Vodafone rallies on Liberty Global comments

Vodafone shares were on the front foot after Liberty Global’s chief executive officer said on Thursday that there was no timeframe for talks between the two companies on swapping assets.

According to Reuters, CEO Michael Fries responded to question at a conference in Amsterdam by saying: "No timeframe. I can’t add anything else.”

In June, Vodafone said it was in talks with cable operator Liberty Global over a possible swap of selected assets that would allow them to better compete with rivals.

Vodafone was also boosted by strong results from French peer Bouygues, which posted a 51% rise in interim operating profit and lifted its full-year targets on core earnings and cost savings.

At 1346 BST, Vodafone shares were up 3.3% at 223.70p.