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Monday's news and tips

Created:

30 November 2009

Written by:

ShareCast

■ Irish banking group Allied Irish Banks has confirmed its participation in the Irish government's asset acquisition programme.

■ Aberdeen Asset's purchase of businesses from Credit Suisse gave assets under management a boost in the year to September, but the fund manager still suffered a 20 per cent slump in profits.

■ Printer St Ives' sales fell by a further 9 per cent in the last 13 weeks compared to last year, though heavy cost-cutting maintained profitability in line with its targets.

■ British budget airline Flybe is reportedly mulling the possibility of a £300m stock market flotation next year.

■ Singapore incorporated Asian Plantations raised £5.26m when it started trading on London's Alternative Investment Market this morning.

■ Falkland Islands Holdings has made a £3.1m profit after selling 3m shares in Falkland Oil and Gas.

Continues below...

■ Magners maker C&C has agreed to buy the UK cider assets of Constellation Brands (CB), The Gaymer Cider Company for £45m in cash.

■ Prosperity Minerals Holdings has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with TCC International to sell its Upper Value Investments business.

■ BAE Systems said it has agreed with Mahindra & Mahindra to create a land systems focused joint venture defence company, based in India.

■ Irish agricultural feed producer Origin Enterprises saw revenues dip in the three months to end-October, largely as a result of lower commodity prices.

■ Home shopping and educational supplies group Findel announces the appointment of Philip Maudsley as its new chief executive.

■ Lloyds Banking Group has decided to shut down its contact centre at Sussex House in Brighton, with the loss of 410 telephony jobs.

■ Bank of Ireland is to join the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA) asset acquisition programme.

■ Shares in Lamprell climbed after the provider of specialist engineering services to oil and gas firms renegotiated a previous agreement on a reduced payment from one of its customers.

■ Pre-tax profits were ahead of expectations in the year to September 30 at Thomas Cook, as the travel operator increased ticket prices to cope with falling customer numbers.

■ The board of pub group Mitchells and Butlers has approached the Takeover Panel to rule whether a group of shareholders has been trying to gain control of the board

■ Oil and gas firm Cairn Energy is to make Capricorn a wholly owned subsidiary by buying out minority shareholder Dyas BV.

■ Scottish Investment Trust is to continue its policy of lifting its dividend ahead of inflation despite seeing its net asset value per share (NAV) lagging broader indicators in the year to October 31.

■ Investment trust HSBC Infrastructure is making good on its pledge to carry on buying, and has boosted its stake in the Greater Manchester Police Authority public finance initiative project.

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 (29 NOV 2009):

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

PRESS HEADLINES:

The central bank of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has attempted to inject confidence ahead of the markets re-opening on Monday by saying it would "stand behind" local and foreign banks.

Amid fears of a market rout, the federal institution intervened yesterday to announce an "additional liquidity scheme" to enable domestic banks and "branches of foreign banks operating in the UAE" to borrow money at a favourable rate of interest, the Telegraph reports.

The Times adds that the fate of $65bn of unfinished Dubai property projects was in the balance last night as Abu Dhabi and the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates prepared to take a tough line over bailing out the stricken Gulf state.

JP Morgan and Bank of America are preparing to lend Hershey about $7bn (£4.2bn) to help it enter a bidding war for Cadbury. Hershey is said to be working on plans to launch a possible £10.3bn offer for the UK chocolate company, based in Bournville, Birmingham. Hershey and the US investment banks refused to comment on Sunday night. Hershey's potential bid is thought to comprise £6.1bn in cash and £1.2bn in shares, plus a cash injection of up to £3bn from the US chocolate maker's American investors, the Telegraph reports.

Concerns that the British economy is facing a double-dip recession grew last night as it emerged that businesses in the services sector had suffered a surprise drop in sales and as consumer confidence fell for the first time in more than a year. The figures will deal a blow to Alistair Darling's hopes of being able to point to a sustained recovery in the country when he delivers his Pre-Budget Report in nine days' time, the Times reports.

The Co-op will enter the supermarket price war by cutting prices by £200m in the run-up to Christmas. In its largest ever promotional campaign, which launches today, the retailer will offer triple "divi" points for the first time on selected lines. Earlier this month rival Asda unveiled £150m of price cuts while Tesco has dropped prices by £250m. The Co-op's triple divi will give shoppers savings equivalent to 6p in the pound. The retailer will also make its divi available in Somerfield stores for the first time, the Telegraph reports.

Thirty global financial institutions make up a list that regulators are earmarking for cross-border supervision exercises, the Financial Times has learnt. The list includes six insurance companies – Axa, Aegon, Allianz, Aviva, Zurich and Swiss Re – which sit alongside 24 banks from the UK, continental Europe, North America and Japan. The list has been drawn up by regulators under the auspices of the Financial Stability Board, in an effort to pre-empt systemic risks from spreading around the world in any future financial crisis.

Michael O'Leary, the outspoken chief executive of budget airline Ryanair, has said he expects to stand down within the next "two or three years", but only when his company has succeeded in taking control of Aer Lingus. Speaking to Irish radio, Mr 0'Leary admitted that, having twice failed to take control of Aer Lingus in the last three years, an outright bid for the Irish flag-carrier is now unlikely, the Independent reports.

Michael Spencer, the Conservative party treasurer, says he is "hopeful" that a Tory government would deliver a corporation tax cut even bigger than so far promised and axe the 50p top rate of income tax. Mr Spencer, the multimillionaire chief executive of Icap, the interdealer broker, said the Tories "cherish the City". He expressed optimism that a David Cameron-led government would scrap Labour's forthcoming increase from 40p to 50p in the top rate of income tax – a key bone of contention in the Square Mile, the FT reports.

Promethean, the UK-based maker of interactive whiteboards, is planning an initial public offering valuing it at £400m-£500m ($660m-$825m), which would propel it to the front of the class in the rapidly expanding market for digital classroom technology. The flotation plans would make a paper multi-millionaire of Tony Cann, Promethean's founder, the FT reports.

GlaxoSmithKline is to cut significantly the prices of its medicine in emerging economies next spring. "My preference is not a high price and 100 units of profit for 100 patients, but to drop the price and make 100 of profit from 500 patients," Abbas Hussain, head of emerging markets at the UK pharmaceuticals company, said, the FT reports.