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Monday's news and tips

Created:

1 December 2008

Written by:

Tanya Malick

■ No-frills airline Ryanair has launched an all-cash offer for Aer Lingus in a new attempt to gain control of its rival. (IC COMMENT)

■ Sofa retailer Land of Leather has confirmed recent press speculation that it has received a number of unsolicited expressions of interest.

■ Fund manager New Star suspended its shares this morning as it said it is "advanced and constructive discussions with its bank syndicate".

■ Sportswear retailer JJB Sports has sold the leases for four retail stores and used the proceeds to reduce borrowings.

■ Struggling consumer finance group London Scottish Bank has gone in to administration after the Financial Services Authority stopped it accepting new deposits

■ Engineering and construction contractor Balfour Beatty has acquired Colledge Trundle and Hall, an automatic energy control systems specialist.

■ Engineering products supplier Metalrax warned today that full year results will miss forecasts and profits may be less than a year ago. (IC COMMENT)

Continues below...

■ Britain's leading supermarket, Tesco, is beginning to feel the heat as competition, particularly from the deep discounters, gets tougher while consumer demand cools down.

■ Telecoms giant BT has appointed Tony Chanmugam, who is known for his cost cutting initiatives, as group finance director.

■ Mining giant Xstrata has suspended another five ferrochrome furnaces in South Africa, taking the total suspended capacity to 906,000 tonnes or 52% of annual operating capacity.

■ Upstream exploration and production company Heritage Oil has started drilling on the Buffalo-1 exploration well in Block 1, Uganda.

■ Capital Pub Company served up a 24% rise in half year pre-tax profit but expects 2009 to be a challenging trading environment.

■ Melrose Resources and Bulgargaz Holding, the state-owned gas utility company, have signed a new agreement under which Bulgargaz has the right to take an equity stake in the Galata gas project

■ Business services software supplier Anite reported a rise in half year pre-tax profit as chief executive Steve Rowley steps down.

■ Security and fire alarm systems provider Westminster Group has landed several new contracts in the Middle East, Asia and Africa.

■ Theme park queue system specialist Lo-Q has agreed a one year trial of its VQ2020 system with the Australian Theme Park, Dreamworld.

■ Leed Petroleum, the oil and gas exploration and production company, has enjoyed its third successful test drilling in a row in the Gulf of Mexico.

■ Europe and Middle East focused miner EMED Mining said results at its Biely Vrch porphyry gold deposit in Slovakia indicate a deposit containing around 1.2m ounces of gold.

■ Plastics firm Victrex has experienced a downturn in orders since the second half of November.

■ Aberdeen Asset Management saw profits creep ahead in the year ended 30 September, although gross inflows were largely offset by higher redemptions due to increased risk aversion.

■ Printer St Ives reports little improvement in its trading backdrop in recent months.

■ Marketing services firm Freshwater UK reported a 23% rise in annual EBITDA and upped its total dividend.

■ Video surveillance operator Visual Defence has cut full year revenue forecasts again and warned that operating losses for the period will be about C$4m.

■ Shares in Research Now rose sharply in early trading today after the market research support firm said it expects full year results to be ahead of market expectations.

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

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NEWSPAPER SHARE TIPS (30 NOVEMBER 2008)

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

PRESS HEADLINES:

The political and public campaign to force Britain's banks to do more to help customers weather the economic downturn will gain impetus today with a promise from Royal Bank of Scotland to give at least six months' breathing space to homeowners who fall behind with mortgage payments, reports the FT.

More than 1,000 retail businesses have collapsed during the past year, with more failures expected due to poor Christmas trading, writes the Telegraph. Some 1,087 non-food retail businesses have collapsed in the 12 months to the end of November, a 17pc increase since last year, according to business research company Experian.

The London Stock Exchange has already lost a quarter of its near-monopoly in London business in equities to rival exchanges, figures seen by The Times show.

Compass, the British catering giant, will be served with a $200m (£130m) class-action lawsuit today alleging systemic racial discrimination against black workers in the United States, according to the Independent. The FTSE-100 company is accused of allowing managers at its business in Philadelphia to racially abuse, discriminate against and harass African-American employees.

Amlin, the FTSE 250 insurer, is working on plans to create a new syndicate at Lloyd's of London funded entirely by private investors, says the Telegraph. It is understood the £1.7bn company is setting up the insurance vehicle to take advantage of a sharp rise in insurance premiums.

The Government must reconsider the terms of the banking bail-out if it wants to see an increase in lending to small businesses, the deputy chairman of the influential Treasury Select Committee has warned. Concern is growing for the future of the UK's 4.7m small businesses, which in total employ 13m people, as revenues fall and available credit plunges amid the financial crisis, reports the Telegraph.

Ten "serious" bidders – including Dragon's Den star Theo Paphitis and property tycoon Ardeshir Naghshineh – will return to the table this week for talks with Woolworths' administrators as the race to buy the collapsed retailer's assets heats up, writes the Independent. The talks held by Woolies' administrator Deloitte, which will initially concentrate on those offering the "more chunky proposals," according to an insider, resume today and will continue all week.

General Motors and Ford Motor have approached Sweden's government about financial aid for their lossmaking Saab and Volvo brands, says the FT. GM and Ford want to bolster the two marques' finances in anticipation of selling them as the Detroit carmakers grapple with a cash crunch that threatens their survival.

Our press headlines summary is sourced from www.Sharecast.com

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