Altona Energy Share News (ANR)

LONDON (Alliance News) - The FTSE 100 is set to post its worst January performance for five years after the global equities sell-off resumed Friday amid further concerns about slowing growth in emerging markets and some poor corporate reports in Europe and the US.

The main London indices were all down sharply amid a wider sell-off in Europe and as Wall Street is set to open lower after earnings from Amazon and toy maker Mattel missed analysts' forecasts. In Europe, earning from appliance maker Electrolux also missed expectations.

In London, Diageo has built on the losses it made Thursday, when it had warned of a slowdown in emerging markets. The drinks company was hit by a raft of recommendation and price target downgrades Friday. Vedanta Resources was also a big loser after a mixed production report that showed revenues declining overall.

It wasn't all bad news in London. BT Group is one of the biggest gainers on the FTSE 100 today after it raised its full-year expectations for earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, as it saw revenue and pretax profit rise in its third quarter, buoyed by its BT Sports channels.

The company now expects full-year EBITDA to meet the upper end of the GBP6.0 billion to GBP6.1 billion range, it said, with subscribers to BT Sports now over 2.5 million.

In Europe, concerns over potential deflation in the euro zone have been heightened after consumer prices growth slowed again in January. The first estimate came in at 0.7% year-on-year, down from 0.8% growth seen in December, according to Eurostat. Economists had expected the reading to accelerate slightly to 0.9%.

Eurozone unemployment was slightly more encouraging, coming in unchanged at 12% in December, beating expectations for an increase to 12.1%. The gulf between different countries remains, with German unemployment at 5.1% but Spain at 25.8%.

Japan's economic policies showed further signs of paying off, with consumer prices climbing 0.4% in 2013, marking the first full-year increase in five years, the government said.

The government and the Bank of Japan have vowed to pull the world's third-largest economy out of 15 years of deflation, with the central bank taking aggressive monetary easing measures to achieve an inflation target of 2% within about 2 years.

Economic and Revitalization Minister Akira Amari told a news conference that the economy is "proceeding smoothly" toward achieving the target. He added that wage hikes would be important for future economic growth.

The first round of Syria peace talks are due to end in Geneva with little headway made on finding a political solution to the three-year-old war, or delivering aid to the country's starving citizens.

A week after negotiations began, international envoy Lakhdar Brahimi said he was "disappointed" in the lack of progress on humanitarian aid, as the two rivals failed to find common ground on lifting the 600-day-old siege of Homs. The government and opposition delegations are scheduled to return for a second round of talks in February.

The Ukrainian Defence Ministry has warned of the country's break-up and urged President Viktor Yanukovych to stabilise the situation by building national consensus.

A further escalation of the conflict between anti-government protesters and police puts the country's territorial integrity at risk, the ministry said in a statement, published after a staff meeting with Defence Minister Pavel Lebedev. It is the first time that the Ukrainian military has publicly commented on the two-month old crisis.

Protesters continue to occupy central parts of the capital Kiev, after attempts at a political solution failed earlier this week when they rejected an amnesty brokered between Yanukovych and leaders of the parliamentary opposition.

In Africa, Muslim Seleka fighters are preparing to launch a major offensive against Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic, in a bid to topple the conflict-ridden nation's interim government.

More than 500 members of the armed group, which has been clashing with Christian vigilante groups for months, were assembling in the town of Sibut, 185 kilometres north of Bangui, ahead of a planned march southwards. The Seleka fighters are being supported by mercenaries from Chad and Sudan, witnesses said. The group is also likely to be reinforced by hundreds of other Seleka fighters in and around the capital.

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FTSE 100: down 1.3% at 6,454.44
FTSE 250: down 0.7% at 15,589.32
AIM ALL-SHARE: down 0.2% at 854.05
GBP-USD: 1.6467
EUR-USD: 1.3544
GOLD: USD1,247.70 an ounce
OIL (Brent): USD106.74 a barrel

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KEY UK CORPORATE NEWS:

FTSE 100: Next has announced its second special dividend in a month. In early January it had declared a 50 pence special dividend as it returns surplus cash to its shareholders, and has now announced another payment of the same amount. UK telecoms regulator Ofcom has said that Vodafone has cleared its 3G coverage requirements and will not face any further enforcement action. InterContinental Hotels Group, along with online travel agents Booking.com and Expedia Inc., have had commitments to allow more room price discounting agreed by the Office for Fair Trading, which has now closed an 18 month probe into concerns deals the two sites had with IHG were restricting competition and room discounting. AstraZeneca has closed its infectious diseases research lab in Bangalore India, The Times reports, citing information the company released in India.

FTSE 250: Vedanta Resources reported higher production of refined zinc at its Zinc India unit, record oil and gas production and a 3% rise in operating profits for its fiscal third quarter, but mined metal production fell 5% and revenues also declined, weighing on its shares. Diary Crest expects full-year profit to be ahead of expectations after it sold its Nine Elms milk depot in London for GBP17.6 million. The firm said it expects profit from the sale of properties to be around GBP18 million this year, GBP10 million ahead of previous expectations, boosting group profit. Direct Line Insurance Group said the Solicitors Regulation Authority has authorised DLG Legal Services, the company it set up in partnership with Parabis Law LLP last July. DLG was set up as an alternative business structure, which allows non-lawyers to own or partially own a law firm. Premier Farnell said group sales per day for the full-year ending February 2 are expected to have grown 2.6% on the year, but its shares are down after it warned its profit margins were under pressure. Domino's Pizza said David Wild, a senior non-executive director, will be appointed interim chief executive with immediate effect. Wild will continue in the role for two months after a new chief executive is appointed and will work with current CEO Lance Batchelor until Batchelor leaves March 16, ensuring a smooth transition. The Paragon Group of Companies said trading in the first quarter of its financial year was in line with its expectations, as it unveiled plans to launch a UK retail deposit-taking banking subsidiary before the end of the second-half. Fresh from raising more than GBP125 million from a retail bond issue earlier in January, Paragon said it expects to launch its bank in the second quarter of this year, with its application process with regulators at an advanced stage. The company made a GBP27.1 million pretax profit for the three months ended December 31, compared with GBP23.5 million a year earlier. Norcros said its conditional contract to sell part of its surplus freehold land to WM Morrison Supermarkets is unlikely to go through after a quarrel about its planning consent. The branded shower supplier said Morrisons has been refusing to proceed in line with the contract, which had been agreed on the condition of obtaining "acceptable" planning consent for the site. Rank Group swung to a loss in the first-half of its financial year as its Grosvenor Casinos and Mecca Bingo venues suffered a sharp drop in profits, but it said it still expects cost-cutting measures to start kicking in during the second half of the year and it raised its dividend. Cairn Energy pledged to defend itself in India as it claimed that the recent tax claim it had received from authorities was the result of a law brought in after the year affected by the claim. It said it had re-confirmed with its advisers that it had been fully compliant with the tax legislation that was in force each year that it has operated in the country. KCOM Group expects to trade in line with forecasts for the rest of the year, as its current performance has remained in line with its half-year results. John Wood Group said Ian Marchant, the former chief executive of SSE, will become its chairman after Allister Langlands retires from the role in May. Banknote printer De La Rue has reaffirmed its expectations for full-year operating profit, but cautioned that competition in banknote printing has been pushing prices down. The company said it expects full-year operating profit to be about GBP90 million, as previously announced.

AIM: China Rerun Chemical Group is a big gainer after the lubricants company reported a big increase in revenues and profits, driven by a 15% rise in like-for-like sales volumes and the introduction of new lubricant oils. Ferrum Crescent shares are up after it confirmed it expects to receive the initial payment from Oman-based Anvwar Asian Investment's USD13.5 million stake buy at the end of February. Top Level Domain Holdings shares are up after it raised GBP21 million in a placing for the development of its domain name registry and registrar operations, and additional funding for the auction rounds of its 43 contested generic top-level domain applications. Altona Energy is doing well after it said it will press ahead with its Arckaringa coal-to-liquids project in Australia alone for now after ending its joint venture with China National Offshore Oil Company, although it has started talks with potential new partners. Wildhorse Energy is another gainer after it said is still firmly focused on advancing discussions about its underground coal gasification operations in Hungary. It is progressing its strategic partner selection process, and once the partner is secured, Wildhorse plans to recommence a bankable feasibility study and a further drilling programme to upgrade selected areas of its current JORC compliant inferred resource at the Mecsek Hills UCG Project. At the other end of the market, Max Petroleum shares have plummeted after the company said it has started implementing a significant cost cutting drive that will last throughout 2014 and beyond as it shifts to being a producer rather than explorer, and it also said it will only report a modest reserve increase at one of its key assets, Sagiz West. TEG Group is down after it warned it had a disappointing second-half due to a delay in closing the Gaydon project, and a corresponding delay in revenues. 2ergo is down after its losses for its last financial year narrowed, but only when including last year's heavy impairment charges. It made a GBP5.1 million pretax loss for the year ended August 31, compared with GBP16.2 million the year before, but excluding last year's GBP12.3 million impairment charge, its pretax loss would actually have widened to GBP5.1 million from GBP3.9 million. Shares in Rose Petroleum have dropped after the company was granted a new hydrocarbon exploration concession in Bavaria, Germany. Rose said it is obligated to carry out a programme of works over the three years, including 2D seismic studies and geophysical measurements at an estimated cost of roughly EUR900,000.

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AFTERNOON WATCHLIST: US Personal Spending, US Chicago Purchasing Managers' Index, US Reuters/Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index

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Monday's Key UK Corporate Events

Flybe Interim Management Statement
Randgold Resources Q4 Results
MITIE Group Interim Management Statement
SThree Preliminary Results
Anglo Platinum Full year results
Creston Interim Management Statement
Future Full year results
RM Preliminary Results
Goldenport Holdings Full year results

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Saturday's Key Economic Events

All Day Chinese New Year
01:00 China NBS Manufacturing PMI

Sunday's Key Economic Events

All Day Chinese New Year
23:50 Japan Monetary Base

Monday's Key Economic Events

All Day Chinese New Year
01:00 China Non-manufacturing PMI
05:00 Russia HSBC Manufacturing PMI
08:48 France Markit Manufacturing PMI
08:53 Germany Markit Manufacturing PMI
08:58 EU Markit Manufacturing PMI
09:28 UK Markit Manufacturing PMI
13:58 US Markit Manufacturing PMI
15:00 US Construction Spending
15:00 US ISM Manufacturing PMI
22:00 US Total Vehicle Sales

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By Alice Attwood; aliceattwood@alliancenews.com; @AliceAtAlliance

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