Tuesday's news and tips

By ShareCast, 19 July 2011

■ Real estate investment trust Land Securities said the outlook for development in London remains attractive while even the battered retail sector has its bright spots.

■ After a fractious courtship with Fuller Smith & Turner, London-based pub group Capital Pub Co mpany has fallen into the arms of rival pub group Greene King, which has agreed to pay 235p a share for Capital.

■ Chilled foods firm Dairy Crest said overall trading in the first quarter has been in line with company expectations as it makes progress among its key brands.

■ Nathan Bostock, seen as a potential successor to chief executive of Stephen Hester at Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), is to jump ship to fellow part-nationalised lender Lloyds Banking.

■ IG Group 's full year results have come in a shade of expectations, with the spread-betting company continuing to bag new clients in spite of tough economic conditions ().

■ Sales and profits at Johnson Matthey both registered double-digit percentage gains in the first quarter of the platinum refiner's fiscal year.

■ Ferrochrome producer International Ferro Metals reported reduced output in the quarter to 30 June as it upgraded its facilities and saw sales whacked by a fall in demand.

■ US-focused oil producer Nighthawk Energy has appointed Charles "Chuck" Wilson as its chief operating officer, adding another new member to its executive management team in three months.

■ Fund manager Henderson has retained 91 per cent of Gartmore's assets and said the integration of the business is "well advanced" but expects market volatility to hit future profits.

■ Gold miner Triple Plate Junction (TPJ) said drilling had begun on its Hide's Creek development in Papua New Guinea (PNG).

■ Shares in investment house, Evolution Group , rose 10 per cent on Tuesday after analysts gave its bid for BNP Paribas Private Investment Management the thumbs up.

■ UK airport operator BAA has hit out at being forced to sell its airports at Stansted and either Glasgow or Edinburgh, saying it will consider a judicial review against the decision.

■ Chinese internet software firm, Geong International , has announced it is to buy Hong Kong online marketing company, Adbeyond.

■ Lloyds Banking Group is aggregating the wholesale markets, treasury and trading, transaction banking and corporate banking business lines as part of its recently announced strategic review.

■ Exhibitions and conferences firm ITE Group benefited from the first time contributions from new events and a softer comparator last year to boost revenues by nearly 43 per cent in the third quarter.

■ Victoria Oil & Gas (VOG), the AIM quoted oil and gas company, said it had taken almost full control of a gas field in Cameroon after its partner failed to make payments under a cash call agreement.

■ North Sea oilfields operator, Xcite energy , has raised £4.2m through a standby equity distribution agreement.

■ AIM-listed zinc and lead mine owner Angel Mining has made "significant progress" at its primary asset on the west coast of Greenland with the construction of a cable car.

■ Chaarat Gold Holdings ' shares soared after the gold explorer said the infrastructure development in the Chaarat project site is "progressing aggressively" and added it has obtained the permit to construct the power line.

■ Low-cost airline Ryanair has welcomed decision by the Competition Commission (CC) that airport operator BAA should be forced to sell its airports at Stansted and either Glasgow or Edinburgh.

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NEWSPAPER SHARE TIPS (19 JULY 2011):

PRESS HEADLINES:

Shares in News Corporation fell more than 4 per cent in New York, as the contagion over the News of the World phone hacking scandal spread further into the US and Australia. Serious cracks appeared in Rupert Murdoch's Australian empire as the row placed key deals in jeopardy. In an echo of the furore over News Corp's proposed takeover of BSkyB in the UK, a $2bn bid by Foxtel – a pay-TV network 25 per cent owned by News Corp – for rival network Austar faces being derailed at the eleventh hour because of political pressure to stem the power of Murdoch's organisation, reports the .

The reports that BSkyB shareholders stand ready to oust James Murdoch if the crisis engulfing News Corporation taints the satellite giant. Major investors told the paper that Sky's embattled chairman will be ditched at the first sign of 'reputational damage' from the escalating phone-hacking and bribery scandal.

Marks & Spencer has been found guilty of failing to protect customers, staff and workers from the possibility of being exposed to asbestos during refurbishment works at two of its stores. The clothing and food chain was subject to a three-month trial at Winchester Crown Court on charges of failing to ensure all steps were taken to prevent the deadly fibres from being unleashed in the shops, the reports.

The chairman of UK Financial Investments (UKFI) has warned that the Independent Commission on Banking's (ICB) reforms will reduce the value of the taxpayer's stakes in Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and delay their sale. UKFI, which manages the state's holdings in Britain's banks, said it expected regulatory upheaval to continue for the next year, reports the .

The cost of placing ads on Facebook is rising rapidly as more big brands begin to move their television and print spending on advertising onto the world's largest social network, two recent reports have revealed. The "cost per click" of an ad placed on Facebook has increased by 74 per cent over the last year in four of the world's largest media markets, according to TBG Digital, an independent marketing firm specialising in social media, the reports.

Greenpeace activists dressed as polar bears occupied the Edinburgh offices of Cairn Energy on Monday as the environmental group stepped up the pressure on the company over its Arctic exploration plans. Last month the organisation's international head, Kumi Naidoo, was arrested after boarding a 52,000-tonne Cairn rig 75 miles off the west coast of Greenland, according to the .

The boss of the UK's biggest mobile phone company is stepping down only a year after the group was created. Tom Alexander said he was quitting Everything Everywhere, formed by the merger of Orange UK and T-Mobile UK and with nearly 28 million customers, for personal reasons and to pursue other interests, according to the .

Dixons Retail chief executive John Browett saw his pay fall from £1.5m to £1m as his bonus was cut after the group slumped into the red. John Browett, who is part-way through a "renewal and transformation" drive to revive the Currys and PC World owner, was paid a basic salary of £676,000 in the year to the end of April, the says.

Whole Foods Market, the US "natural foods" giant is headed for Glasgow, home of the deep fried Mars Bar. The 23,000sq ft outlet in Gifnock, an upmarket suburb south of the Scottish city, will be the chain's first store outside London and the first to open since the launch of Whole Foods' huge outlet in High Street Kensington in 2007, reports the .

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