(TSCO.L) Tesco PLC Buy/Sell

Daily Telegraph

BLACKSTONE MOVES TO TAKE OVER GALA CORAL

Blackstone has been allowed to conduct due diligence at Gala Coral after making an audacious late intervention in the bingo group's 2.5 billion debt restructuring. Blackstone could make a 250 to 300 million pound cash injection in Gala, which was valued at five billion at its peak, in return for a majority stake. Gala's private equity owners -- Cinven, Candover and Permira -- have already agreed a deal with junior lenders designed to keep the business' bingo and gaming divisions together. However, this would be usurped should Blackstone's offer be accepted.

TESCO MOVES CLOSER TO FULL BANKING WITH IT SYSTEM

Fiserv has been appointed by Tesco to provide the software to enable it to become a full-service bank. Fiserv's involvement, as one of the world leaders in providing retail banking software, will turn the supermarket from a provider of a collection of financial products into an integrated, full-service bank which is expected to make great inroads now that competitors are struggling. David McCreadie, commercial director of Tesco Bank, called for patience in a meeting with investors, saying it would take time to develop the correct proposition on current accounts and that expanding into mortgage lending would require a broader source of funding.

MERGE WITH HERSHEY, ANALYST TELLS CADBURY

Richard Royden, head of GFI's European Special Solutions group, has called on Cadbury to merge with Hershey with a dual-listing of the company's shares on the London and New York markets. Royden told Cadbury chief executive Todd Stitzer in a letter that the move would be its best defence against Kraft's unwanted 10 billion pound bid. Fifty-five percent of the company would be listed in London and 45 percent in New York under Royden's analysis, minimising debt issuance and avoiding "equity dilution for existing Hershey shareholders".

The Times

UKFI'S FORMER HEAD IS SET TO JOIN ROTHSCHILD

NM Rothschild is expected to announce the recruitment of John Kingman, former chief executive of UKFI, as managing director on Monday. Kingman will advise "a number of corporate clients" when he begins his new role in March. UKFI was set up a year ago to manage the government's stakes in Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds Banking Group and Bradford & Bingley's mortgage book. The institution has had to walk a difficult path in convincing investors it was acting on commercial grounds while also adhering to the political will of the Treasury.

RIO'S CLOUD PEAK COAL FLOAT FAILS TO SET INVESTORS ALIGHT

Shares in Rio Tinto's Cloud Peak coal operations fell from 15 dollars to 14.45 dollars on their first day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange. The listing is part of a strategy Rio has for divesting non-core assets and reducing its debt burden, with the flotation raising 434 million dollars for the mining group. Francis Gaskins of research website IPOdesktop.com said: "There's investor push-back because (the money raised) is not going back to the company and it's not for growth. It's just a Rio Tinto bailout."

LACK OF M&A BUSINESS CUTS REVENUE AT LINKLATERS

Linklaters saw revenue fall by almost 10 percent in the half-year ending October 31 despite winning big legal work in dealing with the economic downturn. A lack of mergers and acquisition activity was blamed for revenues falling from 653 million to 591 million pounds year-on-year. Linklaters earned almost 70 million pounds for its work on the European division of Lehman Brothers' administration and is continuing to work with Royal Bank of Scotland. Simon Davies, managing partner of Linklaters, said M&A activity had recovered in recent weeks, particularly in emerging markets such as India, Brazil and China.

The Independent

BARCAP TAKES OVER CRESCENT FROM MORGAN

Morgan Stanley has handed over its Crescent property business to Barclays Capital, drawing a line under the 6.5 billion dollar deal that was struck in 2007 but quickly soured. Morgan Stanley is to transfer ownership of the business to BarCap in exchange for Barclays taking responsibility for all liabilities of loans relating to Crescent. Morgan's plans to put Crescent's assets into real estate flopped when the market froze. Barclays acquired Crescent in a joint venture with its co-founder John Goff.

GARTMORE SETS HARE RUNNING ON FLOTATION BOOM WITH BILLION

POUND LISTING

Gartmore intends to list its shares on the London Stock Exchange next month, valuing the business at at least one billion pounds. The flotation is intended to raise 250 million pounds for the company, enabling it to reduce its 400 million pound debt to 150 million. Forty-three percent of Gartmore is owned by its management, who will be allowed to cash in up to 20 percent of their stock. Jeff Meyer, the chief executive, said: "The market has been recovering. There are a lot of companies likely to come to market next year. We thought we would open the gateway."

FULLER, SMITH & TURNER BUOYANT AMID DOWNTURN

The pubs and brewing group Fuller, Smith and Turner has announced pre-tax profits of 14.1 million pounds for the 26 weeks to September 26, an increase of 18 percent. The boost has been attributed to low interest rates, good weather and a reduction of costs, including pay. The increase in VAT and absence of some of these factors could mean that the company's success does not continue. The company also gained from acquiring seven managed pubs in the West End from Punch Taverns .

THE GUARDIAN

STATE BANKS "UNDERMINING BUILDING SOCIETIES"

Nationwide Building Society has criticised state-backed banks for distorting the savings market by pricing their accounts "uneconomically". Nationwide has announced profits down to 117 million pounds from 322 million pounds at the same time last year and has said that its commitment to keeping mortgage interest rates more closely tied to the Bank of England's interest rate has cost them more than 450 million pounds a year. Nationwide chief executive Graham Beale also said that new minimum capital amounts dictated by European law would disadvantage building societies, whereas banks would be able to source capital from shareholders.

MORE THRESHERS SHOPS CLOSE AS BUYERS LOSE INTEREST

First Quench, the group that owns Threshers and Wine Rack, is intending to close a further 381 of its stores, resulting in up to 2,000 further job losses. An initial round of closures and job losses was announced two weeks ago, but lack of interest in the purchase of the remaining stores has caused administrators KPMG to make more cuts. Richard Fleming, one of the administrators from KPMG, has said he is optimistic about selling "a significant number" of the remaining 500 stores as going concerns.

BRITISH FARMERS TO GET MORE THAN A SLICE OF THE HOVIS FLOUR

MARKET

Hovis is planning to exclusively purchase wheat that was grown in Britain. Currently Hovis uses between 25 and 50 percent British wheat with the remainder being imported from Canada. Trials of growing the Canadian strain of wheat have been conducted in Britain for the last five years and Hovis' decision will pump 18 million pounds into the British farming industry. Other big bread brands are continuing to import wheat from overseas, but Warburtons is to launch a loaf made entirely from British wheat.

Prepared for Reuters by Durrants
Keywords: PRESS DIGEST British business Nov 21

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Financial Times

BANK URGES RESTRAINT IN BOOM TIMES

The Bank of England's consultation paper into the financial crisis will conclude that new discretionary tools should be considered to help smooth the peaks and troughs of the economic cycle, even if they were only introduced in Britain. The bank's report will call for stronger measures than those in the Treasury's Financial Services Bill including the creation of "macroprudential" powers to be used as an effective way of dampening future credit booms. The main tool would be raising the capital required to be held by banks in good times, with less tight capital requirements during downturns.

ASB CALLS FOR GOVERNMENT BOND PENSIONS BENCHMARK

Britain's leading accountancy group, the Accounting Standards Board, has called for company pension liabilities to be discounted by an interest rate equal to that on risk-free government bonds. UK and international accounting standards currently call for pension liabilities to be discounted at a rate consistent with either high-quality or AA-rated corporate bonds. National Association of Pension Funds chief executive Joanne Segars described the ASB proposals as"extremely disappointing". The International Accounting Standards Board is thought unlikely to consider the proposals for several years.

PRIVATE BANKS SEEK HOME LOAN CASH DEPOSITS

Leading UK private banks are demanding upfront cash deposits from buyers seeking mortgages in excess of one million pounds as extra security against uncertain bonus income. Brokers say some private banks now require a year's worth of mortgage interest payments in advance and that this money is ring-fenced with clients unable to draw on this money until the end of the lending facility or until conditions improve. Nigel Bedford of largemortgageloans.com said: "Banks are using this to give them a little more comfort that there is money there just in case bonuses dramatically reduce."

OPPOSITION THREATENS TO BLOCK DIGITAL REFORM BILL

The Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties have threatened to block the digital economy bill unless the government makes concessions. Both opposition parties suggested on Friday that they would demand changes to legislation entered into the bill by Lord Mandelson which would affect copyright law. The Conservative party also warned that that they would oppose the reform if the government kept powers to allow the industry regulator OFCOM to use part of the licence fee to pay for regional news provided by commercial broadcasters.

FULLERS HIGHLIGHTS SECTOR SPLIT

Fullers Smith & Turner reported an 18 percent increase in pre-tax profit to 14.1 million pounds for the six months to September 26, on revenue that increased from 106 million pounds to 117 million pounds. The pub group's figures highlighted a growing divide in the sector between successfully managed operators and struggling leased and tenanted ones. Mark Brumby, analyst at Astaire Securities, said Fullers fared better than many of its rivals as most of the group's pubs are in London and the southeast. Brumby said: "Food-led managed houses have generally outperformed wet-led tenanted houses and southeast England has been outperforming the north."

L&G SEARCH FOR CHAIRMAN ENDS

Legal & General, the UK's third-largest life and pensions company, hopes to name former National Australia Bank head John Stewart as its new chairman by the end of next week. A source close to the situation said the appointment of Stewart is subject to the approval of the Financial Services Authority and the finalisation of some contractual terms. L&G is thought to be one of the primary targets of Clive Cowdery's Resolution vehicle as it looks to consolidate the insurance sector.

GARTMORE TO CUT DEBT WITH 250 MILLION POUND IPO

Asset manager Gartmore is looking to raise 250 million pounds as it makes its debut on the London Stock Exchange. The group said the proceeds of the capital-raising would be used to reduce its 400 million pound debt. Gartmore is also expected to release another tranche of shares, enabling U.S. private equity group Hellman & Friedman to sell most of its 58 percent stake. The issue is expected to be priced within the next fortnight with the listing to occur in the second or third week of December.

MORTGAGES BEFORE CURRENT ACCOUNTS AT TESCO

Tesco could introduce mortgages by the end of next year as it looks to stake a claim in the UK financial services sector. However, the supermarket group told analysts Friday that current accounts may not be offered until 2011. Tesco said: "We have said that we plan over time to extend the financial services business from a collection of successful financial products to that of a full-service retail bank. We need to build the systems and infrastructure platforms to enable us to provide these services."

RIO TINTO BOLSTERED BY U.S. COAL SALE

Miner Rio Tinto has continued its recapitalisation drive with the 741 million dollar sale of Cloud Peak Energy, a unit that comprises most of Rio's former U.S. coal business. The deal follows the 764 million dollar sale of the Jacobs Ranch mine to Arch Coal in October. Both disposals are part of an attempt to halve net debt by the end of the year from its peak of 39.1 billion dollars on June 30. The initial public offering of Cloud Peak raised 434 million dollars; a further 307 million dollars was raised through its share of a simultaneously placed offering of debt.

NATIONWIDE LASHES OUT AT RESCUED BANKS

Graham Beale, chief executive of Nationwide Building Society , has criticised the aggressive strategies of government-backed banks such as Northern Rock and Lloyds Banking Group as "seriously distorting" the savings market with "uneconomic pricing". Beale singled out National Savings & Investment's current market leading one-year bond which pays 3.95 percent interest saying: "NS&I is way outside the competitive spectrum, way, way off the scale." Nationwide revealed a 64 percent fall in underlying pre-tax profits in the six months to September, citing lower interest rates and tough competition.

Prepared for Reuters by Durrants
Keywords: PRESS DIGEST Financial Times Nov 21

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By Mark Potter

LONDON, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Tesco, Britain's biggest retailer, took a further step on its journey to become a force in banking by signing up U.S. group Fiserv to provide the technology platform for its financial services business.
The supermarket group said on Friday, the second day of presentations to investors about its ambition to grow in retail services, that Fiserv would help it to make the leap from a collection of financial products to a full-service bank.
Tesco bought Royal Bank of Scotland out of a financial joint venture in July 2008 and unveiled plans to double profits from its retail services businesses, such as banking, to 1 billion pounds ($1.7 billion) over several years.
It has since gone on a staff recruitment drive, started testing bank branches within stores and signed an insurance deal with Fortis. It is also benefiting from discontent with traditional banks following the financial market crisis.
In presentation slides on its Web site, Tesco said it has 6 million customer accounts, with its credit card business growing at an annual rate of about 10 percent, personal loans growing at 19 percent and instant access savings accounts at 28 percent.
Transactions at its travel money business are up over 100 percent, it added.
The group said its banking business would initially target its most loyal shoppers -- the 15 million members of its Clubcard loyalty scheme.
Just 10 percent of Clubcard holders have a Tesco credit card, currently its biggest financial business, while only 4.2 percent have Tesco car insurance and 2.2 percent a Tesco savings product, it said.
Some analysts have speculated whether it might be interested in buying assets from bailed-out banks like Lloyds, RBS and Northern Rock.
However, Tesco Bank chief executive Benny Higgins said on Tuesday he was focusing on organic growth, with plans to introduce a Tesco current account and possibly also mortgages over the next couple of years.
Presentation slides from banking commercial director David McCreadie said it would take time to develop the right proposition on current accounts.
Expansion into mortgages would also require the development of a broader source of funding for the bank, he noted.
Tesco said on Thursday it was also aiming to build a telecoms business generating 2 billion pounds a year of sales over the medium term.
The world's third-biggest retailer, which has around 30 percent of Britain's grocery market, is looking to retail services along with international expansion as a way of generating new, and often more profitable, revenue streams.
At 1240 GMT, its shares were down 1.1 percent at 420.5 pence, in line with the DJ Stoxx European retail index.
Fiserv provides information management and electronic commerce systems for the financial services industry.

($1=.6002 Pound)

(Editing by Jon Loades-Carter) Keywords: TESCO/ (mark.r.potter@thomsonreuters.com; +44 20 7542-2943; Reuters Messaging: mark.potter.reuters.com@reuters.net)

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LONDON, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Tesco PLC:

LONDON, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Tesco, Britain's biggest retailer, will initially focus on its most loyal shoppers as it seeks to build its new banking business, it said on Friday.
The supermarket group, on the second day of presentations to investors about its ambition to expand into retail services, said Tesco Bank would initially target the 15 million members of its Clubcard customer loyalty scheme.
In presentation slides on its website, Tesco said just 10 percent of Clubcard holders had a Tesco credit card, currently its biggest financial business, while only 4.2 percent had Tesco car insurance and 2.2 percent a Tesco savings product.
Tesco unveiled plans in July 2008, when it bought Royal Bank of Scotland out of a financial joint venture, to double annual profits from its retail services businesses, such as banking, to 1 billion pounds ($1.7 billion) over several years.
It has since gone on a staff recruitment drive, started testing bank branches in stores and signed an insurance joint venture with Fortis, and currently has around 6 million customer accounts.
Analysts have speculated whether it might be interested in buying assets from bailed-out banks like Lloyds, RBS and Northern Rock.
However, Tesco Bank chief executive Benny Higgins said on Tuesday he was focusing on organic growth, with plans to introduce a Tesco current account and possibly also mortgages over the next couple of years.
Tesco said on Thursday it was also aiming to build a telecoms business generating 2 billion pounds a year of sales over the medium term.
At 1140 GMT, its shares were down 0.6 percent at 422.15 pence, in line with the DJ Stoxx European retail index.

($1=.6002 Pound)

(Reporting by Mark Potter; Editing by Jon Loades-Carter) Keywords: TESCO/ (mark.r.potter@thomsonreuters.com; +44 20 7542-2943; Reuters Messaging: mark.potter.reuters.com@reuters.net)

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LONDON, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Tesco PLC:

LONDON, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Tesco PLC:

Daily Telegraph

MORRISONS: NO SUCCESSION RUSH

Sir Ian Gibson, the non-executive chairman of WM Morrison , has said that the company hopes to have a successor to the poached chief executive Marc Bolland in place "early in the new year", but claimed that Morrisons was not in a rush and there was no deadline. Gibson made the remarks as the supermarket chain released results showing that like-for-like sales growth declined to 4.3 per cent during the 13 weeks to November. The figures were disappointing compared to City predictions of 4.6 per cent and the 7.8 percent growth seen in the first half of 2009.

INVESTEC CHIEF CONFIDENT ON RECOVERY

Investec has reported a 10 per cent fall in its pre-tax profits to 204 million pounds during the first half of 2009. The chief executive Stephen Koseff, however, noted that the bank's bad debts appear to be diminishing compared to last year. Although bad debts rose from 76 million pounds to 134 million pounds in the last six months, they had reached as high as 180 million pounds during the final half of 2008. Koseff expressed optimism for the future, whilst doubting that all the damage done by the financial crisis would be undone.

LADBROKES TO CLOSE CALL CENTRES DUE TO TAX

The bookmaker Ladbrokes is to close its call centre at Aintree, threatening 263 jobs. Employees are to be offered a chance to relocate, in order to reduce the number of redundancies. The company blamed its decision on tax regulations placed on telephone betting operators in the UK. "Telephone betting is a very competitive market", stated the Ladbrokes spokesman Ciaran O'Brien, "and one that is becoming increasingly difficult for UK-based operators, who face significantly higher levels of tax than those operating from offshore jurisdictions." Revenue fell 41.3 per cent to 9.1 million pounds during the first half of 2009.

QUESTOR

National Grid (Buy)

BG Group (Buy)

The Guardian

TESCO RINGS THE CHANGES WITH PLANS TO OFFER HOME PHONE.

Tesco is planning to increase its stake in the telecoms market, saying it sees more opportunities for big returns from mobile phone and broadband users. Tesco has recently announced a five-year deal with Cable and Wireless for it to supply Tesco with wholesale broadband packages, which it intends to supply to customers in bundled deals with its other products. Tesco is aiming to double its number of phone shops to 200 by the end of 2010.

BLUE-BLOOD CAZENOVE JOINS THE BLUE CHIPS

Cazenove has been bought-out by JP Morgan for one billion pounds. Most of Cazenove's shares were owned by current and former employees - David Mayhew, the chairman of Cazenove, stands to make 20 million pounds from the deal, with JP Morgan offering 535p a share. Mayhew has been at Cazenove for 40 years, and there have been speculations about his retirement for over a decade. He is to stay on as chairman but will no longer have a role in the management of the business.

OLIGARCHS BACK RUSSIAN NOVICE AS NEW CHIEF OF TNK-BP GROUP

In a move that proves the dominance of Moscow shareholders in the TNK-BP group, an inexperienced favourite of the Russian investors has been chosen as the new chief executive. Maxim Barsky, 36, will be trained at BP's headquarters in London for five months before assuming the position in 2011. BP has insisted that it was not steamrollered into the decision. BP's chief executive Tony Hayward said that he was "pleased" by the development.

The Times

LEGAL & GENERAL LINES UP EX-WOOLWICH BOSS AS CHAIRMAN

Legal & General, the UK's third-largest insurer, is set to appoint former Barclays chief executive John Stewart as its new chairman. L&G has been searching for almost a year for a replacement for Rob Margetts, who has served as chairman for almost ten years. L&G senior independent director Sir David Walker has begun canvassing shareholders over the prospective appointment, and the insurer is expected to announce next week that Stewart will take up the position from January.

BURBERRY TARGETS INDIA'S BRAND-AWARE MIDDLE CLASS

British fashion firm Burberry has applied for government clearance to launch a joint venture with Indian fashion retailer Genesis Colors. Burberry is hoping that it can match in India the growth it has achieved in China, where the company operates 44 stores and is enjoying double-digit percentage revenue growth. Burberry chief executive Angela Ahrendts said: "India is on a different curve. We only have about two stores there now but I see the same growth potential."

TRINITY MIRROR BIDS FOR NORTH EAST SLOT IN ITV LOCAL NEWS

Publisher Trinity Mirror is bidding alongside the Press Association and television producer Ten Alps for the chance to make an ITV regional news bulletin for the North East. Trinity Mirror is already the owner of several newspapers in the region and hopes that these would form the basis for a new Tyne-Tees news service, to be part-funded by public money. ITV has complained that regional news bulletins will become uneconomic when the UK switches to digital television, and Labour ministers are keen for money from the BBC licence fee to be used to help fund regional news on ITV.

TEMPUS

National Grid (A solid hold)

PayPoint (Too soon to check out)

AEA Technology (Take profits)

The Independent

SAB MILLER RAISES A GLASS TO UK SALES

SAB Miller has reported that volumes increased amongst its leading beer brands in the UK during the six months to 30 September. The brewer's UK business, Miller Brands, grew volumes of Peroni Nastro Azzurro by 35 per cent over the period and increased volumes of Pilsner Urquell by 26 per cent. The brewer reported earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation were down two per cent to 2.19 billion dollars over the half year period, with pre-tax profits falling to 1.5 billion dollars, after exceptional charges of 239 billion dollars.

HALFORDS PROFITS SOAR BY 24 PER CENT

Halfords has reported a 24 per cent increase in pre-tax profits to 60.9 million pounds for the 26 week period to October 2, driven by a 2.1 per cent increase in underlying sales during the second quarter and tight cost controls. David Wild, chief executive of the bike and car parts retailer, said: "We can certainly continue sales for the remainder of this quarter, but we are a bit more nervous about the first quarter of next year with VAT going up, unemployment rising and the impact of sterling on buying products from overseas."

KIER NAMES SUCCESSOR TO VETERAN CHIEF EXECUTIVE

Paul Sheffield has been appointed as the successor to Kier chief executive John Dodds when he stands down from the construction and engineering services group next April. Mr Sheffield is currently Kier's head of construction, infrastructure and overseas business, and has been with the group since joining as a graduate engineer in 1983. Out-going chief executive Dodds said: "I've worked with Paul Sheffield for over 25 years and I'm absolutely convinced that he is the right man to lead Kier into the future. Paul is highly talented and I look forward to working with him to ensure a seamless transition during the lead up to my retirement."

INVESTMENT COLUMN

National Grid (Buy)

Unite Group (Buy)

Huntsworth (Hold)

Prepared for Reuters by Durrants
Keywords: PRESS DIGEST British business Nov 20

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By Mark Potter

LONDON, Nov 19 (Reuters) - Tesco, Britain's biggest retailer, set its sights on capturing a bigger slice of the broadband and home phones market on Thursday as part of a drive to increase revenues from more profitable non-grocery markets.
The supermarket group, which is holding two days of seminars on its ambitions to grow in markets like telecoms and banking, said it had agreed a five-year deal with Cable & Wireless for the telecoms firm to supply it wholesale broadband services.
This will allow it to offer a more comprehensive range of products, including a combined broadband and home phone service for the first time which will step up its challenge to the likes of BT, TalkTalk and Virgin Media.
The deal is part of drive by Tesco, which takes about one in every three pounds spent in Britain's highly competitive grocery market, to tap new sources of often higher margin growth, whether abroad, online or in services like banking and telecoms.
In July 2008, when it bought Royal Bank of Scotland out of a financial services joint venture, Tesco set a target to double annual profits from retail services to 1 billion pounds ($1.7 billion) over an undisclosed period.
Retail services chief Andrew Higginson said on Thursday this meant investing more -- for example setting up in-store phone shops and bank branches -- but that this was paying dividends.
"Returns in retailing services are still higher than the group as a whole even with this significant recent investment -- and going forward the profit growth enabled by this investment will drive ROCE (return on capital employed) even higher," he said, according to slides on Tesco's Web site.
Tesco, the world's No.3 retailer behind France's Carrefour and U.S. market leader Wal-Mart, did not say how much it was investing, but said retail services operating margins and ROCE were 13 percent and 19 percent respectively in 2008-9 compared with group averages of 6 percent and 15 percent.
The group said its large store base -- it has about 4,300 across 14 countries, including around 2,300 in Britain -- and Clubcard customer loyalty scheme would allow it to expand quickly, and at less cost than many competitors.
It also expects to benefit from cross-selling products, noting that customers using two of its retail services spend on average four times as much in store as those who don't use any.
At 1400 GMT, Tesco shares were flat at 423.2 pence, beating a 1 percent fall in the DJ Stoxx European retail index.

TELECOMS, ONLINE
Tesco telecoms chief Lance Batchelor said customer turnover in Britain's fixed telephone and broadband markets, together worth around 8.8 billion pounds a year, was running at around 20 percent, creating a big opportunity for the group to grow.
It will double its number of in-store Phone Shops to 200 by the end of 2010, and with an eventual target of 500 it sees the potential to create a telecoms business making about 2 billion pounds a year in revenues and 200 million pounds in profit.
Laura Wade-Gery, head of the Tesco.com online business, saw similarly strong potential for her business, noting that while Internet sales are growing rapidly across Britain they still account for just 7 percent of total retail sales.
She said Tesco, which uses existing stores to serve online customers, was reaching capacity in some areas, and so was opening new stores dedicated to only serving Internet customers.
With two currently in operation, it plans to open a third next year and about one a year for the next few years, she said.
Tesco also plans to launch a grocery home shopping business in the Czech Republic next year, she added.
The group is due to publish presentations on its banking and insurance businesses on Friday. Banking chief Benny Higgins said on Tuesday he was not interested in buying assets from bailed-out banks Lloyds and RBS.
($1=.5946 Pound)
(Editing by Hans Peters, John Stonestreet) Keywords: TESCO/

(mark.r.potter@thomsonreuters.com; +44 20 7542-2943; Reuters Messaging: mark.potter.reuters.com@reuters.net)

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LONDON, Nov 19 (Reuters) - Tesco PLC:

LONDON, Nov 19 (Reuters) - Tesco PLC:

RNS Number : 7731C Tesco PLC 19 November 2009

TESCO PLC - RETAILING SERVICES INVESTOR SEMINAR

Tesco PLC will this afternoon and tomorrow host a retailing services seminar for investors and analysts.

Members of the senior management of Tesco PLC will describe aspects of the business in some detail, in presentations and store tours.

No new material information will be disclosed in the seminar and a briefing pack, containing the presentations and other information distributed during the event, will be made available on our website at www.tesco.com/investorcentre.

Our next update to the market will be our third quarter statement, which will be released on 8 December 2009.

For further information:

Investor Relations: Mark George +44 1992 806 149

<HR>---------------------------------------

This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

MSCFKLFFKFBXFBX

LONDON, Nov 19 (Reuters) - Tesco, Britain's biggest retailer, has signed up Cable & Wireless to help it provide broadband and home phone services as part of its drive to increase revenues from non-grocery businesses like telecoms.
The supermarket group, which is holding two days of seminars for analysts and investors on its retail services ambitions, said on Thursday the five-year deal would allow Tesco Telecoms to step up expansion outside of its mobile phone business.
"It will also allow for the provision of bundled broadband and home phone services from Tesco for the first time," it said in a statement.
Tesco Mobile was launched in 2003 as a joint venture with Telefonica's O2 and is currently the fastest growing pay-as-you-go mobile network, the firm said.
Tesco, the world's third-biggest retailer, said in July 2008 it planned to make annual profits of 1 billion pounds ($1.7 billion) from its retail services unit, which includes telecoms, online and home shopping as well as banking, over an undisclosed number of years.

($1=.5946 Pound)

(Reporting by Mark Potter; Editing by Hans Peters) Keywords: TESCO C&W/ (mark.r.potter@thomsonreuters.com; +44 20 7542-2943; Reuters Messaging: mark.potter.reuters.com@reuters.net)

COPYRIGHT

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LONDON, Nov 19 (Reuters) - Tesco PLC:

RNS Number : 7303C Tesco PLC 18 November 2009

DSOP - EXERCISE AND SALE

18 November 2009

Tesco PLC

DIRECTORS' SHAREHOLDINGS

The following Directors have exercised and sold options over Ordinary shares of 5p each in the Company under the Company's Discretionary Share Option Plan, Executive Incentive Plan and Performance Share Plan as detailed below:

Director Number of shares Option Price Date Sold Sale Price
L Neville-Rolfe 108,050 312.75p 17 November 430.64p
L Neville-Rolfe 116,133 318.60p 17 November 430.64p
T Mason 131,895 0p 18 November 424.85p

This announcement is made in accordance with the requirements of DTR 3.1.4.

Enquiries: J LloydCompany SecretaryTesco PLCDelamare
RoadCheshuntHertfordshireEN8 9SLTel: 01992 632222

This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

RDSDVLFFKFBFFBB

FRANKFURT, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Tesco is not interested in any assets bailed-out banks Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland will be forced to sell to satisfy EU antitrust worries, the head of Tesco Personal Finance said.
Benny Higgins also said on the sidelines of the Euro Finance Week conference on Tuesday that Tesco might not launch a current account until well into 2011, later than some analysts had expected.
"We don't need a branch network. We already have a very large physical presence," Higgins said. "The thing that we don't have, that we are building, is infrastructure, but the problem is people that are selling things aren't selling infrastructure."
Tesco Personal Finance is building up its own infrastructure to "stand on our own two feet" and is close to finalising a deal with an IT supplier for the banking platform, Higgins added.
Lloyds and RBS agreed to sell a string of assets including RBS's insurance unit and more than 900 branches between them over four years as part of a deal struck earlier this month and aimed at appeasing British authorities and EU competition regulators.
Tesco's Higgins said there was no final decision yet on when to launch a current account or get into mortgages. He said the latter "may well be towards the end of next year," while current accounts were more likely to be launched towards the end of the following year, he added.

(Reporting by Eva Kuehnen; Additional reporting by Mark Potter in London; Editing by David Holmes) Keywords: TESCO/BANKS (eva.kuehnen@thomsonreuters.com; +49 69 7565 1244; Reuters Messaging: eva.kuehnen.reuters.com@reuters.net)

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Financial Times

GROUP AIMS TO PROMOTE FINANCIAL SECTOR

The City of London Corporation is to work with financial services industry "heavy hitters" in launching an umbrella body, to be known as TheCityUK, which will promote the British financial services industry in Brussels, Washington and elsewhere. It will coordinate lobbying by existing trade groups. The organisation will launch next spring and will be chaired by Stuart Popham, senior partner at law firm Clifford Chance. TheCityUK will be funded initially by the City of London Corporation before becoming a non-for-profit organisation supported by membership dues.

MPC MEMBER UPBEAT ON THE ECONOMY

According to comments by Andrew Sentance, a member of the Bank of England's monetary policy committee, Britain's economy is probably already out of recession despite official figures that showed economic growth continued to fall during the third quarter of the year. Speaking at the University of London, Sentance said the wider body of evidence -- including indicators tracked by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development and the CBI's industrial trends survey -- suggested that current output levels were even higher than at similar stages of previous recessions.

SCRAMBLE FOR RISK MANAGERS BOOSTS THEIR PAY

According to Interim Partners, a leading provider of financial interim managers, increased demand for interim managers from financial services companies has increased the pay of those specialising in risk and compliance by an average of 50 percent over the past two years, with many now typically earning around 1,500 pounds a day. Jane Hanson, a consultant who advises companies on interim posts, said the shift in power within banks and financial companies from sales staff and traders towards those dealing with credit control, risk and compliance had been given greater urgency following Sir David Walker's report on governance in the financial sector.

LONMIN FEARS STRONG RAND AFTER DEEP LOSS

Lonmin, one of the world's biggest platinum producers, said an industry recovery was being hampered by the strength of the South African rand. Shares in the miner rose nine percent to 17.40 pounds on Monday despite the announcement of a 272 million dollar pre-tax loss in the year to September 30, compared to a 779 million dollar profit the previous year. Chief executive Ian Farmer predicted the start of a "gradual improvement" in 2010 as manufacturing in the automobile and technology sectors picks up.

PERSIMMON UPBEAT AS ORDERS SWELL

Persimmon said on Monday it has already met sales targets for 2009. The housebuilder also said it has secured 500 million pounds worth of forward orders for 2010, a 50 percent improvement on orders at the same stage last year. Chief executive Mike Farley said interest from first-time buyers had improved on the diminished levels seen over the last 18 months, with 18 percent of sales across the group involving first-time buyers, compared with ten percent last year. Net debt fell from 960 million pounds to 399 million pounds.

MAJESTIC WINE CHEERED BY ONLINE SPARKLE

Majestic Wine saw a nine percent rise in first-half pre-tax profit to 6.1 million pounds, driven by an 8.9 percent increase in sales to private customers and a 24.6 percent rise in online sales. Majestic used a blog and notices on the Twitter website to attract online customers. Chief executive Steve Lewis said: "We've unleashed the potential of the twenty-somethings in our business, improving the blog written by staff and selling parcels of wine which are too small to send to stores as online exclusives." Shares rose nine pence to 254 pence.

ASOS EXPANDS AND PLAYS DOWN SUPERMARKET THREAT

Asos chief executive Nick Robertson has dismissed the potential threat from supermarkets to Asos's online fashion business. Tesco said last month it is aiming to become the number one retailer in the clothing market by volume. Robertson said: "My fashion-loving customers aren't going to be all over the Tesco clothing website." Asos saw international sales rise 161 percent in the seven weeks to November 15. UK growth over the same period was 23 percent, marking a slowdown from the 33 percent growth seen in the first half. Shares were steady at 413 pence.

TERRA FIRMA WIRITES DOWN EMI VALUE

Terra Firma has written off its investment in the music company EMI by 90 percent. The private equity house run by Guy Hands offered to inject more equity into EMI in exchange for Citigroup writing off one billion pounds of its 2.6 billion pound loan to EMI, a proposal that has been rejected by the American bank, resulting in negotiations between the two sides currently being at stalemate. A person close to Citigroup said: "(Mr Hands) is trying to get us to do something that is not economic."

CHI-X PROFILE RAISED IN UK WITH IG LINK

IG Group has connected to the equities trading platform Chi-X Europe in a move that will allow ordinary investors access to the fast growing alternative to the London Stock Exchange. IG estimates that the link-up will benefit 80,000 of the spread betting group's 133,000 customers. IG is to also connect to the Turquoise trading platform and is to offer customers "smart order routing", a technology that compares and finds the best prices across various trading platforms.

INVESCO PERPETUAL LAUNCHES SPLIT CAP

Invesco Perpetual has launched a new split cap investment trust in response to demand from investors for investments that are taxed as capital gains rather than investments. The new Dual Return Trust is to be structured along the same lines as the original split capital funds of the 1960s, rather than more complex versions in which many investors lost money in the early 2000s. Invesco aims to raise 75 million pounds through the fund this year, with a further 50 million pound tranche planned for early 2010.

Prepared for Reuters by Durrants
Keywords: PRESS DIGEST Financial Times Nov 17

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RNS Number : 5896C Tesco PLC 16 November 2009

TESCO EMPLOYEE SHARE INCENTIVE PLAN ("Plan")

ANNOUNCEMENTS

16 November 2009

DIRECTOR/PDMR SHAREHOLDING

Tesco PLC has today been notified that on 13 November 2009 the Trustees of the Plan purchased Ordinary Shares of 5 pence each in the Company at a price of 423.84 pence on behalf of the persons listed below:

Director Number of shares
R W Brasher 26
P A Clarke 26
A Higginson 26
T P Leahy 26
T J R Mason 26
L J Neville-Rolfe 26
D T Potts 26

Other PDMR Number of shares
C P Holmes 26

This announcement is made in accordance with the requirements of DTR 3.1.4.

Enquiries: J LloydCompany SecretaryTesco PLCDelamare
RoadCheshuntHertfordshireEN8 9SLTel: 01992 632222

This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

RDSQQLFFKFBZFBX

LONDON, Nov 16 (Reuters) - British department store group Debenhams announced a four-day sale starting on Nov. 18 in a move which it predicts could spark a price war reminiscent of the frenzied discounting in the run-up to last Christmas.
Debenhams said on Monday its price cuts would total 250 million pounds ($418 million), up from 200 million last year, though this is partly because the group now sells a higher proportion of own-bought goods compared with concessions.
"Customers everywhere continue to feel the pinch in this recession. In fact many feel that there still is no light at the end of the tunnel," said deputy chief executive Michael Sharp.
Debenhams held two, extended sales in the run up to last Christmas, and Chief Executive Rob Templeman said last month he expected this festive season to be as promotional as last year.
Asda, Britain's No.2 grocer, said last week it expected this Christmas to be most competitive for a decade, while a survey found 40 percent of London retailers planned pre-Christmas promotions and discounts.
Other industry executives, however, have been more sanguine, pointing out that stock levels are much lower than at the same time last year and so there will be less need to discount.
Marks & Spencer chairman Stuart Rose said earlier this month he did not expect a repeat of the "blanket type" promotional activity of last Christmas and intended to trade at full price up to Dec. 25.
(Reporting by Mark Potter; editing by James Davey) ($1=.5976 Pound) Keywords: DEBENHAMS/

(mark.r.potter@thomsonreuters.com; +44 20 7542-2943; Reuters Messaging: mark.potter.reuters.com@reuters.net)

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LONDON, Nov 12 (Reuters) - Tesco, Britain's largest retailer, said it agreed to set up a joint venture to develop shopping malls in China, as part of its strategy of building a substantial business in the country.
Tesco will open 18 new hypermarkets in China before February 2010, in addition to the 65 hypermarkets and six small stores it already has in the country.
Half of the joint venture will be owned by a syndicate of leading Asian investors, including HSBC Nan Fung China Real Estate Fund, Singapore's Metro Holdings Ltd and Hong Kong's Nan Fung Group, Tesco said on Thursday.
Asia's retailers have held up relatively well in the financial crisis compared with U.S. and European peers.

(Reporting by Julie Crust; editing by Sharon Lindores) Keywords: TESCO/ (julie.crust@thomsonreuters.com; +44 207 542 3847)

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