(Adds futures, news items)
Jan 23 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening 9 points
lower at 7,563
on Thursday, according to financial bookmakers, with futures FFIc1 flat ahead
of the cash market open.
* ASOS: British online fashion retailer ASOS ASOS.L beat analysts'
expectations for sales growth in the key Christmas trading period, indicating
that management has addressed the operational issues that plagued it in 2019.
* ANGLO AMERICAN: Anglo American AAL.L reported a 4% increase in
fourth-quarter production, driven by a ramp-up at its Brazilian Minas-Rio mine,
while water shortages at its Los Bronces mine in Chile weighed on the global
miner's copper output. * JOHN LAING: Infrastructure firm John Laing Group Plc JLG.L said Chief
Executive Officer Olivier Brousse will step down after nearly six years in the
top job. * BLUE PRISM: Blue Prism PRSMB.L , a British provider of automated
processes for businesses, reported an 83% rise in full-year revenue to 101
million pounds ($133 million), and said it expected to make continued progress
in its current year. * COUNTRYSIDE PROPERTIES: British housebuilder Countryside Properties
CSPC.L reported a 65% surge in its order book for the first quarter, boosted
partly by higher demand for affordable homes. * CMC MARKETS: Britain's CMC Markets CMCX.L said net operating income came
in above its expectations in the third quarter, as it partly benefited from a
flurry of online trading, dubbed as the "Santa Claus" rally, in the final days
of 2019. * POLYMETAL: Polymetal POLYP.L , one of Russia's largest gold and silver
producers, said its fourth quarter revenue rose 1% year-on-year to $643 million
as lower output volumes were offset by increasing prices. * IHG: InterContinental Hotels Group IHG.L will allow customers to change
or cancel stays scheduled up to Feb. 3 across mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau
and Taiwan at no additional cost, the company said on its official WeChat
account. * BANKS: Britain's regulators should have a formal role after Brexit to keep
the financial sector globally competitive and less prone to "gold-plating"
international norms, an industry think tank said. * JOBS: British employers offered their staff a median annual pay settlement
of 2.2% in the three months to December, down from 2.6% in the three months to
November, industry data showed. * SHELL: Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas has signed a deal with French energy
group Total TOTF.PA for 1.5 million tonnes of LNG per year, the African
producer said on Wednesday. Nigeria LNG is a joint venture between the Nigerian
National Petroleum Corporation, Shell RDSa.L , Total and Eni ENI.MI .
* BREXIT: Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Wednesday he did not expect
the European Union to offer Britain worse post-Brexit trade terms than it has
offered to other trading partners. * OIL: Oil prices fell to their lowest in seven weeks, sliding more than 1%
on concern that the spread of a respiratory virus from China may lower fuel
demand if it stunts economic growth in an echo of the SARS epidemic nearly 20
years ago. * GOLD: Gold prices edged lower as cautious investors awaited a policy
decision by the European Central Bank due later in the day, although mounting
concerns over a virus outbreak in China provided a floor under prices.
* No FTSE 100 .FTSE companies will go ex-dividend on Thursday.
* London's FTSE 100 recorded its longest losing streak since early December
as a strengthening in sterling triggered by strong manufacturing sentiment data
weighed on dollar earners, while travel group TUI slid on more Boeing woes.
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