(Adds news items, futures)
Nov 14 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening 17 points lower at 7,334 on Thursday, according to financial bookmakers, with futures FFIc1 down 0.06% ahead of the cash market open.
* NATIONAL GRID: National Grid NG.L , which is facing an investigation over a widespread power cut in Britain a few months ago, reported a drop in first-half earnings compared with last year. BURBERRY: British luxury brand Burberry BRBY.L said the popularity of collections by designer Riccardo Tisci boosted sales in its second quarter, helping offset double-digit declines in Hong Kong where trading has been impacted by protests. STOBART: Infrastructure and support services company Stobart Group STOB.L suspended its dividend to conserve cash and reported a bigger first-half loss on Thursday, hurt by impairment charges. FIRSTGROUP: British transport operator FirstGroup Plc FGP.L said on Thursday it was in advanced talks with bidders for the sale of its iconic Greyhound bus line, but posted a bigger loss for the first half of the year due to a charge related to the business. PREMIER OIL: Premier Oil PMO.L said on Thursday it expects annual production at the upper end of a previous forecast, banking on higher output from its flagship Catcher field in the British North Sea, and said its debt pile had reduced by $300 million. MEDICLINIC: Mediclinic International Plc MDCM.L reported a 4% rise in half-year core earnings on Thursday as the company's Swiss business adjusted to regulatory changes and its South African and Middle Eastern operations performed well. BHP: BHP Group Ltd BHP.AX BHPB.L on Thursday named its Australian head Mike Henry to succeed Andrew Mackenzie as the miner's chief executive, shunning calls from some investors for fresh blood from outside the Anglo Australian giant. WOODFORD: Investors in British money manager Neil Woodford's flagship fund could lose more than 1 billion pounds, four times more than had it reopened in December, according to estimates made by his firm before the shock closure of the fund. ROYAL MAIL: British postal company Royal Mail RMG.L on Wednesday won a high court injunction to stop strikes by its biggest union around the time of a national election on Dec. 12 and in the busy run-up to Christmas. GOLD: Gold prices inched up on Thursday as Asian equities turned lower after weaker-than-expected economic data out of China weighed on risk appetite, boosting demand for safe-haven assets. OIL: Oil prices rose on Thursday after industry data showed a surprise drop in U.S. crude inventories while comments from an OPEC official about lower-than-expected U.S. shale production growth in 2020 also provided some support for oil. EX-DIVS: Bunzl BNZL. , GSK GSK.L , Shell RDSa.L RDSb.L and Sainsbury SBRY.L will trade without entitlement to their latest dividend pay-out on Thursday, trimming 15.9 points off the FTSE 100 according to Reuters calculations. The UK blue chip index fell 0.2% lower on Wednesday as traders grew weary of mixed trade signals from U.S. President Donald Trump and trimmed some early losses as exporter stocks such as Diageo DGE.L and AstraZeneca AZN.L benefited from a weaker pound. For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on: LIVE/
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