(Adds futures, company items)
June 6 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening 6 points
higher at 7,227 on Thursday, according to financial bookmakers, with futures
FFIc1 down 0.2% ahead of the cash market open.
** MITIE GROUP: Mitie Group Plc MTO.L topped its own guidance for
full-year operating profit on Thursday and said it expected earnings to grow in
the mid-single digits in 2019, as its engineering and security businesses
outperforms. ** CMC MARKETS: Online trading firms CMC Markets Plc's CMCX.L annual
profit before tax crumbled to roughly a tenth of what it reported a year
earlier, as regulatory curbs on highly leveraged betting and lower market
volatility hit retail brokers. ** ASTRAZENECA: AstraZeneca Plc AZN.L said on Thursday its blood cancer
drug met the primary endpoint of a final stage trial, the second success for the
treatment in a month. ** GO-AHEAD GROUP: UK transport company Go-Ahead Group Plc GOG.L on
Thursday raised full-year expectations for its London and international bus
division after recording strong performance in Singapore and Dublin.
* BP: Senegalese President Macky Sall said on Wednesday the government would
find out the truth after a report alleged his brother Aliou Sall had been
involved in fraud related to two major offshore gas blocks operated by BP
BP.L . * ARRIVA: U.S. buyout fund Carlyle CG.O and German asset manager DWS
DWSG.DE are gearing up to bid for British rail and bus firm Arriva after
holding preliminary talks with its German owner Deutsche Bahn, sources familiar
with the matter told Reuters. * WOODFORD: Britain's financial watchdog said it was examining a decision by
a frozen Woodford fund to list investments in Guernsey, as wealth manager St
James's Place SJP.L pulled 3.5 billion pounds ($4.45 billion) from the firm in
a widening fall-out from the suspension. * EX-DIVS: A.B. Food ABF.L , Johnson Matthey Plc JMAT.L , Kingfisher
KGF.L , J Sainsbury Plc SBRY.L , Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust PLc
SMT.L , Taylor Wimpey Plc TW.L , Vodafone Group VOD.L will trade without
entitlement to their latest dividend pay-out on Thursday, trimming 7.2 points
off the FTSE 100 according to Reuters calculations * The UK blue chip index closed 0.1% higher, up for the third straight
session, on Wednesday as comments from the U.S. central bank seen hinting at a
rate cut soothed investor nerves. * For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on:
LIVE/
TODAY'S UK PAPERS
> Financial Times PRESS/FT
> Other business headlines PRESS/GB