News: RIO UPDATE 1-UK Stocks-Factors to watch on July 22

(Updates futures, adds news items)

July 22 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening higher on Thursday, according to financial bookmakers, with futures FFIc1 up 0.04%.

• MORRISONS: Shareholders in British supermarket group Morrisons will get to vote on a 6.3 billion pound takeover offer from a consortium led by SoftBank 9984.T owned Fortress Investment Group on August 16, it said.
• NATWEST: Britain's government said on Thursday that it plans to sell up to a 15% stake in NatWest NWG.L over a 12 month window.
• UNILEVER: Unilever Plc reported higher-than-expected underlying sales growth for the second quarter and first half as consumers cooked more meals at home.
• WORKSPACE: Workspace Group Plc WKP.L said it expected strong signs of businesses in London returning to work with easing of pandemic-related restrictions.
• FIRSTGROUP: FirstGroup FGP.L increased its planned shareholder returns by 135 million pounds after closing the sale of its U.S. bus assets to private equity firm EQT Infrastructure.
• CENTRICA: Centrica CNA.L reported broadly flat operating profits for the first six months of 2021, with the benefits of higher commodity prices and stronger energy use offset by the impact of COVID-19 and industrial action.
• IG GROUP: Online trading platform IG Group IGG.L reported a 52% jump in annual profit, as a retail frenzy boosted trading activity beyond the already strong levels seen in the previous financial year.
• GO-AHEAD: British transport company Go-Ahead GOG.L named Christian Schreyer as its new chief executive from Nov. 5, replacing David Brown who said in May he planned to retire before the end of the year.
• MARLOWE: Britain's Marlowe Plc MRLM.L made public its offer to take over office services provider Restore Plc RSTP.L for about 743 million pounds ($1.02 billion).
• BHP: BHP Group said it signed a nickel supply agreement with Tesla Inc TSLA.O and will work with the electric carmaker on lowering carbon emissions in the battery supply chain.
• COVID19: British Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said he was concerned by a so-called 'pingdemic' in which hundreds of thousands of workers have been told to isolate by an official app as fears grew of food and fuel shortages.
• RETAIL: Britain's retailers could open thousands of local high-street stores over the next 12 months as people start to step out again after months of coronavirus curbs, according to research from Barclays.
• RIO TINTO: Canadian union Unifor said on Wednesday miner Rio Tinto RIO.L has been served with a 72-hour strike notice after nearly seven weeks of unproductive negotiations over proposed changes to workers' retirement income and benefit levels.
• HISCOX: Insurer Hiscox Ltd HSX.L said the group's chief executive, Bronek Masojada, will retire at the end of the year and will be replaced by current Chief Financial Officer Aki Hussain.
• FOOD SUPPLY: Britain's food supply chains are "right on the edge of failing" as absence related to COVID-19 has aggravated a critical shortage of labour, a meat industry body said on Wednesday.
• OIL: Oil prices fell after an unexpected rise in U.S. crude oil inventories and as rising COVID-19 infections threaten demand.
• Travel-related stocks and retailers helped London's FTSE 100 to record its strongest session in more than five months on Wednesday.
• For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on:

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