UPDATE 1-UK Stocks-Factors to watch on March 24

(Adds futures, news items)
March 24 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening 38
points lower at 6,662 on Wednesday, according to financial bookmakers, with
futures .FFIc1 down 0.61% ahead of the cash market open.

* BLOOMSBURY: Bloomsbury BLPU.L said profit for fiscal year 2020 will be
significantly above market expectations. * BT: BT BT.L said it would pay 59,000 frontline workers a 1,500 pound
special bonus to recognise their efforts to keep customers and the country
connected during the pandemic. * PENDRAGON: Pendragon PDG.L said cost cuts helped the British auto dealer
report a profit for 2020, compared with a loss a year earlier. * BELLWAY: Bellway BWY.L said it was experiencing strong underlying demand
for new homes. * IAG: IAG ICAG.L said on Tuesday it had secured a $1.76 billion credit
facility from a group of banks that would be available to its coronavirus-hit
airlines Aer Lingus, British Airways and Iberia. * INVESTEC: Investec's Australian unit has agreed to sell its A$1.2 billion
acquisition finance loan-book to corporate lender Metrics Credit Partners,
sources told Reuters. * BHP: BHP Group BHP.AX urged rivals to step up trading in the Australian
spot gas market and back a domestic price index to help keep the government from
intervening in the market. * ANTOFAGASTA: Workers at Antofagasta's Los Pelambres copper mine in Chile
have accepted a contract offer and abandoned the threat of a strike, the union
said on Tuesday. * ECONOMY: British inflation unexpectedly fell last month, reflecting the
biggest annual drop in clothing prices since 2009 and cheaper second-hand cars,
official figures showed. * BANKS: The world's biggest banks cut lending to fossil fuel firms by 9% in
2020 as a result of the pandemic, a report showed. * COVID-19 : Travellers from England will face 5,000 pound fines in new
legislation designed to deter non-essential trips and barricade the nation
against imported COVID-19 infections. * GOLD: Gold prices rose as U.S. Treasury yields held close to one-week
low. * OIL: Oil prices steadied following the previous day's slump. * The UK blue-chip index .FTSE closed 0.4% lower on Tuesday, dragged down
by energy and mining stocks. For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on:
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TODAY'S UK PAPERS
> Financial Times PRESS/FT
> Other business headlines PRESS/GB