Wednesday's news and tips

■ Rail and bus operator National Express has hired Dean Finch, the current boss of Tube Lines, as its new chief executive.

■ Oil and gas engineering services firm Plexus Holdings has won a new two-year contract with a one year extension option with Wintershall to supply its POS-GRIP wellhead technology and mudline suspension systems.

■ India-focused oil and gas company Indus Gas saw half-year pre-tax losses widen but said it looks forward to the remainder of the year with confidence.

■ Unilever today announced that Jean-Marc Huet will join the food and household goods giant as chief financial officer in the New Year.

■ Copper prices have recovered enough for Namibian mining company Weatherly International to reopen its Otjihase and Matchless underground mines.

■ Pub chain Punch's trading has remained difficult and the challenging economic environment and a smaller pub estate will affect profitability in the short term, it warned today.

■ Film studio Pinewood Shepperton said trading for 2009 has remained in line with market expectations.

■ Power station operator Drax expects underlying profits to beat market forecasts this year, despite lower prices for electricity, but is more cautious on pricing going forward.

■ Offshoring specialist Xchanging has applied its expertise to its own business and will switch 480 positions from Europe to India over the next two years.

■ Overall demand at GKN has been better than predicted at its last update in October and the automotive and aerospace engineer expects to make further "significant" progress in 2010.

■ Laura Ashley said it expects full-year trading to be broadly in-line with company expectations.

■ Electrical component maker Laird is not yet seeing any meaningful recovery with the tough conditions seen earlier in the year continuing.

■ Polar Capital Technology, the global technology stocks investment trust, said it outperformed its benchmark index in the first half of its financial year.

■ Consumer healthcare product developer Futura Medical is in talks with a major pharmaceutical company on a licensing deal for its pain relief product, TPR100.

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 (16 DEC 2009):

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

PRESS HEADLINES:

The taxman took another swipe at City bankers on Tuesday, closing a scheme that allowed wealthy individuals to cut their tax bills by claiming tax relief on charitable donations.

The move comes days after Alistair Darling caused uproar in the City by introducing a one-off 50 per cent tax levy on bankers' bonuses. It will be seen by many as a shot across the bows for wealthy workers tempted to try to avoid paying the higher rate of tax, the Times reports.

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is preparing to negotiate a new long-term bonus plan for Stephen Hester, the chief executive, and other senior directors as the row over bank bonuses continues. Sir Philip Hampton, RBS's chairman, told shareholders that the board was preparing to consult institutional investors and the Financial Services Authority over a new incentive plan for all executives that would be put to a vote at next year's annual meeting, the Times reports.

The Arab states of the Gulf region have agreed to launch a single currency modelled on the euro, hoping to blaze a trail towards a pan-Arab monetary union swelling to the ancient borders of the Ummayad Caliphate. "The Gulf monetary union pact has come into effect," said Kuwait's finance minister, Mustafa al-Shamali, speaking at a Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) summit in Kuwait. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar are to launch the first phase next year, creating a Gulf Monetary Council that will evolve quickly into a full-fledged central bank, the Telegraph reports.

Britain and other countries with fast-rising government debts must steel themselves for a year in which "social and political cohesiveness" is tested, Moody's warned. In a sombre report on the outlook for next year, the credit rating agency raised the prospect that future tax rises and spending cuts could trigger social unrest in a range of countries from the developing to the developed world. Signalling that a fiscal crisis remains a possibility for a leading economy, it said that 2010 would be a “tumultuous year for sovereign debt issuers”, the Telegraph reports.

Richard Pym, the banker who was brought in to stabilise Bradford & Bingley last year, will chair the rump of state-owned Northern Rock as well, it was announced yesterday. Northern Rock revealed fresh details about the two boards that will oversee the bank when it is split into a new savings and mortgage bank, and a rump organisation holding the bulk of the mortgage book including the more toxic assets — Northern Rock (Asset Management), or NRAM, the Times reports.

BSkyB has pulled out of talks with Google about making the broadcaster's hit shows available for free on YouTube, the US search giant's video-sharing site. The Daily Telegraph understands that Sky discussed the possibility of making its full-length shows, including Soccer AM, available for free on the video-sharing site. However, the talks ended when Sky decided that it would not allow Google to broadcast its content free of charge.

The British Airways cabin crew dispute escalated on Tuesday as the airline traded verbal blows with union leaders and launched legal action to halt the 12-day strike, which is due to start next Tuesday. BA claimed the ballot that the Unite union used to justify the strike, announced on Monday, was flawed because "a significant number" of ballot papers were sent to people no longer employed at the airline. It is seeking a court injunction to block the strike, which analysts estimate could cost the loss-making airline up to £30m a day if it goes ahead, the FT reports.

Meanwhile, the struggling global airline industry faces another $5.6bn (£3.5bn) of losses next year, on top of the $11bn recorded in 2009, the International Air Transport Association (Iata) said yesterday. The latest predictions confirm a gloomy outlook for the battered sector as rising fuel costs and slashed fares drag carriers into the red despite improving passenger numbers, the Independent reports.

Northumbrian Water has hired one of the rail industry's leading lights as its new chief executive. Heidi Mottram, managing director of Northern Rail, will join the water company, which serves 4.4m people in the North East of England and Essex, in March, replacing John Cuthbert, who signalled last summer that he planned to retire, the Times reports.

Cadbury, the confectioner at the centre of a £10.3bn takeover bid, has sealed a deal to outsource part of its ailing pension fund to Pension Corporation, the specialist fund manager. The deal, which it has emerged was approved by the Takeover Panel in September, has been under negotiation for about a year and is designed to help to tackle Cadbury's £482m pension deficit, the Times reports.

Credit Suisse surprised financial markets on Tuesday night after revealing it expected to pay US authorities about $536m to settle issues relating to financial dealings with Iran. The Swiss bank, which has gained a reputation for avoiding accidents during the credit crisis, declined to provide details beyond the contents of a brief press release, the FT reports.