• Log in
• Register free
• Subscribe
• Help
• Tour & Trial IC Advantage

Friday's news and tips

Created:

24 October 2008

Written by:

Tanya Malick

■ Budget airline Ryanair has closed its base at Valencia Airport after a disagreement with the local authorities over the allocation of funds.

■ Sales were "disappointing" at department store group John Lewis last week as a relentless tide of bad news on the economy convinced shoppers to stay at home.

■ Daniel Stewart has crushed any hopes of a bid for stockbroker and corporate finance adviser Dowgate Capital by announcing that all talks are off.

■ Shares in Grainger fell sharply after the residential property group said it would pay holders of its convertible bonds, if they exercise their conversion rights by November 4.

■ Allied Gold has increased gold resources at its Sorowar deposit in eastern Papua New Guinea by 611,000 ounces.

Continues below...

■ Insurance group Just Retirement said sales for the second quarter are likely to fall as it posted a 3.8% drop in overall first quarter sales.

■ Palm oil prices are well below the highs seen earlier this year, New Britain Palm Oil said as it reported a rise in production of the oil used for cooking and biofuels.

■ Aim traded oil and gas explorer Chariot Oil & Gas said its mean prospective oil resources from its offshore Namibian licences increased by 34.2% or 1.3bn barrels to 5.24bn barrels.

■ Gene therapy group Oxford Biomedica said it is moving into Phase III trials of its cancer vaccine TroVax after cross-trial analysis.

■ Aim traded West African Diamonds said full year pre-tax loss narrowed as it slashed operating costs.

■ National Express remains on track for a strong year after seeing good revenue growth in its rail and bus divisions.

■ Business software group Axon said although the macroeconomic environment continues to deteriorate, trading has been encouraging and outlook for the full year is in line with expectations.

■ Metals trader Wogen said the recent troubles in the global economy may impact its results for the year but added that it continues to trade profitably for the second half.

■ Mining royalty group Anglo Pacific said it remained well positioned to secure new royalties but reported a fall in the value of its investments.

■ Property recruitment specialist Prime People said it anticipates operating profit will be marginally less than the comparable period last year.

■ Marine transport firm Globus Maritime has had to renegotiate a lower price for the sale of its handymax dry bulk carrier due to the current market conditions.

FOR A SUMMARY OF LATEST MOVEMENTS IN EQUITY, COMMODITY AND CURRENCY MARKETS, SEE FT.COM'S MARKETS PAGE.

■ Why not become a IC registered user - it's free, secure, takes just a few minutes - and gives you access to comprehensive company financial data, stock broker forecasts, our portfolio tool, share price and article alerts, and the stock screening tool. Register now!

■ Or access all areas with IC Advantage, our premium subscription product. Take a free, no-obligation trial to IC Advantage today.

NEWSPAPER SHARE TIPS (24 OCTOBER 2008)

Full round-up of newspaper share tips (sourced from Sharecast)

THE BANKING CRISIS:

Russia's financial crisis is escalating with lightning speed as foreigners pull funds from the country and the debt markets start to price a serious risk of sovereign default, reports the Telegraph.

Stalemate in talks between Iceland and Britain over the fate of the money from UK savers that is frozen in an Icelandic bank was being blamed last night for delaying a bailout of the stricken North Atlantic economy, reports the Times.

Thousands of depositors who held more than £800 million in offshore accounts with Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander, the failed Icelandic-owned bank, are preparing to take legal action to get their money back, says the Times.

Borrowing costs for emerging nations shot up to a six-year high and the cost of insuring against their default surged yesterday, after Belarus became the latest country to seek emergency aid from the International Monetary Fund, reports the Independent.

Alan Greenspan, the former chairman of the US Federal Reserve, has dramatically repudiated large parts of his laissez-faire ideology and joined the chorus of voices saying that the credit crisis reveals a need for more regulation of the finance industry, reports the Independent.

Banks are continuing to hit small businesses with increased interest rates on their loans and overdrafts, often altering the terms of loan deals with little or no warning, says the Independent.

OTHER PRESS HEADLINES:

Prudential, the UK insurer, is looking at possible acquisitions of parts of AIG beyond its stricken US rival's Asian operations, says the FT.

Emmanuel Roman, the co-chief executive of Europe's biggest hedge fund GLG, has warned that thousands of hedge funds are on the brink of failure as the global economy contracts, says the Telegraph.

Regulators could be forced to shut down markets for as long as a fortnight in order to staunch the panic beginning to beset the hedge fund industry, a leading expert predicted yesterday, adds the Times.

More than 2,500 workers at JCB have opted to accept a pay cut and work a four-day week to save jobs, reports the FT.

City watchdog is pushing ahead with plans to force disclosure of derivatives that help investors stealthily build positions in target companies, reports the FT. The Financial Services Authority on Thursday confirmed that investors who build up positions through contracts for difference will have to disclose their holdings when they reach 3 per cent of a company's outstanding stock – just as if they had bought the shares outright.

Several leading graduate employers have pulled out of this year's university "milk round", as the credit crunch has forced them to pare back recruitment plans for 2009, writes the Independent.

• Share Tips
• Companies
  • By sector
  • By event
  • A-Z listing
  • Announcements
  • Aim
• Markets and Sectors
• Columnists
• Stock Screens
• Funds and Finance
• Research Tools
• Investment guides
• Trading Game
• Events

requires IC Advantage

---

IC Advantage

The only way to access our daily share tips, analysis and profit making tools is with an IC Advantage subscription which starts from just £12.50 per month. Purchase yours here.

Subscribe to IC Advantage today, access starts from just £12.50