Barclays Share News (BARC)

LONDON (Alliance News) - The following is a summary of top news stories Monday.
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COMPANIES
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Newly merged Dixons Carphone confirmed via its official Twitter feed that it has signed a new long-term agreement with Vodafone Group. The agreement includes an enhanced distribution partnership, the company said, although it did not provide further details.
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Meanwhile, Phones 4U Finance said its subsidiary Phones 4U Ltd's UK network agreement with Vodafone Group will be terminated in February 2015. Phones 4u has been in discussions with Vodafone about a renewal of the agreement. However, it said it has become apparent that the renewal will not happen. The company expressed surprise and disappointment with Vodafone's decision.
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Barclays on Sunday said it has agreed to sell its retail banking, wealth and investment management, and corporate banking businesses in Spain to CaixaBank SA, as the British lender continues to put into action its plan to scale back in areas that don't meet its targeted returns. In a statement, Barclays said it is selling the Spanish businesses, which have EUR22.2 billion in assets and EUR20.5 billion of liabilities, for EUR800.0 million in cash, though the final amount is subject to adjustment based on statutory net asset value on December 31. The investment bank and Barclaycard operations are not part of the disposal, and Barclays said it is committed to the retained businesses.
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A major shareholder in Tesco has sold off nearly two-thirds of its stake amid concerns the retailer has become "too risky", the Sunday Telegraph reported. David Herro, the chief executive of Harris Associates, the US investment fund, said he had cut his investment from around 3% to 1% due to the absence of a clear strategy, according to the Sunday Telegraph.
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British Land said its mixed-use campus, Regents Place, at 30 Brock Street, London is now fully let, after The Guinness Partnership agreed to take up the remaining space on a ten-year lease. The Guinness Partnership is a charitable housing association. The letting means the completed campus of 1.5 million square foot is now fully occupied.
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GlaxoSmithKline faces a potential shareholder revolt from investors calling for Chairman Chris Gent to leave more quickly, the Sunday Times reported Sunday, citing a senior City source. Gent has said he will stand down next year, and is likely to be succeeded by Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC Chairman Philip Hampton.
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Perform Group urged its shareholders to take no action after Access Industries Group made a final cash offer to acquire all of the shares in the company it does not already own for 260 pence per share, valuing the company at GBP701.6 million. Perform reiterated its confidence in its standalone strategy and growth prospects, and said it remains focussed on "delivering significant value for all shareholders". Access said the bid was final and would not be increased. The deal values the remaining stake in Perform that Access is buying at GBP410.3 million and the entire issued share capital of Perform at around GBP701.6 million.
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Berkeley Group Holdings said that since the start of its current financial year, the UK housing market has reverted to normal transactions levels from the high point in 2013, while demand for its homes has continued. In an interim management statement for the period May 1 to date, the housebuilder focused on London and the South East said forward sales have been maintained at levels previously reported.
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US semiconductor producer Microchip Technology Inc said any offer made for FTSE 250 chipmmaker CSR was likely to be solely in cash. Microchip confirmed last Friday that it had held discussions with CSR over a potential acquisition, but said that these talks were at a "very preliminary stage".
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Shares in Seeing Machines were up 25% after it said that it had signed a 15-year strategic alliance with advanced driver safety systems company Takata Corp's American subsidiary TK Holdings Inc.
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MARKETS
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UK stock indices trade mixed as economic data from the eurozone continues to show a disappointing rate of recovery in the region.
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FTSE 100: down 0.1% at 6812.49
FTSE 250: up 0.1% at 15902.42
AIM ALL-SHARE: flat at 780.37
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The pound has recovered against the dollar after taking a hit from data showing the UK PMI reading hit a 14-month low in August.
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GBP-USD: up at USD1.6623
EUR-USD: flat at USD1.3139

GOLD: up at USD1287.86 per ounce
OIL (Brent): flat at USD103.02 a barrel

(changes since end of previous GMT day)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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British manufacturing growth eased further in August to its lowest level in 14 months as output and demand increased at slower rates, survey results from Markit Economics showed. The Markit/CIPS Purchasing Managers' Index dropped to 52.5 from a revised 54.8 in July. Economists had expected the score to fall to 55.1 from July's original figure of 55.4. The latest PMI reading was the lowest since June last year. "Sustaining the upturn is nonetheless still a positive in itself, and it should be noted that the pace of expansion remains solid and a touch above its long-run average," Markit Senior Economist Rob Dobson said. Output and new orders growth slowed even as the expansion trend was extended to one-and-a-half years. Both domestic and exports orders increased.
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UK mortgage approvals declined in July after recording a strong increase in June, data published by the Bank of England showed. The number of mortgages approved in July totalled 66,569 compared to 67,085 in June. It was forecast to fall to 66,000. Lending secured on dwellings increased by more-than-expected GBP2.3 billion in July versus GBP2.2 billion a month ago. Economists had forecast an increase of GBP1.9 billion. Consumer credit increased by GBP1.1 billion in July after rising GBP0.7 billion in June.
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Russia is seeking a peaceful resolution of the crisis in eastern Ukraine, its Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, ahead of international talks in Belarus. The Russian news agency Itar-Tass quoted Lavrov as saying Russia was "promoting a political approach" to what he called "this hardest crisis and tragedy." The agency quoted him as saying Western countries should demand that the Ukrainian government stop using heavy weapons and aircraft against civilians in rebel-held areas. The West should not threaten Russia with new sanctions, he said.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin had on Sunday called for talks between the Ukrainian government and pro-Russian separatists fighting in the east of the country, including on the issue of "statehood". "There must be substantial negotations beginning immediately, not on technical issues but on issues regarding the political organization of society and the statehood of south-eastern Ukraine," Putin told Russian state television. The goal, he added, was to protect the interests of people in eastern Ukraine. Putin repeatedly called the embattled area "Novorossiya," or New Russia. Responding to media reactions to the broadcast, government spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Putin was not advocating for the founding of a new state, according to Itar-Tass news agency.
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EU leaders on Saturday decided to "urgently" prepare a new round of sanctions against Russia, in response to Moscow's military role in neighbouring Ukraine. They accused Russia of "aggression" and called on Moscow to "immediately withdraw all its military assets and forces from Ukraine." Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko alleged that "thousands of foreign troops and hundreds of foreign tanks" were on his country's territory.
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EU leaders also on Saturday appointed Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk as the bloc's next president and selected Italian Foreign Minister Federica Mogherini to be its new top diplomat. The EU is undergoing a leadership change after elections across its 28 countries in May. Saturday's appointments end months of haggling over the two posts, currently held by Herman Van Rompuy and Catherine Ashton.
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China's final manufacturing purchasing managers' index was revised down in August, defying expectations of economists to confirm the flash reading, results of a survey by Markit Economics and HSBC Bank showed Monday. The final HSBC Manufacturing PMI decreased to 50.2 in August from the flash estimate of 50.3. Economists had expected no change. In July, the index was at a 17-month high of 51.7.
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The German economy contracted as estimated in the second quarter, a revised report from Destatis showed. Gross domestic product fell 0.2% sequentially, reversing the 0.7% growth in the first quarter. This was the first decline since the first quarter of 2013. On a yearly basis, GDP advanced by calendar adjusted 1.2%, which was slower than the 2.3% expansion seen in the first quarter.
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Ireland's manufacturing activity expanded at a faster rate in August, survey figures from Markit Economics showed. The seasonally adjusted Investec purchasing managers' index, or PMI, rose to 57.3 in August from 55.4 in July. This marked the sharpest monthly increase in manufacturing activity since December 1999. The latest figure also marked the fifteenth consecutive month of expansion.
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The manufacturing sector in Japan expanded at an accelerated pace in August, the latest survey from Markit Economics revealed on Monday with a purchasing managers' index score of 52.2. That missed forecasts for 52.4, although it's up significantly from 50.5 in July.
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The Iraqi military retook control of the northern town of Amerli on Sunday from Islamic State militants, who had besieged it for two months. Military spokesman Qassem Atta said soldiers backed by Shiite militiamen entered Amerli, 170 kilometres north of Baghdad, after forcing the militants to end their blockade of the mainly Shiite Turkmen town.
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Israel announced Sunday that it plans to expropriate 400 hectares of land near Bethlehem in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The Palestinian owners of the land have 45 days to contest the decision to Israel's Military Appeals Committee, a government spokesman said in Tel Aviv. Israeli advocacy group Peace Now said it expects Israel to use the land, located in the outpost of Gva'ot, to expand housing units in a nearby settlement.
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At least three people were killed and hundreds injured when Pakistani police fired rubber bullets and tear gas at protesters calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, officials said Sunday. The violence took place during pitched battles in Islamabad between protesters led by opposition politician Imran Khan and Pakistani-Canadian cleric Tahirul Qadri, and police. More than 500 people, including children and police officers, were injured as protesters marched towards Sharif's official residence. The two-week-long protests raised fears of a military coup in a country that has been ruled by generals for half of its history, political analyst Hasan A Rizvi said.
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By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com; @ArvindBhunjun

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