LONDON (Reuters) - European shares extended losses on Wednesday as oil stocks weighed and British lender Alliance & Leicester ALLL.L kept nerves on edge after taking a writedown and warning of higher funding costs ahead.

At 5:38 a.m. EST, the FTSEurofirst 300 index .FTEU3 was down 0.9 percent to 1,324.97 points.

Shares in Alliance & Leicester tumbled more than 13 percent after its 2007 profit plunged by around a third and it suffered a $360.4 million writedown on its exposure to risky assets.

Vodafone VOD.L was the biggest weighted loser after its joint venture in the United States, Verizon Wireless, said it had started offering flat-rate plans for unlimited calls, raising investors concerns that a price war could break out.

The stock was down 3 percent.

Meanwhile oil stocks also struggled as crude prices eased slightly from the previous session's record high above $100 a barrel. Total TOTF.PA fell 1.1 percent, BP BP.L slipped 1.5 percent and Royal Dutch Shell RDSa.L eased 0.7 percent.