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LONDON (Alliance News) - The following is a summary of top news stories Monday.
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COMPANIES
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Telefonica and Hutchison Whampoa are understood to have held talks about merging their UK businesses, as the Spanish owner of O2 considers its options following BT Group's decision to buy EE, the Financial Times reported. Telefonica has been considering various options for the future of O2 in the UK since last summer and held talks with BT to sell the business in December before BT decided to pursue a deal with EE. The FT cited a person with knowledge of the matter who said "everyone is still speaking to everyone", including Hutchison Whampoa, the owner of Three. The person said other potential partners for O2 include TalkTalk Telecom and Sky.
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Evraz said production of steel and iron ore fell during 2014, whilst vanadium and coal production saw slight increases, as average prices for the year fell across the board. For the year ended December 31, 2014, the company said consolidated crude steel production fell by 4% from 2013 whilst output of steel products dropped 5% during the year. Both decreases were mainly caused by the disposal of Evraz Vitkovice Steel in the Czech Republic and the shut-down of Evraz Claymont operations in the US at the end of 2013, as part of a restructuring plan. Evraz's finished steel product production dropped 4% in Russia and 11% in Ukraine due to higher export sales, driven by the depreciation of the Russian rouble in the second half of 2014, whilst production of semi-finished products increased by 6% in Russia and 11% in Ukraine.
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Infrastructure investor John Laing Group said it will raise GBP130 million via a listing on the London Stock Exchange's Main Market as it seeks to expand its business. The group did not say how much of the business will be floated on the market, but said the proceeds will be used to fund new investment commitments and for general corporate purposes. Reports prior to the official announcement said the company is expected to be valued at around GBP1 billion. It said Henderson Infrastructure Holdco, its current owner, is expected to sell a portion of its shareholding in the offer, which will comprise an institutional portion and an intermediaries offering to allow retail investors to participate in the deal.
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Greene King reported higher sales in both its brewing and pub operations over the key Christmas trading period, although the growth was lower than in the previous year and it said trading had been volatile either side of the holiday period and soft in recent weeks. In a statement, the brewer and pub operator that's in the final stages of acquiring Spirit Pub Co, said total sales were up 5.9% in the 36 weeks to January 11, with like-for-like sales up just 0.6%. Its like-for-like sales in the last six weeks were in line with the 5.0% growth it reported for the same six weeks a year earlier, it said.
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Kier Group said it has been awarded over GBP145 million of new construction deals in the Middle East since the start of 2015. The property and construction company said it had been made preferred bidder on a GBP100 million mixed-use development as well as two infrastructure contracts totalling GBP15 million on a major new leisure park project for the region, while it has secured a GBP30 million infrastructure project In Saudi Arabia with a Saudi state-owned company in the eastern region.
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Balfour Beatty said it has been appointed as sole contractor to a new UK-wide civil engineering and infrastructure framework for public works that's valued at up to GBP1.5 billion in total. In a statement, the infrastructure company said the framework deal runs until February 2019, and individual projects within the framework are expected to be valued at up to GBP40 million. It covers things such as major road projects, road repairs, new bridges, coastal defence works and light rail schemes.
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Thorntons reported strong growth in like-for-like sales in its own stores and online over the key Christmas period, but this was offset by falling sales through commercial partners as it was hit by a drop in orders from some UK grocers that it previously flagged. The chocolate maker said like-for-like sales in its retail division were up 5.0% over the 14 weeks to January 10, but total sales were down across the board. Total sales in the retail business fell 2.4% on the year to GBP44.9 million, as it closed a further four stores and relocated two more, leaving it with 247 of its own stores by the end of the period. Consumer Direct sales from its website were up by 13.0%, while franchise sales fell 6.4%.
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MARKETS
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London stocks have edged higher in relatively low volumes, as investors look ahead to an expected announcement from the European Central Bank of stimulus measures and to minutes from the Bank of England's latest policy meeting, both due later in the week.
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FTSE 100: up 0.2% at 6,561.53
FTSE 250: up 0.5% at 16,001.26
AIM ALL-SHARE: up 0.1% at 696.74

GBP-USD: flat at USD1.5199
EUR-USD: up at USD1.1599

GOLD: down at USD1276.07 per ounce
OIL (Brent): down at USD49.72 a barrel

(changes since end of previous GMT day)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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Property prices in the UK recovered in January, after declining in the previous two months, as the recent stamp duty changes made homes cheaper for some first time buyers, figures from property-tracking website Rightmove showed. The average asking price for a house in the UK rose 1.4% from the previous month. The average price climbed to GBP273,275 from GBP269,477. That follows the revised 2.2% contraction in December, lesser than the 3.3% decline estimated earlier. In November, prices had dropped 1.9%. Prices in Greater London grew 0.9% to GBP566,604. On a yearly basis, house prices jumped 8.2% following the 7.0% spike in the previous month.
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The EY ITEM Club has upgraded its forecast for economic growth in the UK, arguing the recent collapse in the oil price is a positive for Britain, and thinks that interest rates won't start to rise until Spring 2016 due to low inflation. The economic forecaster said it has revised up its forecast for UK GDP growth in 2015 to 2.9% from its estimate of 2.4% in October. The upward revision means it is now forecasting an acceleration from last year's estimated growth of 2.6% and has revised up its growth estimate for 2016 to 2.9%. The ITEM Club said the UK is "decisively a winner" from the fall in oil prices over the last few months.
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International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde cautioned that there would be consequences to Greece restructuring its debt after January 25 election."Collective approaches are always good at the European level," she told the Irish Times in an interview. "As a principle, collection endeavours are welcome but at the same time a debt is a debt and it is a contract," Lagarde said. "Defaulting, restructuring, changing the terms has consequences on the signature and the confidence in the signature." The report said she reserved judgment on whether Greece's debt pile, at 175% of the country's GDP economic output, is sustainable.
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China's economy likely missed the government's full-year growth target last year to mark the slowest growth in more than two decades, with the fourth quarter forecast to be the weakest since early 2009. Official data due on Tuesday are expected to show that economic growth eased to 7.4% in 2014, the weakest since 1990. The government target was about 7.5% growth. Gross domestic product is forecast to have grown 7.1% in the fourth quarter, the slowest expansion since the first three months of 2009. The economy expanded 7.3% in the third quarter.
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Consumer confidence in Japan increased more than expected in December, figures from the Cabinet Office showed. The consumer confidence index rose to 38.8 in December from 37.7 in the previous month. Economists had forecast the index to rise to 38.5.
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Japan's industrial production declined less than initially estimated in November, final figures from the Ministry of Economy and Trade and Industry showed. Industrial production dropped a seasonally adjusted 0.5% month-on-month in November, revised from a 0.6% fall. In October, production grew 0.4%.
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The Ukrainian army on Sunday stepped up an operation to retake the strategic Donetsk airport from Russia-backed separatists as pro-Western President Petro Poroshenko vowed to regain control of rebel-held territories in the east. "We will not give away a single inch of Ukrainian land," he told thousands of supporters in Kiev, adding that his government would reinstate Ukrainian sovereignty on the separatist eastern region of Donbass on the border with Russia. Fighting for control of the Donetsk airport had earlier this week prompted the cancellation of peace talks.
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Train traffic through the Channel Tunnel is operating again, the tunnel's operator reported Sunday, a day after all service was interrupted due to a lorry fire near the French mouth of the tunnel. No injuries were reported, though it did require all trains to return to their points of origin.
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