(Adds futures, news items)
Sept 5 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening 26
points higher at 7,337 on Thursday, according to financial bookmakers, with
futures FFIc1 up 0.5% ahead of the cash market open.
* GO-AHEAD: UK transport company Go-Ahead Group Plc GOG.L reported a lower
annual pretax profit as earnings at its rail division halved, hit by the loss of
the London Midland franchise. * WILLIAM HILL: William Hill Plc WMH.L said Philip Bowcock will step down
as chief executive officer at the end of September after three years at the
helm. * MELROSE INDUSTRIES: Melrose Industries Plc MRON.L warned that weakness
in the global automotive market would persist in the second half of the year,
but the turnaround specialist said it was confident of trading in line with its
expectations this year. * ENQUEST: North Sea focused oil firm EnQuest ENQ.L is chipping away at
its debt pile, which was at around $1.6 billion at the end of June, it said,
reiterating its output guidance of between 63,000 and 70,000 barrels per day
this year. * DIXONS CARPHONE: Dixons Carphone DC.L reported another big fall in
mobile phone sales in its latest quarter, though it maintained its financial
guidance for the full 2019-20 year.
* BOOHOO: British online fashion retailer Boohoo BOOH.L said it was
trading ahead of expectations and now expected its full-year revenue to rise
between 33% and 38%, ahead of its previous 25% to 30% guidance, which would
deliver a corresponding rise in earnings.
* BREXIT: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government abandoned
attempts in the upper house of parliament to block a law aimed at stopping the
country from leaving the European Union without a deal. * BREXIT: The British parliament voted on Wednesday to prevent Prime
Minister Boris Johnson taking Britain out of the European Union without a deal
on Oct. 31, but rejected his first bid to call a snap election two weeks before
the scheduled exit.
* HONG KONG: Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam on Wednesday withdrew an
extradition bill that triggered months of often violent protests so the
Chinese-ruled city can move forward from a "highly vulnerable and dangerous"
place and find solutions. * RYANAIR: Ryanair RYA.I members of the British Airline Pilots Association
(BALPA) announced a further seven days of strikes on Wednesday as their latest
walkout comes to an end, having caused little disruption for the low-cost
airline.
* M&S, DIRECT LINE: Marks & Spencer MKS.L , Direct Line DLGD.L and Micro
Focus MCRO.L will be relegated from London's FTSE 100 index from Sept. 23
following the latest quarterly review and precious metals mining firm Polymetal
POLYP.L , generic drugmaker Hikma HIK.L and aerospace and defence group
Meggitt MGGT.L will replace them, the index operator FTSE Russell said on
Wednesday. * CYBG: CYBG CYBGC.L said it expected to increase its provisions for
legacy costs to settle a final compensation bill for mis-selling payment
protection insurance after a last-minute surge in customer claims by between 300
million pounds and 450 million pounds. * SHELL: A U.S. judge on Wednesday rejected Exxon Mobil Corp's XOM.N and
Royal Dutch Shell Plc's RDSa.L effort to revive a $1.8 billion arbitration
award against Nigeria's state-run oil company, which stemmed from a dispute over
a 1993 contract to extract oil near the African country's coastline.
* UK MANUFACTURING: British manufacturing is locked in a nosedive as orders
and investment dry up due to the global slowdown and the Brexit crisis, a survey
from trade body Make UK showed on Thursday, adding to signs of a worsening
economic outlook.
* BoE: A worst-case no-deal Brexit would inflict less severe damage on
Britain's economy than previously thought because of preparations undertaken
since the end of last year, Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said on
Wednesday.
* UK SPEND: British finance minister Sajid Javid said he was "turning the
page on austerity" as he promised the biggest spending increases in 15 years, a
move widely seen as part of Prime Minister Boris Johnson's push for an election
to break the Brexit impasse.
* COPPER: Shanghai copper jumped to a more than one-month high, while London
copper hit its highest in over two weeks after China and the United States
agreed to hold trade talks. * GOLD: Gold prices dropped as risk-on sentiment got a boost after China and
the United States agreed to hold talks to end their protracted trade dispute.
* OIL: Oil prices eased on Thursday after a report showed U.S. crude
inventories rose against expectations, even as Washington and Beijing confirmed
they would hold ministerial level talks to try resolve a prolonged trade war.
* EX-DIVS: Admiral Group ADML.L , Antofagasta Plc ANTO.L , BHP Group
BHPB.L , CRH Plc CRH.I , Flutter Entertainment FLTRE.I , Glencore Plc
GLEN.L , Land Securities LAND.L , Micro Focus MCRO.L and RSA Insurance Group
RSA.L will trade without entitlement to its latest dividend pay-out on
Thursday, trimming 11.6 points off the FTSE 100 according to Reuters
calculations. * Domestically focussed British stocks advanced on Wednesday after
parliament succeeded in taking steps toward averting a no-deal Brexit, while
Asia-facing banks gained on hopes that protests in Hong Kong would end, leading
the FTSE 100 higher. The UK blue chip index closed 0.6% higher at 7,311.3.
* For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on:
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