Welcome to our summary of the weekend's quality press tips, provided on Mondays by Weekend City Press Review.
PRESS TIPS:
The Times
■ Tempus: Juliet Samuel looks on the bleak side at Polyus Gold (PGIL), 200p, where a cash pile of US$1.2bn will be needed if there is another writedown on the company's Natalka project in Siberia, possible in the face of sliding gold prices (Last IC rating: Sell, 2 Sept).
■ Buy Restaurant Group (RTN), 540.25p; the owner of Frankie & Benny's and Garfunkel's is on course to open at 35 new sites this year, and, despite sunshine, pre-tax profits rose 15.2 per cent in the six months to the end of June (Last IC rating: Sell, 2 Sept).
■ Hold Computacenter (CCC), 515p; issues in Germany and France notwithstanding, the IT reseller has had a good first half (Last IC rating: Hold, 2 Sept).
■ Tiddler to Watch is Orogen Gold (ORE), 0.48p, reported to have made a 'company changing' strike in Armenia (No IC rating).
The Independent
■ No Pain, No Gain: Derek Pain sees good prospects in Aim-listed Alkane Energy (ALK), 40.75p, despite its doubling in price in a year (Last IC rating: Buy, 1 Aug), and in Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY), 74.84p, where dividend payments may not be too far away, and is recruiting both to his portfolio (Last IC rating: Hold, 1 May).
■ Market Report: Liberum Capital says buy Lamprell (LAM) (Last IC rating: Buy, 21 Mar), 148p; JP Morgan recommends selling Petropavlovsk (POG) (Last IC rating: Sell, 29 Aug), 106p; Peel Hunt advises holding Restaurant Group (RTN) (Last IC rating: Sell, 2 Sept), 540.5p
The Daily Mail
■ Investment Extra: Emma Dunkley looks at funds investing in emerging markets, and reports recommendations for the bold investor from Brian Dennehy of Fundexpert - Newton Emerging Income fund (Last IC comment: see Five funds for Latin American exposure - 21 May) - and Adrian Lowcock of Hargreaves Lansdown - JPMorgan Emerging Markets fund (Last IC comment: see Tap into emerging income - 19 Jun).
The Sunday Times
■ Inside The City: Danny Fortson says avoid African Minerals (AMI), 190p; the shares have fallen 40 per cent while the price of iron ore has gained 60 per cent, and Macquarie estimates a cash shortfall of US$1bn next year (Last IC rating: Buy, 11 Apr).
The Sunday Telegraph
■ Questor: John Ficenec says Restaurant Group, 540p, is one to avoid; growth is already reflected in the price (Last IC rating: Sell, 2 Sept).
■ Sell Marshalls (MSLH), 148p; the shares are looking stretched and dividend growth is lacking (Last IC rating: Hold, 30 Aug).
The Mail on Sunday
■ Midas: Joanne Hart says builders' merchant supplier Norcros (NXR) is a strong and well-managed company that coped well in the downturn and is now poised for the recovery: buy at 16.75p (Last IC rating: Buy, 20 Jun).
■ Update: Russian warehouse developer Raven Russia (RUS), tipped in September 2012 at 62p, has had a good year, rising 19 per cent to 73.75p: current investors should hold, and new investors may fancy a punt (Last IC rating: Buy, 28 Aug).
Business press headlines courtesy of Weekend City Press Review:
L'Oréal plays down talk of €22bn Nestlé stake buyback
Speculation that L'Oréal was planning to buy back a 29.3 per cent (€22bn) stake held by Nestlé were denied by the company, after the cosmetics giant's ex-chief executive said it could sell its 9 per cent stake in pharmaceutical manufacturer Sanofi to finance the move. L'Oréal reported a 7.7 per cent increase in first-half profits on Friday. [Financial Times, p.12]
Zurich probe into death of finance chief
Zurich Insurance are to investigate whether 'undue pressure' was put on its chief finance officer Pierre Wauthier, found dead in his home on Monday. Mr Wauthier had left a letter allegedly discussing his relationship with chairman Josef Ackermann, who resigned on Thursday. [Financial Times, p.12]
Bank warned low rate plan risks disaster
The shadow MPC has expressed fears that Mark Carney's forward guidance will fuel inflation and lead to boom and bust. Members believe that the policy is misguided and would delay future necessary rate rises: the policy, they said, would 'risks creating accelerating inflation or worsening boom-bust cycles'. The Bank of England's MPC is to meet this week, and is set to leave rates on hold. [Sunday Times, p.3.1]
Vodafone to escape tax on US$130bn US sale
The £84bn sale of Vodafone's (VOD) stake in Verizon Wireless to Verizon Communications is likely to be unveiled on Thursday; the deal will go through Vodafone's Luxembourg subsidiaries and offshore companies, with the tax bill falling on Verizon; it is expected to have been reduced from a forecast US$40bn to US$5bn. Vodafone struck a deal with HM Revenue & Customs in 2010 over reduced tax liabilities; one shareholder observed that the tax 'may be within the letter of the law, but that does not mean the UK government won't pull it up'. [Sunday Times, pp.3.1, 3.6]
Twitter eyes US$15bn float
Twitter is reported to be discussing a US$15bn float with potential advisers including Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan, possibly as early as the first quarter of 2014; founder Jack Dorsey still holds a 3 per cent stake, and the social medium has 500m users. [Sunday Times, p.3.1]
China clears out UK gold vaults
A record amount of gold has been sold to foreign buyers from the UK's vaults as fears of a meltdown are fading. In the first six months of this year, 797 tonnes of gold, worth US$37bn, was sold, mostly to buyers in India and China - twice the amount sold by Gordon Brown. Gold closed at US$1,397 an ounce on Friday, down from the 2011 high of US$1,900. [Sunday Times, p.3.2]
Revealed: how RBS ignored warnings
Vincent Hong, a senior risk manager brought in from JP Morgan to clean up the investment banking operation at Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) in 2007, claims he was blocked from raising concerns about covered-up losses by auditors Deloitte. Mr Hong, in a book serialized by The Sunday Times, reveals that securities were changing hands for as little as 20p in the pound, but being listed in RBS's books at 90 per cent of face value. [Sunday Times, p.3.3]
Half of high street retailers in danger of closing down
A report on the state of the UK's high streets, to be issued on Wednesday by Nick Grimsey, ex-Wickes and Iceland chief executive, will say that 47 per cent of the UK's retailers are in danger of closure, and that previous initiatives, including that of Mary Portas's government-backed review, were too 'nostalgic' and idealistic. The report will contain 31 recommendations, including six plans for the reduction of punitive business rates. [Sunday Telegraph, p.B1]
Gold 'will hit US$1,500' as investors seek safe haven
Gold could climb to US$1,500 an ounce should action be taken against Syria, analysts predict. The price reached US$1,433 on Wednesday, the highest level since mid-May, only to close at US$1,395 on Friday. The rise may be short-lived, as concerns about the 'tapering' of QE by the Federal Reserve take hold. [Sunday Telegraph, p.B1]
Co-op Bank investors' anger over rescue plan
Senior fund managers have warned that the Co-operative Bank faces an investor rebellion if it continues to ignore bondholders, who are being told to expect 'haircuts' on their investments to help raise £500m to sufficiently capitalise the bank; the bank insists that investors must wait until the end of October to see details of the offer. [Sunday Telegraph, p.B1]
