UK Stocks-Factors to watch on May 22

May 22 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening lower on Thursday, with futures FFIc1 down 0.54%.

RIO TINTO: Rio Tinto RIO.L, RIO.AX said on Thursday Chief Executive Officer Jakob Stausholm will step down later in 2025.

BT: BT BT.L, Britain's biggest mobile and broadband company, reported a slight increase in full-year core earnings on Thursday even as its revenue slipped by 2%, helped by demand for fibre connections and increasing efficiencies.

JOHNSON MATTHEY: British chemicals firm Johnson Matthey JMAT.L has agreed to sell its division that houses technologies to make sustainable fuels to Honeywell International HON.O for 1.8 billion pounds ($2.4 billion), including debt.

EASYJET: British airline easyJet EZJ.L said it was seeing strong demand for flights and holidays and current summer bookings were tracking ahead of last year, giving it confidence it would meet consensus forecasts for annual profit.

BP: BP BP.L on Thursday said it has entered into a long-term liquefied natural gas sale and purchase agreement with Zhejiang Energy.

OIL: Oil prices were little changed on Thursday as investors stayed cautious, focusing on renewed Iran-U.S. nuclear talks, though unexpected builds in U.S. crude and fuel inventories raised concerns about demand from the world's largest oil consumer.

GOLD: Gold prices rose to a two-week peak

METALS: Copper prices in London edged higher.

EX-DIVS: DCC DCC.L, Whitbread WTB.L, Kingfisher KGF.L and Bunzl BNZL.L will trade without entitlement to its latest dividend pay-out.

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