(Adds company news and futures)
Aug 15 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 index .FTSE is seen opening 17 points higher at 7,629 on Wednesday, according to financial bookmakers with futures FFIc1 up 0.09 percent ahead of the cash market open.
* BALFOUR BEATTY: Construction company Balfour Beatty Plc BALF.L reported on Wednesday a 69 percent jump in underlying operating profit as its measures to cut costs and boost margins paid off. HIKMA: London-listed Jordanian group Hikma Pharmaceuticals HIK.L raised the full-year revenue forecast at its top two businesses, as it sold more injectable opioids in the United States amid a supply shortage, and had a better-than-expected performance in generics. ADMIRAL: Admiral ADML.L posted a 9 percent rise in first-half pre-tax profit on Wednesday, helped by demand for its insurance products. LOOKERS: Car dealership firm Lookers LOOK.L posted on Wednesday a 14 percent decline in first-half adjusted pre-tax profit to 43.1 million pounds ($55 million) as British new vehicle sales fell compared to a record period last year. GSK: A long-acting injection developed by GlaxoSmithKline GSK.L and given once a month has proved as effective as standard daily pills for controlling the AIDS virus, lifting prospects for the British drugmaker's key HIV business. RBS: Royal Bank of Scotland RBS.L will pay $4.9 billion to settle U.S. claims that it misled investors on residential mortgage-backed securities between 2005 and 2008, the U.S. Justice Department said on Tuesday, adding this was the largest penalty imposed on a bank for misconduct during the financial crisis. SPORTS DIRECT: Workers at a key warehouse that supplies to House of Fraser HFPLC.UL are refusing to work over delivery payment terms with Mike Ashley's Sports Direct International Plc SPD.L , The Times reported late on Tuesday. RYANAIR: German union Verdi will meet Ryanair RYA.I in Dublin on Wednesday to start pay talks for around 1,000 cabin crew working in Germany for Europe's largest low-cost airline, it said. BT/INFORMA: BT BT.L has approached Informa INF.L chief executive Stephen Carter as a possible replacement for Gavin Patterson and is keen to announce a new CEO by the end of October, Sky News reported late on Tuesday. BHP: The union for Chile's Escondida mine, the world's largest copper mine operated by BHP BLT.L , said on Tuesday it was closer to a contract agreement and would extend talks another day with the company in hopes of averting a planned strike, though health benefits and some other sticking points must be ironed out before a deal can be reached. The UK blue chip index closed down 0.4 percent at 7,611.64 points on Tuesday after a choppy session, weighed down notably by lower copper prices as fallout from the Turkish lira crisis that has rattled global markets since Friday eased. For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on: cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=livemarkets
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