Vodafone Share News (VOD)

LONDON (Alliance News) - The following is a summary of top news stories Thursday.
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COMPANIES
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Direct Line Insurance Group said it has agreed to sell its international division, which is comprised of its Italian and German operations, for EUR550.0 million to Mapfre SA, and said it expects to return substantially all of the net proceeds to shareholders. In a statement, Direct Line said it expects the sale to result in a pretax gain on disposal of about GBP160.0 million. It said further details of the capital return will be disclosed upon completion of the deal, but noted that its "strong capital position" was the reason it expects to make the return.
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GlaxoSmithKline confirmed that it will appoint Royal Bank of Scotland Group Chairman Philip Hampton as non-executive chairman from September 1 2015, or at an earlier date if released from his other commitments. Hampton will succeed current Chairman Christopher Gent. He will initially join the board as a non-executive director at the start of 2015, and will take on the role of deputy chairman April 1, 2015. "Sir Philip's appointment provides a clear plan of succession and we welcome him to our board," said Senior Independent Non-Executive Director Deryck Maughan in a statement.
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Hammerson said it will conduct a share placing to raise about GBP400 million to help fund the GBP180 million acquisition of the rest of the Highcross shopping centre in Leicester that it doesn't already own, a GBP100 million investment in a new outlet shopping centre venture, and GBP120 million to fund existing developments. In a statement, the retail-focused real estate investment trust said it will place 71.3 million new shares, which is 9.99% of its existing issued share capital.
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Sports Direct International said it has entered into a put option agreement to acquire a 0.28% stake in Tesco, a move that continues a record of the sports goods retailer or its founder Mike Ashley taking stakes, or options to buy stakes, in struggling retailers. Sports Direct said its maximum exposure under the put option is limited to around GBP43 million. The 0.28% stake represents a total of 23 million Tesco shares. "This investment reflects Sports Direct's growing relationship with Tesco and belief in Tesco's long-term future," the company said in a statement.
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Vodafone Group has admitted it will delay decisions on entering the home broadband and television market until BT Group launches its consumer mobile offering, the Telegraph reported Wednesday. BT is looking to re-enter the consumer mobile market early next year, a move that is expected to significantly undercut rivals who offer package deals for households.
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BHP Billiton Ltd's Chief Executive Officer Andrew Mackenzie has earned a pay package of USD8 million in his first year at the company's helm, about half the amount his predecessor Marius Kloppers earned in his final year. BHP Billiton, which is grappling with falling commodity prices, has also put a freeze on the remuneration to be paid to Mackenzie and other members of the company's senior management team for fiscal 2015.
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A federal judge in New Orleans rejected Wednesday BP's request for recouping millions of dollars of overpayments made to some claimants under the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill settlement. The oil giant found that it ended up overpaying the victims of the oil spill after the court revised the method for calculating the damages. It claimed that the families and companies were reportedly allowed to inflate their losses by the administrator in charge of processing the claims. At a court hearing in New Orleans, US District Court Judge Carl Barbier earlier in the day heard out attorneys for BP and claimants before reaching the decision. BP will reportedly appeal the decision.
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Irish drug company Shire Wednesday reached a final agreement with the US Attorney's Offices for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and Northern District of Illinois, all 50 states and the District of Columbia to resolve a previously disclosed civil investigation of its sales and marketing practices for a period ending in 2010 relating to ADDERALL XR, VYVANSE DAYTRANA, LIALDA and PENTASA. Under the agreement, Shire will pay USD56.5 million, and interest, fees, and costs, to resolve all issues investigated by the government.
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UK Mail Group, one of the smaller competitors to Royal Mail Group saw its shares slide early Thursday after it warned that parcels volumes had been below expectations in the three months to end-September, particularly in the latter weeks. In a trading update, the letters and parcels handling company said overall revenue for the six months to end-September, the first half of its financial year, are expected to be some 1% below the year-earlier period. Adjusted for one less working day in the period this year, underlying revenue will be flat, it said.
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The Real Good Food Co it will now take up its pricing complaint about the sugar subsidiary of Associated British Foods with the European Competition Authorities in Brussels, and said it has now negotiated two new supply contracts, which it hopes will stabilise its sugar business going forward.
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CSR shares topped the FTSE 250 after the group said the Takeover Panel has granted an extension to the deadline for Microchip Technology Inc to make bid for the company. Shares in CSR were up 5.3% to 767 pence in early trade after the chipmaker said the deadline for the US semiconductor maker to make a bid for the company had been extended to October 15 in order to allow the two companies more time to conclude their discussions. CSR rejected a takeover bid from Microchip on August 28 as it felt the original bid was too low.
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Micro Focus International said Deputy Chairman and non-Executive Senior Independent Director David Maloney has stepped down with immediate effect, in a statement ahead of its annual general meeting. The company said that, as it has continued to trade in line with guidance since its last update in August, it will provide no further trading update at the annual general meeting.
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UK pubs and restaurant operator Mitchells & Butlers said total sales in the 51 weeks of its financial year grew by 3.8%, helped by better food and drink sales, but said that after strong demand in July following the World Cup, trading conditions in August slumped. In a pre-close trading update, the company known for brands including Harvester, Toby Carvery and O'Neill's bar, said like-for-like sales in the 51 weeks to September 20 were up 0.6%, however it said growth in the nine weeks to September 20 was minimal, up only 0.1% as food sales grew by 0.1% and drink sales declined by 0.2%.
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Cairn Energy said it has signed a deal to farm-out a 10% interest in the Catcher oil field and adjacent acreage in the UK North Sea in return for Dyas UK Ltd funding exploration and development costs up to a cap of USD182 million, cutting its own development bill for the field by about USD380 million.
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Ryanair Holdings said the recent launch of its new service for business travelers and the efforts it is making to improve its customer relations are paying off, as it raised its passenger numbers forecast for the current financial year and said it now expects its net profit to come in towards the top end of its previous guidance. Europe's largest low-cost carrier by passenger numbers said it now expects to fly 87 million customers in the year to March 31, 2015, up from its previous forecast of 26 million. It expects its net profit for the fiscal year to be towards the top end of its previously guided EUR620 million to EUR650 million range. It reported profit after tax of EUR523 million in its last financial year and flew 81.7 million passengers.
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3i Infrastructure said the level of income generated by its portfolio in the first six months of the year is in line with the comparable period last year. In a statement, 3i Infrastructure said its portfolio generated GBP31.0 million between April 1 and September 24, equal to the amount generated in the first six months of its last financial year.
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MARKETS
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UK stock prices started modestly higher following strong gains in the US and Asia, but by mid-morning the leading index trades in the red. The mining sector is providing the main drag on the London market, after having provided the main support in recent sessions. The FTSE 350 mining sector is down 1.9%.
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FTSE 100: down 0.1% at 6,697.71
FTSE 250: down 0.1% at 15,522.71
AIM ALL-SHARE: up 0.1% at 754.29
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The euro plummeted to a 22-month low against the dollar as the European Central Bank President Mario Draghi signalled that the bank is ready to use additional unconventional instruments within its mandate to counter risks of prolonged period of low inflation.
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GBP-USD: down at USD1.6315
EUR-USD: down at USD1.2733

GOLD: down at USD1210.46 per ounce
OIL (Brent): down at USD96.61 a barrel

(changes since end of previous GMT day)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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UK CBI DISTRIBUTIVE TRADES SEP REPORTED SALES +31 VS +37 AUG; OCT EXPECTED SALES +26 VS +42 SEP
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Eurozone money supply growth accelerated in August while lending to private sector continued to decline, data from the European Central Bank showed. M3 money supply increased 2% year-on-year in August, faster than the 1.8% rise in July. Likewise, M1 growth improved to 5.8% from 5.6% in July. The three-month average of the annual growth rates of M3 from June to August increased to 1.8% from 1.5% in the period from May to July.
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Ukraine wants to apply for EU membership in 2020, President Petro Poroshenko said, after the implementation of a reform programme. Earlier this month, Ukraine ratified a far-reaching association and trade agreement with the bloc. The EU says the agreement is a necessary step for membership, but does not automatically guarantee it. Poroshenko told a conference of judges in Kiev that the Strategy 2020 programme contains 60 reforms, according to local media reports.
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Airstrikes carried out late Wednesday against Islamic State targets in Syria hit oil refineries that the US says provide a revenue stream for the militants, the Pentagon says. The oil refineries provide about USD2 million a day in revenue for the Islamic State, Rear Admiral John Kirby says. Kirby spoke after the raids ended and all aircraft returned safely. The US was joined by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirites in carrying out the strikes, Kirby says.
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US President Barack Obama called Wednesday for the global community to join the fight against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria. Obama also told the United Nations General Assembly in New York that the world should unite against pressing global challenges, including Russian aggression in Europe and the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. But he stressed the greatest challenge to peace and prosperity was posed by Islamist extremism.
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China is debating whether to oust the head of its central bank due to disagreements over financial policy, The Wall Street Journal reported. The departure of People's Bank of China Governor Zhou Xiaochuan would be justified on the grounds of the 66-year-old's age, the report said, citing party officials. But disagreements over financial policy in the world's second-largest economy would be the real reason for his ouster, the report said. Zhou is pressing for market reforms including a liberalization of interest rates but the party leadership fears the impact on an economy whose growth has slowed recently.
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US President Obama also vowed Wednesday to continue pursuing a two-state solution to the Middle East conflict, even as he directly called on Israelis to continue striving for peace. "The violence engulfing the region today has made too many Israelis ready to abandon the hard work of peace," he said in his address to the United Nations General Assembly. Veering from the text of his prepared speech, Obama added: "That's something worthy of reflection within Israel." Returning to his text, he continued: "Let's be clear: The status quo in the West Bank and Gaza is not sustainable."
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By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com; @ArvindBhunjun

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