Vodafone Share News (VOD)

LONDON (Alliance News) - International Consolidated Airlines Group, the owner of British Airways, Iberia and Vueling, said Friday it is set to introduce a long-term dividend plan from next year, a move that comes after it spent the past few years turning round the Spanish airline Iberia.

"The company has made significant progress during 2014 and we remain confident in meeting our 2015 financial targets which we see as the trigger to introducing a dividend," the company said.

IAG said the initial dividend would be based on a payout ratio of 25% of underlying profit after tax.

Outlining long-term planning goals for 2016-2020, IAG said it is aiming for an operating profit margin of between 10% and 14%, underlying operating profit of around EUR5 billion a year and annual capital spending of between EUR2 billion and EUR3 billion.

The UK's mobile operators are set to start a new bidding battle for spectrum, after UK telecoms regulator Ofcom unveiled a new auction for spectrum that it said could be used to meet growing demand for mobile broadband services.

Ofcom expects the auction of spectrum in the 2.3 gigahertz and 3.4 gigahertz bands, that's currently being used by the Ministry of Defence, to take place in late 2015 or early 2016. Its part of a wider UK government plan to free up public sector spectrum for civil uses.

Ofcom plans to auction a total of 190 megahertz in the two bands, which it said is equivalent to around three quarters of the airwaves it released through the 4G auction in 2013. It proposes auctioning the spectrum in 38 lots of 5 megahertz, with bidders allowed a minimum bid of four lots per band.

The regulator said that it is limiting operators mobile spectrum holdings to 37% of relevant spectrum in order to promote competition. Although Ofcom noted this would impose some constraints on the amount of spectrum that EE and Vodafone Group can obtain, it will "still allow them considerable flexibility."

Ofcom has proposed reserve prices for the 2.3 gigahertz band in the range of GBP2.5 million to GBP5 million per megahertz lot, and GBP1 million per lot for the 3.4 gigahertz band, based on the prices paid for 2.6 gigahertz spectrum in the previous spectrum auction.

At Ofcom's last spectrum auction it raised GBP2.34 billion, less than the GBP3.5 billion chancellor George Osborne had budgeted for. Ofcom came under criticisms of 'over-engineering' the bidding process, leading to less money being raised, as winners were only required to pay a little more than the offer from the second highest bidder due to a 'second price rule.'

For the new auction Ofcom is recommending a sealed-bid, single-round format with a second-price rule for the assignment stage. Ofcom however, indicated that it has taken into consideration some of the "lessons learned" from the 2013 auction, based on feedback, including enhancements to "reduce the uncertainty associated with the second price rule."

In the commercial property market, Canary Wharf owner Songbird Estates has rejected a joint approach to buy the company from the Qatar Investment Authority and Brookfield Property Partners, saying the proposed cash price of 295 pence a share undervalues the company.

"This proposal significantly undervalues Songbird and does not reflect the inherent value of the business and its underlying assets," said Songbird Chairman David Pritchard.

Some of the biggest stock movers in the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 are being driven by a raft of ratings changes from Goldman Sachs before the market opened Friday.

Experian is the second-best performer in the FTSE 100 after Goldman Sachs upgraded the company to Neutral from Sell, while Intertek is also doing well after the bank upgraded it to Buy from Neutral. In the FTSE 250, Michael Page International is taking a hit after Goldman Sachs downgraded it to Neutral, from Buy.

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Markets: UK shares are outperforming the rest of Europe ahead of the key US nonfarm payrolls report in the afternoon, with some strong individual stock performances coming on the back of broker upgrades.

Futures indicate a slightly higher open on Wall Street. The DJIA and S&P 500 are set to open up 0.1% and the Nasdaq Composite up 0.2%.

FTSE 100: up 0.6% at 6,591.31
FTSE 250: up 0.1% at 15,525.16
AIM ALL-SHARE: up 0.1% at 722.29
GBP-USD: down at USD1.5818
EUR-USD: up at USD1.2393
GOLD: up at USD1,143.85 an ounce
OIL (Brent): up at USD82.94 a barrel
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Other Top UK Corporate News
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Admiral Group reported a 3% fall in third-quarter revenue, hit by a drop in its UK car insurance business, though its expectations for that main profit driver remain on track for the current financial year, thanks to "positive claims development" on its back years, suggesting the group is optimistic on releasing reserves no longer required to cover claims losses. However, Admiral Chief Executive Henry Engelhardt reiterated previous warnings that future earnings will be hit by the decline in car insurance premiums across the market in recent years, coupled with a return to higher claims inflation.
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Tullett Prebon reported a drop in revenue for the four months to the end of October but said that the fall in the final month and in September was less marked as the interdealer broker saw improved levels of activity in financial activity due to the recent pick-up in market volatility. The interdealer broker said revenue in the four months to end-October of GBP233 million was 4% lower than in the same period last year at constant exchange rates and 8% lower as reported.
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National Grid said its pretax profit rose in the first half of its financial year and said it's on track to deliver "sustainable" dividend growth at least in line with Retail price Index inflation for the foreseeable future. The electricity and gas grid operator, with operations in both the UK and US, reported a pretax profit of GBP1.18 billion for the six months to end September, up from GBP1.05 billion a year earlier, as a drop in operating costs more than offset a decline in revenue to GBP6.36 billion, from GBP6.72 billion. It raised its interim dividend to 14.71 pence, up 0.22 pence on the previous year, in line with its target of paying out 35% of the total dividend for the last financial year at the halfway stage of this year.
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National Grid also announced a property joint venture with Berkeley Group Holdings in an attempt to get value out of its London property portfolio. The venture will be called St William Homes LLP and will create residential and mixed-use developments across London and the South East. The companies will have an equal share of the venture, and the equity investment for each shareholder will be initially capped at GBP175 million, meaning the vehicle will have available funding of up to GBP700 million including bank debt.
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Spirax-Sarco Engineering became the latest British company to be hit hard by the strength of sterling, saying its operating profit and revenue for the year are expected to take a hit from currency translation, even as organic sales growth in the four months to the end of October increased. The engineering company said operating profit for the four months to October 31 was in line year-on-year on a constant currency basis, and said its operating profit margin for the year to the end of October was ahead on both a constant currency and reported basis, despite the headwinds coming from the strength of sterling.
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Capital & Counties Properties said it has had a positive start to the second half of the year, with demand strong for its Covent Garden properties and progress made on the Earls Court Plan, and its Covent Garden holdings company launched a GBP150 million debt placing in the US to refinance. In a statement, Capital & Counties said the Covent Garden holdings company was privately placing GBP150 million worth of 10 and 12 years senior unsecured notes with five US institutional investors.
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Mobile satellite communications services provider Inmarsat said it has agreed to sell its 19% holding in SkyWave Mobile Communications Inc to ORBCOMM Inc for USD32.2 million. As part of the deal, Inmarsat will buy SkyWave's satellite network assets, which it hosts on three of its Satellite Access Stations, for USD7.5 million. Inmarsat also said that it had completed construction of the final four satellite access stations for its Global Xpress fleet of satellites, a "significant milestone" ahead of the rollout of its GX network scheduled for early in the second half of 2015.
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Bovis Homes Group said it is on course to report higher full-year earnings, with increased volumes on last year and robust sales prices so far in the second half. "We are anticipating a strong increase in profit for 2014 and at the same time expecting to deliver a stronger forward order book for the start of 2015," Chief Executive David Ritchie said.
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Rentokil Initial said the strength of sterling was having a major impact on its reported results, with pretax profit and revenue for the group held back by the effect of currency translation in the third quarter. Rentokil said pretax profit in in the three months to the end of September was GBP48.8 million, up 16.7% on a reported basis but up 27% in constant currencies. Revenue for the group in the period was down 3.4% on actual rates, but rose 3.3% on a constant currency basis.
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Cable & Wireless Communications said it raised GBP113.8 million in a placing of 252.8 million shares at a price of 45 pence, equivalent to around 10% of its issued share capital. The placing was announced Thursday, with the pricing set subsequently, and the funds raised will be used for its USD1.85 billion acquisition of Barbados based telecommunications and technology services group Columbus International Inc.
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Croda International said its pretax profit and revenue in the third quarter was hit hard by the strength of sterling, despite a rise in underlying sales for the business. The Fspecialty chemicals company said its pretax profit for the period was broadly flat on a constant currency basis, but was down to GBP55.1 million from GBP58.7 million on a reported basis.
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Galliford Try said both its housebuilding and construction businesses have grown in recent months, with the order book at the construction business rising significantly and its pipeline of further opportunities improving. The company said the sales rate for its housebuilding business improved during the autumn after a seasonally quieter summer, although not at the same rate as last year. It said the unit had GBP509 million worth of sales, reserved, contracted or completed business on November 6, down from GBP560 million a year earlier. Galliford said the order book in its construction business has been"transformed", rising to GBP3.1 billion as of November 6, from GBP1.75 billion a year earlier, after it acquired Miller Construction. It is also experiencing an improving pipeline of opportunities.
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AIM Movers
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Fitbug Holdings is doing well yet again, after it launched a digital health coaching platform for wearable technology called 'KiQplan'. The platform will launch in the US stores of retailer Target Corp, and the first four KiQplans will include weight loss programmes for men and women, as well as a pre-natal regime, titled 'Healthy Baby Bump TM' and a post-natal plan, 'Goodbye Baby Bump TM'. KiQplans will be available online and in Target stores starting next Monday, it said. Frontier Mining is also up after it said production rose in the third quarter and it achieved higher average sales prices, although its cash cost of production also increased. Rose Petroleum is another gainer after it bought another 4,004.83 gross acres from the State of Utah and private owners within its Mancos development area and 657.83 gross acres in its Gunnison Valley Unit in the Paradox development area, Eastern Utah. The company said it is paying USD188,024.09 in total for the leases, an average cost per acre of USD40.33. Noricum Gold shares are down by more than a third after it warned that progress had been slow at its first diamond drill hole in Weissenbachgraben in the Schonberg gold and precious metals project.
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Top Economics And General
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British Chancellor George Osborne demanded a "better deal" for his country, ahead of talks with his fellow EU finance ministers on a row over budget contributions, with billions of euros at stake. Britain was asked last month to contribute an additional EUR2 billion to the EU's budget by December, under a yearly recalculation that took into consideration the country's better-than-expected economic performance. Osborne called the demand "unacceptable," as he arrived at the Brussels talks. "I will make sure we get a better deal for Britain," he said.
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The UK visible trade deficit widened more than expected in September, data from the Office for National Statistics showed. The visible trade gap increased to GBP9.8 billion in September from GBP9 billion in August. The deficit was forecast to rise more moderately to GBP9.5 billion.
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Permanent placements continued to grow in the UK for the twenty fifth consecutive month in October, though at a slower rate, results of a survey by Markit Economics on behalf of the Recruitment & Employment Confederation, or REC, and KPMG showed.
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Germany's exports and imports recovered in September, figures from Destatis showed. Exports climbed 5.5% month-on-month in September, partially offsetting the 5.8% decrease seen in August. The growth rate also exceeded a 2.7% rise forecast by economists. Likewise, imports grew 5.4% reversing the 1.3% decrease a month ago. Economists had expected only 1.1% rise for September. As a result, the trade surplus rose to a seasonally adjusted EUR18.5 billion from EUR17.5 billion in the previous month.
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Germany's industrial production grew less than expected in September, but it recovered from a decline seen in the prior month, data from Destatis revealed. Industrial production expanded 1.4% in September from August, when it fell by 3.1%. Economists had forecast a 2% rise for September.
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Eurozone finance ministers supported the plan to provide the financial support for Greece to help the nation to exit its bailout at the end of the year, Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem said at the press conference following the Eurogroup meeting on Thursday.
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Ukraine on Thursday accused Russia of continuing the latest military build-up along the border of the two countries. Some 60 armoured vehicles, including 50 T-64 tanks, were moved by train to a town close to the border in Russia's southern Rostov region, the Security Council in Kiev said. The vehicles were not marked with national symbols, council spokesman Andriy Lysenko added. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said earlier this week that Russian troops were again moving closer to the Ukraine border.
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US House Speaker John Boehner called Thursday for President Barack Obama to work with Congress and refrain from executive actions that bypass the legislative branch. "Finding common grounds can be hard work, but it'll be even harder if the president isn't willing to work with us," Boehner said on the eve of a post-election meeting at the White House. Boehner spoke on Capitol Hill two days after the conservative opposition party won control of the Senate and widened its majority in the House of Representatives.
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Afternoon Watchlist (all times in GMT)

n/a EU EcoFin Meeting
13:30 US Nonfarm Payrolls
13:30 US Unemployment Rate
15:15 US Fed's Yellen Speech
18:00 US Fed's Evans Speech
19:30 US Fed's Tarullo speech
20:00 US Consumer Credit Change
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Monday's Key UK Corporate Events

BATM Advanced Communications - Interim Management Statement
e2v technologies - Half Year Results
Carrs Milling Industries - Full Year Results
Hammerson - Interim Management Statement
Lonmin - Full Year Results
Morgan Advanced Materials - Interim Management Statement
Pacific Horizon - Interim Management Statement
Redrow - Interim Management Statement
Industrial Multi Property Trust - Interim Management Statement
Aveva Group - Half Year Results
Just Retirement Group - Interim Management Statement
Macau Property Opportunities Fund - Interim Management Statement
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Saturday's Key Economic Events (all times in GMT)

02:00 China Trade Balance

Monday's Key Economic Events (all times in GMT)

01:30 China Consumer Price Index
01:30 China Producer Price Index
09:00 Italy Industrial Output
09:30 EU Sentix Investor Confidence
23:50 Japan Bank lending
23:50 Japan Trade Balance - BOP Basis
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