(WG-.L) Wood Group (John) PLC Buy/Sell

Financial Times

WARNING OF ENERGY PRICE RISE

The energy industry regulator Ofgem has warned that consumers face the prospect of large increases in their gas and electricity bills to fund infrastructure investments of 200 billion pounds over the next decade. The regulator predicted that bills could increase 60 per cent by 2016 in its assessment which took account of factors including; new legislation relating to climate change, the effect of the credit crunch and the effect of green stimulus packages.

NO TIME TO STOP INTERVENTION, DATA SHOW

Official figures on manufacturing output were released this week and have revealed that the sector fell back into recession during August, casting doubt on separate claims that the overall economy is improving. The economic think tank Niesr said that the weak industrial production figures suggested that the performance of the UK economy had actually been flat over the quarter. This is opposed to the growth predictions made by the polling company Markit who suggested that positive results from its purchasing managers' index were consistent with economic growth of between 0.5 and 0.6 per cent in the quarter.

HOUSE PRICES RISE FOR FIFTH MONTH

According to figures from the Financial Times House Price Index for September, house prices in England and Wales rose for the fifth consecutive month. The survey showed that prices increased by 0.6 per cent during the month to bring the average house price in England and Wales to 205,338 thousand pounds, compared to the peak of 231,804 pounds recorded by the index in February 2008 and 5.6 per cent lower than they were a year ago.

INSIDERS TO SET OUT STALLS FOR M&S JOB

At Marks & Spencer's investor day next week Ian Dyson and John Dixon, internal candidates to succeed Sir Stuart Rose as chief executive, will put their case to the City. Dyson, as head of the firm's "2020" plan, is expected to outline significant cost savings and an expansion of online retailing capabilities. Analysts expect that changes to its supply chain could lead to savings of between 150 and 200 million pounds. Dixon, widely seen as the leading internal candidate, will update the market on developments in the food business.

WOOD GROUP WARNS OF DELAYS

Oil services company John Wood Group says that full-year results will be in line with expectations despite concerns over a slowdown in the pace of progress in existing oilfield contracts. The group said: "In our development-related engineering activities, we are continuing to see delays both in the pace at which projects are being progressed and in further awards and, although we have a good prospect list, these two factors will continue to impact both activity and margins". Shares closed up 0.7 pence at 326.8 pence.

Donington Park was seeking 145 million pounds on Friday as it looks to secure its future as the home of the British Grand Prix. Formula One's commercial rights holder Bernie Ecclestone had warned that the July 11 2010 event would take place at Silverstone if Donington Ventures Ltd had not arranged the funding by Friday's deadline. Sources close to the situation said that further talks between Donington and potential investors are to take place Monday. Donington said: "We hope to be able to clarify the situation very soon".

ROBERT WALTERS REPORTS RISE IN HIRING BY BANKS

Recruitment agency Robert Walters said that investment banks are once again taking on temporary and permanent staff amid a sustained boom in debt and equity markets. Banks are also recruiting newly qualified chartered accountants for the first time in 18 months. However, the recruiter's chief executive Robert Walters warned that the rise in hiring could be a "blip" due to overcorrection, with banks having cut too many jobs earlier in the year.

GROWING DAISY SIGNALS FRESH IT ACQUISITIONS

Daisy Group is considering making further acquisitions in the telecommunications and IT services market having already acquired five companies in the previous quarter. Chief executive Matthew Riley said: "We are actively looking into a number of things right now". Philip Carse, head of research group Telecom Equity, "forecast annualised revenue of 231 million pounds and underlying profits of 16 million pounds". Carse said that the low profitability of distressed acquisitions would lower Daisy's historic margins of 21 per cent.

JJB SHARE PLACING HITS DELAY

JJB Sports has been forced to temporarily postpone its planned 100 million pound fundraising until next week after concerns were raised by investors over an alleged loan made by the sportswear retailer's executive chairman Sir David Jones to Mike Ashley, the owner of rival retailer SportsDirect. The planned money raising, announced on Friday morning and expected to be completed by the end of the day, was stalled initially by the UK Listing Authority with a query on possible legal issues, which is now understood to have been cleared up, followed by requests from several other investors asking for more time to consider the proposal. JJB's two largest shareholders, Harris Associates and Crystal Amber, said that they would have been happy to participate in the fundraising.

LOSSES PUSH INLAND TO RECONSTRUCT ITSELF AS A HOUSEBUILDER

Inland reported pre-tax losses of 10.5 million pounds in the year to July on revenue of 5.2 million pounds. The land trading vehicle's Net Asset Value per share fell to 24.9 pence from 32.88 pence. The company's ten million pound lending facilities with the Royal Bank of Scotland expire in nine weeks and the company is yet to secure another agreement. Inland chief executive Stephen Wicks said: "This has been a truly awful year".

WEEKEND SHARE WATCH

Cranswick -

Pendragon -

Prepared for Reuters by Durrants
Keywords: PRESS DIGEST Financial Times =2

COPYRIGHT

Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.