BT Share News (BT.A)

LONDON (Alliance News) - The following is a summary of top news stories Friday.
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COMPANIES
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BT Group reaffirmed its outlook for the full year as it posted pretax profit ahead of analyst expectations in its third quarter, and said that it is making "good progress" on its due diligence in relation to the potential acquisition of UK mobile operator EE. The company also announced that it has agreed a 16 year recovery plan with the trustee of the BT Pension Scheme. BT said that its plans to launch a consumer mobile offering "remain on track", although it did not provide a timetable for the launch of this offering. BT posted a pretax profit of GBP694 million for quarter to end-December 2014, up from GBP617 million a year before, and ahead of consensus analyst expectations of GBP658 million, although revenue came in lower at GBP4.48 billion, down from GBP4.60 billion, just missing analyst expectations of GBP4.49 billion.
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International Consolidated Airlines Group said state-owned Qatar Airways has acquired a 9.99% stake in the company, a move that strengthens and formalises the ties between the two carriers and continues the recent consolidation in the sector. No financial details were given on the acquisition of the stake, but based on IAG's closing share price on Thursday of 564.00 pence a share, the stake would be worth nearly GBP1.2 billion. Qatar Airways said it may consider increasing its stake in IAG over time, but does not currently intend it to exceed the 9.99% level. It is bound by European Union airline ownership rules that state EU airlines must be majority owned by EU shareholders. Overall non-EU ownership of any EU airline is therefore capped.
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UK Business Secretary Vince Cable tabled measures in Parliament which will give the Groceries Code Adjudicator powers to fine supermarkets in the UK that breach the Groceries Code in their relationships with their suppliers. Under the plans, the adjudicator will be able to imposed penalties on the UK's biggest supermarkets, including listed supermarkets Tesco, J Sainsbury and Wm Morrison Supermarkets, of up to 1% of their annual UK turnover.
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Diageo has emerged among a group of blue-chip companies interested in taking over the headline sponsorship of the English Premier League at the end of next season, Sky News reported. The FTSE 100-listed drinks group has emerged as a potential bidder for the sponsorship deal, thought to be worth more than GBP150 million, alongside incumbent sponsor Barclays, Sky said. Barclays had been expected to withdraw from the deal when it expires at the end of the 2015-16 season, but is now understood to have signalled to league administrators it may bid again.
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Vedanta Resources said earnings fell in the third quarter from a year earlier, despite revenue rising, due to lower oil and commodity prices and said production increased quarter on quarter across the board. For the third quarter ended December 31, the company reported earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of USD1.02 billion, down 11% from a year earlier when it reported an EBITDA of USD1.14 billion. Revenue during the quarter totalled USD3.35 billion, compared to USD3.33 billion a year earlier. Gross daily production averaged 218,900 barrels of oil equivalent per day during the quarter from its oil and gas production following production at Rajasthan resuming normal levels after a planned maintenance shut-down carried out in the second quarter. This is a 13% increase quarter on quarter.
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Carbon and ceramic products manufacturer Morgan Advanced Materials said Pete Raby has been appointed as its new chief executive, with effect from August 1. Raby joins the company from his position as the president of the communications and connectivity division of FTSE 250-listed defence company Cobham.
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Automotive retail and services company Inchcape said it has appointed Stefan Bomhard as its new chief executive. Bomhard replaces André Lacroix, who left the company in September to become the chief executive of FTSE 100 testing company Intertek. Bomhard moves from his role as the president of the European operations of spirits company Bacardi.
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Qatar Investment Authority and Brookfield Property Partners said they have extended the closing date for their bid for Songbird Estates to allow shareholders in the Canary Wharf owner more time to accept the GBP2.6 billion offer, even as they said they have now secured acceptances representing 93.4% of the company's issued share capital.
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MARKETS
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The FTSE 100 trades firmly lower, with BT Group and food retailers weighing heavily upon the blue-chip index.
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FTSE 100: down 0.6% at 6,770.32
FTSE 250: down 0.2% at 16,328.62
AIM ALL-SHARE: up 0.3% at 688.72
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The euro trades higher against the dollar despite the eurozone experiencing record deflation.
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GBP-USD: up at USD1.5074
EUR-USD: up at USD1.1357

GOLD: up at USD1264.78 per ounce
OIL (Brent): up at USD49.55 a barrel

(changes since end of previous GMT day)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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UK mortgage approvals increased in December from a 17-month low in the prior month, the Bank of England reported. The number of mortgages approved for house purchases rose to a 3-month high of 60,275 from 58,956 in November. It was forecast to rise slightly to 59,000 in December. Secured lending rose by GBP 1.6 billion in December versus GBP 1.9 billion in November. Economists had forecast lending to rise again by GBP 1.9 billion. Net consumer credit increased GBP 0.6 billion from the prior month, but slower than a GBP 1.2 billion rise seen in November. Consumer credit was expected to rise by GBP 1.2 billion.
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Eurozone harmonized consumer prices decreased for the second straight month in January and marked the biggest fall since 2009. The harmonized index of consumer prices fell 0.6% year-on-year in January, a similar rate of decline was last seen in July 2009. This was the second consecutive fall in prices and exceeded a 0.5% drop forecast by economists. Prices were down 0.2% in December, which was the first decline since October 2009.
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The euro area jobless rate fell unexpectedly in December to the lowest rate since August 2012, data from Eurostat showed. The unemployment rate came in at a double-digit 11.4% in December, slightly down from 11.5% in November. It was expected to remain at 11.5% in December. This was the lowest rate reported in the euro area since August 2012. The number of unemployed decreased by 157,000 from November and 693,000 from December 2013.
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Germany's retail sales rose at a slower than expected rate in December, preliminary data from Destatis showed. Sales grew a calendar and seasonally-adjusted 0.1% month-on-month in December following the 0.5% gain in November. Economists had expected sales to increase 0.3%.
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The head of eurozone finance ministers' group, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, will launch debt talks with Greece's newly elected leftist government. The Eurogroup head is scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis. The SYRIZA government is determined on changing the conditions of its international bailout programme, while Dijsselbloem has stressed the importance of upholding the existing agreements. The Dutch finance minister has said that he is prepared to hear Varoufakis' proposals for debt relief.
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Russia's central bank unexpectedly cut the key interest rate by 200 basis points to 15%. On December 15, the Bank of Russia hiked the rate to 17% from 10.5% in a surprise move, just a week after raising it by 100 basis points. The hikes were aimed at limiting the slide in the ruble and risks to inflation, the bank had said. Economists had expected the central bank to leave rates unchanged this month.
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EU foreign ministers laid the groundwork for a new round of sanctions over the crisis in Ukraine, amid renewed fighting in the east of the country. "We hope that this can help putting pressure in particular on Russia to make positive steps and prevent negative steps that we have seen in the recent days," EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said. The bloc's 28 ministers said in a joint statement that they were "shocked by the high number of casualties" in the fresh fighting and condemned the use of "indiscriminate shelling" in residential areas.
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The unemployment rate in Japan was a seasonally adjusted 3.4% in December, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said. That beat forecasts for 3.5%, which would have been unchanged from the November reading.
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Consumer prices in Japan were up 2.4% on year in December, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said - topping expectations for 2.3% and unchanged from November. Core CPI, which excludes the volatile costs of food, added 2.5%. That was below forecasts for 2.6% and down from 2.7% in the previous month.
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The US Senate approved a controversial cross-country oil pipeline, putting the new all-Republican-majority Congress on course for its first veto. The Senate voted 62-36 to authorize construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline from the Canadian border to Texas that has been a political hot-button issue for more than five years. The lower house passed similar legislation earlier this month, meaning the bill will soon go to the White House for President Barack Obama's signature into law. Obama has vowed to veto the bill, and White House spokesman Josh Earnest Thursday repeated the threat.
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Saudi Arabia's King Salman reshuffled the monarchy's government less than a week after ascending to the throne of the oil-rich Western ally. Prince Bandar, the former ambassador to the US, was removed from his post as the head of the National Security Council and the body was dissolved. Also, Prince Khaled bin Bander was replaced as the head of intelligence by Khaled al-Humaidan, an interior ministry official. The monarch also replaced the governor of Riyadh, according to the decree which was reported by Saudi television. Khaled al-Faysal was named as governor of Mecca, the city holy to Muslims, replacing a son of recently deceased King Abdullah.
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