Thursday's news and tips

By ShareCast, 07 July 2011

■ WH Smith reported a fall in sales in the 18 weeks to 27 July, but the newsagent and bookshop chain said it is continuing to grow margins.

■ Funds under management (FUM) at hedge fund manager Man Group rose to $71bn at the end of June on the back of record sales for the quarter.

■ Out-of-town home furnishings retailer Dunelm moved into like-for-like sales growth in the quarter year to 2 July, saying it is winning share in a struggling market.

■ Babcock , the FTSE-250 engineering support firm, says it will be looking at selling off the US Defence operations of its recent acquisition, VT Group.

■ McBride , the maker of household and personal products for supermarkets to sell under their own names, is to stop selling products that are now unprofitable due to rising raw material costs.

■ Premier Farnell , the engineering products supplier, has warned sales growth will come in below targets in what the firm describes as "difficult market conditions".

■ Support services outfit Carillion said the first half of 2011 has gone well, and it is on track to deliver earnings growth over the full-year, despite challenging market conditions.

■ Hays , the FTSE 250 recruitment firm, has announced 11 per cent growth in fees year on year, with an especially strong performance from its international division.

■ Engineering software group Aveva' s shares fell back after it reported continued mixed trading across its geographical spread.

■ Mining giant BHP Billiton 's port and rail operations have been suspended in Western Australia.

■ NCC , the fast growing software firm that keeps companies' critical software applications backed up and protects corporations from cyber attacks, saw strong revenue growth last year, helped by some judicious acquisitions.

■ Invensys , the engineering and software company, has won the contract to supply signalling for the next phase of the Thameslink rail project.

■ Punch Taverns has laid out details of plan to split itself into two businesses.

■ AFC Energy 's shares slumped 8 per cent on Thursday after the low-cost alkaline fuel cell developer posted wider pre-tax loss due to higher expenses related to expansion and products development.

■ Industrial services provider Cape said it expects growth to pick up pace throughout the latter part of the year and anticipates revenues for the first half to be similar to last year, sending its shares 1 per cent lower.

■ Kyrgyz Republic-focused gold explorer Chaarat Gold Holdings said the results from the six holes drilled at its Contact project in Kyrgyzstan have led to an increase in its gold resource estimate by 7.5 per cent.

■ Shares in artificial joint specialist, Smith & Nephew , were off slightly after rumours of a takeover teased the market yesterday.

■ New and used car dealer Lookers faced difficult trading conditions in its motor division in the second quarter as weak consumer confidence in the UK continued to weigh on sales.

■ Business space provider, Workspace , has announced it is to raise £63m through a rights issue.

■ Inkjet printing technology group, Xaar , said revenues for the first six months of 2011 topped £31m, exceeding the board's expectations.

■ Shares in Microgen rose by 7 per cent on Thursday after the software provider said that its first half performance is anticipated to be ahead of its expectations.

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NEWSPAPER SHARE TIPS (7 JULY 2011):

PRESS HEADLINES:

Credit rating agencies were hit by a ferocious political backlash in Europe after Moody's slashed its rating of Portugal to junk, sending the country's implied borrowing costs skyrocketing to a record high. EU officials accused the agencies of anti-European bias and signalled that powers could be introduced to suspend ratings on countries that were in receipt of bailouts, the reports.

Meanwhile, the reports that Eurozone finance ministers are sharply divided over how to handle the spiralling Greek debt crisis, Dutch finance minister Jan Kees de Jager revealed as he attacked France's plans for a new rescue package. Speaking in London after a meeting with the chancellor, George Osborne, de Jager said it was "illusory" to hope that Europe's banks would voluntarily bear their fair share of the costs of a new bailout for Athens, and that President Sarkozy's current proposals let Greece's private sector creditors off too lightly, the paper says.

MPs from all sides called for the multibillion-pound takeover of BSkyB by News Corporation to be put on hold until police finish investigating phone-hacking claims involving the News of the World. Ed Miliband was joined by Conservatives and Liberal Democrats in urging ministers against waving the deal through, according to the .

Christine Lagarde defended her ability as the first person from outside the economics profession to head the International Monetary Fund, as she refused to be drawn on the approach she will take to Greece's debt crisis. "I'm not going to brag about my qualifications or my lack of qualifications," Ms Lagarde said at her first press conference at the IMF's headquarters in Washington DC, the reports.

While most Britons struggle to cope with a brutal squeeze on their spending, the City of London's investment banks are preparing for a bonus boom after raking in huge increases in fees. Despite widespread rumblings of discontent over what they charge, investment banks levied a total of $48.9bn (£30.5bn) in fees in the first half of this year, a study by Thomson Reuters found, according to the .

The administrators of collapsed kitchen and bathroom showroom group Homeform have made nearly 600 workers redundant and warned that some customers, who put down cash deposits adding up to £1.5m, could lose their money. The Manchester-based company, which trades as Moben Kitchens, Dolphin Bathrooms, Sharps Bedrooms and Kitchens Direct, warned last month that it was facing insolvency and Deloitte was today formally appointed as its administrators, the reports.

The price of iron ore will remain above $150 a tonne for at least the next five years, according to Vale, the top miner of the ­commodity. The bullish prediction by Guilherme Cavalcanti, finance director of the mining group, is the latest contribution to a debate on the outlook for the iron ore market that has polarised analysts and investors, reports the .

Edinburgh has the fastest average broadband speed in the UK, closely followed by Bristol, according to data released by Ofcom. The telecoms regulator has launched an interactive map, based on data from providers, which reveals the fastest and slowest average broadband speeds across the UK, the reports.

Heathrow airport is to face a probe into its charges following complaints from domestic airline BMI that changes made earlier this year were unfair. The Civil Aviation Authority yesterday said it would formally investigate complaints that Heathrow owner BAA had "unreasonably discriminated" against UK-focused airlines by ­making domestic and EU passenger charges equal, says the .

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