TOP NEWS: Eurozone Economies Grow Faster Than Expected

LONDON (Alliance News) - The following is a summary of top news stories Friday.
----------
COMPANIES
----------
Lloyds Banking Group PLC appointed Will Samuel, a former Citi investment banker and adviser to one of the UK financial services regulators, as chairman of TSB Bank PLC, the bank it split out as a separate entity last year and is expected to list this year. Smith is currently chairman at the Ecclesiastical Insurance Group PLC as well as of Howden Joinery Group PLC. Previously, he was a director of Schroders PLC, a vice chairman of investment banking at Citigroup Europe, a senior adviser at Lazard & Co Ltd and a senior adviser the Prudential Regulatory Authority, one of the UK's financial services regulators.
----------
Anglo American PLC said it swung to a pretax profit in 2013 as improved production and weakening producer currencies helped company finances. The major mining company posted a pretax profit of USD1.70 billion for the twelve months ended December 31, 2013, compared from a pretax loss of USD171 million the previous year. The company said its group revenues including associates and joint ventures increased 0.8% to USD33.06 billion from USD32.79 billion in 2012, as increased production rates and weaker currencies where it incurs costs offset generally lower commodity prices across the company's portfolio of assets.
----------
Vodafone Group PLC said it had acquired mobile spectrum licenses in India for GBP1.9 billion, enabling it to roll out 4G services and bolster its 3G services in key cities like Mumbai and Delhi. The company said its Indian unit was awarded spectrum licences in 11 telecom circles in the Indian government's 900 MHz and 1800 MHZ spectrum auction. It said it bought a total of 23MHz in the 900MHz band in Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata and 49MHZ in the 1800MHz band in Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Karnataka, Kerala, Gujarat, UP East, Rajasthan, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh and Punjab. It will pay GBP540 million in the current financial year and the remainder in instalments starting in 2017.
----------
Tesco has deactivated some customers' net accounts after their login names and passwords were shared online, the BBC reported. The list of more than 2,000 Tesco.com accounts was posted to a popular text-sharing site on Thursday, the BBC said, quoting the supermarket saying the data had been compiled by hackers using details stolen from other sites. Tesco told the BBC it was "urgently investigating" the appearance of the data.
----------
Coca-Cola HBC AG, Europe's largest bottler of Coca-Cole products, said it swung to a net profit in the fourth quarter of 2013 as it boosted margins by cutting costs and volume growth returned. The company, which moved its listing to London from Athens last year, reported a net profit of EUR8.4 million for the quarter, compared with a loss of EUR45.8 million a year earlier. Its profit for the whole year rose to EUR221.2 million, from EUR190.4 million. Coca-Cola HBC was hit by the economic crisis in Europe as sales in southern Europe fell sharply. Volumes have now started to recover in those markets, but are dropping elsewhere.
----------
A US appeals court on Thursday allowed certain shareholders to proceed with some securities claims against BP PLC, following statements made during a 2006 oil spill in Alaska, according to Reuters. The ruling from the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco comes after a shareholders class action against BP in 2008 which was dismissed by a lower court judge in Seattle.
----------
Royal Dutch Shell PLC will announce the sale of three assets in the North Sea, as part of its ongoing divestment programme, The Telegraph reported. The newspaper said staff at the oil major were briefed about the sale of the Anasuria, Nelson and Sean assets in the last few days, and an announcement by the company is expected shortly. In its 2013 results announcement last month, Shell had said it was considering selling downstream marketing assets in Norway. However, so far, its USD30 billion disposal programme has resulted in the sale of upstream assets only in Australia and Brazil.
----------
Severn Trent PLC said trading from October 1, 2013 to date remained in line with expectations, while operating expenditure continues to be in line with expectations for the year. In an interim management statement for the period to Thursday, the utility firm said operating costs are expected to rise year on year due to the impact of inflation and power costs, partially offset by efficiency improvements. The utility said the current flooding in the UK is not expected to have a financial impact on the company.
----------
Kenmare Resources PLC saw its shares rise after it agreed a restructuring of the project financing for its Moma Mine in Mozambique. In a statement, the titanium producer said the deal with its lenders has been designed in a way that will allow Kenmare's project subsidiaries to service the debt in a sustainable manner, and, in due course, accelerate pay down of the debt from available cash while also making distributions to the parent company. The deal also removes the requirement to repay all deferred subordinated debt by August 1, 2015, and instead reschedules all deferred subordinated debt that is unpaid as of July 31, 2015, it said.
----------
Hikma Pharmaceuticals PLC raised its revenue growth forecasts for 2013, saying its injectables and generics businesses performed strongly towards the end of the year, although it cautioned that generics revenues will likely be lower in 2014. In a trading statement, the company said it now expects revenue growth of 23% for 2013, up from its previous forecast for 20% growth.
----------
MARKETS
----------
The pound is trading close to a three-year high against the dollar, while the main UK stock indices are just marginally higher. In a quieter day for corporate earnings, the main market focus of the morning has been European fourth-quarter GDP data, which has been slightly better than expected.
----------
FTSE 100: up 7.19 at 6,666.61
FTSE 250: up 55.60 at 16,084.99
AIM ALL-SHARE: up 0.49 at 873.77
----------
The weak dollar has allowed the gold to make further gains. The precious metal continues to make new three-month highs, having broken above USD1,300 per ounce.
----------
GBP-USD: up at USD1.6694
EUR-USD: up at USD1.3693

GOLD: up at USD1,310.69 per ounce
OIL (Brent): down at USD108.36 a barrel

(changes since end of previous GMT day)
----------
ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
----------
The euro area's economic growth accelerated more than expected in the fourth quarter, flash estimates from Eurostat showed. Gross domestic product grew 0.3% sequentially, which was faster than the 0.1% rise posted in the third quarter and above the 0.2% forecast by economists. GDP expanded for the third consecutive quarter at the end of 2013. On a yearly comparison, the economy rose 0.5%, reversing the 0.3% decline in the third quarter. It was forecast to grow by 0.4%. Over the whole year 2013, GDP shrank 0.4% in the euro area and rose by 0.1% in the EU28.
----------
The eurozone's two biggest economies, Germany and France, accelerated more than forecast at the end of last year while Italy saw its first expansion in 10 quarters, data released Friday showed, lifting hopes for future growth in the struggling currency bloc. While the French economy grew 0.3% quarter-on-quarter in the final three months of 2013, Germany's expanded 0.4%, the two nations' statistics offices said. Italian growth was 0.1%. It was the first since the second quarter of 2011 and put an end to the worst slump Italy has experienced since the end of World War II. Analysts had forecast a 0.2% rise in fourth-quarter GDP for France after it stagnated in the third quarter. Germany, Europe's largest economy, had been tipped to expand 0.3%, which was the same rate as in the third quarter. The Italian statistics were in line with predictions.
----------
Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta was due Friday to chair his final cabinet meeting before handing in his resignation to President Giorgio Napolitano. Letta, who took office in late April, is expected to make way for the leader of his centre-left Democratic Party, Matteo Renzi, who on Thursday won backing from party colleagues to pull the plug on the government. Cabinet talks were due to start at 1030 GMT. Letta was expected at the Quirinale presidential palace at around 4 pm. After accepting the resignation, Napolitano was expected to launch consultations with political parties before appointing a new premier. Expectations are that Renzi could get the job at the weekend and form a government early next week.
----------
The UK construction sector grew by 0.2% in the fourth-quarter of 2013, according to official data from the Office for National Statistics. The reading was better than the 0.3% fall that had been expected by economists, but analysts suggest it was not strong enough to lead to a major revision of UK GDP data.
----------
A competition market study was launched into the UK's GBP12 billion a year annuities market after the regulator found it isn't working well for consumers. The Financial Conduct Authority said the competition market study will get to the heart of the issue and make recommendations that will have wider implications for the market, which is already the biggest in Europe and expected to grow to about GBP23 billion a year by 2014-15 as the effects of maturing pension plans and the introduction auto-enrolment in the workplace begin to come through. As part of its study, the FCA will assess whether changes to its investment rules are needed in order to create an annuities market that treats customers better.
----------
Chinese inflation remained unchanged at the lowest level since last May in January, as the underlying price pressures were subdued, giving leeway for the central bank to loosen policy to kick start a faster recovery. Reflecting moderating demand in global commodity markets, producer prices in China extended its decline for the 23rd month, separate data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed Friday. Consumer prices were up 2.5% in January from the prior year, the same rate of growth as seen in December, but slightly above the 2.4% rise forecast by economists.
----------
Syrian regime helicopters pounded rebel-held areas of Aleppo with barrel bombs, killing at least 51 people, a pro-opposition watchdog said Thursday, as state TV reported that a humanitarian ceasefire in the besieged Old City of Homs was extended by three days. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 38 civilians - including a family of seven - as well as 13 rebel fighters were killed in Wednesday's raids on northern Aleppo.
----------
Thai police launched an offensive to reclaim parts of Bangkok occupied by anti-government protesters, but withdrew from a key intersection after a stand-off with demonstrators. National Security Council Secretary-General Paradorn Pattanatabut said police had retaken two intersections leading to Government House, the seat of administration, Spring News TV reported. But police retreated from the Chaengwattana intersection in northern Bangkok near the sprawling Government Complex, a hub for state offices and ministerial departments. Hundreds of riot police, armed with shields and batons, had lined up against protesters near the intersection, but they were withdrawn after a two-hour stand-off.
----------
Four international airports on Indonesia's main island of Java were closed and more than 100,000 residents fled their homes following a volcanic eruption, officials said. Volcanic ash reduced visibility in the cities of Yogyakarta, Surabaya and Solo after the eruption of Mount Kelud in East Java province late Thursday, said Bambang Ervan, spokesman for the Transportation Ministry. Surabaya is Indonesia's second largest city and Yogyakarta is the country's second tourism destination after Bali. "Volcanic ash is covering the airports and it's too dangerous for flights," Ervan said.
----------
Adelaide exemplified the vagaries of Australia's weather as a near-record run of heat ended with local media reporting the wettest 24 hours in over 40 years. Flooding was recorded in the South Australia state capital on Friday after more downpours followed a 75-millimetre soaking the previous day. Rainfalls across the state helped do the job of exhausted firefighters and douse dozens of blazes ignited during a run of 13 consecutive days of temperatures topping 40 degrees.
----------
Copyright © 2014 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.