Monday June 16, 06:50 AM
Thomson Financial UK at a glance share guide - weekend
LONDON (Thomson Financial) - MARKETS
FTSE 100 5,802.8, up 12.3
FTSE 250 (news) 9,652.3, up 98.1
DJIA 12,307.35, up 165.77
Nasdaq Comp 2,454.50, up 50.15
S&P 500 1,360.03, up 20.16
Gold $865.15 ($861.80)
Oil - Brent July $134.25 ($136.09)
WEEKEND PRESS
* Barclays (LSE: BARC.L - news) close to raising 4 billion pounds in a placing with some of the world's biggest sovereign wealth funds; the placing, to be completed within a fortnight, will involve issuing new shares to investors at a premium to Friday's closing price of 318 pence; first opportunity is being offered to the China Development Bank and Temasek, a Singaporean government investor - Sunday Times
* Lloyds TSB considering launching a takeover bid for one of Germany's largest retail banks, underlying the British lender's relative immunity to the writedowns that have scarred the balance sheets of its international rivals; Lloyds TSB is in early stages of considering a move for Deutsche Postbank (Xetra: 800100 - news) , valued by the German stock market at about 10 billion euros (8 billion pounds) - Sunday Telegraph
* Brazilian mining giant Vale eyeing a possible takeover of Anglo American (LSE: AAL.L - news) - Observer
* A group of Britain's biggest institutional investors are working on secret plans to provide direct funding to shore up the beleaguered housebuilding sector; bankers at UBS (Virt-X: UBSN.VX - news) draw up possible plans for a wide-ranging placing by major shareholders in companies including Taylor Wimpey (LSE: TW.L - news) and Barratt Developments (LSE: BDEV.L - news) - Sunday Telegraph
* Mark Clare, chief executive of Barratt Developments, in talks with his banks to renegotiate bank covenants that could be breached in the next 12 months; the banks are understood to be supportive - Sunday Times
* Barratt Developments chief executive Mark Clare will not be in charge of the firm by the end of the year, according to a leading investor - Sunday Express
* The number of homes built in Britain this year will plunge to its lowest level since 1945 and plummeting construction activity is expected to lead to the loss of 100,000 jobs; country's most senior housebuilders confirm that completions will be around 100,000, some 70,000 less than last year - Observer
* McCarthy & Stone (0409.HK - news) in crisis talks over 800 million pounds debt; retirement homes builder calls in Rothschild to help restructure its borrowings as fall in house prices stops pensioners selling up - Independent on Sunday
* John Morgan, chairman of Morgan Sindall (LSE: MGNS.L - news) , and former Multiplex chief Jayne McGivern join forces with a distressed debt fund to target property developments abandoned by Barratt and other struggling housebuilders - Sunday Telegraph
* British Energy (LSE: BGY.L - news) could abandon its 11 billion pounds auction and instead parcel the company's nuclear development sites into a series of joint ventures - Sunday Times
* EDF (Paris: FR0010242511 - news) will refuse to pay more than 11 billion pounds for British Energy; if its takeover plans collapse, it has drawn up detailed plans to build two huge nuclear power stations on land it bought from the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority - Mail on Sunday
* Sir Philip Hampton, chairman of Sainsbury (LSE: SBRY.L - news) , sounded out by institutional investors about his appetite for replacing Sir Tom McKillop as chairman of the Royal Bank of Scotland (LSE: 91ID.L - news) - Sunday Telegraph
* Warren Buffett is this week expected privately to step into the $46 billion hostile bid by Inbev (Brussels: INB.BR - news) for Anheuser-Busch - Observer
* Inflation crisis as target is smashed; consumer price index over 3 percent adds pressure for further interest rate hikes - Sunday Express
* Cost of food is rising by 10 percent, says Marks & Spencer boss. 'If grocery prices are rising by 2 percent, I'm a Dutchman' - Mail on Sunday
* BP (LSE: BP.L - news) will consider buying out its disgruntled partners in its Russian joint venture if there is a guarantee it can sell on the shares at the same price; move opens the possibility of Gazprom or Rosneft taking stakes in TNK-BP and ending an increasingly bitter row over the joint venture's future - Sunday Telegraph
* Saudi Arabia to boost its oil production by up to half-a-million barrels a day as the world's biggest oil producer becomes increasingly nervous at the political and economic consequences of the current sky-high prices - Sunday Telegraph
* Canadian oil company, Rock Well Petroleum, planning to float on the London Stock Exchange (LSE: LSE.L - news) in a deal that is expected to value the company at 1 billion pounds - Sunday Telegraph
* Standard Chartered (LSE: STAN.L - news) examining a possible sale of its 1 billion pounds U.K. pension scheme; Legal & General, Paternoster and Eddie Truell's Pension Corporation thought to have been approached about a deal - Sunday Times
* Bradford & Bingley (LSE: BB.L - news) eyes pension fund sale to boost finances - Sunday Express
* Standard Chartered at centre of Zimbabwe sanctions inquiry - Independent on Sunday
* Britain's airline industry could be heading towards a dispute with baggage handlers later this year over proposals to reduce the upper weight limit on hold bags - Sunday Express
* Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS - news) expected to axe up to 10 percent of its workforce, even though financial results on Tuesday are expected to show it has managed to escape almost unscathed from the credit crunch - Mail on Sunday
* ITV (LSE: ITV.L - news) asks Boston Consulting to identify cost-savings and improve the operation of its 1.5 billion pound commercial division, headed by board director Rupert Howell - Sunday Telegraph
* Trouble on the high street and in the property market begins to hit the entire media sector; in figures to be published before the end of June, Group M, the media buying group owned by WPP (LSE: WPP.L - news) , has revised its quarterly forecasts downwards to show that 190 million pounds will be wiped off traditional media advertising budgets this year - Sunday Telegraph
* WPP is buying a 30 percent shareholding in Vietnam Advertising Company - Sunday Telegraph
* Cirque du Soleil, the world-famous acrobatics touring circus founded by a Canadian street entertainer 24 years ago, approached by one of the investment arms of the Kingdom of Dubai in a potential 1 billion pounds deal - Mail on Sunday
* Fate of Enodis (LSE: ENO.L - news) , the manufacturer of kitchen equipment, to be settled through a late-night auction - Sunday Telegraph
* JJB Sports (LSE: JJB.L - news) faces scrutiny from its investors over its ownership of a top-of-the-range helicopter - Mail on Sunday
* Baugur calls in advisers to review the future of its loss-making health food retailer Julian Graves -- a move that is likely to raise renewed questions about the financial strength of the Icelandic investor - Sunday Telegraph
* Carlyle Group heading for a showdown with debt investors of Imo, the world's biggest car wash company, as the private equity house reveals plans to dispose of the group's property assets to raise more money - Sunday Telegraph
* Martin Sullivan, chief executive of insurance giant American International Group (NYSE: AIG - news) , comes under fire over huge losses stemming from sub-prime mortgage investments, which led to write-downs of $20 billion (10 billion pounds) - Sunday Times
* Northern Rock (LSE: GB0001452795.L - news) chairman Ron Sandler reveals the nationalised mortgage bank may take legal action against its former directors - Sunday Times
* Iconic Russian vodka label Stolichnaya to be put up for sale, in an auction that is expected to value the business at more than 1.5 billion pounds - Sunday Times
* Qatar Investment Authority trying to find buyers for all or part of Four Seasons as lenders to the heavily indebted company threaten to pull the plug on one of Britain's biggest chains of care homes - Sunday Telegraph
* Irish plunge EU into crisis; Lisbon treaty rejected in referendum; fears that No vote will spark two-speed Europe - Saturday FT
* Parents pawn Rolexes and Aston Martins to pay private school fees - Saturday FT
* Taylor Wimpey offering to lend housebuyers a quarter of the value of a new home interest-free for 10 years, highlighting the desperation of builders to shift stocks of unsold developments - Saturday FT
* City watchdog shores up companies' ability to conduct rights issues, clamping down on speculators; Financial Services Authority rules will require disclosure of anyone short-selling a significant amount of stock in a company conducting an issue - Saturday FT
* Striking fuel tanker drivers supplying Shell (LSE: RDSB.L - news) garages threatening a second stoppage next weekend to try to force the oil group to intervene in the pay dispute - Saturday FT
* Businesses across the country heading into annual negotiations with their power suppliers, facing the prospect of a 100 percent rise in their annual bills - Sunday Times
* Trustees of Trinity Mirror (LSE: TNI.L - news) 's pension funds ask advisers to test the financial strength of the company in the wake of weak trading across the newspaper industry - Sunday Times
* SCS Upholstery (LSE: SUY.L - news) appoints advisers at Ernst & Young to restructure the troubled company; however, if these fail, KPMG has been lined up as administrator; move comes as one of its main rivals, Land of Leather (LSE: LAN.L - news) , nears a rescue package that should ensure its future - Sunday Times
* Fashion trader Asos (LSE: ASC.L - news) aiming to double turnover within three years with the launch of an online discount operation in September; the e-tailer, which will sell brand names such as Ted Baker (LSE: TBK.L - news) , Ralph Lauren, Religion and Diesel at a 75 percent discount, aims to get a significant slice of the 2.7 billion pounds market currently dominated by TK Maxx - Sunday Times
* Francisco 'Paco' Roman, head of Vodafone (LSE: VOD.L - news) 's Spanish business, emerges as a leading contender to succeed Vittorio Colao as chief executive of its key European operation - Sunday Times
* Iberdrola (Madrid: IBE.MC - news) , the Spanish energy company, could still bid for British Energy or join in another company's bid, it said yesterday - Saturday FT
* HBOS (LSE: HBOS.L - news) to reveal details of loans to housing sector; stakes held in six housebuilders; mortgage arrears data to be provided - Saturday FT
* Chickens' quality of life set to become an unlikely issue at Tesco (LSE: TSCO.L - news) 's annual meeting after a special resolution from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, the celebrity chef, was sent to shareholders - Saturday FT
* Royal Bank of Scotland and Mizuho agree to swap 175 million pounds of debt for equity in 20:20 Mobile, the struggling mobile phone distributor, in return to its private equity owner Doughty Hanson injecting an extra 15 million pounds - Saturday FT
* Royal Bank of Scotland investors give Sir Fred one year to shape up or ship out - Independent on Sunday
* Sovereign (LSE: SOGP.L - news) wealth funds from Asia and the Middle East have become wary of investing in banks, so Barclays and others which have yet to recapitalise may find it harder that they think to raise cash - Saturday Mail
* Ladbrokes (LSE: LAD.L - news) claims a significant moment in betting companies' long battle to open up restrictive European markets after the Dutch Supreme Court refers its appeal against a ban on taking online bets from Dutch citizens to the European Court of Justice - Saturday FT
* New chief executive of Entertainment Rights (LSE: ERT.L - news) raiding his toy cupboard in an attempt to trim group debts; Nick Phillips considering sale of Big Idea, owner of a string of American children's characters - Sunday Times
* HIT Entertainment thought to have been put up for sale by its owner, Apax Partners - Sunday Express
* Candover and Cinven believed to have asked UBS to consider a fresh look at publisher Informa (LSE: INF.L - news) after Informa announced merger discussions with United Business Media (LSE: UBM.L - news) last week - Sunday Express
* Feud may scupper Reliance Communications takeover; Ambani brothers disagree on sale; South Africa's MTN in exclusive talks - Saturday FT
* Cadbury (Munich: A0NJP5 - news) to launch the United Kingdom's first ever chocolate-flavoured chewing gum - Saturday Telegraph
* One in almost every 500 American mortgage-holders has now either lost their home or is on the verge of losing it, as the credit crisis claims victims throughout the United States - Saturday Telegraph
* Embattled property sector faces further gloom with a retail report from Colliers CRE (LSE: COL.L - news) predicting rents will fall by up to 20 percent over the next three years - Saturday Telegraph
SATURDAY PRESS COMMENT
FT
H&T looks to broker better awareness; pawnbroker moves to shake off shady reputation and aims to be seen as a viable option for borrowers (p.18) - THE LEX COLUMN comments on short-sellers, Royal Bank of Scotland (consortium of investors has paid just 10 times historic net profits for Angel Trains; that is cheap for utility-like earnings; but quite what happens if Babcock & Brown's business model finally implodes is less certain), Yahoo (NASDAQ: YHOO - news) and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT - news) (if Microsoft reduced the stock component to one-third, the added certainty of more cash should temp Yahoo's weary shareholders while only marginally gearing Microsoft's balance sheet; Mr Yang may yet face a proxy fight) - MY PORTFOLIO: Peter Temple tops up his holding in Claimar Care (LSE: CCGP.L - news) at 60 pence - Weekend Share Watch: Volex (the shares may be a value play -- but Evolution believes the downside risks outweigh the near-term upside, and has put the shares on a sell recommendation), Aero Inventory (LSE: AI.L - news) (a good long-term prospect - Numis forecasts a 2009 price-earnings ratio of 6.3 times, a discount of almost 50 percent to the sector, but expect some turbulence beforehand), Greggs (LSE: GRG.L - news) (investors may prefer to hold off until the market has better visibility of the plans of Ken McMeikan, the replacement to Sir Michael Darrington, its managing director who will retire in July)
Telegraph
Companies unlikely to raise capital: Bluebay Asset Management (LSE: BBAY.L - news) , PartyGaming (LSE: PRTY.L - news) , Delta, Man Group (LSE: EMG.L - news) , RM (LSE: RM.L - news) , Psion (LSE: PON.L - news) , Arm Holdings (LSE: ARM.L - news) , Costain Group (LSE: COST.L - news) , Renishaw (LSE: RSW.L - news) , Paypoint (LSE: PAY.L - news) , Spirent Communications (LSE: SPT.L - news) , CSR (LSE: CSR.L - news) , Aveva Group (LSE: AVV.L - news) , ITE Group (LSE: ITE.L - news) , Petrofac (LSE: PFC.L - news) , Victrex (LSE: VCT.L - news) , Schroders (LSE: SDR.L - news) , JKX Oil & Gas, Severfield-Rowen, Hornby; companies that may need to raise capital: Mapeley (LSE: MAY.L - news) , Punch Taverns (LSE: PUB.L - news) , Premier Foods (LSE: PFD.L - news) , Enterprise Inns (LSE: ETI.L - news) , Rank Group (LSE: RNK.L - news) , Marstons, Ennstone (LSE: ENN.L - news) , Yell Group (LSE: YELL.L - news) , Mitchells & Butlers, Greene King (LSE: GNK.L - news) , Yule Catto, Chrysalis (LSE: CHS.L - news) , RPC Group (LSE: RPC.L - news) , Debenhams (LSE: DEB.L - news) , SMG (LSE: SMG.L - news) , Pendragon (LSE: PDG.L - news) , Thomson Reuters (LSE: TRIL.L - news) , Woolworths (Munich: 886853 - news) , Care UK (LSE: CUK.L - news) , Fuller Smith
Express
MARKET REPORT: Anglo American (Xstrata (LSE: XTA.L - news) possible bidder; talk of Xstrata itself being back on the radar of Brazilian giant Vale), Northgate (worries about the slowdown in the Spanish construction market intensify)
Independent
NO PAIN, NO GAIN: Derek Pain comments on the AIM market (is the AIM game over? I think not, but there is no doubt that the Stock Exchange's junior market is facing an exceedingly testing time), Printing.com (the yield is higher than many savings accounts and the dividend policy underlines the group's strength; the shares deserve more support)
Mail
MARKET REPORT: Hitchens (dealers expect more than decent maiden interims on Monday; sales are said to have risen 20 percent-plus over the period) - INVESTMENT EXTRA: THE REAL DOGS: Alliance & Leicester (div yield 18.1 percent), HBOS (17.3), Royal Bank of Scotland (14.5), Persimmon (LSE: PSN.L - news) (13.7), Barclays (10.8), Lloyds TSB (10.2), BT (7.5), Home Retail Group (6.8), Friends Provident (LSE: FP.L - news) (6.8), Wolseley (LSE: WOS.L - news) (6.7), Average Yield 11.2; THE MAIL'S MUTTS: Lloyds TSB (10.2), BT (7.5), Friends Provident (6.8), Wolseley (6.7), Marks & Spencer (6.4), United Utilities (LSE: UU.L - news) (6.3), Old Mutual (LSE: OML.L - news) (6.1), Kingfisher (LSE: KGF.L - news) (6.1), Aviva (5.6), ITV (5.5), Average Yield 6.7
Times (1832.HK - news)
Market report: Sainsbury (lifted by talk that Qataris may return) - Rumour of the day: Moss Bros (Laura Ashley raises its stake to just above 10 percent; a battle for control could develop since there is talk that the founding Gee family are looking to sell out while supplier, Berwin & Berwin, is trying to buy some of Baugur's 29 percent) - Deal of the day: Rightmove (managing director sells 771,000 shares at 325 pence) - Tiddler to watch: ZincOx Resources (LSE: ZOX.L - news) (market takes fright at high interest rates on a $48 million convertible bond issue; ZincOx expects to refinance the bonds shortly and has cash coming in from a zinc mine, while the new money will fund a recycling plant in Ohio to extract zinc and pig iron from waste by the end of next year) - PERSONAL INVESTOR: Lowland Investment Company (buy)
SUNDAY PRESS COMMENT
Sunday Times
AGENDA: John Waples comments on British Energy (EDF has other options to pursue, but the opportunity to acquire British Energy in its entirety will not come round again), Barratt (it is not bust and, by renegotiating bank covenants and putting a freeze on new land acquisitions, it will recover; at some point it will need a rights issue, but that is not round the corner), Short selling (stock markets must protect their integrity and the growing uncontrolled abuse of shorting has without question undermined it), Barclays (the bank's profits are powering ahead, its dividend is not under threat and with additional capital this is a time to have your door open for business rather than closed) - INSIDE THE CITY: London Stock Exchange (for investors, fear of the unknown is likely to persist even beyond September, when Project Turquoise is due to flick the switch), Phorm (talk is that boss Kent Ertugrul will shortly sign up an overseas internet service provide; whether his business model gains traction or not, the shares look ready to bounce back) - Directors' Deals: JD Wetherspoon (chairman and founder Tim Martin tops up his stake with more than 700,000 pounds worth of shares), Mondi (directors buys 10,000 shares at 325.8 pence a share and the same number at 318.8 pence a share) - HEAVEN & HELL PORTFOLIO: Peter Shearlock sells his holding in IMI after what has been a good run
Sunday Telegraph
Business and morality: Is Edmonds right to trade with Mugabe? Andrew Alderson and Russell Hotten untangle the complicated deals of Phil Edmonds' Central African Mining and Exploration Company with Zimbabwe (BUSINESS p.5) - THE REAL BUSINESS: Quercus (fast-growing publisher looks a good read) - SUNDAY QUESTOR: Drax (buy), Domino's Pizza (hold), Rensburg Sheppards (LSE: RBG.L - news) (buy), Warner Estate (sell)
Mail on Sunday
Midas (NYSE: MDS - news) : Aricom (LSE: TIO.L - news) (buy); MIDAS UPDATE: BG (small shareholders looking for cash could do worse than take profits now; long-term investors should sell half and monitor developments)
Observer
MARKET FORCES: BT (shares have underperformed the market by 15 percent over the past six months, but there seems no reason for them to recover), Whitbread (LSE: WTB.L - news) (could be due a re-rating), banks (it would seem too early to buy yet)
Independent on Sunday
Plus to take trade fight to the London Stock Exchange; market for small firms expects clearance to offer AIM stocks by the end of the year (BUSINESS p.3)
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