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Press headlines and tips: Next, Dixons, Carphone Warehouse, Assura

Our summary of all the shares tipped by the quality papers on Saturday and Sunday
December 3, 2012

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 expects shoppers and retailers to "play a game of chicken" again this year, waiting for the discounts to emerge. Among analysts' picks for likely Christmas winners are Primark (Last IC rating: Hold, 24 Apr 2012), Next (Last IC rating: Hold, 31 Oct 2012), Dixons (Last IC rating: Hold, 29 Nov 2012) and Carphone Warehouse (Last IC rating: Hold, 14 Nov 2012).

The Independent

No Pain, No Gain: Derek Pain says hindsight should not be ignored by investors as his own experience suggests he would have been better off with a 'buy and hold' strategy rather than trying to outguess the market.

The Daily Mail

Investment Extra: Dan Hyde warns that a bubble could be forming in retail corporate bonds, which have attracted investors with high returns but still carry risk.

The Sunday Times

Inside the City: Danny Fortson thinks energy company SSE (Last IC rating: Hold, 14 Nov 2012), £14.25, is adopting a pragmatic approach to current uncertainty over energy policy, a strategy which some analysts believe could propel the shares to £16.

Standard Chartered (Last IC view: 2 Nov 2012) is a buying opportunity at the current depressed share price of £14.55, the result of its problems with US regulators over alleged money laundering involving Iran.

The Sunday Telegraph

Questor: Garry White says buy Rio Tinto (Last IC rating: Buy, 8 Aug 2012), £30.93, which has an average price target among City analysts of £38.08, 23 per cent ahead of the current level.

■ Buy Assura (Last IC rating: Buy, 28 Nov 2012) 34p, for income and the 10 per cent discount to NAV.

The Mail on Sunday

Midas: Joanne Hart says buy management consultancy WYG Group, 62.5p, which is making 'good progress' on its recovery plan.

■ Update: Hold Smiths News (Last IC view: 29 Nov 2012) tipped in June 2010 at 108p and now 149.5p, for income and growth.

  

Business press headlines courtesy of Weekend City Press Review:

Moscow’s rich buy £1m entry into UK

The numbers of wealthy Russians and Chinese taking advantage of special visa rules to move to London has increased sharply, new figures reveal. Take-up of the visas, introduced in 2008 to allow individuals with at least £1m to invest to remain in the UK on a long-term basis, rose by 78 per cent to 419 in the year to end June, compared with 235 in the same period a year earlier. [Financial Times pp.1, Money 5]

Osborne in new tax raid on wealthy

George Osborne is expected to reduce the tax relief on pension pots for higher earners in Wednesday’s Autumn Statement. The chancellor is thought likely to lower from £50,000 the amount of money people can pay into their pensions each year to gain tax relief, along with possible other measures covering pension benefits. He is also due to unveil plans for 20 new gas-fired power stations, along with incentives to develop UK shale gas reserves. [Sunday Times pp.1.1, 3.1]

Roasted Starbucks caves in to taxman

Starbucks could announce as early as Monday a move to pay more corporation tax in the UK to end damaging publicity and the threat of a consumer boycott of its 700 coffee shops in Britain. The company has held talks with HM Revenue & Customs about restructuring royalty payments to its Dutch subsidiary, the means by which it has substantially reduced the amount of UK tax paid since 1998. [Sunday Times p.1.1]

Delta eyes Virgin Atlantic swoop

Delta Air Lines may revive plans - first revealed early last year - to take control of Virgin Atlantic in conjunction with its European partner, Air France-KLM. Delta has reportedly offered to buy out the 49 per cent stake in Virgin acquired by Singapore Airlines in 1999 for £600m, with Air France-KLM then buying part of Sir Richard Branson’s 51 per cent stake. [Sunday Times p.3.1]

Meat giant to be chopped up

Private equity firm Endless is to back an MBO of the pork operations division of meat processor Vion UK, previously known as Grampian Country Food. The deal is the first in a series of planned sales of its UK meat processing operations by Netherlands-based Vion. [Sunday Times p.3.1]

Centrica considering £500m share buyback

Centrica is considering plans to return up to £500m to shareholders next year, most likely in the form of a share buyback rather than a special dividend. The return of funds could follow the decision expected shortly to withdraw from the EDF-led consortium to build new nuclear reactors at Hinkley Point in Somerset. [Sunday Telegraph p.B1]

Internet giants face tax attack

The Treasury is seeking to work with other countries to co-ordinate moves to capture tax due on the earnings of internet multinationals such as Amazon and Google. The initiative follows widespread criticism of web-based companies for shifting their earnings around the world to avoid paying business taxes in countries where the funds are generated. [Sunday Telegraph p.B1]

Spencer: dangerous anti-City rhetoric damaging Britain

ICAP CEO Michael Spencer has called for an end to the ‘dangerous’ anti-City rhetoric which creates the impression that ‘all bankers are crooks’. Spencer, in an interview with the Sunday Telegraph ahead of Icap’s annual Charity Day, also criticises Business Secretary Vince Cable for being too quick to ‘clamber on bandwagons’. [Sunday Telegraph pp.B1, B5]

Cuadrilla set to resume fracking as Osborne backs shale gas

Cuadrilla CEO Francis Egan says the company is preparing to resume shale gas extraction – or ‘fracking’ - in Lancashire to help develop the industry in the UK. In an interview with the Sunday Telegraph Egan said the private equity-backed company was ready to resume extraction once the current moratorium is lifted, with the Chancellor also due to announce measures to help the fledgling industry in this week’s Autumn Statement. [Sunday Telegraph pp.B1, B9]

Tesco sales fall further as strategy questioned

Tesco is expected to report a fall of up to 1 per cent in like-for-like sales in the third quarter, compared with a rise of 0.1 per cent in Q2. The news will add to criticism of CEO Philip Clarke’s £1bn turnaround strategy as well as suggesting that the UK economic recovery remains weak. [Sunday Telegraph p.B3]