Press headlines and tips: Whitbread, GKN, Aggreko

Tips from the press

Welcome to our summary of the weekend's quality press tips, provided on Mondays by Weekend City Press Review.

The Times

Tempus: Martin Waller believes major mining shares, hit by falling prices and rising costs, may be 'bumping along the bottom' for some time.

The Independent

No Gain, No Pain: Derek Pain says speculation of a £24 a share bid for Whitbread , £18.50, has pushed the price to near-record highs, although a demerger of its Costa Coffee chain is another possibility.

The Daily Mail

Investment Extra: Martin Gilbert, CEO of Aberdeen Asset Management , argues that investors should consider looking overseas at the growing number of stocks which offer good dividend yields.

The Sunday Times

Inside the City: Danny Fortson thinks GKN , which is due to unveil Q1 trading figures on Wednesday, still 'looks a good bet' even if its decides against spending £800m on Volvo's aerospace division.

The Horizon Acquisitions deal for APR Energy last year may have led to some unforeseen accounting issues, but the combined results are finally due to be published on Monday and will include some big contract wins to reassure investors.

The Sunday Telegraph

Questor: Garry White says hold Aggreko , £21.93, following last week's positive trading statement.

Buy WS Atkins , 732p, which should benefit from growth in the Middle East even though its UK operations have stabilised.

The Mail on Sunday

Midas: Joanne Hart says buy Andor Technology , 504.5p, which offers good value from its focus on a highly technical photographic market niche.

Updates: Take some profits at Scapa , tipped last November at 51p and now 69p.

Daily Express

Taking Stock: David Shand thinks the imminent appointment of ex-Volvo head Leif Jihansson as chairman-designate of AstraZeneca might prove a catalyst for a major strategic shift which could help boost its share price recovery.

Business press headlines courtesy of Weekend City Press Review:

Switzerland is planning radical new rules for its hedge fund industry, unsettling those money managers who quit London over high taxes for the perceived easier regulatory regime provided by the Swiss. The new regulations have yet to work their way through the Swiss Parliament and are intended to bring the country in line with the EU’s new hedge fund rules, even surpassing them in key areas.[Financial Times p.1]

Two US banks – JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo - believe the US housing market is nearing the bottom as homeowners take advantage of cheap interest rates to refinance mortgages. JPMorgan also said it was nearing the end of a damaging wave of mortgage-related litigation, while Wells Fargo revealed mortgage applications were up 84 per cent year-on-year.[Financial Times pp.1, 13]

The US Glazer family who control Manchester United FC are reportedly preparing to revive plans to list on the Singapore stock exchange. Between 25 per cent and 35 per cent of the shares would be listed to raise £600m, valuing the club at about £2bn, with any move likely to take place before August.[Sunday Times p.3.1]

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts is developing an ambitious plan to create the world’s third biggest diamond miner by buying the diamond mining operations of BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto which are currently up for sale. A combined group would challenge market leaders De Beers and Alrosa in the global diamond industry.[Sunday Times p.3.1]

A government report due on Monday could be crucial in determining the future of the UK’s shale gas industry. The report will conclude that drilling by Cuadrilla Resources did cause small earthquakes near Blackpool last year, although analysts believe the potential from exploiting shale gas reserves will eventually outweigh these concerns.[Sunday Times pp.3.1, 3.9]

Barclays CEO Bob Diamond faces a 75 per cent cut in his total remuneration next year because long-term schemes and other factors will lead to his controversial £20m pay-out last year coming to an end. Barclays chairman Marcus Agius hopes the news will persuade key shareholders to back the board’s remuneration report at the forthcoming AGM.[Sunday Times p.3.1]

Tesco is expected to disclose a 2 per cent slide is sales in the first quarter, a slight improvement on the 2.3% decline the final three months of last year. But the news, along with the full-year results on Wednesday, will emphasise the urgency of CEO Philip Clarke’s revival plans.[Sunday Times pp.3.3, 3.5]

Tesco is planning to challenge Amazon in the UK as part of the revival plans being unveiled on Wednesday by new CEO Philip Clarke. The retailer plans to develop its shopping portal into an ‘online mall’, allowing other retailers to use the site in return for a share of revenues. Meanwhile, veteran Invesco Perpetual fund manager Neil Woodford reveals that he has sold the Tesco shares in his funds which he has held for most of the past 20 years.[Sunday Telegraph pp.B1, B6-7]

Sir Richard Branson has revealed that Virgin Atlantic is to appeal the decision by the EC to allow British Airways ' takeover of British Midland International from Lufthansa. Branson, in an article in the Sunday Telegraph, says he does not believe the EC gave sufficient time to reflect on the impact of the deal, making its decision in just 35 days.[Sunday Telegraph pp.B1, B5]

BAE Systems is in the final stages of renegotiating its Eurofighter Typhoon contract with Saudi Arabia which could see it gain an extra £500m from the deal for developing facilities and training to maintain and repair the aircraft. The windfall could be used by BAE to improve its share price performance with a buyback.[Independent on Sunday p.85]

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