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Thursday's news and tips

Created:

14 January 2010

Written by:

ShareCast

■ Mining giant Rio Tinto hailed 'another very strong quarter for iron ore production, driven by continuing high demand from China' as it published its fourth quarter operations review.

■ Hovis to Branston Pickle maker Premier Foods said it expects to report encouraging branded sales growth of 6.4 per cent and market share gains in its key branded categories.

■ Housebuilder Barratt said margins are growing and reported a 43 per cent increase in total forward sales, but added that while the market has improved, there are still major uncertainties of both mortgage finance and the general economic outlook.

■ Electrical goods retailer DSG International said it was trading ahead of expectations in all markets as it posted an 8 per cent increase in like-for-like sales for the 12 weeks to January 9.

■ Fresnillo saw quarterly silver production increase by 10 per cent year-on-year and said it expects production to remain steady in 2010.

■ Baby products retailer Mothercare saw a 4.2 per cent rise in like-for-like sales in the 13 weeks to January 8 after a strong Christmas.

■ UK banking giant Barclays is to acquire the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) designated market maker assignments of New York based LaBranche.

■ Cash and carry wholesaler Booker said like-for-like sales in the 16 weeks to 1 January 2010 rose by 6.7 per cent from the same time a year before.

Continues below...

■ Home Retail thinks full-year profit will beat consensus estimates by £20m after a better than expected performance from the Argos business during the 18 weeks to 2 January.

■ Primark and British Sugar owner Associated British Foods had a better than anticipated end to 2009, and said it expects a 'significant increase' in operating profits in 2010.

■ Music and book retailer HMV posted a fall in like-for-like sales over the Christmas period as its Waterstone's book store underperformed, but the firm saw a rise in total sales as it benefited from the demise of rivals such as Zavvi.

■ Product quality and safety tester Intertek has announced the departure of long-standing finance chief Bill Spencer, who'll be replaced by BG's Lloyd Pitchford.

■ Automotive and leisure products retailer Halfords expects earnings for the full-year to be towards the upper end of market forecasts but said it remains cautious about the wider economic outlook in the near-term.

■ Premier Oil says average daily production in 2009 met reduced targets, but is not expected to change much in 2010.

■ Rail and bus operator FirstGroup said it remains on course to achieve earnings targets after seeing trading in-line with expectations since its last update on November 4, with money the company receives from the government for operating franchises helping offset reduced passenger numbers.

■ M&S food supplier Northern Foods said it is continuing to trade in-line with market expectations following a 'solid' Christmas trading performance.

■ Oil and gas facilities service provider Petrofac has completed the bolt-on acquisition of mechanical services business Scotvalve Services.

■ The fourth quarter is typically the weakest of the year at storage company Big Yellow but the group was encouraged that performance in December was ahead of expectations.

■ Filtrona is 'pleased' with its performance in 2009 as the speciality plastic and fibre products supplier said trading since its last update in October has been in-line with expectations.

■ Carillion and its joint venture partners in the Local Education Partnership (LEP) have achieved financial close for the Rochdale Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme, worth about £192m.

■ Nightclub operator Luminar expects pre-tax profits for the year to 25 February to fall short of expectations after the cold winter weather kept clubbers away from its nightspots.

■ The fall-out from the banking crisis is still hampering growth at financial services and healthcare software provider Misys but the company is encouraged by growth in its order intake.

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 (14 JAN 2010):

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

PRESS HEADLINES:

HMV, the music and book retailer, is in advanced talks with Luminar over a partnership deal that analysts believe could lead ultimately to a takeover of the embattled nightclub operator. The Times understands that the two companies are discussing the possibility of setting up a small number of pilots that would involve HMV stores and Luminar clubs cross-marketing to each others' customers.

Hershey is preparing a counter-bid to Kraft's hostile £10.4bn offer for Cadbury, according to sources close to the matter. The US confectioner has authorised a bid for the UK chocolate maker and a formal offer could be made before the January 23 deadline, they said, according to the FT.

Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury's last night attacked the Government for giving the green light to the appointment of a "supermarket enforcer" who will police relationships between the country's biggest grocery chains and suppliers to the £130bn industry, writes the Independent.

Accounting for the UK's 50 per cent bonus super tax is a "confused mess" and banks still do not know whether they will take the charge in 2009 or 2010, according to several people familiar with the discussions, reports the FT.

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) defrauded an Austrian bank by encouraging it to invest in a £140 million sham financial vehicle created for Enron, the collapsed energy giant, a court heard yesterday, says the Times.

BC Partners has become the latest private equity group to pull out of the auction for Matalan, the privately owned discount clothing retailer, stoking concerns that the £1.5bn price tag is too high. Blackstone, the US private equity group, has already abandoned the race to acquire Matalan, put up for auction by John Hargreaves, its founder and controlling stakeholder, according to the FT.

The former chief of a construction company that works in dozens of poor countries is to be prosecuted over alleged corruption, in a landmark case likely to be closely watched by other directors facing similar troubles. The Serious Fraud Office plans to charge David Mabey with false accounting and breaching United Nations sanctions on Iraq after his company, Mabey & Johnson, last year admitted both sanctions-busting and bribing foreign officials in six countries, writes the FT.

A fresh war of words erupted between Tube Lines and London Underground (LU) yesterday in the ongoing row over how much it should cost to upgrade the capital's creaking Tube system, reports the Independent.

Wall Street's top bankers have apologised for their starring role in provoking the global financial crisis as they brace themselves for details of a looming $120bn (£73bn) tax on profits, according to the Telegraph.

Britain's worst economic downturn since 1921 is finally over, a leading economic think-tank said yesterday. The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) said Britain had contracted by 4.8 per cent in 2009 and described the downturn as "a depression". That contraction is the worst for 90 years, and more severe than in any single year of the Great Depression, says the Independent.

A 34 year-old hot-shot has been named chief executive of Travelex, the world's largest foreign exchange bureau, ahead of a potential flotation of the £1bn business. Peter Jackson, a managing director at Lloyds Banking Group and former McKinsey consultant, will become one of the UK's youngest major company bosses when he takes over in the next couple of months, writes the Telegraph.