(Adds company news items and futures)
July 25 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening up 18 points at 7395.3 on Tuesday, according to financial bookmakers, with futures FFIc1 up 0.5 percent ahead of the cash market open.
* PROVIDENT FINANCIAL: British subprime lender Provident Financial Plc PFG.L reported a 22.6 percent drop in first-half pretax profit as it continued to be hit by a reduction in the number of debt collection agents at its home credit division. VIRGIN MONEY: British challenger bank Virgin Money Holdings Plc VM.L posted a 26 percent rise in first-half underlying pretax profit, helped by growth in the bank's core mortgages, savings and credit card businesses. JIMMY CHOO: Michael Kors KORS.N has agreed to take over luxury retailer Jimmy Choo CHOO.L for 896 million pounds ($1.17 billion), it said on Tuesday. SEGRO: Britain's Segro Plc SGRO.L reported a 5.4 percent rise in first-half net asset value per share, helped by demand from online retailers and other companies. POLYMETAL: Russian gold and silver producer Polymetal POLYP.L said on Tuesday its second-quarter revenue rose 26 percent year-on-year to $385 million due to an increase in production and higher sales of gold. RATHBONE BROTHERS: British wealth manager Rathbone Brothers plc RAT.L posted a 16.7 percent rise in first-half pretax profit on Tuesday, boosted by market gains and a rise in assets under management. INFORMA: British business media group Informa Plc INF.L said first-half revenue rose 41.3 percent on strong trading in its global exhibitions business. DOMINO'S PIZZA: Britain's biggest pizza delivery firm Domino's Pizza Group Plc DOM.L said half-year pretax profit rose 9 percent as orders made online increased. BRITAIN OFGEM: Britain's energy regulator Ofgem on Tuesday picked Diamond Transmission Partners (DTP) as preferred bidder to own and operate the 180.6 million pound ($235 million) transmission link to the Burbo Bank Extension wind farm offshore Liverpool. BOE: The Bank of England said on Monday it could force banks to hold more capital as an "insurance policy" to protect the wider economy in case the rapid growth in consumer credit turns sour. RIO: Britain's anti-fraud regulator has opened an investigation into suspected corruption in Australian-British miner Rio Tinto Plc's RIO.L business conduct in the Republic of Guinea, the agency said. ACACIA: Tanzania has issued a notice demanding $190 billion in unpaid taxes, penalties and interest from Acacia Mining ACAA.L , the gold mining company said on Monday, adding it did not believe it owed the money. ANTOFAGASTA: Chile's Antofagasta ANTO.L has signed a wage deal with workers at its Zaldivar copper mine, the company and the union said on Monday, calming fears of a possible labor action. SHELL: Shell's RDSa.L Nigerian subsidiary has shut its 180,000 barrel-per-day Trans Niger pipeline in Nigeria due to a leak, the company said in a statement on Monday, effectively shutting in exports of Bonny Light crude oil. OIL: Oil prices LCOc1 extended gains on Tuesday after Saudi Arabia pledged to curb exports from next month and OPEC called on several members to boost compliance with production cuts to help rein in global oversupply and tackle flagging prices. COPPER: London copper CMCU3 struck its highest level since mid-February on Tuesday after a unexpected strength in China's economy and a weaker dollar fanned upside technical momentum. Britain's top share index fell on Monday as heavyweight Reckitt Benckiser RB.L dropped following its results while energy firms and airlines were also weaker, with just a handful of defensive stocks in positive territory. The FTSE 100 .FTSE index was down 0.8 percent at 7,396.04 points percent by 0847 GMT. For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on: cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=livemarkets
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