(Adds company news items, futures)
June 20 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening 24
points higher at 7,427 on Thursday, according to financial bookmakers, with
futures FFIc1 up 0.29% ahead of the cash market open.
* VIVO ENERGY: African fuel retailer Vivo Energy Plc VVO.L said on
Thursday it would form a joint venture with KFC's East African franchise owner
to accelerate the roll-out of restaurants in Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda.
* DIXONS CARPHONE: Dixons Carphone DC.L , Britain's biggest seller of
electricals and mobile phones, reported a 22% fall in full-year profit,
reflecting a tough mobile phone market, and warned of another big fall in the
current year.
* DUNELM: Homewares retailer Dunelm Group Plc DNLM.L said it expected
outturn for the financial year 2019 to be ahead of its previous expectations,
with pretax profit in the range of 124 million pounds to 126 million pounds
($157.46 million-$160.05 million). * N BROWN: British fashion retailer N Brown Group Plc BWNG.L said on
Thursday its first-quarter total revenue fell 3.8%, hurt by a decline in product
revenue in a challenging retail market. * GSK: GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) GSK.L has kicked off the sale of some
consumer health brands as it seeks to raise about 1 billion pounds ($1.26
billion) before pressing ahead with a spinoff of its consumer healthcare
business, sources told Reuters. * BP: A BP BP.L drilling rig reached its destination in the North Sea on
Wednesday after 11 days of delays due to Greenpeace protests over climate
change, the activist group said.
* GOLD: Gold prices surged as much as 1.8% to their highest in more than
five years on Thursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve signalled possible
interest rate cuts later this year, sending the dollar and U.S. Treasury yields
lower. * OIL: Oil prices rose over 1 percent on Thursday as official data showed
U.S. crude stocks fell more than expected and as OPEC and other producers
finally agreed a date for a meeting to discuss output cuts. * EX-DIVS: Compass Group CPG.L , Land Securities LAND.L and United
Utilities UU.L will trade without entitlement to their latest dividend pay-out
on Thursday, trimming 1.83 points off the FTSE 100 according to Reuters
calculations.
* The UK blue chip index dipped 0.5% on Wednesday, weighed down by miners
after Rio Tinto cut its forecast for shipments from an Australian region, while
sterling's gains ahead of Bank of England meeting dragged down exporters.
* For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on:
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