(Adds company news items and futures)
Sept 28 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening 2 points higher on Thursday, according to financial bookmakers, with futures FFIc1 up 0.12 percent ahead of the cash market open.
* IMPERIAL BRANDS: British tobacco group Imperial Brands IMB.L said on Thursday it would meet profit expectations for the year ended on Sept. 30 after its volumes outperformed the industry in the second half. LLOYD'S OF LONDON: LLoyd's of London SOLYD.UL reported a 16 percent fall in half-year pre-tax profit on Thursday, and faces a challenging end to 2017 given it is still to take into account the impact of hurricanes in the Caribbean and United States. TUI AG: Europe's largest tour operator TUI TUIGn.DE said it still expected to grow underlying full-year earnings by at least 10 percent after it enjoyed strong summer trading at its hotels and resorts. MOSS BROS GROUP: Formalwear specialist Moss Bros Group Plc MOSB.L reported a rise in comparable sales for the first half and said early responses to its autumn and winter ranges had been positive. RPC GROUP: British packaging company RPC Group Plc RPC.L said it expects its first-half revenue to be well ahead of expectations helped by acquisitions, favourable currency movements and strength in China. BRITAIN RATE HIKE: Bank of England Chief Economist Andy Haldane said he saw encouraging signs of pay growth and any increase in interest rates should be seen as a "good news story" for Britain's economy, Sky News quoted him as saying on Wednesday. BOMBARDIER: Britain told U.S. planemaker Boeing (NYSE:BA) BA.N that it could lose out on future British defence contracts because of its dispute with Canadian rival Bombardier BBDb.TO which has put 4,200 jobs at risk in Northern Ireland. RYANAIR: Ryanair RYA.I cancelled the flights of another 400,000 customers and scrapped a bid for Alitalia on Wednesday, in a plan to keep its pilots on side and draw a line under its rostering fiasco. EQUIFAX: Credit-reporting firms will be subject to stricter regulatory monitoring following the massive data breach that Equifax Inc (NYSE:EFX) EFX.N disclosed this month, the head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) said on Wednesday. CFPB is working on a new regulatory framework that includes onsite monitors at the three big credit-reporting firms, Equifax, Experian EXPN.L , and TransUnion TRU.N . AVOCET MINING: Two paramilitary police officers were killed and two others wounded in Burkina Faso when a convoy carrying fuel to the Inata gold mine hit a landmine, Avocet Mining Plc AVM.L and the government said on Wednesday. PETRA DIAMONDS: London-listed Petra Diamonds Ltd PDL.L said on Wednesday it had received authorisation from the Tanzanian government to resume diamond exports and sales from the Williamson mine, lifting its shares from two-year lows. ENTERTAINMENT ONE: Entertainment One Ltd ETO.L , maker of children's TV show Peppa Pig, received just enough support to pass a string of resolutions on management pay at a shareholder meeting on Wednesday. UK PROPERTY: Rents for office space in London skyscrapers are still the highest across Europe, a report showed on Thursday, indicating that the capital remains one of the most sought after business hubs despite Britain's looming exit from the European Union. UK WAGES: Major British employers gave staff an average 2 percent annual pay rise in the three months to the end of August, a sub-inflation rate that has been unchanged since the end of last year, pay analysts XpertHR said on Thursday. PRECIOUS: Gold rose on Thursday after falling to one-month lows on expectations of a rise in U.S. interest rates this year, while platinum fell to a discount against palladium for the first time since 2001 on waning demand for diesel cars. OIL: Oil prices fell on Thursday, with U.S. crude giving up some of the previous session's gains that were driven by a surprise fall in inventories, while Brent moved further away from recent 26-month highs. EX-DIVS: Hargreaves Lansdown HRGV.L , Intertek Group ITRK.L , Morrison Supermarkets MRW.L , Smurfit Kappa SKG.L , and Worldpay Group WPG.L will trade without entitlement to their latest dividend pay-out on Thursday, trimming 0.73 points off the FTSE 100 according to Reuters calculations The UK blue chip index closed 0.4 percent higher at 7,313.51 points on Wednesday as some export-oriented companies found support in a weaker pound GBP=D3 and financial stocks were buoyed by Standard Chartered (LON:STAN) after a broker upgrade. For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on: cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=livemarkets
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