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 says the Christmas trading figures have raised more questions than answers over retail performance, which puts a cloud over the performance of some retailers' share prices this year.
The Independent
■ No Pain, No Gain: Derek Pain is unsure whether to back the 2p-a-share cash call by Green Compliance, 3.25p, although he notes that Cazenove Capital Management and Legal & General are taking part (No IC rating).
The Daily Mail
■ Investment Extra: Dan Hyde says a proposed Isa rule change this year may enable investors to receive a tax break when they buy shares in any of the 1,100 smaller companies listed on Aim.
The Sunday Times
■ Inside the City: Danny Fortson thinks the 217p share price of Carphone Warehouse, which unveils Q3 trading figures on Thursday, may have got ahead of itself and it might be wise to take some profits now (Last IC rating: Hold, 14 Nov).
■ Centrica's early move into 'smart meters' for homes - some 400,000 have already been installed - looks to have fallen foul of Ofgem's view that they are not up to its standards and so will have to be replaced (Last IC rating: Buy, 13 Dec).
The Sunday Telegraph
■ Questor: Garry White says buy Aviva, 366p, as there is further to go after the re-rating of the shares over the past six months, especially when European markets start to recover (Last IC rating: Buy, 10 Jan).
■ Buy Bovis Homes, 624p, as it continues to boost margins and profits (Last IC rating: Buy, 6 Dec).
The Mail on Sunday
■ Midas: Joanne Hart says buy Dairy Crest Group, 400.5p, which offers 'good, long-term value' and an attractive yield (Last IC rating: Buy, 8 Nov).
■ Updates: Hold Hilton Food Group, tipped in 2008 at 185p and now 305.5p (Last IC rating: Hold, 14 Sept); Hold Cranswick, tipped in October 2009 at 680p and now 906p (Last IC rating: Buy, 26 Nov).
Business press headlines courtesy of Weekend City Press Review:
Manchester Airports buys Stansted for £1.5bn and sets up Heathrow battle
A consortium led by Manchester Airports Group is buying Stansted airport for £1.5bn after Heathrow Airport Holdings, formerly Ferrovial-owned BAA, was forced to offload it by the Competition Commission. The sale, for a higher-than-expected price, means that all the major London airports are now separately owned and operated. [Financial Times p.1]
Santander weights £2bn bid for Clydesdale
Santander is considering a possible £2bn move for the Clydesdale and Yorkshire banks which owner National Australia Bank is under pressure to sell. The potential move by the Spanish bank, headed in the UK by Ana Patricia Botin, follows the collapse late last year of talks to buy 316 branches from Royal Bank of Scotland. [Sunday Times pp.3.1, 3.11]
Music giants rush to keep HMV alive
HMV may be given a new lease of life by a concerted effort from Hollywood film studios and music labels to extend generous credit terms to the company to keep trading. The potential backers – including Universal Music, Warner Music and Sony - are also likely to support a bid by restructuring specialist Hilco because they do not want to give further pricing power to supermarkets such as Tesco along with Amazon.[Sunday Times pp.3.1, 3.5]
Raider wins battle for Cala Homes
Private equity firm Patron Capital is set to outbid Taylor Wimpey in the £250m race to buy Cala Homes, a housebuilder specialising in upmarket properties. Patron, run by former Lehman Brothers banker Keith Breslauer, is also in the running to acquire Countryside Properties, a housebuilder part-owned by Lloyds Banking Group. [Sunday Times p.3.1]
RBS breaks up casino bank
Royal Bank of Scotland is expected to announce the break-up of its investment banking operations within the next two weeks because of its role in the Libor rate manipulation scandal, which will also see the departure of the division's head John Hourican. RBS is set to be fined heavily by regulators on both sides of the Atlantic for the Libor manipulation, although the bank is planning to claw back bonuses from the bankers responsible. [Sunday Times p.3.2]
Mis-selling bill could top £1.5bn
UK banks face having to set aside up to £1.5bn to meet compensation claims for mis-selling complex derivative products to small businesses who did not understand what they were buying. The four leading banks have already put aside a combined £720m to meet claims, although analysts believe this could be doubled. [Sunday Telegraph p.B1]
Osborne recovery hopes falter on weak 2012 data
Official GDP figures due on Friday are expected to show the economy contracted by between 0.1 per cent and 0.3 per cent in the final quarter of the 2012, reversing the 0.9 per cent growth in the previous three months and raising the prospect of a 'triple-dip' recession this year. The weak GDP figures are likely to continue this month due to the impact of the current snowy weather, according to the Centre for Economic and Business Research. [Sunday Telegraph p.B1]
Imperial Tobacco faces investor revolt over bonus revamp
Imperial Tobacco's institutional investors are putting pressure on the board over proposed changes to the executive remuneration structure which, if unresolved, could lead to a shareholder revolt at the 30 January AGM. Three investor bodies - ABI, Manifest and Pirc - have also raised questions over the way the long-term share and bonus schemes are calculated. [Sunday Telegraph p.B1]
AstraZeneca backs UK research in battle to restore drugs pipeline
New AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot is planning to boost the company's UK research and development operation to build a 'dramatically different pipeline' of drugs by 2016. Soriot is expected to unveil his R&D plans along with the full-year figures on 31 January, while he is also likely to reassure investors the dividend is secure. [Sunday Telegraph pp.B1, B6]
Exposed: regime of fear inside Barclays - and how boss lied and shredded the evidence
Former Barclays chief operating officer Andrew Tinney resigned last week after it was alleged he shred a critical report into the Barclays Wealth division which described a 'culture of fear, intimidation, bullying and mismanagement' at the business which handles client assets worth £184bn. Tinney allegedly shred the only hard copy of the report, compiled by consultants Genesis Ventures, and ensured the contents were not stored in the bank's computer system. Bankers in the investment banking and wealth divisions are also expected to receive substantially lower bonuses this year as a result of the Libor rate-fixing scandal. [Mail on Sunday pp.14, 15, 16, 79]
