Vodafone Share News (VOD)

(Sharecast News) - Metro Bank has been forced to reassure customers their money is safe, acting quickly to quash what it described as false rumours on social media about its financial health. It said plans to raise £350m from investors to shore up its finances were "well advanced".- The GuardianBT will charge customers more for their broadband and mobile phone contracts to cover the cost of rolling out full-fibre and 5G networks, the company has admitted. New BT chief executive Philip Jansen last week announced he would ramp up the rollout of ultra-fast broadband - aiming to connect 15m households by the mid-2020s - while 5G mobile contracts will be available this year. - The Mail on SundayNigel Farage has said private health companies should "relieve the burden" on the NHS, the UK ought to limit efforts to curb global warming, and defended anti-immigrant posters, as the rapid rise of his Brexit party led to his personal beliefs being scrutinised. In an often testy BBC interview, Farage also tried to justify his decision to shift from praising Norway-type deals before the EU referendum to advocating a no-deal departure, saying this was needed because Theresa May had botched the process. - The GuardianTheresa May's closest cabinet allies believe she is finished and her premiership will "end in tears" unless she sets out plans to leave Downing Street by June 15. Loyalists - including Karen Bradley, James Brokenshire, Julian Smith, Chris Grayling and her deputy, David Lidington - think she has next to no chance of having a Brexit deal approved by parliament and will have to step aside in the next few weeks. - The Sunday TimesVodafone is set to reverse a pledge to investors and slash its dividend in order to pay for expensive auctions for mobile phone airwaves in Germany and Italy. The world's second-biggest mobile operator signalled in November that it would protect its dividend, despite pressure to invest in next-generation 5G mobile networks and to tackle its €32bn (£28bn) debt pile. However, it is expected that the board will change tack at the annual results on Tuesday and rein in its full-year payout. Vodafone has one of the highest dividends on the FTSE 100, with a yield of more than 9%. The payouts cost it €3.9bn last year. - The Sunday TimesUnilever is considering a $1bn bid for American skincare sensation Drunk Elephant as it looks to spruce up its range of beauty products. Drunk Elephant, founded by Texan housewife and mother-of-four Tiffany Masterson, hired investment banks Moelis and Financo in January to explore a sale. - The Sunday TelegraphThe founder of Allied Minds has thrown his weight behind an activist campaign to break up the troubled company, setting up another potential boardroom battle involving star fund-manager Neil Woodford. Mark Pritchard believes "there has to be change now" after the tech incubator's share price collapsed and activist fund Crystal Amber stepped up its demand for the company to be broken up. - The Sunday TelegraphSub-prime lender Non-Standard Finance (NSF) plans to push ahead with its hostile bid for Provident Financial, even if it does not win further support from investors. Shareholders of Provident, the 139-year-old doorstep lender, have until Wednesday to vote on the £1.3bn all-share bid by its smaller rival. City sources said NSF would plough on even if it did not reach its original target of gaining support from 90% of shareholders. - The Sunday TimesLabour has announced plans to introduce a £10-an-hour minimum wage that would include workers aged under 18. Jeremy Corbyn pledged at a party meeting in Birmingham on Saturday to "end this discrimination" against young workers by abolishing the minimum wage youth rate. - The GuardianThe Japanese investment giant that made a multi-billion profit from taxi app Uber's float is close to striking a £3bn deal with a British financial technology firm advised by David Cameron, The Mail on Sunday can reveal. City sources said SoftBank, which is led by maverick entrepreneur Masayoshi Son, is in negotiations with former Morgan Stanley and Citigroup banker Lex Greensill over investing about £500m in his firm Greensill. - The Mail on Sunday Biotech bosses have mounted a last-ditch effort to overturn government proposals to cap research and development tax credits - plans that could lay waste to the UK's life sciences industry, they claim. The Treasury has proposed laws that would restrict payments to loss-making companies through the R&D tax credit scheme. The changes are designed to prevent abuse of the system by "virtual companies", but industry figures say they will reduce the attractiveness of Britain as a place to develop life-saving medicines. - The Sunday Times