(PFC.L) Petrofac Ltd Buy/Sell

The Times

BP POISED TO BATTLE US RIVAL EXXONMOBIL FOR GHANA OIL

BP has held talks with Ghana National Petroleum over a possible joint bid for a stake in the Jubilee deepwater field in Ghana, which reportedly contains up to 1.8 billion barrels of oil.

The oil group has hired the investment bank Goldman Sachs to advise on a possible bid for a 23 per cent stake in the offshore oil field held by the private equity-backed energy company Kosmos Energy.

Kosmos unveiled plans on October 12 to sell all of its Ghana assets to BP's rival Exxon. BP could face problems in completing the deal as Exxon's agreement to buy the assets is believed to be exclusive.

VIRGIN WON'T TAKE COPYING LYING DOWN

Virgin Atlantic has had a patent application upheld in a High Court Appeal judgement and could now block other airlines from using copies of its Upper-Class seat design.

The herringbone shaped seat, introduced in 2003, was designed by Welsh seat manufacturer Contour, which subsequently sold seats to airlines including Delta, Air Canada and Jet Airways.

Cathay Pacific is facing legal action after buying a similar seat from another manufacturer. Paul Charles, a spokesman for Virgin, said: "It has always been and will remain, a key strategic objective of Virgin Atlantic to protect its intellectual property rights from misuse."

BEIJING MUST 'PLAY WITH THE BIG BOYS', SAYS BHP CHAIRMAN

Don Argus, the outgoing chairman of BHP Billiton, has admitted that the mining group's relations with China, its biggest customer, have at times been strained.

Argus urged China to 'get over' any hostility regarding a proposed 116 billion dollar iron ore joint venture between BHP and its rival Rio Tinto. China is said to oppose the deal, announced in June, as it could undermine the country's position in negotiations over the price of iron ore.

TEMPUS

Petrofac (Hold on)

Smiths News (Buy)

Pinewood Shepperton (Hold on)
The Daily Telegraph

LLOYDS PROPERTY BOSSES LEAVE AS BANK CALLS IN LAND

SECURITIES

Nick Robinson and John Moran are to leave Lloyds Banking Group as it prepares to unwind its 60 billion pound UK commercial property loan book.

Lloyds said the pairs' departure was due to "personal reasons", but comes as the bank attempts to finalise its decision whether to enter the government's Asset Protection Scheme or not.

Lloyds is believed to have established a list of preferred partners - including British Land, Land Securities and Valad - to advise on working out its property portfolio.

TEMPLEMAN SEES CUT-PRICE CHRISTMAS

Rob Templeman, chief executive of Debenhams, has said the retailer will be "at the heart" of discounting and predicted price-cutting will be as deep this Christmas as it was last year.

82 of the top 100 British retailers held sales in the weeks before Christmas last year. Debenhams reported a 14.1 per cent increase in pre-tax profits for the year to August 29, although like-for-like sales fell by 3.6 per cent.

However, like-for-like sales have increased by 0.6 per cent in recent weeks.

CADBURY INVESTOR BACKS 820 PENCE OFFER

A top-10 shareholder in Cadbury has indicated that they would consider an 820 pence-per-share offer from Kraft.

The investor believes Cadbury may struggle to meet its earnings targets should it remain independent, while an offer at the 820 pence level would reflect the synergy benefits of a takeover.

Kraft's original offer valued Cadbury at 745 pence a share, which Legal & General - Cadbury's second-largest investor - claimed "materially undervalued" the company.

Petrofac (Hold)

Unilever (Buy)

The Independent

AVIVA BOSS THREATENS TO SUE OVER LOVE AFFAIR

The chief executive of Aviva and the former colleague for whom he left his wife and children have said that they are willing to take legal action to safeguard their privacy, after the affair became common knowledge.

The insurer was forced to issue a statement about the extra-marital relationship to prove that no company rules had been breached.

Long-term relationships between members of staff where one reports directly to the other are not allowed. Dierdre Galvin, who was married to the head of HR for Aviva in Europe, Andrew Moffat, left her role as head of HR for Aviva Investors before the affair was exposed.

EDDIE STOBART JUST KEEPS ON TRUCKING

The transport company Eddie Stobart is preparing for a profitable second half of the financial year after a significant improvement in performance during the first half. Interim pre-tax profits rose by 12.7 per cent, or 1.4 million pounds, to 12.4 million pounds.

Stobart noted that it had not been very badly affected by the recession because two-thirds of the goods it transports are essential items such as food and drink. New contracts with large companies such as Tesco and Nestle have also helped.

PROFITS WARNING DEALS NEW BLOW TO NATIONAL EXPRESS

National Express has issued a profit warning, due to the increasing cost of financing its one billion pounds of debt.

The company still hopes to alleviate the situation with a rights issue, even though the Spanish Cosmen family (which owns a 19 per cent stake in National Express, making it the largest shareholder) has expressed its support "within certain parameters" for a takeover bid from its rival Stagecoach .

However, Takeover Panel rules specify that a takeover must have majority support from the National Express board.

Anglo American (Buy)

Smiths News (Buy)

Sceptre Leisure (Buy when issues are resolved)

The Guardian

ANGLO AMERICAN PUTS TARMAC UP FOR SALE TO FOCUS ON MINING

AFTER XSTRATA DEAL FAILS

Tarmac, a British aggregate specialist, is up for sale again as part of a new shake-up at mining group Anglo American , which will see "non-core" businesses hived off in the wake of last week's failed merger moves by Xstrata.

Other "non-core" businesses facing the axe include Scaw Metals and Copebras, in a restructuring move seen as a clear attempt to streamline Anglo ahead of any further takeover moves by Xstrata.

GREEN PICKS NEW ARCADIA CHIEF AND WARNS OF A TOUGH CHRISTMAS

AHEAD

Sir Philip Green has installed Ian Grabiner in the new post of chief executive at his 3,115-store Arcadia retail empire, overseeing the day-to-day management of a business with sales of 2.7 billion pounds.

The appointment of Grabiner, a lifetime rag trader who first worked for Green 20 years ago, has sparked speculation that the billionaire was preparing to step back from his retail interests to pursue other ventures.

The management change was announced as Arcadia revealed a 13 per cent rise in pre tax profits to 213.6 million pounds on sales of 1.9 billion pounds.

NATIONAL EXPRESS WARNS ON PROFIT AMID FARES FALL

Transport group National Express has issued a profit warning and admitted that its US business will take longer to sort out than previously thought.

The group is launching a rights issue to shore up its balance sheet and address its one billion pounds of debt, while it is being circled by Stagecoach.

The National Express rival has tabled an alternative share-based proposal which the board is evaluating. National Express would not confirm how much it planned to raise from the equity issue, but analysts predict it will be between 300 million pounds and 350 million pounds.

Prepared for Reuters by Durrants
Keywords: PRESS DIGEST British business

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