Aug 9 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 index .FTSE is seen opening 8 points lower at 7,768 on Thursday, according to financial bookmakers.
* BHP: Mining heavyweight BHP BLT.L BHP.AX said on Thursday the federal court of Minas Gerais approved an agreement with Brazilian authorities that settled a 20 billion reais ($5.30 billion) lawsuit over the 2015 Samarco dam failure. BARCLAYS: Activist fund Sherborne Investors SIGC.L is in talks with Barclays BARC.L about replacing chairman John McFarlane as part of a plan to overhaul the British bank. HOUSE OF FRASER: Lenders to 169-year-old department store chain House of Fraser HFPLC.UL are expected to decide its fate on Thursday as they evaluate takeover bids from billionaires Mike Ashley and Philip Day and retail turnaround fund Alteri Investors, Sky News reported on Wednesday. EX-DIVS: AstraZeneca AZN.L , Barclays BARC.L , BP BP.L , BT Group BT.L , Diageo DGE.L , Direct Line DLGD.L , Fresnillo FRES.L , GlaxoSmithKline GSK.L , Informa INF.L , Royal Dutch Shell RDSa.L , Rio Tinto RIO.L , Rentokil RTO.L , Standard Chartered STAN.L will trade without entitlement to their latest dividend pay-out on Thursday, trimming 39.04 points off the FTSE 100 according to Reuters calculations The UK blue chip index closed 0.8 percent higher at 7,776.65 points on Wednesday, helped by strong financials and exporters bolstered by a weaker pound, while a lowered outlook hit bookmaker Paddy Power Betfair. For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on: cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=livemarkets
* UK CORPORATE DIARY:
Coca Cola HBC
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Derwent London
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Savills
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Ibstock
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EVRAZ
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G4S (CO:G4S)
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Legal & General
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Card Factory
HY Close
Cineworld
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