(Adds futures, updates news items)
Dec 19 - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is expected to open 14 points
higher at 7,555 on Thursday, according to financial bookmakers, with futures
FFIc1 down about 0.1% ahead of the cash market open.
* THOMAS COOK: Britain's Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has added an
extra year to its investigation into accountant EY's audit of Thomas Cook, the
holiday company that collapsed in September leaving tens of thousands of people
stranded abroad. * ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND: Royal Bank of Scotland RBS.L has cleared out the
top management team at its under-performing investment bank NatWest Markets, in
one of the first moves to shake up the state-backed bank's executive team by new
Chief Executive Alison Rose. * CENTAMIN PLC: Canada's Endeavour Mining Corp EDV.TO urged Centamin Plc
CEY.L to seek an extension for a deadline by which it needs to make a firm
offer to buy the London-listed miner. * STOCK SPIRITS: Western Gate Private Investments, second-largest investor
in Stock Spirits STCK.L , urged the vodka maker for a special dividend and a
review of the company's capital allocation, mergers and acquisitions, and
dividend policy. * WOODFORD: Veteran British money manager Neil Woodford is now looking to
expand his presence in China, a person familiar with the matter said on
Wednesday, months after he was forced to suspend his flagship equity fund.
* ANTOFAGASTA: Chile's Antofagasta ANTO.L said it had kicked off the
environmental permitting process for its $1.7 billion Twin Metals copper, nickel
and platinum mining project in the United States after the Trump administration
overturned an Obama-era decision to protect a nearby wilderness area.
* HSBC: The banking arm of French mail operator La Poste LAPST.UL is
exploring a bid for HSBC HSBA.L France's retail activities as part of its
diversification efforts, sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
* IAG: British Airways' parent company IAG ICAG.L urged Prime Minister
Boris Johnson and his new government on Wednesday to conduct an independent
assessment into Heathrow airport expansion plans. * BANKS: Bank of England Deputy Governor Sam Woods said on Wednesday he
would meet banks in the first quarter of 2020 to check on whether regulations
are hampering their ability to ditch the use of the Libor interest rate
benchmark. * EX-DIVS: Burberry BRBY.L and United Utilities UU.L will trade without
entitlement to their latest dividend pay-out, trimming 0.6 points off the FTSE
100 according to Reuters calculations * The UK blue-chip index added 0.2% on its sixth day of gains on Wednesday,
its longest winning streak since June. The index outperformed European peers
thanks to gains in exporter stocks, which benefited from a weaker pound and
helped overpower losses in domestically-exposed housebuilders. * For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on:
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