Vodafone Share News (VOD)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Recently merged Dixons Carphone Wednesday said it will spend more on marketing among other measures aimed at grabbing customers of now defunct rival Phones4U, and said it will get a "minimum" of GBP80 million of annual synergies out of its recent merger.

At an investor meeting in Oxford, company executives said the main business opportunities include the explosion in connected devices and homing in on the benefits from Phones4U's recent exit from the market.

Dixons Carphone executives said that the retailer will have 159 Phones4U stores converted within its own stores by the end of the year. It said it will also now re-evaluating some of its retail locations, as it will consider putting new stores nearby where Phones4U stores used to be.

The executives also said the company won't upgrade its target for GBP80 million in recurring synergies from its merger, but it's "definitely the minimum it can achieve" and it expects to reach the target a lot faster than previously expected.

The company's investor day is continuing.

Airline, travel and hotel industry stocks are again amongst the worst-performing stocks on the FTSE 100, having tumbled Tuesday on news of the first European transmitted case of Ebola in Spain.

TUI Travel is down 2.3%, easyJet is down 1.4%, Carnival is down 1.8%, Intercontinental Hotels Group is down 1.1%, and British Airways owner International Consolidated Airlines Group is down 1.1%.

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Markets: UK stock indices are trading lower, amid lingering concerns over slowing eurozone growth and the spread of Ebola, and as investors await the latest Federal Reserve policy minutes.

US stock futures had been pointing to a mixed start on Wall Street, but the DJIA, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite all now set to open up about 0.2%. With the US third-quarter earnings season underway, Costco Wholesale has beaten consensus forecasts with its fiscal fourth quarter earnings per share.

FTSE 100: down 0.2% at 6,484.07
FTSE 250: down 0.9% at 14,968.20
AIM ALL-SHARE: down 1.0% at 728.61
GBP-USD: down at 1.6079
EUR-USD: flat at 1.2663
GOLD: up at USD1,216.90 an ounce
OIL (Brent): down at USD91.23 a barrel
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Other Top UK Corporate News
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Royal Dutch Shell said it has started oil production from the Gumusut-Kakap floating platform off the coast of Malaysia. The platform is expected to reach annual peak oil production of around 135,000 barrels per day once fully ramped up. The company said work on the gas-injection facilities at the platform is now underway following the start of production, with an expected start-up next year.
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Several big institutional investors in Tesco have signalled to the group that they would be willing to back a capital-raising plan of GBP1 billion to GBP2 billion in order to strengthen its balance sheet, The Times reported. A number of large investors in Tesco met informally on Tuesday, The Times said, and would support the company should it launch a rights issue in order to strengthen its position in the wake of the profit overstatement revealed last month.
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EE announced a foray into the television market, launching a set-top box and television service EE TV, in a move that challenges rivals BT Group and TalkTalk Telecom Group.
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Swisscom is considering a possible sale of its Fastweb Italian broadband unit, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing sources familiar with the situation. Vodafone Group has been running the rule over the Fastweb business, which could fetch up to EUR5 billion, having made several takeover approaches for the business which have been rebuffed by Swisscom, Reuters said. Swisscom is now understood to have hired UBS AG, a long-term adviser to Vodafone, in order to facilitate a deal, the sources said.
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FTSE 100-listed Irish cement company CRH has teamed with Mexican cement maker Cemex in order to bid for all the assets that Lafarge and Holcim will have to sell in order to secure the approval of European competition authorities for their proposed merger, Reuters reported on Tuesday. HeidelbergCement of Germany and Brazil's Votorantim Cimentos also are understood to be considering a joint bid for the assets, according to sources familiar with the matter cited by Reuters.
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Barclays urged a New York court on Tuesday to throw out the fraud case levelled against the bank by the state attorney general regarding its 'dark pool' trading venue, claiming the case oversteps state securities laws and offers no proof that investors were harmed, Reuters reported. Eric Schneiderman, the New York attorney general, filed a lawsuit in June against the bank, accusing it of giving an unfair edge to high-frequency traders and lying to other customers.
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Transport operator FirstGroup confirmed it has not been awarded the new ScotRail Franchise by the UK government, although it stressed that this does not alter its medium-term targets. FirstGroup will continue to operate First ScotRail until the new franchise begins on April 1, 2015. Separately FirstGroup said its trading in the first half to end-September had been in line with its expectations, and expressed confidence in seeing an improved performance in its second half.
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British brewer and pub owner Marston's said it expects to report an underlying operating profit "broadly" in line with expectations for its financial year just ended, buoyed by higher food sales and investment in new pub-restaurants. The owner of Pitcher & Piano bars, said like-for-like sales in its Destination and Premium division, its pub-restaurant unit, grew by 3.1% in the financial year ended October 4, driven by a 3.3% increase in food like-for-like sales, and 2% growth in drink sales.
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London Mining warned its investors that it thinks there will be little or no value left in its shares and other securities under the proposals currently being discussed for its refinancing. The iron ore miner had warned in late September that it had entered talks with a potential strategic investor for a dilutive financing package, after it ran out of money to continue trading. In a statement Wednesday, it said detailed talks with potential strategic investors and its bank lender group are continuing.
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Mike Ashley, founder and director of Sports Direct International and owner of Newcastle United football club,has demanded that two directors of Rangers International Football Club's board are removed, including Chief Executive Graham Wallace.
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AIM Movers
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EMED Mining shares are higher after it said it continues to make progress in obtaining its mining permit and final restoration plan, and remains confident it will receive the final permits before year end. It also said it has identified potential start-up capital expenditure savings for Phase 1 of around USD50 million so far. GoldBridges Global Resources is another gainer after it said deep drilling results from its Sekisovskoye underground development project in Kazakhstan confirmed its belief in the continuity of the ore body to depth. London Mining shares are down 78% after it warned its investors that it thinks there will be little or no value left in its shares and other securities under the proposals currently being discussed for its refinancing. Conroy Gold & Natural Resources has lost a quarter of its value after it raised GBP750,000 via a discounted, oversubscribed placing and subscription. The proceeds will fund the ongoing work programme at the Clontibret gold target. Kibo Mining is also down after it raised GBP855,725 before expenses in a discounted share placing. Oilex is also down after it hit issues at its Cambay 77-H well in India when replacing the frac tree with a standard production tree, resulting in a 13-day recovery operation.
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Top Economics And General
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UK house prices increased more than expected in September, survey data from Halifax showed. House prices rose 0.6% in September from August, when prices remained flat. Economists had forecast a 0.2% rise for September. During three months to September, house prices climbed 2.7% from the previous three months, following a 2.9% in three months to August. Annually, prices were 9.6% higher in the three months to September than in the same three months last year, similar to last month and in line with expectations.
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UK shop prices experienced deflation for the seventeenth consecutive month in September, a survey from the British Retail Consortium revealed. According to the Report on Jobs published jointly by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation and KPMG, growth in permanent staff salaries slowed to a four-month low. Meanwhile, hourly pay rates for temporary workers increased at the fastest pace since November 2007. The BRC-Nielsen shop price index fell 1.8% year-on-year in September, faster than the 1.6% drop seen in August.
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China's services sector continued to expand in September, albeit at a slower pace, the latest survey from HSBC Bank showed on Wednesday with a PMI score of 53.5. That's down from 54.1 in August, although it remains above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. The composite index, which covers both manufacturing and services sectors, came in at 52.3 - expanding for the fifth straight month but down from the 17-month high of 52.8 in August.
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Japan posted a current account surplus of JPY287.1 billion in August, the Ministry of Finance said - up 83% on year. The headline figure beat forecasts for a surplus of JPY200 billion following the JPY416.7 billion surplus in July. The trade deficit came in at JPY831.8 billion, missing expectations for a shortfall of JPY770.7 billion following the JPY282.1 billion deficit in the previous month.
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The International Monetary Fund trimmed its global growth forecast by 0.1 percentage points to 3.3% for 2014 and 0.2 points to 3.8% next year, according to Tuesday's quarterly update of its World Economic Outlook. "World growth is mediocre and a bit worse than forecast in July," IMF chief economist Olivier Blanchard said. Fizzling economic recoveries in Japan and the eurozone accounted for much of the 2014 reduction.
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An adviser to the World Health Organisation has warned that more Ebola cases can be expected among medical staff, even in developed countries with modern health care systems. The comments came as EU member states get ready to discuss the Spanish case with health experts, including representatives of the WHO and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. The European Commission said Tuesday it would look into the first incidence of transmission of Ebola on European soil
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Hong Kong was calm Wednesday morning, with only a few hundred pro-democracy protesters blocking major roads, after students and the government agreed to start talks this week. Government employees went to work unobstructed as only scattered dozens of demonstrators remained in the protest sites. Kindergartens remained closed in some districts on Hong Kong Island because of transport delays caused by some street blockades. Middle and primary schools were open. Students said they wanted to keep pressure on authorities, despite agreement Tuesday to start talks with government officials Friday.
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Tuesday warned that the Syrian Kurdish city of Kobane was about to fall and criticized the US-led bombing campaign against Islamic State militants as an insufficient response. "You cannot bring this terror to an end only through airstrikes," said Erdogan in comments carried by the Anadolou news agency as he spoke to refugees in the south-eastern Turkish city of Gaziantep. He renewed calls for the formation of a zone of protection and a no-fly zone over Syria, saying that moderate fighters in the Syrian opposition had to be strengthened. The Turkish leader's comments came as Kurdish fighters battled the jihadists in the streets of Kobane and a US-led coalition pounded Islamic State positions on the outskirts.
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Afternoon Watchlist (all times British Summer Time)

15:30 US EIA Crude Oil Stocks change
18:00 US 10-Year Note Auction
19:00 US FOMC Minutes
21:30 US Former Fed's Bernanke speech
WYG investor day
Spirent Communications investor day
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Thursday's Key UK Corporate Events

John Wood Group - Interim Management Statement
Hays - Interim Management Statement
N Brown - Half Year Result
Victrex - Trading Statement
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Thursday's Key Economic Events (all times British Summer Time)

00:01 UK RICS Housing Price Balance
00:50 Japan Foreign stock/bond investment
00:50 Japan Machinery Orders
07:00 Germany Trade Balance
07:45 France Trade Balance EUR
09:00 EU ECB Monthly Report
12:00 UK BoE Interest Rate Decision
12:00 UK BoE Asset Purchase Facility
13:30 US Jobless Claims
15:00 US Wholesale Inventories
15:30 US EIA Natural Gas Storage change
16:00 EU ECB President Draghi's Speech
18:00 US 30-Year Bond Auction
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