Oct 8 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 index is

seen opening lower, with futures down 0.8%.

* VODAFONE ( VOD ): Britain's Vodafone ( VOD ) said it has

deepened its strategic partnership with Google in a

ten-year, billion dollar plus deal that would bring the U.S.

tech giant's new generative AI-powered devices to customers

across Europe and Africa.

* IMPERIAL BRANDS ( IMBBF ): Imperial Brands ( IMBBF ) forecast a

growth of 20% to 30% in fiscal 2024 next generation products

(NGP) revenue and announced shareholder returns of 2.8 billion

pounds ($3.66 billion), helped by growing demand for tobacco

alternatives.

* VISTRY: British homebuilder Vistry cut its fiscal

2024 profit outlook by 80 million pounds, hurt by increased

build costs in one of its divisions.

* OFWAT: Britain's water regulator ordered water companies

to return a total of 157.6 million pounds to customers for

missing environmental targets, the latest penalty slapped on an

industry at the centre of a scandal over dirty rivers.

* UNILEVER ( UL ): Unilever ( UL ) is spending over 150 million

euros to revamp its European homecare business' supply chain, a

senior executive told Reuters, aiming to make up for years of

underperformance and tap into young, post-pandemic shoppers.

* OIL: Oil prices fell more than $1 as traders took profits

from a rally in the previous session that lifted the market to

its highest level in over a month amid fears that the Middle

East could be on the brink of a region-wide war.

* GOLD: Gold prices edged lower, pressured by a stronger

dollar, while market participants awaited minutes of the Federal

Reserve's last meeting and economic data for further cues on

U.S. interest rate path.

* For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please

click on:

TODAY'S UK PAPERS

> Financial Times

> Other business headlines

($1 = 0.7642 pounds)

(Reporting by Yamini Kalia and DhanushVignesh Babu in

Bengaluru)