23rd Jun 2016 10:25
LONDON (Alliance News) - The following is a summary of top news stories Thursday.
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COMPANIES
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Tesco reported growth in like-for-like sales in the first quarter of its financial year, marking its second consecutive quarter of like-for-like growth, and announced that it is selling its Harris + Hoole coffee shop business to rival coffee house chain Caffe Nero. The supermarket chain said like-for-like sales in the 13 weeks ended May 28 grew by 0.9% year-on-year, with 0.3% growth in the UK and and 3.0% in the international business. Tesco said volume grew by 2.2% in the UK and by 2.7% internationally, while transactions rose by 1.7% in the UK and by 1.5% internationally. The launch of its 'farm' brands performed well in the UK, Tesco said, but price deflation did hit UK like-for-like sales by 0.7%. The retailer also announced that it has agreed the sale of its Harris + Hoole coffee shop business to Caffe Nero, but did not provide any more details on the sale.
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AstraZeneca said a negative recommendation for the use of its FluMist vaccine in the upcoming flu season is expected to result in "very limited US demand" in the second half of 2016. As a result, AstraZeneca said it will take an inventory write-down of around USD80 million in the second quarter of 2016. Despite this, AstraZeneca has maintained its financial guidance for the year as a whole. US sales of FluMist in 2015 amounted to USD206 million. AstraZeneca on Thursday said the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices of the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention in the US has made a negative interim recommendation on the use of the UK group's FluMist treatment for the 2016-17 influenza season.
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Defence, aerospace and satellite communications technology company Cobham said it has secured a contract with aircraft manufacturer Airbus to supply the Inmarsat SB200 Evolution Service safety system. The contract, which will see aircraft in Airbus's single aisle and long-range aircraft ranges fitted with the communications technology from 2018, could be worth around USD200.0 million, Cobham said, with the potential for additional revenue as demand for satellite communications capability on board aircraft increases. The system, known as the Aviator 200S and 700S, will provide voice and data air-ground communication for the aircraft.
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Engineering business Weir Group said it has sold two businesses operating within the renewables sector for up to GBP36.7 million and said it remains on track to deliver full results in line with expectations, despite orders and revenue falling. Weir has agreed to sell American Hydro Corp and Ynfiniti Engineering Services for an initial combined consideration of GBP34.4 million, with the remainder being paid subject to certain conditions being satisfied. Weir said it will book a loss on disposal of around GBP5.0 million as the company continues to progress it plans to sell GBP100.0 million worth of assets.
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Recycled packaging company DS Smith reported revenue growth but only a marginal rise in pretax profit for its recently-ended financial year as costs related to acquisitions the company made dragged on results. DS Smith said pretax profit for the year to the end of April was GBP201.0 million, up slightly from the GBP200.0 million it made a year earlier. This was held back by exceptional charges of GBP79.0 million, up from GBP51.0 million a year earlier, as the group made five acquisitions and integrated those businesses over the course of the year. Stripping out this one-off effect, pretax profit rose to GBP280.0 million from GBP251.0 million. Revenue rose to GBP4.07 billion from GBP3.82 billion a year before.
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MARKETS
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London shares were in the green and the pound was higher with investors seemingly optimistic of a victory for the Remain campaign as the UK casts its votes in the referendum on European Union membership. The pound hit a high for 2016 of USD1.4890 against the dollar. Wall Street was pointed to a higher open.
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FTSE 100: up 1.6% at 6,361.84
FTSE 250: up 1.7% at 17,332.80
AIM ALL-SHARE: up 0.5% at 726.14
GBP: up at USD1.4874 (USD1.4712)
EUR: up at USD1.1383 (USD1.1280)
GOLD: down at USD1,266.75 per ounce (USD1.268.67)
OIL (Brent): up at USD50.50 a barrel (USD49.82)
(changes since previous London equities close)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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The latest poll from Ipsos Mori, released on the day of voting in the UK on the European Union referendum, has shown a significant swing to Remain, tracking other polls the day before, while a shift in the betting odds and market sentiment were pointing to the UK public deciding to stay in the EU. Ipsos said its latest survey, on behalf of the Evening Standard, showed 52% of respondents will vote for the UK to remain in the EU, compared to 48% who will vote to leave. This marks a sharp swing from the previous Ipsos poll, released last week, which had Leave at 53% and Remain at 47%.
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Voters are going to the polls to decide whether the UK should remain in the EU in a historic moment for the future of the country. Both sides of the referendum campaign have been locked in fierce fighting for months, and things came to a frenetic close on Wednesday as senior politicians travelled across the country to try and sway undecided voters. A record number of voters are eligible to take part in the referendum with the Electoral Commission putting the number at 46,499,537. The result of the vote won't be known until early morning Friday.
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Torrential downpours and flooding have swamped parts of London and the South East in the early hours of EU referendum day, with the London Fire Brigade inundated with a day's calls in just 90 minutes. Red "immediate action" flood warnings were issued for parts of south-east London and Essex as parts of the capital were expected to see a month's rain fall in a matter of hours. London Fire Brigade said it received hundreds of calls to reports of weather-related incidents including lightning striking property, flooded homes and businesses and rising waters trapping vehicles. There were reports of flooded streets as storms swept through, threatening disruption as voters head to polling stations.
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan suggested he might call a referendum on Turkey's participation in membership talks with the EU, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported. He accused the bloc of stalling the process because Turkey is a majority-Muslim country. Earlier Wednesday, a senior official in Brussels said the EU will start negotiations on a new chapter in Turkey's membership bid on June 30, as required in a migration deal struck with Ankara. Turkey has officially been a candidate for EU membership since 1999, but progress has been slow, hampered by years of opposition from France and Germany, as well as tensions over Cyprus.
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North Korea on Thursday said it had successfully fired an intermediate-range ballistic missile, a news report said. Pyongyang conducted back-to-back missile tests on Wednesday from the eastern city of Wonsan, Yonhap News Agency reported. The first was presumed to have failed, it said. The second missile was fired at a higher angle and flew some 400 kilometres, reaching an altitude of around 1,000 kilometres, it said. "The test-fire was successfully conducted," said Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency, according to Yonhap.
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A group of Democratic lawmakers staged a sit-in on the floor of the US House of Representatives Wednesday to demand a vote on tougher gun laws. Congressman John Lewis declared several dozen lawmakers would occupy the floor until Speaker of the House Paul Ryan schedules a vote on a measure to keep people on the terrorist no-fly list from buying guns. The move comes amid demands for action on tougher gun laws following the latest mass shooting by an attacker pledging allegiance to Islamic State at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, last week.
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Presumptive US Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump blasted Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton on Wednesday as a "world-class liar" who is beholden to special interests and personally benefited from her political connections. "She gets rich making you poor," Trump said in a speech in New York, outlining his attacks against Clinton as the candidates shift their attention from the long primary season to the November general election. The remarks came one day after Clinton delivered a speech arguing that Trump would be dangerous for the US economy.
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The Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia guerilla group announced a bilateral ceasefire, negotiators in the Cuban capital Havana said, in what is a last step towards a peace accord expected for next month. The agreement included stipulations on arms surrender, security guarantees and the fight against organized criminal organizations that include groups denoted as paramilitary, the government and FARC said in a statement.
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By Arvind Bhunjun; [email protected]; @ArvindBhunjun
Copyright 2016 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
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