Market Currents

• Thursday, November 5, 2009

• 10:19 AM Telefonica SA (TEF) to buy Telecom Italia's (TI) German broadband unit Hansenet for €900M to improve its foothold in the competitive German market. Comment!

• Tuesday, September 29, 2009

• 04:12 AM Vodafone (VOD) to sell Apple's (AAPL) iPhone in the U.K. and Ireland starting early 2010 (PR). The announcement comes a day after France Télécom's (FTE) Orange got the go-ahead to sell the iPhone in the U.K., bringing to an end to O2's (TEF) two-year exclusive contract. Comment!

• Monday, September 7, 2009

• 10:09 AM Deutsche Telekom (DT) and France Telecom (FTE) will join their U.K. operations in a 'merger of equals,' topping Telefonica (TEF) to form Britain's largest mobile-phone operator. The deal is expected to be signed today, and announced tomorrow. (DJ) Comment!

• Sunday, September 6, 2009

• 17:17 PM Sources say Vodafone (VOD) and Telefonica SA (TEF) have each tabled £3.5B bids for T-Mobile UK (DT), but Deutsche Telekom CEO Rene Obermann may prefer a proposal by France Telecom (FTE) which would merge T-Mobile with Orange. (London Times) Comment!

• Thursday, September 3, 2009

• 14:16 PM Deutsche Telekom (DT +1.5%) is reportedly putting T-Mobile UK on the selling block, with possible buyers including Vodafone (VOD), France Telecom (FTE) and Telefonica (TEF). Comment!

• Thursday, July 30, 2009

• 08:57 AM Telefonica SA (TEF): Net profit fell 6.1% to €1.93B ($2.7B), vs. consensus of €1.88B. Sales of €13.89B (-2.6%) in line. Latin America continued to be a stronghold, with revenue up 3.6% to €5.57B. (Bloomberg) Comment!

• Tuesday, July 7, 2009

• 07:36 AM Telefonica's (TEF) O2 and Movistar win exclusive rights to sell Palm's (PALM) Pre in Britain, Ireland, Germany and Spain. Palm says the Pre will be available in those countries in time for the Christmas shopping season. Comment!

• Thursday, July 2, 2009

• 08:51 AM A potential bidding war for the British unit of Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile (DT): After reports last week that Vodafone (VOD) is considering a bid, come reports that both France Telecom's Orange (FTE) and Telefonica's O2 (TEF) are also weighing offers. Comment!

• Friday, May 15, 2009

• 11:03 AM BT Group's (BT) Q1 numbers, layoffs, and dividend cut spooked investors Thursday, but Barron's says its rivals Vodafone (VOD) and Telefonica SA (TEF) are prepped for healthy earnings from the cellular boom in emerging markets. Comment!

• Wednesday, May 13, 2009

• 07:42 AM Telefonica SA (TEF): Q1 profit climbed 9.8% to €1.69B vs. consensus of €1.66B. Sales fell 1.4% to €13.7B. Shares +1.1% in Madrid. (Bloomberg) Comment!

• Monday, March 23, 2009

• 11:33 AM Telefonica (TEF) and Vodafone (VOD) will share networks in Britain, Germany, Ireland and Spain to cut costs. Both companies would consider additional cooperation. Comment!

• Thursday, January 29, 2009

• 12:37 PM Telecom Italia (TI) controlling stakeholder Telco - in which Telefonica (TEF) is a member - writes down its 24.5% stake by €1.4B. TI -7.9%. TEF -6.1%. Comment!

• Friday, November 14, 2008

• 06:21 AM Telefonica (TEF): Q3 net profit of €2B vs. consensus of €2.1B. Ebitda of €5.9B vs. €5.87B. Revenue of €14.99B vs. €14.84B. Shares +3.3% in Madrid. (.pdf) Comment!

• Thursday, September 4, 2008

• 04:01 AM Telefonica (TEF) is paying €1.1B ($1.6B) for a 2.7% stake in China Netcom (CN) - adding to pending stakes. After investing €83B in Europe TEF has set it sites on China, where there are more mobile-phone users than the combined populations of the U.S., Japan and the UK. Comment!

• Thursday, July 31, 2008

• 06:07 AM Telefonica SA (TEF): First-half EPS of €0.77 beats by €0.08. Net profit rose 29%. [PR] Comment!
• 00:10 AM Notable earnings before Thursday's open II: K, KSU, LIZ, MA, MBI, MO, MOT, MRO, NMX, NWL, OCR, PH, PTEN, RDS.A, SFI, SIRI, SPR, TE, TEF, TSCM, TSM, TYC, WYN, XEL, XOM Comment!