(DWSN.L) Dawson International PLC Buy/Sell

The Times

THE BRITISH MOTOR THAT WILL CLOCK UP 48 MILLION MILES

QinetiQ has won a contract to build an engine for the European Space Agency's mission to the planet Mercury. The deal is expected to put UK engineering at the centre of the first European scientific mission to the inner solar system, driving the BepiColombo spacecraft tens of millions of miles through the solar system on a spiralling 50-year journey round the Sun. The team of British engineers working on the project is headed by Neil Wallace, who joined QinetiQ in 1986.

FSA ISSUES WARNING

The Financial Services Authority issued a warning on Tuesday over a possible crackdown on the practice known as "spoofing", which it said could be breaking market regulation. The City watchdog said it had been informed by the London Stock Exchange of traders placing orders to give a fake impression of an intention to buy or sell stock.

BRITAIN LAGS BEHIND IN GLOBAL RACE TO RECOVERY

British manufacturing surprisingly fell into contraction in August, damaging hopes that the sector was in recovery mode. The Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply/Markit index declined from 50.8 in July to 49.7 in August. The July numbers were also revised down to 50.2. Analyst Colin Ellis, of Daiwa Securities, said the figures showed "the economy is nowhere near out of the woods yet". The fall in the UK factory output, combined with gloomy lending data from the Bank of England, helped to the drag the FTSE 100 index down 89.20 points to 4,819.70.

The Daily Telegraph

SERCO SECURES NEW DEAL WORK

Serco has announced the signing of new contracts with the government to deliver its Flexible New Deal. The five-year contracts, which could be worth up to 500 million pounds, involve the group training job seekers across Wales, the Midlands and Manchester, and helping them to find work. Chief executive Chris Hyman said the contracts represented "a significant new market for Serco". The payments are performance-based.

12 BOTTLES OF WINE, A TIPPLE TOO FAR FOR MAJESTIC CUSTOMERS

Majestic Wine, Britain's biggest wine warehouse chain, saw its pre-tax profits fall by 56 percent from 16.7 million pounds to 7.4 million pounds in the year to March 30, after it wrote down the value of its French division by 5.3 million pounds. The company, which has 150 outlets in Britain and a handful in France, has halved the minimum number of bottles customers must buy to six, after a trial project received "very positive" feedback. The company's wine sales are understood to be increasing again, and its share price has jumped from a low of 109.5 pence at the beginning of the year to 218 pence a share last week.

The Independent

CREDIT CRUNCH LEAVES M&A ACTIVITY AT A 40-YEAR LOW

New figures by the Office for National Statistics have revealed that merger and acquisition activity has dropped to a 40-year low, hit by the financial crisis and a lack of credit. The number of domestic deals -- 41 -- in the period from April to June represents the lowest total since the records began in 1969. Acquisitions of UK companies by foreign concerns collapsed almost entirely in the period, hit as well by the worldwide credit crunch. Expenditure on UK acquisitions by British companies dropped from 8.2 billion pounds in the first quarter of 2009 to 0.7 billion pounds in the second quarter, the lowest figure recorded since 1992.

ROTHSCHILD TO ADVISE IRELAND ON "BAD BANK"

Rothschild, the investment bank, has been hired by the Irish government to counsel on the country's banking industry and on dealings with the European Commission. Ireland is considering taking over risky property loans with a book value of up to 90 billion euros from a group of lenders, including Allied Irish Banks and Bank of Ireland, and placing them in a "bad bank" called National Management Agency to ease the flow of credit lines.

CASHMERE FIRM SUFFERS FROM SOFT DEMAND

Dawson International, the cashmere company, reported wider half-year operating losses of 2.8 million pounds, hit by a drop in demand and the seasonality of its U.S. knitwear arm, which generates 90 percent of its sales and all of its profits in the last six months of the year. The group, based in Kinross, Scotland, saw its sales fall to 24.1 million pounds compared to 28.2 million pounds the year before. It said its UK knitwear division was boosted from strong sales to high-value clients, which were partly based on orders placed before the impact of the economic downturn became apparent.

The Guardian

CITY BACKS CASH CALL TO SAVE LLOYDS FROM MORE STATE

INTERVENTION

Lloyds Banking Group, the part-nationalised bank, has secured support from its investors to raise 10 billion pounds in a bid to limit its dependence on the state. On Tuesday night, leading City shareholders said they were ready to back chief executive Eric Daniels if he opts for a partial withdrawal from the government's insurance scheme set up to protect banks from the worst losses on their bad debts. Lloyds' determination to reduce its exposure to the government could see it close 300 Halifax counters as it tries to save money and bolster its finances.

NET MORTGAGE DEBT FALLS FOR FIRST TIME SINCE 1993

New figures by the Bank of England have cast doubts over the recovery of the housing market as they reveal that mortgage debt fell in August for the first time since 1993. Mortgage repayments exceeded new borrowing by 418 million pounds as people take advantage of the ultra-low interest rates to pay off the capital on their mortgages. The Bank said the wider measure of consumer credit also declined slightly for the first time since records began in 1993, suggesting that people are reacting to the financial crisis by consolidating their finances, discarding debt and shunning new credit.

DEFENCE FIRMS CALL FOR MORE SPENDING

The UK's leading defence companies warned on Tuesday that the country risks losing its influence in world affairs if it does not increase spending to support British troops fighting abroad. In a joint press conference in Westminster, the chief executives from BAE Systems, Rolls Royce, Thales , QinetiQ and Finmeccanica UK hit out against possible government budget cuts and called for more "honesty" from politicians over Britain's foreign policy. The industry chiefs are concerned that some of the most expensive and lucrative military programmes will be scrapped as the country's involvement in conflict like Afghanistan and Iraq continues to squeeze budgets.

Prepared for Reuters by Durrants
Keywords: PRESS DIGEST British business Sept 2

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