* JD WETHERSPOON: British pub group J D Wetherspoon Plc returned to a half-year profit, as customers flocked at its pubs despite a cost of living crisis.
* SMITHS GROUP: British industrial technology company Smiths Group posted a 27%
jump in first-half profit and upgraded its forecast for the full-year.
* SAVANNAH ENERGY: Savannah Energy said it plans to pursue all
its
legal rights , contesting Chad's move on Thursday to nationalise its upstream assets in the country.
* RETAIL SALES: British retail sales
rose 1.2% in February from the month before, figures from the Office for National Statistics showed.
* RIO TINTO: U.S. cybersecurity firm Fortra said suspicious activity was
identified within its GoAnywhere software nearly two months ago, a day after Rio
Tinto said in a staff memo that personal data of some of its Australian
employees may have been stolen.
* BARCLAYS: British bank Barclays Plc has tapped John Erdmann as
chief financial officer of its U.S. Consumer Bank and Barclays Bank Delaware.
* BARCLAYS: A former Barclays director, fired for sexual harassment
and other misconduct, is suing the bank for more than 584,600 pounds.
* CONSUMER CONFIDENCE: British consumer confidence rose this month to its
highest level in a year, a survey showed.
* OIL: Oil prices extended losses on worries about a potential oversupply
after U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said refilling the country's
Strategic Petroleum Reserve may take several years.
* GOLD: Gold prices eased in range-bound trading due to a firmer dollar,
while investors digested the U.S. central bank's hints at a potential pause in
its rate-hike trajectory.
* For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on: TODAY'S UK PAPERS > Financial Times > Other business headlines (Reporting by Prerna Bedi in Bengaluru)
