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Newspaper Briefing, including 'Athens on the edge of a default as bailout in doubt' - Daily Mail

Last updated: 03:19 06 Oct 2011 EDT, First published: 02:19 06 Oct 2011 EDT

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The Times

Solar energy at night offers bright future: Seen from afar it looks like an enormous light bulb on the end of a tower surrounded by hundreds of tiny mirrors. But, rather than being a flight of fancy, the Gemasolar plant in southern Spain is the first solar energy facility to supply power at night. The 260 million plant, which opened, consists of 2,650 solar panels spread over 185 hectares in Fuentes de Andalucia, a town near Seville, in southwest Spain.

French try to limit any damage from Dexia rescue: The French Government was scrambling to put in place a rescue package for Dexia without adding to the countrys public deBT and jeopardising its triple-A credit rating. With full details of the rescue likely to be unveiled, including a part-nationalisation of the bank by Belgium, questions have been raised about the fate of the Franco-Belgian banks toxic assets.

Carmakers grit teeth for rough road ahead in 2012: The motor industry is to cut its sales forecasts for next year in the face of stalled economic growth. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders will report this morning sales figures for September, the single biggest month for new car registrations in the calendar.

Europe puts up hurdle to transatlantic exchanges merger: NYSE Euronext and Deutsche Brse confirmed that European anti-trust regulators had objected officially to their planned $9 billion merger. The two stock exchange operators, which announced plans to merge in February, emphasised that the statement of objection from the European Commission was a normal step in the process and did not prejudice the final outcome of the deal.

Thorntons limps towards true test of its turnaround strategy: Thorntons reported a slump in its first quarter sales as analysts predicted that the real test of the chocolatiers turnaround strategy would come over the Christmas period. The company, which has been struggling with falling sales for three years, said that total revenue had tumbled by 7.6% to 46.5 million in the period to 01 October. Total sales in its own stores dropped by 10% to 23.4 million and like-for-likes by 7.8%.

Wheels come off at Mothercare as parents hunt for cheaper prams: Mothercare lost nearly a quarter of its market value after admitting that bargain-hungry parents would lay waste to its full year profits. The 50-year-old chain said that a sudden deterioration in trading in the past month would lead to a disappointing performance for the year as a whole. The City reduced profits forecasts by as much as 80%.

The Independent


IMF ready to intervene in bid to boost Eurozone confidence: The International Monetary Fund signalled its readiness to extend its support to ailing Eurozone economies, saying it could buy Spanish or Italian deBT alongside the currency unions beefed-up bailout fund to restore confidence among investors.

MPC in quandary after services data improves: The U.K.s all-important service sector registered a surprise expansion in September, according to new figures, adding to the dilemma facing the Bank of Englands Monetary Policy Committee as it decides whether to try to boost the economy.

Threat of strike at Thomas Cook: Cabin crew at Thomas Cook is to be asked if they want to hold an industrial action ballot over redundancy terms. Unite, which represents around 1,300 cabin crew, said the move followed the breakdown of talks over terms for people losing their jobs.

Kazakhs offer BG $1.1 billion deal: Kazakhstan said it would be willing to pay up to $1.1 billion (713 million) for a 10th of Karachaganak, a local joint venture led by Britains BG Group and Eni of Italy. The government in Astana has been embroiled in an ownership debate about Karachaganak, the only major oil development in which the state does not hold a stake.

French bank fears rejected by Morgan Stanley: Executives at Morgan Stanley were cheering the success of their efforts to restore confidence in the investment bank, after a bear raid on the companys share price and bond insurance that had threatened to spark an all-out panic.

The Daily Telegraph

German Chancellor Angela Merkel backs moves to recapitalise Eurozone banks: Angela Merkel has thrown Germanys weight behind moves to recapitalise Eurozone banks that have been pushed to the brink of collapse under pressure from the Greek sovereign deBT crisis.

Recession was deeper and recovery slower than expected: Britain suffered a deeper recession than previously thought and is recovering even more slowly than had been believed, official figures show. The revelation came as the Office for National Statistics (ONS) unexpectedly downgraded its estimate of economic growth for the three months to June from 0.2% to 0.1%, as part of a major recalculation of historical data.

Business leaders urge Prime Minister David Cameron to commit to Plan A+: Business leaders have urged David Cameron for specific, direct measures to boost the economy and called for the Coalition to commit to Plan A+ by next month.

UBS failed to act on rogue trading evidence before losing 1.5 billion: UBS has admitted it detected evidence of unauthorised trading but did nothing to investigate it before last months revelation it had lost $2.3 billion (1.5 billion) as a result of a rogue trader.

The Questor Column:

Focus on global companies with higher yields: The essence of value investing is buying shares when they are cheap. Equities are certainly getting cheaper by the day at the moment as fear of another systemic crisis prompts investors to flee. Companies with the largest weighting in the index are, therefore, going to be global and are likely to be cash-generative. Questor gives a view on the six largest shares in the HYI.

Vodafone at 167.15p -1.9p: Yielding 8.1% and being the largest company in the HYI with a weighting of almost 10.1%, Vodafone is an income investors first port of call in these turbulent markets. Its 45% owned U.S. joint venture Verizon Wireless is expected to pay a dividend to Vodafone of $4.5 billion (2.9 billion) next year. The mobile group also says it will increase shareholder payouts by at least 7% per annum for each of the financial years in the period ending March 2013. Questor Says Buy.

HSBC at 473.55p -14.05p: With a yield of 5.7%, the banking giant certainly has a respectable payout. The company has been described as solid but dull but this is exactly the type of investment required at a time of crisis. Questor says Hold

BP at 372p -14.85p: The oil major has had a difficult few years, with the Macondo oil spill, asset disposals and trouble with its Russian partners. In July, JP Morgan Cazenove worked out a figure of about 800p a share more than double the current share price. However, question marks over the companys strategy remain and for this reason the shares are a hold for the 5% yield. Questor says Hold

Royal Dutch Shell B at 19.41 -37p: The company was regarded as a lumbering, inefficient behemoth and it even had to humiliatingly restate its oil reserves in 2004. When Shell unveiled its new strategy in March last year, it said that the growth plans should increase cashflow by 50% between 2009 and 2012 if oil was at $60 a barrel and by 80% at $80 a barrel. Prices next year are likely to average a level higher than $80. Questor says Buy

GlaxoSmithKline at 13.12 -17p: The company is trying to reduce its reliance on white pills in Western markets the drugs most susceptible to falling prices and generics. It is also moving into more consumer products in emerging markets. This is a good long-term strategy and, with a yield of 5.3%. Questor says Buy

BAT at 27.28 -31p: Tobacco producers are defensive in a downturn and BAT shares are yielding 4.7%. Recent first half numbers were good. It reiterated that BAT was confident its operating margin would exceed 35% this year. Questor says Hold

The Guardian

Microsoft considering fresh bid for Yahoo, say sources: Microsoft is considering a fresh attempt to take control of Yahoo, sources close to the situation have told Reuters, more than three years after its first bid for the internet business failed. The software giant launched a $44.6 billion hostile bid for Yahoo in 2008 that was vigorously rebuffed by the company.

Bernard Madoff victims get first compensation cheques: Victims of Bernard Madoffs fraud scheme are set to receive $312 million (202) this week as the trustee charged with recovering their cash sends out their first set of compensation cheques.

BT to speed ahead of Virgin with 300MBPs broadband for some: BT Group has kicked off a broadband arms race by offering selected households internet access of up to 110 megabits per second, the fastest on a national network in Britain, and powerful enough to download a feature film in one minute.

Cable & Wireless Worldwide at risk of falling into red: Cable & Wireless Worldwide, the U.K. based telecoms group, is likely to make a paper loss for the year if, as analysts predict, it writes down the value of two companies it acquired before the credit crunch by hundreds of millions of pounds.

Daily Mail

Europe under pressure to kick-start flagging recovery: Pressure was mounting on Europes two leading central banks to take drastic action to kick-start the flagging recovery. The Bank of England and European Central Bank meet against a backdrop of soaring inflation and weak economic growth.

Athens on the edge of a default as bailout in douBT: The bailout of Greece was thrown into fresh douBT after a top international official warned vital fund to keep the country afloat might not be released. Athens will run out of money within weeks and default on its deBTs if it does not get the next 8 billion instalment of the 110 billion bailout agreed last year.

Premier Oil buys EnCore in 221 million deal: Premier Oil has agreed to buy North Sea explorer EnCore Oil in a 221 million deal that will see the buyer pay a big premium in exchange for future growth prospects. The 70p-per-share offer, which EnCore Directors have recommended to shareholders, is 55% above the targets closing share price on the day before the bid was announced.

Even Tesco is swept up by retail gloom as it posts worst sales performance for two decades: Tesco unexpectedly slammed the brakes on its banking division on a day of retail gloom. Britains biggest grocer blamed technical glitches on problems developing its financial services arm as it posted its worst sales performance for two decades.

Broker Views:

Globo: Daniel Stewart & Co initiated the stock with Buy rating and a target price of 100.00p

Flybe Group:
Investec maintained a Buy rating on the stock, with a target price of 151.00p

Ambrian Capital: Macquarie maintained an Outperform rating on the stock, with a target price of 33.00p

Accsys Technologies: WH Ireland maintained a Buy rating on the stock, with a target price of 0.25p

Barratt Developments:
HSBC upgraded the stock to Overweight and increased the target price to 125.00p

Michael Page International: Credit Suisse downgraded the stock to Underperform and decreased the target price to 340.00p

Daily Express

Sportingbet soars: Sportingbet strengthened its hand in takeover talks with fellow betting firm Ladbrokes as it unveiled a forecast-beating set of results. The online gambling group saw profits rise by 8% to 38.1 million on wagers up from 1.97 billion to 2.1 billion for the year to July. The drivers were strong growth in Brazil, where football rules, and Australia, where horseracing dominates.

IAGs demand worries: More first-class and business passengers flew with British Airways and Iberia Owner International Airlines Group last month but the company warned of a potential slowdown. IAG said premium travel the most profitable part of its passenger business rose 9.3% while non premium traffic increased 3.5%.

Market cheers Euro bank plan: Plans for coordinated action to bolster the finances of European banks gave stock markets a boost. Reports that European Finance Ministers were preparing to step up their response to the spiralling Eurozone deBT crisis came as the International Monetary Fund indicated it would invest in Spanish and Italian deBT alongside the EFSF bailout fund.

Fashion label Supergroup issues profit warning: Supergroup, the Owner of the Superdry fashion brand, beloved of David Beckham and Leonardo DiCaprio, issued a profits warning that unravelled its shares. The company blamed a botched warehouse computer system upgrade for a profits hit of up to 9 million. Its stock fell 298p to 707p.

The Scottish Herald


Rise in Scots exports provides ray of light: Scottish manufactured exports jumped 1.1% quarter-on-quarter in the three months to June, as engineers enjoyed a 2.5% rise in their overseas sales, official data have revealed. The figures, published by the Scottish Government, provided a ray of light amid the deepening economic gloom.

Freescale invests in new East Kilbride R&D site: Steve Wainwright, Freescale Semiconductors General Manager, revealed that the U.S. electronics giants East Kilbride base has beat off competition from around the world to establish its new global R&D centre of excellence on the site of the manufacturing plant it shut two years ago.

Demand in Asia boosts wool firm Johnston: Booming demand for Scottish textiles in Asia has prompted a 132-fold surge in profits at Elgin-based cashmere and woollen goods manufacturer James Johnston. The 214-year-old Moray-based company saw revenue rise 23.5% to 47.1 million for the 2010 calendar year, according to accounts filed with Companies House.

SAC annual accounts show steady growth: The Scottish Agricultural College (SAC) annual report for 2010/2011 reveals another year of steady growth. Turnover was up by 9.2% to 55 million with a rise of 225,000 (20%) in operating margin to 1.53 million. The balance sheet improved by 9.4 million to 48.6 million.

Argent Energy seals 7 million RBS funding agreement: Argent Energy, the Motherwell-based developer of environmentally friendly fuel for transport, has secured a multi-million- pound funding package from Royal Bank of Scotland and revealed plans to create 15 jobs, writes Mark Smith.

The Scotsman

Devil is in the detail to ensure enterprise zones' success: Details are emerging on the introduction of four Scottish enterprise zones. As in England, where plans for 21 zones were announced this year, it is hoped that such measures will help to promote investment, reduce unemployment, revive the economy and promote sustainability.

Wood Group shares boosted by 'robust' update: Shares in Wood Group jumped 7% after the firm declared that its order book was "robust" and that it is on course to hit full-year targets. In a brief third-quarter trading update, the Aberdeen-based energy services group said the high oil price had continued to boost demand from its clients.

Don't suffer in silence, charity urges: Scotland's leading rural charity paid out more than 388,000 last year in financial support to those experiencing hardship but RSABI Chief Executive Maurice Hankey said he believed there was a larger number of people whom the charity could help. The annual report points to a contradiction between the current economic climate with its tightening financial constraints and the reduced number of applicants coming forward for help.

CAP reform plans 'will turn clock back' says minister: Although it is still a week before they are officially made public, the European Commission's proposals for reforming the Common Agricultural Policy came under strong attack at this week's Conservative Party conference. First, U.K. Farming Minister Jim Paice claimed that if the leaked version of the proposals proved correct, then "we are turning the clocks back rather than forward".

Real ale prices 'must' rise as input costs soar: Rising cereal and glass costs mean beer prices will continue to surge in the months ahead, the brewer of real ales Spitfire and Bishops Finger has warned. Shepherd Neame said that inflationary pressures had intensified in recent months, with cereals such as barley up to 30% more expensive than a year ago, while the price of glass has also increased, pushing up the cost of beer bottles and pint jars.

Record and Mail cash in on cutbacks: The Scottish Daily Record and Sunday Mail managed to grow profits, despite lower sales last year, thanks to reduced administrative and production costs. Accounts filed at Companies House show the newspapers, which axed 90 editorial jobs this summer, made pre-tax profits of 16.5 million in the 52 weeks to 02 January against 14.3 million a year earlier.

Carlton Bingo wins 3.9 million tax rebate: Carlton Bingo pocketed a 3.9 million tax rebate last year, thanks to a court case brought by a rival operator against the taxman. The Inverness-based firm said in accounts filed at Companies House that it had recovered 3.4 million of VAT paid on interval games - activities enjoyed by customers during breaks from bingo - plus a further 500,000 in interest, although it would have to repay the money if an appeal by HMRC saw the decision overturned.

Canongate in e-drive as book sales suffer dip: Canongate, the Edinburgh-based publisher that lists Alasdair Gray, Yann Martel and Muriel Spark among its authors, is pushing further into electronic books to counter a fall in profits. Accounts filed at Companies House show pre-tax profits fell to 1.1 million in 2010 from 1.9 million in 2009, with sales dropping to 13.4 million from 13.9 million. Canongate said it made "significant profits in difficult trading conditions".

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