Newspaper and magazine share tips

By This Is Money
Updated: 07:05 EDT, 13 April 2011

Round up: The latest share tips from national newspapers and investment magazines

Each day we round up share tips from national newspapers and investing magazines. For the Mail on Sunday's stock picks, read the Midas column.

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WEDNESDAY

The Times

BG Group, an integrated natural gas company gave a series of promising drilling reports, such as yesterday's from the Guara Norte well. They seem to suggest that earlier estimates of 1.1 to 2 bn recoverable barrels of oil equivalent are easily achievable. As Brazil achieves full production in 2014 and thereafter, the forecast will be met. BG has further assets being developed in off Tanzania. These are at a very early stage and best taken as future potential. BG shares fell 57p to £14.88¾. Buy.

Eros International, maker of family-oriented Bollywood films issued a trading update yesterday that suggested profits for the current financial year to the end of March 2012 will exceed its expectations. Eros's market is worth £270m or so and they have a strong five-year record of profit growth. Buy

The Daily Telegraph

Antofagasta, a copper mining company plan to double output as its operations by 2020. Last year, production came in at 521,100 tonnes of fine copper, a 17.8% rise compared with 2009. Antofagasta shares are trading on a December2011 multiple of 10.5, falling to 10 next year. However, based on current forecast, the earnings multiple actually rises to 10.9 in 2013. The shares were first recommended at 915½p on December 13, 2009, and they are now up 54% compared with a FTSE 100 up 13%. The shares appear to be fully valued and now looks like a good time to bank those profits. Sell

Avocet Mining, the West African-focused gold miner revealed some good news yesterday. The group unveiled a new resource study for its flagship Inata project in Burkina Faso, with the mineral resources being upgraded by 20% to 2.12m ounces. Some brokers think Inata resources could be upgraded to 4m ounces by the end of the year. The shares were tipped on October 3 last year at 167p and they are now 50% ahead compared with the FTSE 100 up 4%. Buy.

TUESDAY

The Daily Telegraph

JP Morgan India Investment Trust, which invests in major Indian companies, hit an all-time high of 502p in October last year, then fell by about £1 before recovering to the current level. Funds continue to flow into markets like India and it remains the hottest investment destination in the world after China. India's growth is based on increasing demand from growing wealth within the country. The shares were first tipped at 224p on January 14, 2009, and they are now up 100% from this time compared with the FTSE 100's gain of 45%. The shares remain a buy and core portfolio holding.

Weir Group, a company which manufactures pumps, valves and systems for the oil and gas and mining sectors, will benefit from shale gas production - it has enormous potential as a source of energy for the future, which means great opportunities for makers of hydraulic equipment such as Weir. The shares are up 62% since they were recommended on June 17 last year at £11.02 and the company is scheduled to update the market on May 4. Buy.

The Independent

The packaging company Rexam highlighted the scale of its ambition in Brazil yesterday by unveiling plans for a new beverage plant in the country's northern region. The new plant will be operational by the middle of next year and Rexam says it will have a capacity of 1.2bn cans. This will help the group, which makes cans for Carlsberg and Red Bull, achieve total capacity of 14bn cans by the end of 2012, up from 11bn at the start of this year. Buy.

RWS does not lend itself to easy comparisons. It occupies a niche, search and translating patents and providing other intellectual property-related services. RWS is clearly performing well, boasts a strong balance sheet with nearly £20m in net cash at the end of March and, in what is the clincher, trades on a thin enterprise multiple of under 4 times. Buy.

The Times

The Japanese automotive components producer, GKN, could expect an eager audience for its first-quarter figures as it is the first automotive components producer to report since the Japanese earthquake. It benefits from customers who tend to be upmarket producers, such as Jaguar and Land Rover, Ford and BMW and VW in the booming German market, rather than high-volume Japanese producers, such as Honda and Nissan. GKN's first- quarter pre-tax profit came in 51% higher year-on-year at £107m, on sales up 14% to £1.4bn. Buy.

Carr's Milling, the agricultural suppliers which also owns a business that supplies robotic manipulators that can go into areas of nuclear plants too hazardous for humans, is likely to be sold eventually. Carr's pays three dividends a year, and the first is raised from 6p to 6.5p. The shares, 425p at the start of last year, rose 47.5 p to 697.5p yesterday. On eight times' earnings, the shares are probably high enough, though the 4%-plus yield provides some support.