UPDATE 1-UK Stocks-Factors to watch on March 8

(Adds futures, news items)
March 8 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen
opening 46 points higher at 6,676 on Monday, according to
financial bookmakers, with futures .FFIc1 up 0.7% ahead of the
cash market open.

* PHOENIX: British life insurer Phoenix PHNX.L posted a
48% rise in 2020 operating profit to 1.2 billion pounds ($1.66
billion) it said, helped by its purchase last year of Swiss Re 's
SRENH.S British business ReAssure. * PEARSON: Global education group Pearson PSON.L said it
would restructure the company to be able to serve consumers
directly, after it posted 2020 operating profit in line with
forecasts. * DIRECT LINE: Direct Line DLGD.L reported a 4.5% fall in
2020 profit as weather-related costs in its home insurance line
offset strong performance of its motor insurance business, which
benefited from fewer claims due to COVID-19 restrictions.
* SENIOR: Senior Plc SNR.L warned this year would be as
challenging as 2020 after the British aircraft parts supplier
swung to an annual loss, hit by COVID-19-related disruptions to
flight travel and Boeing's BA.N 737 MAX crisis. * DELIVEROO: British food delivery firm Deliveroo announced
plans for its London listing, disclosing it had narrowed its
underlying loss in 2020 to 223.7 million pounds. * TRUSTPILOT: Online review platform Trustpilot said it has
received commitments from several funds to act as cornerstone
investors in its upcoming initial public offering at a price
that gives it an enterprise value of up to $1.4
billion. * ASTRAZENECA: Indonesia's state-owned pharmaceutical
company Bio Farma said that 1.1 million doses of vaccine
produced by AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) under the global vaccine-sharing COVAX
facility would arrive on Monday. * ECONOMY: The United Kingdom lost market share in the
United States, Germany and China during the COVID-19 pandemic
due to global trade chaos, Brexit and poor productivity,
according to new research published. * OIL: Brent crude futures surged above $70 a barrel for the
first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began, while U.S. crude
touched its highest in more than two years, following reports of
attacks on Saudi Arabian facilities. * ASTRAZENECA: Austrian authorities have suspended
inoculations with a batch of AstraZeneca's AZN.L COVID-19
vaccine as a precaution while investigating the death of one
person and the illness of another after the shots, a health
agency said on Sunday. * BT: BT management on Saturday after Sky News said that CEO Philip
Jansen had indicated he might resign unless the company replaced
its chairman. * SHELL: Ecuador's state-owned oil company Petroecuador said
on Saturday that it had awarded a tender to export some 1.44
million barrels of Oriente-grade crude to a unit of Royal Dutch
Shell PLC RDSa.L . * London's FTSE 100 ended down on Friday as concerns around
U.S. bond yields and sluggishness in the British housing market
outweighed strength in energy stocks and weakness in the pound.
For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please
click on: LIVE/
TODAY'S UK PAPERS
> Financial Times PRESS/FT
> Other business headlines PRESS/GB


($1 = 0.7241 pounds)