(PFC.L) Petrofac Ltd Buy/Sell

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08:52GMT 22Oct2009-Petrofac falls on profit taking after update

Shares in Petrofac fall 3.4 percent to 1,029 pence on profit taking after the British oil and gas services company issues a positive trading statement.
Petrofac says contract activity is lively and it expects to deliver full year earnings growth of at least 20 percent.
Accendo Markets, which has a "hold" rating on Petrofac, says, while it expects further progress, the exceptionally strong run by Petrofac shares has surpassed its target.
Shares in the company have been steadily rising since the start of the year, when they were trading at 370 pence.
"The time has come to take some profits over the short term, but after consolidation, we would be buying again into any weakness," Accendo says in a note.
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07:50GMT 22Oct2009-National Express down on sluggish Q3 trade

Shares in National Express fall 2.2 percent after the bus and rail operator reports slower third quarter trade with revenues down 1 percent on the prior year period and says its 2009 pretax profit will be below its previous expectations.
The company also says undertaking an equity fund raising is its primary focus but that it is still mulling a merger offer by rival Stagecoach.
"Our past concerns on current trading seem to have been justified. Consensus estimates are likely to fall, and we cannot rule out further downgrades," says Arbuthnot analyst Gerald Khoo.
"It remains to be seen whether Stagecoach is willing to take on the current trading challenges ... although there is clear upside if Stagecoach were to proceed with a formal offer we remain sceptical about the likelihood of completion."
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07:41GMT 22Oct2009-UK small caps down 0.3 pct early on

The FTSE Small Cap index falls 0.3 percent in early trade outperforming steeper falls by the blue chips and the mid caps, down 1.0 and 0.7 perent, respectively tracking sharp falls overnight on Wall Street and in Asia.
Oxford Biomedica is a big small cap faller, losing 3.3 percent as the gene therapy specialist hits some profit-taking following a strong run over the past week, with the stock up around 50 percent, boosted by news on Oct 15 that its experimental Parkinson's disease drug, ProSavin shows promise.
Emblaze is a good gainer, up more than 12 percent as the technology design firm unveils its ELSE INTUTION mobile platform, developed jointly with software firm ACCESSCO LTD.

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07:40GMT 22Oct2009-Pub firms surge on OFT beer tie clearance

Shares in leased pub companies surge after the Office of Fair Trading gives the go-ahead for the industry to continue operating a 'beer tie' arrangement, which forces tenants to take beer supplies only from their landlords.
Enterprise Inns gains 19 percent, Punch Taverns rises 12 percent, Marston's is up 4 percent, and Greene King gains 2 percent.
Astaire Securities analyst Mark Brumby says the decision will come as a "huge relief" to pub companies and says some 15 to 50 percent of their income could have been threatened had the tie been abolished.
"The companies and their tenants now only have the recession, the consumer squeeze, the ongoing impact of the smoking ban, aggressive supermarkets and soap-boxing politicians to deal with," he adds.
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07:25GMT 22Oct2009-Experian the biggest gainer in FTSE

Shares in credit checking firm Experian advance 1.7 percent, the only significant riser on Britain's FTSE 100 index, after Goldman Sachs upgrades the firm to "buy" from "neutral" and lifts its price target to 670 pence from 557 pence.
"Experian has seen the worst of the economic crisis, and expect organic growth to trough at 1 percent at H1 2010, and return to historical average levels of 7 percent in FY12," the broker says in a note.
"As a consequence of operational gearing and cost cutting we forecast 170bp margin expansion from 2009-12. The strong balance sheet and cash generation should enable Experian to return 17 percent of its market cap to shareholders, after paying for the remaining share of Serasa and assuming 1.9x net debt/EBITDA."

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