(Adds company news items and futures)
Feb 5 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening 23 points
lower on Wednesday, according to financial bookmakers, with futures down 0.4%
ahead of the cash market open.
* FINANCIAL REPORTING COUNCIL: Britain's accounting watchdog, the Financial
Reporting Council (FRC), announced plans for a hiring drive to strengthen its
oversight of audit firms. * VODAFONE: Vodafone VOD.L reported organic service revenue growth of 0.8%
in the third quarter, an uptick from the second, helped by continued recovery in
South Africa. * BABCOCK INTERNATIONAL GROUP: Babcock International Group Plc BAB.L said
Archie Bethel would be retiring as the British engineering company's chief
executive officer after 16 years with the company. * LOOKERS: British car dealership Lookers LOOK.L named Chief Financial
Officer Mark Raban to the top job and Cameron Wade to the role of chief
operating officer, filling positions which have been vacant since a profit
warning last year. * IMPERIAL BRANDS: Tobacco group Imperial Brands IMB.L said it expects
full-year adjusted earnings to be slightly lower than last year due to a U.S.
regulatory ban on some flavours of cartridge-based vapour devices and weaker
consumer demand. * BARRATT DEVELOPMENTS: Barratt Developments BDEV.L reported a rise in
first-half pretax profit as Britain's biggest homebuilder sold more homes at
lower prices. * DOMINO'S PIZZA GROUP: Britain's biggest pizza delivery company Domino's
Pizza Group Plc DOM.L reported a rise in fourth-quarter group system sales,
helped by higher demand in UK and Ireland and warned that it expects significant
impairment charges for 2019. * RYANAIR: Ryanair Holdings Plc RYA.I publicity describing the budget
carrier as a "low-CO2 emissions airline" has been deemed misleading by Britain's
main advertising watchdog, which ordered its withdrawal. * MARKS AND SPENCER: Marks and Spencer MKS.L said on Tuesday that the
finance director of its food division, Nick Hewitt, stepped down last month.
* AIRLINES: The European Union will consider raising from three hours the
minimum flight delay for which passengers can receive financial compensation, a
move that could cut airlines' costs, according to a document seen by Reuters.
* ECONOMY: The City of London financial district said job relocations to the
European Union on Day One of Brexit remained far short of the hundreds of
thousands predicted when Britain voted to leave the bloc over three years ago.
* OIL: Oil prices climbed more than 1%, boosted by news that OPEC and its
producer allies are weighing further output cuts to counter a potential squeeze
on global oil demand resulting from China's fast-spreading coronavirus.
* GOLD: Gold prices firmed, recovering from a sharp drop in the previous
session, as safe-haven demand was boosted by worries over a fast-spreading
coronavirus outbreak in China. * UK shares leaped on Tuesday as China's central bank took steps to shore up
the economy, easing fears about the global impact of the coronavirus epidemic,
while positive corporate reports from blue-chips added momentum. TODAY'S UK PAPERS
> Financial Times PRESS/FT
> Other business headlines PRESS/GB