The bus and rail operator, which has UK rail and bus operations, and student transport, airport transit and the Greyhound bus unit in the US, rejected the proposal from one its biggest shareholders in December.
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MARKETS
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UK stocks are pushing higher, led by the Personal Goods sector after Burberry released an impressive trading statement.
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FTSE 100: up 29.25 at 6,796.11
FTSE 250: up 18.94 at 16,254.96
AIM ALL-SHARE: up 1.15 at 881.78
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The euro took a knock following a report that showed Germany's economy growing slower than expected.
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GBP-USD: down at USD1.6430
EUR-USD: down at USD1.3625
GOLD: down at USD1,239.00 per ounce
OIL (Brent):down at USD105.92 a barrel
(changes since end of previous GMT day)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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UK NOV HOME LOAN VOLUME DOWN 3% ON MONTH, FOURTH HIGHEST SINCE DEC 2007: CML
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The German economy slowed more than forecast in 2013 after a jump in consumption failed to offset weak performance by trading partners and a slump in corporate investment, data released by the statistics office showed. Europe's biggest economy grew by a modest 0.4% last year - which was its slowest pace since 2009, when it plunged into recession - the Federal Statistics Office said. Analysts had expected the data to show the German economy expanded by 0.5% in 2013 after it grew by 0.7% in 2012.
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The World Bank revised up its growth projections for the global economy, with advanced economies turning the corner. Releasing the latest edition of the Global Economic Prospects report, the lender said it now expects the world economy to grow 3.2% this year, stronger than 3% growth forecast in the June report. The outlook is also better than the 2.4% growth estimated in 2013. Much of the initial acceleration reflects a pick-up in high-income economies, the bank said in the report.
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Toshiba Corp said it would buy a 60% stake for GBP102 million in a joint venture between French and Spanish companies that plans to build three nuclear reactors in Britain. Toshiba, as the majority owner of NuGeneration Ltd, the joint venture between GDF SUEZ SA of France and Iberdrola SA of Spain, would move forward with the construction of the reactors at the Moorside site in Cumbria, 400 kilometres north-west of London, the company said. The three nuclear reactors with a combined capacity of 3.4 gigawatts will be developed by the Toshiba group's company Westinghouse Electric Co, the Japanese company said.
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Chinese banks extended CNY482.5 billion in new yuan loans in December, less than the CNY570 billion forecast by economists, data released by the People's Bank of China showed. In November, banks extended a total of CNY624.6 billion in local currency loans. The broad money aggregate, M2 money supply, increased 13.6% year-on-year in December, compared with expectations for a 13.9% rise. This was also slower than 14.2% growth in November.
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China will continue to implement prudent monetary policy this year, Sheng Songcheng, head of the statistical department at the People's Bank of China, said. PBoC will ensure that monetary conditions are not too tight or too loose this year, the official told a news conference.
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China's foreign exchange reserves jumped by more than USD500 billion last year, or about 15%, to the equivalent of USD3.82 trillion, the central bank said Tuesday. The reserves grew by around USD160 billion in both the third and fourth quarters of 2013 after increasing by only USD130 billion in the whole of 2012, the People's Bank of China reported.
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Japan's machine tool orders increased significantly in December, data released by the Japan Machine Tool Builders' Association (JMTBA) showed. The value of orders for machine tools climbed 28% annually to 1116.98 billion yen in December. Demand in the domestic market advanced 42%, and export demand rose by 22%. In the whole of 2013, machine tool orders decreased 7.9% from the prior year. Driving the downturn, export orders fell 14%, which was partially offset by a 6.6% gain in domestic demand.
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The M2 money stock in Japan jumped 4.2% on year in December, the Bank of Japan said on Wednesday, standing at 862.8 trillion yen. The headline figure was shy of forecasts for an increase of 4.3% and down from the upwardly revised 4.4% gain in November (originally 4.3%). The M3 money stock added an annual 3.4% to 1,174.6 trillion yen - matching expectations and down from the upwardly revised 3.5% in the previous month (originally 3.4%).
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A programme that sweeps up mass telephone records is valuable, but should be changed to protect Americans' rights, a review panel told Congress Tuesday as President Barack Obama weighs changes to US surveillance programmes. Obama said Tuesday he was "close" to completing his review of US surveillance programmes ahead of a planned speech on reforms later this week.
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The US intelligence agency has covertly installed software on nearly 100,000 computers worldwide, allowing it to spy on them, and recruit them for possible cyber attacks, a news report said late Tuesday. Most were installed by the National Security Agency via network connections, but the agency has devised a way of reaching unconnected computers by means of radio waves, the New York Times reported, citing NSA documents, computer experts and officials.
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Egyptians were voting on the second and final day of a referendum on a draft constitution that the military-backed government says is aimed at restoring democracy after the ouster of Islamist president Mohammed Morsi. Voter turnout was sluggish in most polling stations, state television reported, but was expected to pick up in the afternoon at the end of the working day.
Turnout was considerably high on the first day of the voting Tuesday, according to a commission in charge of the balloting.
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Thai anti-government protesters held a mass march down a central Bangkok thoroughfare, in the third day of a campaign to paralyze parts of capital, and amid reports of violence. Protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban launched a march down Sukhumvit Road, a main street lined with high-rise condominiums and international bars and restaurants. The march followed overnight attacks on an opposition leader's home and on protesters in another part of the capital.
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Parliamentarians submitted nominations for the Central African Republic's new interim president, while the security situation in the conflict-ridden nation remained volatile. Muslim Seleka fighters killed four civilians in the Sahara district of the capital Bangui during the night into Wednesday, witnesses told dpa. Six others were injured when the rebels set fire to at least 60 homes, they said.
More than 40 people have been killed since interim president Michel Djotodia stepped down last week under international pressure, according to the United Nations.
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Related Shares:
Tullow OilBurberryFenner PLCHargreaves LansdownFirstgroupBHP Group