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Thursday's news and tips

Created:

26 November 2009

Written by:

ShareCast

■ Currys and PC World owner DSG International reported a drop in first-half like-for-like sales but said it has seen improving trends in a number of its businesses, particularly in recent weeks.

■ Newspaper publisher Daily Mail slumped deeper into the red last year as more write-downs knocked its figures and UK local papers suffered in the recession.

■ The Department of Transport has decided not to extend the National Express East Anglia franchise beyond its normal termination date of March 2011.

■ Heritage Oil has started a year-long exploration and appraisal drilling programme in the Kurdistan region of Iraq.

■ Falkland Oil and Gas (FOGL) has announced plans to raise £50m from a share placing at 115p to fund its drilling programme in the East Falklands Basin, due to begin in the first half of next year.

■ Pub owner Mitchells & Butlers has made a good start to its new financial year, but worries about the strength of consumer confidence and possible tax rises after next year's General Election (IC COMMENT).

■ Aerospace and engineering group Hampson Industries reported a 32 per cent slump in first-half profit before tax to £11m on revenue down 12 per cent to £97m (IC COMMENT).

■ Superstar fund manager Anthony Bolton has been lured out of semi-retirement to run a fund that will invest in China (IC COMMENT).

Continues below...

■ General Motors is reportedly planning to slash 354 jobs at its Luton plant, while the US carmaker's Ellesemere Port plant is to escape any job cuts.

■ Another 642 British jobs are to go at defence giant BAE Systems due to a drop in demand at its surveillance business.

■ Trading has resumed on the London Stock Exchange following a technical difficulty this morning that forced the exchange to suspend dealings.

■ Profits fell by nearly half at the South America-focused miner Antofagasta as tumbling metals prices hit sales.

■ Special interest magazine publisher Future Publishing blamed poor trading in the US for a sharp fall in profits in the year to September 30.

■ A bumper Halloween enabled cards and gifts retailer Clinton Cards to lift like-forplike sales for the 16 weeks to 22 November by 3.9 per cent, an increase on the early part of the period.

■ Water companies will have to cut bills in real terms between 2010 and 2015, the water regulator Ofwat said as it delivered its final decision today, though not by as much as it previously proposed.

■ Soap maker PZ Cussons has named former Aviva boss Richard Harvey as its replacement for outgoing chairman Anthony Green.

■ Property developer and investor Helical Bar fell into losses in the six months to September 30 after the sharp downturn in property prices hit the value of its assets.

■ Rail maintenance group Jarvis slumped into losses at the half-year point and added it will only breakeven before interest this year as spending by Network Rail continues to be sluggish.

■ Kopane Diamond, which mines for the gemstones in Lesotho and South Africa, said that a potential investor that has been reviewing the company's Liqhobong project, wishes to progress to terms.

■ Photo booth operator Photo-Me has announced the appointment of Richard Seurat as chief executive designate.

■ Business software supplier WorkPlace Systems reported a drop in half-year pre-tax profits but said it remains confident for the full year figures providing the positive trend continues which has been experienced since the summer period.

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 (26 NOV 2009):

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

PRESS HEADLINES:

Big banks will have to disclose how many of their UK employees are paid more than £1m under recommendations to be published today by City banker Sir David Walker, the FT writes.

Sir David will say that half the bonuses paid to employees should be deferred for three to five years. He will also propose that non-executive directors be given more responsibility for pay and risk, and ask institutional shareholders to engage more with the companies in which they invest. On pay, Sir David goes well beyond disclosure requirements in other countries. Remuneration for those earning more than £1m would be disclosed in £5m pay bands.

UK banks will be more than £2bn richer as a result of the Supreme Court's surprise ruling that their overdraft charges are not unfair. Lenders were facing a raft of claims if the original ruling had been upheld. More than 1.1m bank customers had hoped to recover an estimated £1.7bn before all payouts were frozen two years ago when court case was launched. Some £560m had already been returned to customers and further claims were expected, the Telegraph reports.

A fresh dispute erupted yesterday over the secret £62bn loans to Royal Bank of Scotland and HBOS as MPs across the House condemned regulators for failing investors. Lloyds shareholders said that the revelations strengthened their actions against directors of the bank. MPs expressed anger that Lloyds' investors had been asked to vote in favour of buying HBOS on November 19 last year while being denied information about the additional bailout money, the Times reports.

Anthony Bolton, the former star stock picker at Fidelity International, is relocating from London to Hong Kong to set up a China-focused fund. The surprise move by Fidelity's president of investments, scheduled to take place early next year, will mark a return to portfolio management for Mr Bolton, one of the most successful investors of his generation. He stepped down from managing money two years ago after a 28-year stint running Fidelity's Special Situations Fund, a UK-registered mutual fund, the FT reports.

Vodafone is planning to close its £755m final salary pension scheme to roughly 4,000 of its employees, becoming one of the largest employers to propose such a move in an attempt to control the costs and risks of retirement benefits. The company sent a letter to staff this week informing them of a consultation exercise, as required by law, ahead of a planned closure of the defined benefit scheme in April, the FT reports.

Dubai, the credit-crunched Gulf playground, has shattered hopes of imminent financial recovery by asking for a six-month "standstill" on major parts of its debt. Dubai World, one of the emirate's main state holding companies, said it was asking for a delay on maturities until at least May 30. It has $60bn (£35.9bn) in declared liabilities and one of its subsidiaries, the "palm island" developer Nakheel, is due a $3.52bn Islamic bond repayment, plus charges, on December 14, the Telegraph reports.

The Bundesbank has told German banks to take advantage of renewed confidence while they can to prepare for likely losses of €90bn (£81bn) over the next year, warning that the delayed shock waves of the economic crisis still pose a major threat to global recovery and bank finance. While the credit system has partly stabilised, the underlying problems "are still far from being overcome" and money markets are not yet functioning properly, the bank added, reports the Telegraph.

Johnston Press, the regional newspaper group, is to begin charging for the online content of some of its local titles, in the latest sign that the industry has shifted heavily in favour of making the internet pay.

It emerged yesterday that Johnston Press is introducing "paywalls" on some of the group's websites from Monday; it will be the first UK regional publisher to experiment with the scheme. Online readers of six titles including the Northumberland Gazette and the Worksop Guardian will pay £5 for a three-month subscription, the Independent reports.

Nelson Peltz, the billionaire activist investor, has reduced his stake in Cadbury from 3.03 per cent to 2.68 per cent, citing portfolio "adjustments". Peltz’s Trian Fund Management said that it had sold about 3.5m Cadbury shares on Tuesday for between 805p and 812.5p, close to this week's 814p record. Mr Peltz, who built his stake in Cadbury Schweppes in 2007 and pressured the confectioner to spin off its drinks unit, also owns shares in Kraft, the Times reports.

General Motors, the US carmaker, intends to step up production at its Vauxhall plant in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, from two to three shifts a day and to expand output from 140,000 cars a year to 190,000, according to a person familiar with the matter. The rise in production is based on GM’s expectations for its new Astra model and is likely to be phased in "over some time". The move suggests that the 1,500 Vauxhall jobs in Cheshire are safe, the Times reports.

Lachlan Murdoch, eldest son of media baron Rupert Murdoch, has joined forces with Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) after agreeing to buy a half-share in the UK group's Australian radio operations. No price details were disclosed, however Mr Murdoch is understood to have paid close to A$120m (US4111m) for his 50 per cent stake, valuing the Australian business at A$240m, the FT reports.

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