March 22 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 index is seen opening 22 points lower on Thursday, according to financial bookmakers. * BANK OF ENGLAND: Britain's central bank is likely to keep on course on Thursday for an interest rate rise in May which would take borrowing costs above their emergency levels for the first time since the financial crisis more than a decade ago. * RECKITT BENCKISER: British consumer goods maker Reckitt Benckiser Group said on Wednesday it had ended discussions with Pfizer Inc over buying its consumer healthcare business, a day before the U.S. drug company was expecting binding offers for the unit. * PETROFAC: Petrofac Chief Executive Officer Ayman Asfari has acquired 10 million pounds ($14 million) of shares in the oilfield services company, a regulatory filing shows. * INTERSERVE: British construction and services company Interserve said on Wednesday it reached an agreement in principle with its creditors which will secure its funding. * BRITAIN WAGE GROWTH: British workers' overall pay rose at the fastest pace in more than two years during the three months to January, bolstering the chances that the Bank of England will raise borrowing costs in May. * EX-DIVS: British American Tobacco, Randgold Resources, Schroders, Segro and Sky will trade without entitlement to their latest dividend pay-out on Thursday, trimming 6.02 points off the FTSE 100 according to Reuters calculations * The UK blue chip index closed 0.3 percent lower at 7,038.97 on Wednesday. * For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on: cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=livemarkets * UK CORPORATE DIARY: Safestyle UK Plc Full Year 2017 Earnings Release Allied Minds Plc Full Year 2017 Earnings Release Ted Baker Plc Full Year 2018 Earnings Release Sopheon Plc Full Year 2017 Earnings Release Halma Plc Trading Statement Release SOCO Full Year 2017 Earnings International Plc Release Produce Half Year 2018 Earnings Investments Plc Release Genel Energy Plc Full Year 2017 Earnings Release Carnival Plc Q1 2018 Earnings Release IG Group Holdings Q3 2018 Trading Plc Statement Release Lamprell Plc Full Year 2017 Earnings Release Secure Trust Bank Full Year 2017 Earnings Plc Release TODAY'S UK PAPERS > Financial Times > Other business headlines Multimedia versions of Reuters Top News are now available for: * 3000 Xtra : visit topnews.session.rservices.com * For Top News : topnews.reuters.com (Reporting by Radhika Rukmangadhan in Bengaluru)