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Thursday's news and tips

Created:

18 February 2010

Written by:

ShareCast

■ Weapons and aviation group BAE Systems upped its dividend by 10 per cent after reporting a forecast beating 21 per cent rise in full-year sales (IC COMMENT).

■ Underlying pre-tax profits for 2009 at publisher Reed Elsevier came in well above market consensus, though performance across the group was patchy.

■ Engineer Morgan Crucible said full-year underlying pre-tax profit fell 45 per cent but has seen early signs of improving order intake (IC COMMENT).

■ Kazakhstan-based mining company Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation is speeding up its copper and cobalt expansion plans through the acquisition of Enya Holdings.

■ Support services company VT Group has rejected a second takeover proposal from rival Babcock International.

■ Halfords, best known for selling car parts and bikes, is moving further into the realm of car repairs with the acquisition of Nationwide Autocentres, a chain of car servicing and repair garages.

■ DIY retailer Kingfisher sees adjusted full-year pre-tax profit slightly ahead of current forecasts despite a bigger than expected drop in fourth-quarter like-for-like sales (IC COMMENT).

Continues below...

■ Pearl Group and CPP Group today announced plans to list on the main market of the London Stock Exchange.

■ Music publisher Chrysalis has traded in-line with expectations during the first quarter as its share of income from royalties increased by 9 per cent on the year before.

■ Wood Group has won a three-year operations and maintenance support services contract with Chevron North Sea for its Alba, Captain and Erskine fields worth £12m.

■ Computer hardware firm Northamber narrowed half-year pre-tax losses but warned that pressure on company spending has yet to settle.

■ Kurdistan-focused oil group Gulf Keystone has settled its dispute with BG North Sea Holdings, the operator of the Hassi Ba Hamou (HBH) permit in Algeria.

■ Profits fell at Ladbrokes in the year to December 31 and the bookmaker said conditions are likely to remain tough amid rising unemployment and continued pressure on the consumer.

■ Mining giant Anglo American said it will bank underlying earnings of $490m from its share of subsidiary Kumba Iron Ore's 2009 profits.

■ Support services company Carillion has been appointed as one of four framework contractors to deliver the first phase of the Highways Agency's pioneering Managed Motorways programme, which has a value of up to £2bn.

■ Cancer group Antisoma reported widening losses for the year but outlined progress made by its two major drugs for lung cancer and blood cancer which are well into phase III.

■ Investment trust Caledonia Investments is joining the growing list of companies seeking to squeeze in a dividend payment ahead of a change in the tax rate for higher rate payers.

■ Residential property developer Telford Homes has raised funds to take advantage of a stabilising market in its home patch of east London.

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 (18 FEB 2010):

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

PRESS HEADLINES:

Babcock International is poised to raise its offer for VT Group to more than £1.2bn in a bold attempt to hustle its support services rival to the negotiation table, writes the FT.

Lord Mandelson and his deputy will embark today on a two-pronged approach to try to persuade Corus to sell its Teesside steel works, which is due to be mothballed tomorrow with the loss of 1,600 jobs, writes the Times.

Alistair Darling overrode a warning from the Treasury's top civil servant that a government-funded plan to insure Royal Bank of Scotland's survival by underwriting £282bn of toxic loans could cover legally tainted assets, reports the FT.

Auditors to Past Times have issued a "going concern warning" over the nostalgia gift retailer's ability to keep trading in its latest full-year results, but the private equity-owned chain is thought to have recently improved its performance, according to the Independent.

HgCapital Trust is poised to become the latest listed private equity group to raise more capital from investors as it prepares a share issue to bolster its finances ahead of an expected surge in new investments, says the FT.

Toyota will order workers at its US factories to down tools to reflect lower demand for its cars, amid growing political controversy over its safety recalls, writes the Independent.

Bank lending in the US has contracted so far this year at the fastest rate in recorded history, raising concerns that the Federal Reserve may have jumped the gun by withdrawing emergency stimulus, reports the Telegraph.

Vedanta Resources faced another damning indictment of its ethical record yesterday, when the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust sold its shares in the British mining company, saying its activities in India were "morally indefensible", according to the Independent.

Reader's Digest has put its British subsidiary into administration, putting around 117 jobs at risk. It follows a decision by the UK Pensions Regulator not to support a plan by the magazine's US parent to inject £10.9m and one-third of the UK business into the pension fund, says the Telegraph.

A former partner at Cazenove, the Queen's stockbroker, was given his share of the profits from an insider-dealing scam in envelopes full of cash at a racecourse, a court heard yesterday. Malcolm Calvert, 65, a Cazenove equities marketmaker until he retired in 2000, is standing trial on 12 counts of insider dealing, which he denies, writes the Times.