(Adds company news, futures)
May 5 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening down 14-16 points on Friday, according to financial bookmakers, with futures FFIc1 down 0.2 percent ahead of the cash market open.
* IAG: British Airways owner IAG ICAG.L reported operating profit and revenue ahead of expectations on Friday, posting a record first-quarter performance in what is usually the weakest part of the year. PEARSON: Pearson PSON.L , the global education company battling a downturn in its biggest markets, said it would launch another cost cutting drive and consider selling its U.S. school publishing business in the latest attempt to restructure. SMITH: Smith & Nephew SN.L , Europe's biggest artificial hip and knee maker, reported a 3 percent rise in underlying revenue in its first quarter, helped by a return to double-digit growth in emerging markets and a solid performance in knee implants. MARKS: British retailer Marks & Spencer MKS.L has appointed industry veteran Archie Norman as its new chairman, it said on Friday. BHP: A second BHP Billiton (LON:BLT) Ltd BHP.AX BHP.L shareholder has made a public push for strategic changes at the world's largest miner, with the Sydney-based Tribeca Global Natural Resources Fund calling for the company to divest U.S. shale assets and to review its board and senior management. RECKITT: The board of Reckitt Benckiser RB.L survived a protest on Thursday that saw nearly 15 percent of shares voted against the reelection of its chairman and nearly 31 percent against the former head of its audit committee. ANGLO: Anglo American's AAL.L diamond unit De Beers is piloting a project to capture carbon in the rock from which diamonds are extracted to offset harmful emissions, the company said. ROLLS: Britain's accounting watchdog has opened an investigation into how KPMG checked the books of Rolls-Royce RR.L , the aero-engine group that agreed in January to pay 671 million pounds ($862.8 million) to settle a transatlantic bribery probe. OIL: Oil prices were marooned near five-months lows on Friday after a near 5 percent fall in the previous session on concerns over rising U.S. supply, wiping out all of the price gains since OPEC's move to curb output. GOLD: Gold inched up on Friday as the euro rose against the dollar, but was on track for its biggest weekly fall since November on receding political risks in France and expectations of a U.S. rate rise as early as June. COPPER: Copper fell to five-months lows on Thursday, posting its biggest two-day loss since July 2015, on rising inventories and worries over cooling demand. The UK blue chip index closed up 0.2 percent on Thursday, with miners falling and retailer Next slumping as a difficult consumer environment bit into its profits. For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on: cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=livemarkets
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