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)