Welcome to our summary of the weekend's quality press tips, provided on Mondays by Weekend City Press Review.
PRESS TIPS:
The Times
■ Tempus: Martin Waller thinks time is running out for Rentokil Initial's City Link to deliver the promised profits recovery (Last IC rating: Hold, 6 Aug).
■ It is difficult to see any catalyst that would get Tullett Prebon shares moving again (Last IC rating: Hold, 31 Jul).
■ Beazley's update for the first nine months was positive enough, although this is not the time to be investing in Lloyd's insurers (Last IC rating: Buy, 23 Jul).
■ Even though Anite delivered another solid trading update, profit taking saw the shares lose 4.5p to 137p on Friday (Last IC rating: Buy, 3 Jul).
The Independent
■ No Pain, No Gain: Derek Pain has decided to hold portfolio member Avation, 95p, in spite of an 'unsatisfactory profits performance' as the overall report from the board is 'encouraging' (Last IC rating: Buy, 17 Mar 08).
The Daily Mail
■ Investment Extra: James Coney offers small investors 'five big reasons' why they should not invest in US stocks at present, including the weak economic recovery and increased government spending.
■ Barclays chairman Sir David Walker has shown his confidence in the bank's revival by investing £100,000 in its shares (Last IC rating: Sell, 5 Nov).
The Sunday Times
■ Inside the City: Danny Fortson thinks Diageo CEO Paul Walsh would love to follow up his deal for United Spirits by acquiring the José Cuervo tequila brand (Last IC rating: Buy, 23 Aug).
■ It is time to take profits at Ophir Energy, 540p, as the next stage of its strategy is far from clear. (Last IC rating: Hold, 4 Sept)
The Sunday Telegraph
■ Questor: Garry White says buy Aviva, 325.5p, as an income and recovery play (Last IC rating: Buy, 9 Aug).
■ Hold G4S, 253.5p, as in spite of the stock looking cheap there are better prospects elsewhere (Last IC rating: Hold, 28 Aug).
The Mail on Sunday
■ Midas: Joanne Hart says buy Staffline Group, 239.5p, which has rapid expansion plans for its temporary staff business model under CEO Andy Hogarth (Last IC rating: Buy, 3 Sept).
■ Update: Hold J Sainsbury, tipped in August 2010 at 347p and now 348p, as it has made solid progress' in difficult market conditions in spite of the lack of capital growth so far (Last IC rating: Buy, 8 Oct).
Business press headlines courtesy of Weekend City Press Review:
Barclays in probe over Saudi licence
Barclays is under investigation by the US Department of Justice over whether it made an 'improper payment' in 2009 to secure a banking licence in Saudi Arabia. The probe is at an early stage but adds to pressure on the bank which is facing regulatory action leading to potentially heavy fines in a number of areas, including manipulating the Libor rate and US energy market trading. [Financial Times p.1]
New York ousts London as world financial capital
New York has overtaken the City as the world's biggest financial centre in terms of numbers employed, according to figures from the Centre for Economics and Business Research. It also expects Hong Kong to overtake London within three years, blaming the UK's 'shortsighted over-regulation, personal taxation and banker bashing' for accelerating the trend. Meanwhile, the CEBR also forecasts that City bonuses will fall by nearly two-thirds next year to their lowest level for more than 15 years. [Sunday Times pp.3.1, 1.5]
Profit clears way for Royal Mail sell-off
Plans for a £2bn privatisation of the Royal Mail could be accelerated by the disclosure this week of a sharp increase in profits across the board, although mainly at its core UK operations. Tuesday's figures are said by bankers working on a possible privatisation to be key to whether the Royal Mail will be ready to float by the third quarter of next year. [Sunday Times p.3.1]
Hedge fund gang bets that Ocado shares will plummet
Leading Wall Street hedge funds have been shorting Ocado shares in the belief that it may breach its banking covenants or be forced to ask shareholders for extra funds. According to new information from the Financial Services Authority, the funds shorting Ocado stock include SAC Capital, Kynikos Associates and Parvus. Ocado shares listed at 180p in July 2010 but closed last week at 58.5p. [Sunday Times p.3.1]
Insider tipped to lead Anglo
Frontrunner to replace Cynthia Carroll as Anglo American CEO is 46-year old Chris Griffin who was only promoted last September to run Anglo's troublesome platinum arm. Former BHP Billiton executive Alex Vanselow, who was regarded as an early candidate for the job, is now thought to be out of the running. [Sunday Times p.3.1]
Shell's Voser is best value FTSE 100 boss
Royal Dutch Shell CEO Peter Voser is the 'best-value' CEO for investors in FTSE 100 companies, according to research by remuneration adviser Patterson Associates. Shareholders in Shell received £3,361 for every £1 paid to Voser over the past four years, followed by HSBC (£2,828), GlaxoSmithKline (£2,815) and Vodafone (£2,754). But the 'mediocre middle' of some 70 top companies delivered less than £1,000 per pound paid. [Sunday Times pp.3.2, 3.5]
New push on foreign firms' tax
Foreign multinational companies operating in the UK should be subject to a sales tax on their revenues because of their ability to reduce their tax bills by moving profits abroad, claim former Labour City Minister Lord Myners and Margaret Hodge, chairman of the Public Accounts Committee. They believe the option of a 'revenue tax' should be seriously considered to tackle the alleged tax avoidance in the UK by companies such as Starbucks, Google and Amazon. [Sunday Telegraph p.B1]
Game Group's £20m lift despite fears over Comet links
Game Group CEO Martyn Gibbs has said the video games retailer bought by OpCapita earlier this year was in 'good shape' and on course to make £20m in earnings before EBITDA this year. But credit insurers have refused to back the retailer because of concerns that its investment structure favours OpCapita in the event of a collapse, as happened when Comet - also owned by OpCapita - went into administration earlier this month. [Sunday Telegraph p.B1]
Glencore deals faces confusion over complex vote structure
Glencore's US$80bn merger with Xstrata is coming under renewed scrutiny because of lingering doubts among leading investors that it should go ahead because of the controversial retention package for Xstrata executives. This has led to concerns among advisers to both companies that the complex vote on the deal later this month could lead to the whole merger being derailed. [Sunday Telegraph p.B1]
Lord Browne raises questions over City 'homophobia'
Former BP chief executive Lord Browne has questioned why there are no openly homosexual CEOs running the UK's biggest companies. Lord Browne, who is now openly homosexual, told the Sunday Telegraph he believed that gay rights should be as high on the corporate agenda as other issues, such as gender and race. [Sunday Telegraph p.B1]
