Press headlines and tips: RBS, AstraZeneca, Man Group

Tips from the press

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

PRESS TIPS:

The Times

■ Tempus: Martin Waller says he is struggling to find a sector for which a strong pound is an unqualified benefit, although companies might consider raising funds in London and redeploying them in areas whose currencies are weak.

The Independent

■ No Pain, No Gain: Derek Pain thinks that Aim-traded Plus Markets Group (No IC rating), which operates the Plus share trading exchange, is likely to succumb to a takeover bid within the next few weeks, or at least attract one or more significant new investors.

The Daily Mail

■ Investment Extra: Ian Lyall believes a sell-down of some of the Treasury's stakes in Royal Bank of Scotland (Last IC rating: Hold, 30 Mar) and Lloyds Banking Group (Last IC rating: Hold, 24 Feb) would send the 'right message' to the markets that Whitehall is determined to return the banks to the private sector.

The Sunday Times

■ Inside the City: Iain Dey thinks AstraZeneca 's (Last IC rating: Buy 26 Apr) board is wrong to suggest there will no change in strategy after ditching CEO David Brennan.

■ Man Group CEO Peter Clarke will face a grilling from investors on Tuesday over the hedge fund's underperformance and it is clear that 'something has to give soon' (Last IC rating: Hold, 1 Mar).

The Sunday Telegraph

■ Questor: Garry White says avoid Barclays (Last IC rating: Sell, 13 Feb), 223p, because of the continuing uncertainty facing banking stocks.

■ Buy Berendsen (Last IC rating: Hold, 24 Feb), 520.5p, which is benefiting from rising margins, backed by a 'chunky' yield.

The Mail on Sunday

■ Midas: Joanne Hart says buy Galileo Resources (No IC rating), 36.5p, as a speculative mining play which could double in price over the next two years.

Business press headlines courtesy of Weekend City Press Review:

Barclays plan draws fire at annual meeting as third of investors join revolt

Barclays faced a major snub from investors on Friday after nearly a third refused to back the remuneration report presented to the AGM, with 26.9 per cent voting against and a further 4.6 per cent abstaining. Alison Carnwath, chairman of the bank's remuneration committee who was criticised for the generous pay-outs to CEO Bob Diamond and others, was re-elected with the support of only 76 per cent of shareholders, while chairman Marcus Agius received 92.5 per cent backing. [Financial Times p.1]

Britain's rich soar to record wealth

Wealthy people living in Britain are richer than ever before with combined assets of £414bn, according to the latest Sunday Times Rich List. The 1,000 richest people in the country saw their total wealth increase 4.7 per cent last year, with 77 British-based billionaires on the list. These include two Glencore oil traders - Aristotelis Mistakidis and Alex Beard - along with industrialists such as Sir Anthony Bamford. [Sunday Times pp.1.1, 3.2]

Rudd lined up for top job at Pru

Frontrunner to take over as Prudential chairman is veteran industrialist and City 'grandee' Sir Nigel Rudd, although he faces competition from Pearson chairman Glen Moreno. Rudd, if he is willing to take on the job, would replace Harvey McGrath who has fallen out with shareholders since the Pru's abortive attempt to buy AIA two years ago. [Sunday Times p.3.1]

Hands plots £820m care homes raid

Terra Firma Capital Partners chairman Guy Hands is negotiating an £820m deal to take control of Four Seasons Health Care, the UK's largest care homes chain. Agreement with the banks who own Four Seasons, led by Royal Bank of Scotland, may be announced as early as Monday. [Sunday Times p.3.1]

Goldman boss joins race to be next Bank governor

Goldman Sachs economist Jim O'Neill has emerged as a surprise candidate to become next Governor of the Bank of England when Sir Mervyn King steps down in 2013. O'Neill, who currently chairs Goldman Sachs Asset Management, was reportedly approached by Treasury officials several months ago. [Sunday Times pp.3.1, 3.5]

Billionaires battle for Manchester airport

Manchester Airports Group is seeking to sell a 50 per cent stake for about £1bn to an overseas investor to help finance a bid for Stansted Airport, the Essex airport which BAA is being forced to sell by the Competition Commission. Frontrunners to acquire the stake are the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (along with 3i Infrastructure) and Cheung Kong Infrastructure. Also interested is Australia's Industry Funds Management. [Sunday Times p.3.1]

Abu Dhabi in Lloyds Bank talks

Middle East sovereign wealth funds, including Abu Dhabi's Mubadala fund and Qatar Holdings, are in talks to help NBNK finance a £2bn bid for the 632 branches being sold by Lloyds Banking Group after the collapse of negotiations with the Co-operative Group. Backing from either or both funds would significantly strengthen the chances for NBNK, a start-up bank acquisition vehicle chaired by Lord Levene. [Sunday Telegraph pp.B1, B8]

Cable told to change law over bank mis-selling

Business Secretary Vince Cable is coming under pressure from Labour to enable small firms allegedly mis-sold complex interest rate derivatives by the banks to take collective legal action for compensation. The Financial Services Authority is currently investigating the mis-selling claims, especially derivatives sold by Barclays, but Labour is seeking a more formal inquiry. [Sunday Telegraph pp.B1, B6]

HMRC chairman quits after tax-deal controversy

HM Revenue & Customs chairman Mike Clasper is expected to stand down by the end of the year following recent criticism of HMRC's close relationships with several large companies, including Vodafone and Goldman Sachs. Headhunter Odgers Berndtson has been appointed to help find a successor. [Sunday Telegraph p.B1]

Osborne pushed on growth as OECD says 'loosen purse strings'

The OECD has urged the Chancellor to consider borrowing more to finance new infrastructure projects to boost growth, suggesting the government could let its debt-reduction target slip without suffering a backlash from the bond markets. The comments by Christophe Andre, acting head of the OECD's UK desk, came after the UK economy slipped back into a technical recession in the first quarter. [Sunday Telegraph p.B1]

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