Thursday's news and tips

By ShareCast, 16 June 2011

■ Power systems behemoth Rolls-Royce has won orders worth more than £100m from a range of ship yards in Asia.

■ Budget airline easyJet is to start operating flights from Southend Airport in Essex next year, the airport's owner, logistics firm Stobart, has announced.

■ Design and engineering consultancy WS Atkins topped revenue and profit expectations in what it described as a transformational year for the company.

■ Plant hire group Ashtead reported full year pre-tax profit in line with expectations and said it is confident demand for rentals will provide further growth.

■ Electrical components distributor Premier Farnell said sales levels have rebounded above those it was achieving ahead of the global downturn as it posted a rise in revenues and profits.

■ The end of an era is imminent at oil firm Cairn Energy as chairman Norman Murray is set to step down from the board at the beginning of July, with current chief executive Sir Bill Gammell moving up to replace him.

■ Upmarket fashion group Mulberry defied consumer gloom to reveal better than expected full year pre-tax profit as demand for its products soared.

■ Barclays said it aims to boost its revenue by up to 20 per cent before 2013, primarily by generating additional income under a revamped cost cutting plan.

■ Shares in Laird jumped after the electronic components manufacturer rejected an all-cash 185p-a-share takeover proposal from US rival Cooper Industries.

■ Oil explorer Gulf Keystone Petroleum reiterated its focus on the operations in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, but shares plunged more than 4 per cent ahead of its annual general meeting.

■ Australia-based oil and gas firm Global Petroleum reported that its partner Texon Petroleum has started drilling the Leighton Olmos vertical production well, Peeler 3, in Texas.

■ Despite raising concerns over the level of competition in the bar soaps market, the Office of Fair Trade (OFT) has now said that the merger between Unilever and Alberto Culver will not be referred to the Competition Commission.

■ Global Energy Development 's independent directors have urged the shareholders to reject a 72p per share cash offer from HKN, which values the company at £25.8m, saying the offer materially undervalues the oil company.

■ Even though Tanzania-focused gold explorer Shanta Gold significantly revised up the value of its New Luika Gold Mine, shares took a hit on Thursday after it revealed that costs have grown as a result.

■ Sirius Minerals , the AIM listed potash development company has won approval for two drill sites in the North York Moors National Park.

■ Power control components manufacturer XP Power reported a strong performance in trading in the second quarter, with profits boosted by a favourable change in the product mix.

■ Drug inhaler maker Consort Medical reported a higher full-year pre-tax profit and said it expects continued revenue and profit growth, partly driven by the launch of the King Vision and growing demand in its Bespak respiratory business.

■ Low-cost alkaline fuel cell developer AFC Energy has received a positive independent interim review of its technical activity from the Centre for Process Innovation (CPI), marking a step towards commercialisation of its fuel cell systems.

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NEWSPAPER SHARE TIPS (16 JUNE 2011):

PRESS HEADLINES:

Britain is under pressure to commit hundreds of millions of pounds to a second bailout for Greece after another day of violent protest in Athens. With the €110bn (£96bn) package agreed last year set to run out, Germany is leading calls for the entire EU, not just the 17 eurozone countries, to contribute to a rescue fund, the reports.

Pandora Media joined the ranks of unprofitable internet businesses with vast valuations yesterday when its shares soared on their market debut. Within minutes of 14.7m shares going on sale in New York at $16, they touched $26 before closing at $17.42, up nearly 9 per cent on the day, giving the company a market capitalisation of $2.78bn, according to the .

Northern Rock is to be sold rather than remutualised or floated on the stock market, the Chancellor has confirmed. The deal is expected to value the nationalised lender at about £1bn, meaning the sale is likely to result in a short-term loss for the taxpayer, which was forced into a £1.4bn rescue of the failed bank, the says.

The Governor of the Bank of England last night warned European officials not to water down new bank safety rules or prevent the UK from imposing tougher measures to protect taxpayers. In his Mansion House speech, Mervyn King told the City's elite that all systemically important banks must hold more common equity capital to absorb losses in future crises – as set out in last year's Basel III agreement, reports the .

Game Group suffered one of the biggest shareholder revolts of the year when more than half of its investors refused to back its generous pay proposals. A staggering 51.05 per cent either voted against or withheld their support for the video game retailer's remuneration report which gave chairman Chris Bell, the former Ladbrokes chief executive, a one-off payment of £182,500 for three months work after he stepped in to run the firm when boss Lisa Morgan was ditched, the reports.

The Spanish owner of Zara has announced plans to expand to South Africa, Taiwan and Peru. Inditex, the world's largest fashion chain, opened 12 stores a week in the three months to the end of April and said it planned to open hundreds more as it strove to bring its "fast fashion" clothes to the world, the reports.

Barclays is planning to boost revenues by up to 20 per cent by 2013 from last year's levels in an ambitious attempt to improve returns at the bank. Bob Diamond, chief executive of Barclays, outlined on Wednesday a plan to boost revenues by up to £6.4bn ($10.3bn) by 2013 despite problems in its troubled European division and its corporate bank, reports the .

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