PRESS TIPS:
The Times' Tempus column has recommended to 'hold' shares of beverages giant SABMiller after the group warned of slowing growth in the emerging markets, a key growth driver for most drinks companies.
The paper's Martin Waller says that the 'cheers are finally beginning to fade'.
The company said yesterday that first-half lager volumes rose by 4 per cent, but the rise of 5 per cent in the first three months moderated to just 3 per cent in the second quarter.
"In each of the three growth territories, Latin America, Africa and Asia Pacific, the second-quarter growth rate fell to as much as a third of that in the first," Waller noted.
He says that the drivers behind emerging market growth are still there at SABMiller, "including the demographic trends and the ability of the big drinks companies to persuade the newly affluent to trade up to more expensive brands."
However, the stock, now trading at almost 19 times earnings, is at a premium to the sector. "That assumes a degree of further growth that may be hard to achieve. Hold," Tempus said (Last IC rating: Hold, 23 Nov).
Meanwhile, Avon Rubber, a provider of respiratory protection to military and industrial markets, has been marked as a 'buy' by The Telegraph's Questor column, which says that they have further to bounce following its full-year results earlier this week.
The company revealed continuing profit growth, debt reduction and the dividend was increased by a fifth despite challenging markets, the paper said. "Investors should be very pleased with the group's progress," said Questor's Garry White.
One of Avon Rubber's markets, defence, is currently subdued but White says that the medium-term prospects for the firm are "sound" with threats from unconventional warfare and terrorism increasing around the world. Meanwhile, its dairy business - the company produces rubber products used in the milking process - is benefitting from a growing world population.
White said: "The shares are up 16 per cent since their recommendation a year ago and, trading on a current year multiple of 11 times, remain a buy." (Last IC rating: Buy, 23 Nov)
Business press headlines:
European leaders voiced pessimism on Friday on reaching a deal on a trillion-euro EU budget, as gruelling talks pushed into a second day with little prospect of bridging bitter divisions. The summit talks in Brussels were suspended overnight after less than an hour and a half, having already begun hours late on Thursday due to the vast differences on the need for cuts between the bloc's have and have-not nations. The negotiations were scheduled to resume at 11.00 on Friday once delegates from the 27 member nations have had time to examine new proposals on the 2014-2020 budget submitted by EU president Herman Van Rompuy. [The Telegraph]
UBS will have to pay one of the largest fines ever imposed by the UK's financial regulator for management failures that led to the Swiss bank's $2.3bn rogue trading loss, according to people familiar with the negotiations. The Financial Services Authority and UBS are finalising the details of a settlement penalty that will probably be between £20m and £50m, with a joint announcement expected as soon as next week. Switzerland's financial regulator, Finma, does not have the power to levy fines and will instead force UBS to accept strict new supervisory measures. [Financial Times]
The former chairman of Standard Chartered could return to banking through the 316-branch division being sold by Royal Bank of Scotland. Corsair Capital, the private equity firm where Lord Davies of Abersoch is a partner and vice-chairman, has expressed interest in the business. It is unclear whether the Welsh banker, who is a former Trade Minister and conducted a government review of the number of women on company boards, would take on a direct role in running the business. Lord Davies, who this week was named chairman of Chime Communications, did not comment yesterday. [The Times]
Deloitte faced more questions over its relationship with the software firm at the eye of a storm over alleged "accounting improprieties" yesterday, as a shareholder adviser said it had repeatedly raised concerns over the fees racked up by the auditor for other work. PIRC, which advises pension funds investing £1.5trn in total, said that Autonomy had "raised a number of red flags" regarding corporate governance. Hewlett-Packard bought the Cambridge-based firm for $10.3bn (£6.5bn) last year, but the US giant wrote off $8.8bn on Tuesday, accusing its former management of inflating the value of the firm and a "wilful" effort to mislead. [The Independent]
Business Secretary Vince Cable pledged yesterday that the government would take a "greater interest" in take-overs of UK companies and also fight the City's "quick buck mentality". Endorsing Professor John Kay's independent review of UK equity markets, Cable said the coalition was also working to scrap companies' quarterly reporting that he said encouraged greater focus on short-term returns than long-term value. "Many of us feel that, in the past, our public companies and investors have focused on short-term profit at the expense of long-term value," Cable said. "The behaviour of many banks in the run-up to the financial crisis is an extreme example of this quick buck mentality, but there is a wider problem." [The Scotsman]
Communications giant Virgin Media was involved in a row over trade union recognition on Thursday after ending collective bargaining deals following a vote by employees. The Communication Workers Union (CWU) accused the firm of "stealing" trade union recognition from its staff after a referendum showed 52 per cent in favour of the company's position. [The Guardian]
Energy firms will be allowed to triple the amount of money they add to customers' bills to pay for renewable power, nuclear and other environmental measures, under plans to be announced by the government next week. The deal over a new energy bill, struck after weeks of sometimes bitter negotiations between the coalition partners, will mean the total amount energy suppliers can add to domestic and business bills will rise from £2.35bn this year to nearly £10bn at the end of this decade. Adjusting for inflation that would be worth £7.6bn in today's prices, an increase of nearly three times. [The Guardian]
