Wednesday's news and tips

By ShareCast, 13 July 2011

■ High street bellwether Marks and Spencer battled through the second quarter of 2011, growing market share and delivering food sales growth that was ahead of expectations in some quarters ().

■ Underlying sales at iconic British luxury brand Burberry soared by 34 per cent in the first quarter, driven largely by strong retail growth in China.

■ Chocolate maker and retailer Thorntons said fourth quarter trading was in line with expectations with total sales for the 8 weeks ended 25 June down £1.9m to £20.6m.

■ Mining titan Xstrata is to take full control of the Pallas Green zinc project in Ireland, buying out the 23.6 per cent interest held by its joint venture partner, Minco, for $19.4m.

■ The froth was blown off the top of the JD Wetherspoon share price Wednesday morning as the company issued disappointing like-for-like sales growth figures.

■ Shares in trendy fashion retailer SuperGroup jumped by nearly 13 per cent on Wednesday after profits surged in the year ended 1 May ().

■ News Corporation, the newspaper publisher controlled by Rupert Murdoch, has said it is withdrawing its bid for full control of the satellite broadcaster BSkyB .

■ Engineering firm Morgan Crucible said positive sales momentum has continued since its last trading update in May as it experiences a broad recovery across its markets.

■ Interdealer broker ICAP , the largest in the world, saw revenue fall by 4 per cent in the first quarter, hampered by a slow start and tough comparators last year, but expects things to pick up for the rest of the year.

■ Utility services provider Telecom Plus has seen an organic growth spurt at the start of its financial year, but warned that it will soon have to fall in line with its competitors and hike prices.

■ The ongoing war of words between easyJet founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou and the airline's management has exploded again over plans to expand easyJet's fleet.

■ Oil giant BP and its co-venturers have approved a £3bn investment programme to upgrade and replace the existing subsea facilities at the Schiehallion and Loyal oil fields by the Shetland Islands.

■ Tile and wood flooring specialist Topps Tiles continued to experience subdued trading in the 13 weeks to 2 July.

■ Oilfield services provider Petrofac has signed two memoranda of understanding (MOU) with Malaysian state-run company Petronas.

■ South America focused oil and gas firm, Amerisur Resources , said it expects to begin drilling of new locations in Columbia in the final quarter of 2011.

■ Global Brands , the AIM listed company which owns the Domino's Pizza franchise in Switzerland, Luxembourg & Liechtenstein, saw sales in the first half of 2011 rise by 15.4 per cent from the same period last year.

■ DDD , the AIM-listed 3D solutions firm, has signed a contract with what it claims is a leading mobile phone manufacturer.

■ Shares in fluid technology group, Pursuit Dynamics , leapt 15 per cent on Wednesday after it announced it was trialling its technology with Thames Water.

■ Construction materials hire firm, Speedy Hire , said its performance was in line with management expectations in the three months to 30 June.

■ ReThink Group , the AIM listed recruitment and consulting firm, says revenues in the six months to the 30th June 2011 are expected to be approximately 27 per cent ahead of 2010.

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NEWSPAPER SHARE TIPS (13 JULY 2011):

PRESS HEADLINES:

All three main political parties will today unite against the man they have spent decades wooing in an unprecedented attack on Rupert Murdoch and his business empire. The party leaders will order their MPs to vote for a motion calling for Mr Murdoch to abandon his takeover bid for BSkyB in the wake of the hacking scandal.

The show of unity came after a dramatic intervention by David Cameron. He made the decision after realising he could lose the vote in the House of Commons in the face of opposition from Labour and the Liberal Democrats. The mood in Downing Street was said to be "grim" yesterday, reports the .

The Treasury will today reveal that the liabilities from the pensions of public sector workers have jumped from £770 billion to £1,100 billion in two years. The figures are contained in full accounts for all Whitehall departments, which are being published together for the first time to show what public finances would look like if they were subjected to the same scrutiny as a private company, writes the .

The City was last night ruling out an increase in interest rates until next year after latest cost of living figures showed Britain's struggling retailers were forced to cut prices aggressively last month. Speculation that borrowing costs will need to be raised to tackle price pressures was dampened after the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the government's preferred measure of inflation dropped unexpectedly from 4.5 per cent to 4.2 per cent in a month, the reports.

The collapse of Southern Cross is set to leave the taxman more than £25 million out of pocket. The care homes operator, which said this week that it is breaking itself up and returning its homes to its landlords, owes the money in unpaid tax, national insurance and VAT after suspending payments to Revenue and Customs last month, according to the .

Tumbling prices for computer games and other consumer electronics pulled inflation lower in June, surprising economists and easing pressure on the Bank of England to raise interest rates in the near future. Inflation, as measured by the consumer prices index, dipped to 4.2 per cent last month from 4.5 per cent in May, confounding expectations of no change, reports the .

The true size of Britain's debt mountain can be revealed today as £2trillion – nearly £80,000 a household. Previously 'hidden' liabilities including the cost of public sector pensions and building projects are being published by the Treasury. They show that future payments to retired teachers, police officers and NHS staff will cost taxpayers £1.1trillion, or £1,100billion, says the .

Starbucks has unveiled reorganisation plans as it seeks to increase sales outside the US. The Seattle-based company currently generates 20 per cent of its revenues from overseas. Instead of two divisions, US and international, it will have three divided between the Americas, China and Asia Pacific, and Europe and the rest of the world, says the .

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