(Adds company news items and futures)
July 25 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen
down 2 points at 7,507 on Thursday, according to financial
bookmakers, with futures FFIc1 up 0.29% ahead of the cash
market open.
* UNILEVER: Consumer goods giant Unilever Plc ULVR.L ,
UNc.AS reported slightly weaker-than-expected quarterly
underlying sales growth on Thursday, hit by wet weather in
Europe and North America, and moderating growth in India.
* ANGLO AMERICAN: UK-based miner Anglo American AAL.L said
on Thursday it was raising its dividend payout by 27% as it
reported a 19% jump in core earnings in the first half of the
year and said it intends to buy back up to $1 billion of stock.
* ASTRAZENECA: AstraZeneca Plc AZN.L forecast higher
product sales for the whole of 2019 after its second-quarter
results beat analysts' expectations on Thursday, driven by sales
from cancer medicines including a near doubling of those for its
Tagrisso treatment. * WIZZ AIR: Low-cost airline Wizz Air WIZZ.L has raised
its full-year capacity growth rate after a strong start to its
financial year as some of its competitors stumble. * COBHAM: U.S. private equity group Advent Internaional has
agreed to buy defence and aerospace group Cobham COB.L for 4
billion pounds ($4.99 billion), the British company said on
Thursday. * DIAGEO: Diageo DGE.L , the world's largest spirits
company, reported higher annual profit on Thursday, helped by
growth across all its markets, an improved price mix and cost
controls. * CMC MARKETS: Online trading firm CMC Markets Plc CMCX.L
said first-quarter net operating income improved from a year
earlier, boosted by higher revenue per active client as traders
adjusted to regulatory curbs that have plagued the sector.
* KINGFISHER: British home improvement retailer Kingfisher
KGF.L said on Wednesday its newly appointed chief executive
officer, Thierry Garnier, would join the company on Sept. 25.
* METRO BANK: Metro Bank MTRO.L said on Wednesday it will
start the process of recruiting a replacement for its founder
and chairman Vernon Hill, months after an accounting error
hammered its shares, left a hole in its balance sheet and
spooked customers. * TELECOM FINES: A government panel on Wednesday approved a
combined penalty of 30.5 billion rupees ($442 million) on
telecom operators Bharti Airtel BRTI.NS and Vodafone Idea
VODA.NS for not providing points of interconnection to
Reliance Industries' RELI.NS telecom unit Jio when it began
operations in 2016, Indian media reported. * COBHAM: British engineer Cobham Plc COB.L is to be
acquired by U.S. private equity firm Advent International in a
deal that would value it at about 4 billion pounds ($4.99
billion) including debt, the Financial Times reported, citing
people close to the situation. * RIO TINTO: Energy Resources Of Australia Ltd (ERA)
ERA.AX said on Thursday that majority owner Rio Tinto RIO.AX
had offered to help underwrite part of the cost of
rehabilitating the Ranger Uranium Project in the Northern
Territory. * RYANAIR: Ryanair RYA.I cabin crew in Portugal are set to
strike for five days in August in a dispute over pay and
conditions, the SNPVAC union said on Wednesday. * DIAGEO: Talks over pay between Diageo Plc DGE.L and two
of its biggest Scottish unions fell apart on Wednesday,
threatening the production of some the region's most popular
whiskies. * TBC BANK: Georgian prosecutors charged TBC Bank Group's
TBCG.L chairman and his deputy on Wednesday with money
laundering, a move the bankers said was absurd and damaged
prospects for attracting investment to the country. * METRO BANK RESULTS: Metro Bank's MTRO.L , the British
lender, said on Wednesday that customers had pulled 2 billion
pounds ($2.5 billion) out of the lender this year following a
major accounting error in January. * ROLLS ROYCE: Rolls-Royce RR.L said on Wednesday that its
discussions with Indra Sistemas SA IDR.MC , which had expressed
interest in acquiring a majority stake in the British group's
Spanish business ITP Aero, have ended without agreement.
* EX-DIVS: SSE Plc SSE.L will trade without entitlement to
their latest dividend pay-out on Thursday, trimming 2.81 points
off the FTSE 100 according to Reuters calculations
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* The UK blue chip index closed 0.7% down at 7,501 on
Wednesday as miners dragged the index owing to iron ore prices
falling and luxury carmaker Aston Martin losing a quarter of its
value. * For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please
click on: LIVE/
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