(Adds company news items, futures)
Aug 4 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening up 6 to 11 points on Thursday, according to financial bookmakers, with futures FFIC1 up about 0.2 percent ahead of the cash market open.
* The UK blue chip index closed down 0.2 percent at 6634.40 points on Wednesday, with weaker commodities and property-related stocks offsetting an HSBC-led HSBA.L rally in banking stocks. RANDGOLD: Gold miner Randgold Resources Ltd RRS.L said its second-quarter profit from mining was flat, as higher gold prices were offset by lower production and higher costs. COBHAM: British aerospace and defence company Cobham COB.L reported a plunge in first-half profit, as expected, after difficulties in its communications unit, and said it was on track to meet full-year expectations as earnings improve over the period. HIKMA: Drugmaker Hikma Plc HIK.L said full-year core operating profit from its generics unit would be hurt by delayed approvals of new products and higher-than-expected costs. VODAFONE/LIBERTY GLOBAL: The European Commission authorised a joint venture in the Netherlands between British telecoms firm Vodafone Group Plc VOD.L and U.S. cable operator Liberty Global Plc LBTYA.O in exchange for concessions. LSE: London Stock Exchange Group Plc LSE.L , which has agreed to merge with German peer Deutsche Boerse DB1Gn.DE to create a giant European trading house, reported a rise in first-half adjusted operating profit on Thursday and said it was working on securing regulatory approvals. LSE/ICE Intercontinental Exchange Inc ICE.N was "fortunate" to have scrapped a potential counterbid for the London Stock Exchange LSE.L in May, ahead of Britain's vote to leave the European Union, the head of the New York Stock Exchange operator said on Wednesday. LADBROKES: British bookmaker Ladbrokes LAD.L reported a better-than-expected 34 percent rise in first-half operating profit on Thursday, helped by some bookmaker-friendly sporting results. BUPA: British private healthcare group Bupa BUPAL.UL posted a 2 percent rise in underlying pretax profit in the first six months of 2016 and said the impact of Britain's vote to leave the European Union had so far been limited. UK INTEREST RATE: The Bank of England is poised to cut interest rates for the first time since 2009 later on Thursday, as Britain's economy teeters on the brink of recession after June's vote to leave the European Union. RIO TINTO: Rio Tinto's RIO.AX RIO.L CEO said on Wednesday there was no progress for now on finding infrastructure financing for the massive Simandou iron ore project in Guinea even after more than 200 meetings with possible backers. BP: BP Plc BP.L is working to stop a malfunction at the wastewater treatment plant of its Whiting, Indiana refinery, which allowed greater-than-permitted amounts of industrial waste to go into Lake Michigan since last Friday, a company spokesman said on Wednesday. CAR REGISTRATION: British new car registrations fell marginally in July, the first time sales have fallen two months in a row for four and a half years, preliminary industry data covering the first full month since the Brexit vote showed on Thursday. EX-DIVS: BP BP.L , Relx REL.L , SABMiller SAB.L and Unilever ULVR.L will trade without entitlement to their latest dividend pay-out on Thursday, trimming 9.6 points off the FTSE 100, according to Reuters calculations For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on: cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=livemarkets
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