Feb 20 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening 27
points lower on Thursday, according to financial bookmakers, with futures
FFIc1 up slightly 0.1% ahead of the cash market open.
* SMITH+NEPHEW : British medical products maker Smith+Nephew SN.L forecast
another year of revenue growth after the company topped annual sales
expectations for 2019, helped by higher demand from emerging markets and growth
in its sports medicine unit. * LLOYDS BANKING: Britain's biggest domestic lender Lloyds Banking Group
LLOY.L reported a 27% drop in annual profit in 2019, as it paid out billions of
pounds to customers mis-sold insurance products and saw bad loans rise.
* BAE SYSTEMS: British defence company BAE Systems BAES.L met forecasts
with annual earnings growth of 7% and said work on F-35 fighter jets and its
Qatar Typhoon contract would help earnings to grow by a mid-single digit
percentage next year. * ANGLO AMERICAN: Global miner Anglo American AAL.L said its full-year
profits climbed 9% as higher prices for iron ore and precious metals outweighed
weakness in diamonds and coal. * STAFFLINE: Recruiter Staffline STAF.L said Chief Executive Officer Chris
Pullen has resigned from its board as a review of its balance sheet led to
another profit warning late last month. * HAYS: Recruiter Hays HAYS.L operating profit fell 19% on a reported
basis in the first half, in line with guidance from the company a month ago as
low business confidence and a struggling euro zone economy dented hiring in
Germany. * FRC: UK's financial watchdog said it would review how companies and
auditors assess and report the impact of climate change on their
businesses. * EX-DIVS: Carnival CCL.L , GlaxoSmithKline GSK.L , Imperial Brands
IMB.L and Unilever ULVR.L will trade without entitlement to their latest
dividend pay-out on Thursday, trimming 8.9 points off the FTSE 100 according to
Reuters calculations * GOLD: Gold prices dipped after China unveiled measures to soften the
economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak, but the metal held close to a
nearly seven-year peak scaled in the previous session as concerns over the
epidemic prevailed. GOL/
* OIL: Oil prices rose, extending gains from its previous session, as the
market shifted focus to supply disruptions, while demand concerns eased some
after a sharp drop in new coronavirus cases at the epicentre of the outbreak.
* London's FTSE 100 rebounded in tandem with global markets on Wednesday as
housebuilders advanced after HSBC upgraded its view on the stocks ahead of a
first batch of results next week, while the number of new coronavirus cases in
China fell. UK PAPERS
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