Adds and updates entries, updates futures
(Reuters) Dec 12 - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening higher on Friday, with futures FFIc1 up 0.49%.
* CAPITA: Capita CPI.L on Friday said sales growth eased in the second half of the year. It also plans to hand over its last two legacy Life & Pensions contracts.
* ABERDEEN: Aberdeen said it will acquire the management of closed-end fund assets totalling 1.5 billion pounds from MFS.
* HARBOUR ENERGY: Harbour Energy said it had agreed to acquire all subsidiaries of Waldorf Energy Partners and Waldorf Production for $170 million.
* WH SMITH: WH Smith delayed again the publication of its preliminary results on Friday.
* CARD FACTORY: Card Factory warned on its annual profit due to lower-than-expected UK store sales and expectations that weak high street footfall could persist over the festive weeks.
* GSK: The U.S. FDA late on Thursday said it has expanded the use of GSK's GSK.L Blujepa as an oral treatment for gonorrhea. On Friday, a panel of the European Medicines Agency had backed the use of GSK's respiratory syncytial virus vaccine for all adults above the age of 18.
* SHELL: Shell SHEL.L is preparing to launch a new drilling campaign in the PEL 39 exploration block offshore Namibia from April 2026.
* ECONOMY: The Confederation of British Industry bumped up its economic growth forecast for next year, while warning that deep-rooted problems remain.
* SPENDING: Britons are set to spend 24.6 billion pounds over the Christmas period this year, a 3.5% increase on 2024, according to a survey from PwC.
* COMMODITIES: Oil prices rose on Friday, Shanghai copper prices rose to a record high, and gold prices held near a seven-week high.
* For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on: LIVE/
TODAY'S UK PAPERS
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(Compiled by Simone Lobo and Neeshita Beura in Bengaluru)
((Simone.Lobo@thomsonreuters.com; +919920570373;))