TOP NEWS: UK Unemployment Rate Declines To 5.7%

LONDON (Alliance News) - The following is a summary of top news stories Wednesday.
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COMPANIES
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Coca-Cola HBC cited a "challenging", volatile year ahead, having reported a drop in 2014 profit due to adverse currency movements and volume weakness in key emerging markets Russia and Ukraine. The coke bottler reported an 11.4% drop in fourth quarter comparable net profit to EUR30.4 million, from EUR34.3 million last year. Total group sales volume increased 0.8% in the quarter to 485.1 million unit cases, following a 4.8% decline in the third quarter, and 3.9% in the first nine months of the year, after it saw a somewhat better performance in Russia, Nigeria, Poland, Austria and Greece. It said volume returned to growth in the quarter in its developing markets, such as Poland, Hungary and Czech Republic, after nearly two years of decline.
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SSE said it will work with the Competition & Markets Authority after the UK competition regulator published a report which indicated energy suppliers in the UK are charging long-term customers higher prices. The CMA published an updated issues statement on its probe into the UK energy markets, outlining its initial thinking on the evidence it has received so far and the analysis carried out to date. It said it has not made any conclusions and that its view could change in light of further evidence yet to be collected in the ongoing investigation. The CMA found a total of 95% of dual-fuel customers on standard variable tariffs would have saved GBP158 to GBP234 per year had they switched provider between 2011 and 2014.
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RSA Insurance Group said it has agreed a deal to sell its minority stake in Indian insurance company Royal Sundaram Alliance Insurance to joint venture partner Sundaram Finance. Sundaram will pay GBP46 million in cash to RSA to acquire the FTSE 100-listed insurer's 26% stake in the company.
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Shares in Galliford Try gained ground after the company reported a rise in pretax profit in the first half on the back of strong revenue growth across its construction and housebuilding operations and hiked its dividend by close to half. The housebuilder said pretax profit for the six months to the end of December was GBP42.5 million, up 12% from the GBP38.1 million posted a year earlier. Revenue in the first half rose to GBP1.08 billion, up 35% from the GBP803.5 million posted last year. The group hiked its interim dividend on the back of the rise in profit, raising it to 22 pence per share from 15 pence per share last year.
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Online betting company Betfair Group announced its subsidiary TVG has acquired the HRTV horseracing television network from US gambling and horse racing firm Stronach Group. Betfair said the television operations of the Stronach Group's HRTV will be combined with its own TVG network, while it has acquired broadcast rights to all races from Santa Anita, Gulfstream Park, Pimlico, Golden Gate Fields and Laurel Park for a term of seven years. Betfair said it will pay an initial USD25 million for HRTV, and estimates paying a further consideration totalling USD47.8 million over a seven-year period, dependent on TVG's performance.
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Balfour Beatty said it has reached financial close and completed the acquisition of the GBP352 million Gwynt y Môr offshore transmission project. The FTSE 250-listed construction and support services company said it will jointly own the project with infrastructure investor Equitix. Balfour will invest GBP28 million of equity in the project, representing 60% of the equity required.
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Hong Leong Co (Malaysia) Bhd has reduced its stake in The Rank Group, according to a statement on Wednesday, with subsidiary GuoLine Overseas Ltd selling 50 million shares at a price of 185 pence per share in an accelerated bookbuild placing with institutional investors. The sale of the 12.8% stake leaves Hong Leong with about 219.1 million shares in Rank, the London-listed casino and bingo club owner, equivalent to a 56.1% stake.
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MARKETS
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The FTSE 100 has given up most of its early gains, having risen strongly at the open on reports that the Greek government will ask for an extension of its loan agreement with the eurozone.
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FTSE 100: up 0.03% at 6,900.12
FTSE 250: up 0.6% at 16,996.00
AIM ALL-SHARE: up 0.2% at 707.79
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The pound strengthened against the dollar after the UK unemployment rate fell unexpectedly in the October to December period.
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GBP-USD: up at USD1.5426
EUR-USD: down at USD1.1388

GOLD: down at USD1205.65 per ounce
OIL (Brent): down at USD61.16 a barrel

(changes since end of previous GMT day)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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The UK unemployment rate fell unexpectedly in the October to December period, data from the Office for National Statistics showed. The jobless rate fell to 5.7% during the October to December period from 5.8% in the September to November period. Economists had forecast the rate to remain at 5.8%. During October to December, there were 1.862 million unemployed people compared with the 1.914 million people in the September to November period.
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Policymakers of the Bank of England unanimously decided to hold the key interest rate at a record low 0.50% and the asset purchase programme unchanged at GBP375 billion. All nine committee members agreed that it was appropriate to leave the stance of monetary policy unchanged at this meeting, the minutes of the monetary policy committee meeting held on February 4 and 5 showed. "All members viewed it as more likely than not that Bank Rate would increase over the next three years; for one member, the next change in the stance of monetary policy was roughly as likely to be a loosening as a tightening," the minutes showed.
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The European Central Bank is facing resistance from Germany to allowing any extra emergency funding for Greek banks, putting pressure on the new government in Athens to accept an extended aid-for-reform programme, Reuters reported. Though the ECB is unlikely to lower the ceiling on emergency lending assistance by the Greek central bank, currently at EUR65 billion, a refusal to increase the ceiling could be negative for Greek banks, which are close to using up the amount allotted so far, Reuters said.
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Greece is expected to submit a request to eurozone finance ministers for a six-month extension to its loan agreement with its creditors, the government said, following days of standoff between Athens and the Eurogroup over the country's bailout. "Let's wait today for the request for an extension of the loan contract to be submitted by the finance minister," government spokesman Gabriel Sakellarides told private Greek broadcaster ANT1. "We are coming to the table to find a solution. We want to believe that we are on a good path and all the deliberations will find a common ground."
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The pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine said that they had begun withdrawing heavy weapons in compliance with last week's ceasefire agreement. "Five 152-milimeter howitzers are being withdrawn from the Yelenovka district," senior militia leader Eduard Basurin was quoted as saying by the rebel-run Donetsk News Agency. Basurin was referring to Olenivka, a village south of Donetsk, relatively far from the strategic city of Debaltseve, the site of intense fighting in spite of the truce.
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