June 25 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 index is

seen opening largely flat on Wednesday, with futures up

0.03%.

* BABCOCK: British defence engineering company Babcock

upgraded its medium-term guidance on Wednesday,

expecting to benefit from the UK's plan to spend more on defence

and energy security to counter the rising geopolitical

instability.

* HALFORDS ( HLFDF ): British bicycle and car products retailer

Halfords Group ( HLFDF ) on Wednesday said it expects pre-tax

profit for its fiscal year 2026 to be

weighted

to the second half of the year.

* LIONTRUST ASSET MANAGEMENT: British wealth manager

Liontrust Asset Management on Wednesday reported a 28.3%

fall

in annual profit, following a year marked by 4.9 billion

pounds ($6.68 billion) of outflows.

* WAREHOUSE REIT: UK's Warehouse REIT

agreed

to a 485.2 million-pound ($661 million) takeover by Tritax

Big Box REIT on Wednesday, rejecting Blackstone's

470 million-pound offer, which it had accepted in early

June.

* CO-OP: British food retailer the Co-op Group will

cease sourcing products and ingredients from 17 countries,

including Israel, where there are "internationally recognised"

human rights abuses and violations of international law, it said

on Tuesday.

* ASSOCIATED BRITISH FOODS ( ASBFF ): Associated British Foods ( ASBFF )

has extended its deadline for deciding the fate of its Vivergo

bioethanol plant, which is under threat of closure, to Thursday,

hoping the UK government will step in with a support package.

* IAG: IAG's Iberia has cancelled its flight to

Doha planned for Wednesday, a spokesperson for the airline told

Reuters on Tuesday.

* COMMODITIES: Oil prices climbed, copper prices on the

London Metal Exchange and the Shanghai Futures Exchange edged

higher, and gold prices edged higher.

* For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please

click on:

TODAY'S UK PAPERS

> Financial Times

> Other business headlines

(Compiled by Nithyashree R B in Bengaluru)