Vodafone Share News (VOD)

(Alliance News) - Stocks in London ended the week on a positive note on Friday, with the predominantly non-sterling earning FTSE 100 boosted by a weaker pound and investor sentiment propped up by better-than-expected US GDP numbers.On the FTSE 100, Vodafone shares jumped after it announced new plans for European tower operations, while publisher Pearson also benefited from a positive first half update. The large-cap FTSE 100 index closed 60.01 points higher, or 0.8%, at 7,549.06. This puts the index 0.5% higher for the week.The mid-cap FTSE 250 index ended up 37.59 points, or 0.2%, at 19,857.94, while the AIM All-Share was 0.2% higher at 928.21.The Cboe UK 100 index finished 0.7% higher at 12,800.81. The Cboe UK 250 closed 0.1% lower 17,723.42, while the Cboe UK Small Companies closed up 0.2% at 11,075.88.In Paris, the CAC 40 ended up 0.6% while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt finished 0.5% higher.US economic growth eased back in the second quarter of 2019, the US Bureau of Economic Analysis reported, held back in part by exports.Real GDP increased 2.1% at an annual rate in the second quarter, after a 3.1% increase in the first quarter. Market consensus saw second quarter GDP at 1.8%.On this side of the Atlantic, European opposition is mounting to Boris Johnson's plan to negotiate a new Brexit deal before the October 31 deadline.The prime minister has made clear the deal thrashed out by Brussels with Theresa May is dead and that he will take the UK out of the EU on Halloween with or without a new agreement.But Ireland claimed he had put the UK on a "collision course" with the EU, while France stressed the existing deal would not be renegotiated.Johnson spoke to French President Emmanuel Macron to set out his position, insisting the Northern Ireland backstop will have to go if there is to be a new Brexit deal between Britain and the EU.Sterling fell against the US dollar, with the pound quoted at USD1.2377, down from USD1.2488 late Thursday. The euro was quoted at USD1.1117, compared to USD1.1158.Wall Street is higher on Friday at the London close, with the S&P 500 up 0.6%, the Dow Jones up 0.1%, and the Nasdaq up 1%."A better than forecast US GDP figure, and the immediate emergence of tension between Boris Johnson and the EU, left sterling in a bad way on Friday," said Connor Campbell at Spreadex."With Jean-Claude Juncker stating the existing Withdrawal Agreement is the 'best and only' one available, and a Johnson spokesperson reaffirming the need for the Irish backstop to be scrapped or 'we will be leaving' without a deal, sterling came down with another case of the Brexit blues," Campbell continued."US markets are following the European counterparts higher in early trade today, with a better than expected US second quarter GDP figure boosting sentiment despite the impact it has upon expectations for next week's Federal Open Market Committee meeting," added Joshua Mahony at IG."With core personal consumption expenditure inflation jumping to 1.8%, and the decline in US growth seemingly overplayed, we have seen market expectations of a 50-basis point rate cut end the week below 20%. As we move into a week jam-packed full of economic, central bank and earnings releases, the volatility of this week is likely to build into month-end."The US Federal Reserve's interest rate decision comes at 1700 BST on Wednesday, followed by a press conference with Fed Chair Jerome Powell.According to the closely watched CME FedWatch tool, economists currently forecast an 81% probability of a cut to US interest rates to 2.00% to 2.25% and a 19% chance of a cut to 1.75% to 2.00%. The current interest rate range is 2.25% to 2.50%. Next week, the Bank of Japan and the Bank of England will make their own rate decisions, on Tuesday and Thursday respectively. On the BoE decision, CMC Markets UK's David Madden said: "No changes are expected this week, particularly since the UK economy has weakened significantly in the second quarter, in the aftermath of the March 29 Article 50 extension."Since the May inflation report it has been notable most areas of the UK economy have slowed significantly, however there does appear to be some evidence of a pickup in economic activity in June and July," he continued."Whether this week's inflation report will reflect this is another matter, however it is inescapable the economic outlook has softened considerably since the BoE last ran its eye over the UK economy in May." On the London Stock Exchange, Vodafone surged 11% as the telecommunications firm announced a towers business combination in Italy, following plans to list its European towers business and a fall in revenue earlier Friday.Vodafone has agreed to combine its Italian tower portfolio with INWIT, the towers unit of Telecom Italia. Vodafone will receive EUR2.14 billion in cash plus a 37.5% stake in the combined company.Vodafone and Telecom Italia will retain joint control but will consider cutting their respective ownership levels to a minimum of 25% from 37.5%. Vodafone's share is worth around EUR3.13 billion, implying an enterprise value for Vodafone's towers business of EUR5.27 billion.Earlier in the session, FTSE 100 Vodafone said first quarter organic service revenue fell 0.2%, which the company pointed out was an improvement on the 0.7% fall seen in the fourth quarter.Revenue was down 2.3% to EUR10.65 billion, with Europe down 2.1% and Rest of the World down 4.0%.Trading in the first three months of the financial year was in line with expectations, allowing the company to back previous guidance.The telecoms company also said it will separate its European tower infrastructure business, minus Italy, into a new company and seek either a stock listing, or the disposal of a minority stake, in the tower business, depending upon market conditions. Proceeds will be applied toward reducing debt."Vodafone has been the big market outperformer, as the beleaguered stock finally found some favour within markets after announcing plans to split off their European towers and masts infrastructure," said Mahony at IG."This year has seen investors fall out of love with this firm, as their decision to cut dividends from 10% to 6% removed one of the main reasons anyone invested in Vodafone. However, with this new spin-off aiming to provide profits of almost EUR1 billion, some are questioning whether this could allow for a return to the dividend days of old."Educational publisher Pearson ended up 5.9% after reporting underlying sales growth in the first half of the year and backing its annual guidance.Underlying revenue was up 2% for the six months to June 30, with North America up 1%, Core up 6% and Growth up 2%.Revenue was GBP1.83 billion for the half, down slightly from GBP1.87 billion a year ago. Pretax profit dropped sharply to GBP13 million from GBP202 million, largely because the company saw a net gain of GBP207 million in the first half of 2018, and only GBP6 million in the first six months of 2019.Continued momentum in "structural growth opportunities" and stabilisation in other parts of the business more than offsets expected declines in US Higher Education Courseware and US Student Assessment.Pearson raised its interim dividend to 6p from 5.5p.Pearson said annual guidance remains unchanged, expecting an adjusted operating profit of between GBP590 million to GBP640 million.Constructor Berkeley Group closed 2.5% higher, after Jefferies raised the company to a Buy rating from Hold.Losing out in the FTSE 100 was miner Anglo American, closing down 4.1%, as Volcan Investments announced late Thursday it will be selling 1.9% of the company, worth 24.7 million shares. With Anglo American at 2,079 pence a share, this would be worth some GBP513 million.Volcan is wholly-owned by Indian businessman Anil Agarwal's family trust. Agarwal said: "At the time of Volcan's initial investment I explained this was an attractive financial investment in a great company with excellent assets and a strong board and management team.""This has turned out to be the case, with our target returns achieved even sooner than expected. The share price of Anglo American has close to doubled since Volcan invested, delivering attractive gains to all investors."In the FTSE 250, Sports Direct ended down 3.9% as the firm failed to publish annual results in a move described as "an utter shambles", the BBC reported.Sports Direct has already delayed the publication of the results once, due to problems at House of Fraser which it bought in August 2018 for GBP90 million. The BBC said the episode is causing concern amongst investors, and added there is speculation auditors may have problems approving the figures. Budget airline easyJet closed down 4.0%, as Societe Generale cut the firm to Sell from Hold.Gold was quoted at USD1,417.75 an ounce at the London equities close, lower versus USD1,418.12 Thursday. Brent oil was quoted at USD63.71 a barrel, lower than USD63.89.On Monday, in the UK corporate calendar, are interim figures from insurer Hiscox, property firm Hammerson, as well as first quarter figures from meat company Cranswick and budget airline Ryanair. The busy earnings season continues later in the week, with a raft of FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 companies reporting financial results. Monday's economic calendar is quiet, but on Tuesday comes German consumer prices and US consumer confidence. On Wednesday is Chinese manufacturing data and UK manufacturing and consumer confidence as well as EU inflation, GDP, and unemployment figures.On Thursday comes a slew of manufacturing PMIs from China, the EU, France, Germany, Ireland, Japan, and the US, while Friday has EU producer prices and the US monthly jobs report.