(Adds futures, news items)
Feb 12 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening 13
points higher on Wednesday, according to financial bookmakers, with futures
FFIc1 up 0.2% ahead of the cash market open.
* DUNELM: British home furnishings retailer Dunelm DNLM.L forecast
full-year pretax profit slightly above market expectations, saying its third
quarter had started well, with successful winter sales across all areas of the
business. * BABCOCK: Babcock International BAB.L nudged down its guidance for annual
underlying operating profit and wrote down the value of its oil and gas
transportation business in the latest blow to the British engineer. * DRI HEALTHCARE: DRI Healthcare, an investment company investing in
healthcare royalty assets, said it is aiming to sell up to $350 million of
shares in a planned initial public offering in London. * PLUS500: Online trading platform Plus500 Ltd PLUSP.L reported a plunge
in 2019 profits, but said trading volumes rose with market volatility in the
second half. * RUSAGRO: Russian farming conglomerate Rusagro AGRORq.L said the cost of
exporting Russian sugar remained high due to lack of investments in port
logistics. * OFCOM: Britain's regulator Ofcom will make social media companies such as
Facebook FB.O and Twitter TWTR.N , responsible for harmful content on their
platforms, the BBC said.
* ROLLS-ROYCE: Rolls-Royce RR.L is "open-minded" on whether it will join
Boeing BA.N in a fresh attempt at addressing the mid-size jet market after
pulling out of an earlier effort over timing, a top company official said.
* INSURANCE SECTOR: Complaints about loan insurance ballooned in the final
quarter of 2019, spurred on by British regulators setting an end of August
deadline for compensation claims, the Financial Ombudsman Service said.
* OFGEM: British energy companies will from May 1 be forced to pay automatic
compensation to customers facing problems when switching supplier, regulator
Ofgem said. * BOE: Bank of England Governor Mark Carney gave his backing for government
borrowing to fund infrastructure investment on Tuesday, shortly after Prime
Minister Boris Johnson approved a major new rail link between London and
northern England. * GOLD: Gold prices edged lower as new coronavirus cases fell and risk
appetite improved, although uncertainty over the economic impact of the outbreak
still underpinned bullion. * OIL: Oil prices climbed as China reported its lowest daily number of new
coronavirus cases since late January, stoking investor hopes that fuel demand in
the world's second-largest oil consumer may begin to recover from the epidemic.
* UK shares rebounded on Tuesday from two sessions of losses after China's
senior medical adviser suggested the coronavirus epidemic may be over by April
and U.S. Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell touted resilience in the American
economy. TODAY'S UK PAPERS
> Financial Times PRESS/FT
> Other business headlines PRESS/GB