UPDATE 1-UK Stocks-Factors to watch on Feb. 17

(Adds company news items and futures)

Feb 17 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening 16

points higher on Monday, according to financial bookmakers, with futures up 0.4%

ahead of cash markets open.

* VOLEX: British electrical cable supplier Volex VLX.L said all four of

its factories in China have restarted operations, albeit at a reduced capacity,

following mandatory closures due to the coronavirus outbreak.

* LAURA ASHLEY: Clothing and furnishing retailer Laura Ashley ALY.L said

its lender and majority shareholder were in talks regarding the company's

immediate funding needs, as it reported a drop in half-year revenue.

* PETRA DIAMONDS: Petra Diamonds Ltd PDL.L reported a 11% fall in core

earnings for the first half and warned that the virus outbreak had hurt demand

in the diamond market along with a significant reduction in activity across the

company's pipeline. * INVESTEC: South Africa-based banking group Investec INVP.L is pressing

ahead with the spin out of its asset management unit, with the renamed business

Ninety One confirming its intention to float in London and Johannesburg on

Monday. * NMC HEALTH: NMC Health NMC.L said its founder B.R. Shetty has resigned

as the Emirati healthcare group's joint non-executive chairman and H.J. Mark

Tompkins will now continue as the sole chairman. * JUPITER FUND MANAGEMENT: Jupiter Fund Management JUP.L said it had

agreed to buy Merian Global Investors for an initial 370 million pounds ($482.52

million) in shares, and would become the second-largest provider of retail funds

in Britain. * MONZO: Fast-growing British digital bank Monzo plans to hire up to 500

people and forecasts it will get 5.5 million users this year, as it prepares to

have another crack at charging some customers to turn a profit. * RETAILERS: British consumers face higher prices and reduced availability

of goods if the government fails to agree pragmatic solutions with the European

Union on regulatory checks at ports in any post-Brexit deal, the retail

industry's lobby group warned. * ITV: British broadcaster ITV ITV.L said its popular reality show "Love

Island" would return on Monday after it was taken off air following the death of

former presenter Caroline Flack. * INTERTEK: British product quality testing firm Intertek Group ITRK.L

said on Sunday it had temporarily shut its Hong Kong Garment Centre in Kowloon

from Feb. 11 for two weeks after an employee contracted the new coronavirus.

* RAIL PROJECT: The British government has not talked to China about helping

build High Speed 2, the major rail project given the green light last week

despite being billions of pounds over budget, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps

said on Sunday. * CARNIVAL CORP: More tests are needed to confirm that an American passenger

from a cruise ship docked in Cambodia, operated by Carnival Corp CCL.N CCL.L

unit Holland America Inc, has the new coronavirus after she tested positive in

Malaysia, the MS Westerdam's operator said on Sunday. * SHELL: A contractor working at Shell's RDSa.L Pulau Bukom manufacturing

site in Singapore has contracted the new coronavirus, the company said on

Friday, as the city-state reported its biggest jump in new cases so far.

* IAG: British Airways said on Sunday its Chief Operating Officer Klaus

Goersch and its Director of People Angela Williams were leaving the company.

* JUPITER: Britain's Jupiter Fund Management JUP.L confirmed on Saturday

that it is in advanced talks to buy asset manager Merian Global Investors from

private equity firm TA Associates. * WILLIAM HILL: British bookmaker William Hill WMH.L named cardboard maker

DS Smith's SMDS.L Chief Financial Officer Adrian Marsh as its finance head.

Marsh will join William Hill later this year, taking over from Ruth Prior whose

departure was announced last month. * BP: Mexico's oil regulator fired 18 employees on Friday that formed part

of a unit responsible for supervising some 100 exploration and production

contracts won at auction by private companies including U.S.-based Exxon Mobil

Corp XOM.N and Britain's BP BP.L . * GOLD: Gold prices held near a two-week high scaled in the previous session

as uncertainty prevailed over the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on the

global economy. * OIL: Oil prices edged lower as investors brace for economic data in Asia

due this week that should give a reading on how China's coronavirus epidemic has

affected oil demand. * UK blue-chip shares fell for a second day on Friday after AstraZeneca and

RBS reported underwhelming results, while investors remained unsettled because

of concerns over the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on the global economy.

UK PAPERS

> Financial Times PRESS/FT

> Other business headlines PRESS/GB