Welcome to our summary of the weekend's quality press tips, provided on Mondays by Weekend City Press Review.
PRESS TIPS:
Times
■ Tempus: Martin Waller says shares in Catlin Group (CGL), 490p, are a long-term buy; the company's net asset value lags behind the sector (Last IC rating: Buy, 9 Aug).
■ Faroe Petroleum (FPM) is a speculative buy at 120p; the company is to buy a 10 per cent stake in BP's North Uist field and will use the revenue for exploration in Norwegian waters (Last IC rating: Buy, 26 Mar).
■ Pennon Group (PNN), 685p, provides an attractive income stream, even if its waste management business improves slowly (Last IC rating: Sell, 23 May).
[p.49]
Independent
■ No Pain, No Gain: Derek Pain looks forward to a rousing performance by brewers, pubs and portfolio constituent Spirit Pub Company (SPRT), 74p (Last IC rating: Buy, 26 Apr).
[p.63]
Daily Mail
■ Investment Extra: Tom Stevenson notes that the FTSE 250 is often an accurate barometer of the economy, and it has outperformed the record-reaching FTSE 100 index.
[p.82]
Sunday Times
■ Inside The City: Danny Fortson says that in the wake of a hot summer and low attendance, Cineworld (CINE), 384p, may hold some value, but not much (Last IC rating: Buy, 3 Jul).
■ Genel Energy (GENL), 992p, shares are back to flotation levels, and, with a pipeline to Turkey nearly operational, they're set to go further (Last IC rating: Buy, 31 Jul).
[p.3.12]
Sunday Telegraph
■ Questor: Garry White says Ladbrokes (LAD), 199.1p, is one to watch; currently a hold, but should be bought on dips (Last IC rating: Buy, 8 Aug).
■ Hold Legal & General (LGEN), 196.5p (Last IC rating: Hold, 6 Aug).
[p.B8]
Mail on Sunday
■ Midas: Joanne Hart says cut-price drinks retailer and Bargain Booze-owner Conviviality Retail (CVR) will benefit from rising retail alcohol sales: buy and hold (Last IC rating: One to watch, 26 Jul).
[p.82]
Business press headlines courtesy of Weekend City Press Review:
UK recovery gains momentum
More promising signs of recovery emerged on Friday: the trade deficit narrowed in June to the lowest level this year; sterling consolidated by 1.6 per cent against the dollar over the week; manufacturing output rose by 1.9 per cent over the month; construction output by 1.4 per cent over the quarter and car sales by 8 per cent year-on-year. [Financial Times, p.1]
London Whale duo may face extradition
Two City traders could be arrested within days over their role in the US$6.2bn derivatives trading scandal at JP Morgan. Javier Martin-Artajo was a manager and Julien Grout a junior in the division from which 'London Whale' Bruno Iksil traded. Iksil has co-operated with US federal authorities and is thought likely to escape prosecution. [Sunday Times, p.3.1]
Royal Mail boosts bosses' pensions
Royal Mail has set aside an extra £90m for its final salary executive pension scheme ahead of the planned listing later this year, while planning to cap pensionable pay for the rest of the workforce at the rate of inflation. [Sunday Times, p.3.1]
Rise in jobless could bolster Carney plan
A rise in unemployment may be announced next week, vindicating Mark Carney's decision to peg interest rates to unemployment figures. The jobless currently amount to 7.8 per cent of the population, well above the 7 per cent level that will trigger a rate rise, and is expected to reach between 7.9 per cent and 8 per cent. [Sunday Times, p.3.1]
BT's real goal in Premier League clash with Sky is broadband victory
The Observer says that BT Sport does not intend to be a credible challenger to Sky's might, but instead aims to be the winner in the broadband battle. Citibank estimates that 43 per cent of the BT (BT.A) customer base also subscribes to Sky (BSY), and is at risk of signing to Sky for broadband. [Observer, p.38]
Cable: RBS sell-off 'five years away'
In an interview with the Sunday Telegraph, Business Secretary contradicted both the Prime Minister and Sir Philip Hampton, saying that the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) will be in public hands for another five years. Pressure for a break-up will likely increase, against the wishes of investors. [Sunday Telegraph, p.B1]
Carney set for interest rate promise to lift economy
New Bank of England Governor Mark Carney is expected to raise 2013 growth forecasts above 1.2 per cent and revise inflation downwards in his policy statement on Wednesday. He is expected to commit to keeping interest rates at 0.5 per cent for an extended period. [Sunday Telegraph, p.B1]
Prudential set to raise dividend as Asia boosts profit
Prudential (PRU) is to increase its dividend, as profits are expected to grow to £2.17bn in the first half. Chief executive Tidjane Thiam is expected to announce that all six objectives set in 2010 after the AIA bid collapse have been met. [Sunday Telegraph, p.B12]
Rivals vie for £2.8m smart meter contracts
The roll-out of smart meters to every home by 2020, already delayed by a year, will go ahead with the preferred bidders for the £12bn programme due to be announced next week. The biggest contracts are worth £2.5bn over 15 years, and are being pursued by three consortia: led by Vodafone (VOD) with Silver Spring Networks; Telefonics, and Arqiva with BAE Systems (BA.) and BT (BT.A), with a fourth looking a the north region, including Airwave and Trilliant. [Sunday Telegraph, p.B2]
Payday for under-fire Sellafield consortium
Despite falling behind with 12 from 14 projects, and being fined for mis-disposing of nuclear waste, Nuclear Management Partners, the US-led consortium that manages the Sellafield site, has paid itself a £25m dividend. Pressure has increased on the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority to sack the group from its five-year contract, says the Sunday Times. [Sunday Times, p.3.2]
Revealed: SFO's second lost documents blunder
Days after news that the Serious Fraud Office mislaid documents and media relating to its case against BAE Systems (BA.), it was revealed that the SFO had mislaid 18 bags of evidence relating to the abortive case against Robert and Vincent Tchenguiz. The bags were later returned to the brothers' defence team. [Sunday Times, p.3.3]
