March 25 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 index is seen opening lower on Friday, with futures down 0.24%.

* HIBERNIA REIT: Ireland's Hibernia REIT said on Friday that its board recommended shareholders accept a 1.09 billion euro ($1.20 billion) takeover bid made by a subsidiary of one of the real estate funds of Canada's Brookfield Asset Management.

* PETROPAVLOVSK: London-listed Petropavlovsk said on Friday it was assessing the impact on its activities after Britain froze assets of Russia's Gazprombank, with which the gold miner has several agreements including for loans and bullion sales.

* BRITISH RETAIL SALES: British retail sales unexpectedly fell in February, the Office for National Statistics said on Friday.

* SMITHS GROUP: British industrial technology group Smiths Group reported higher half-year earnings on Friday, underpinned by strong demand for construction, mining and chemical processing products.

* HOMESERVE: Canada's Brookfield Asset Management said on Thursday one of its private infrastructure funds was in the early stages of considering a possible offer for home repair services provider HomeServe Plc.

* ASTRAZENECA: The European Medicines Agency on Thursday recommended the use of AstraZeneca Plc's antibody drug for preventing COVID-19 infections at a time the region faces an increase in cases and stagnation in adult vaccinations.

* BOOSTER DOSE: A booster dose of vaccine against COVID-19 continues to provide robust protection against hospitalisation for older people nearly four months after getting the third dose, new data from the UK's Health Security Agency on Thursday showed.

* FTSE 100: London's FTSE 100 rose to near two-week highs on Wednesday as prospects of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine and Chinese stimulus lifted investor sentiment globally, while investors awaited the U.S. Federal Reserve's policy decision.

* For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on:

TODAY'S UK PAPERS

> Financial Times

> Other business headlines (Reporting by Aby Jose Koilparambil and Sinchita Mitra in Bengaluru)