LONDON (ShareCast) - Buy shares of Marks & Spencer, Questor advised in the Sunday Telegraph. The end to falling sales at M&S's clothing business was an important moment in the investment case for M&S after almost four years when the company had to rely on strong food revenues to help offset clothing's decline. The shares are at a seven-year high after the April 2nd trading update but there are more gains to come as profit margins on clothing widen. M&S also generates lots of cash and the annual dividend, held at 17p since 2011, could start to rise.
Only the bravest investors could conclude Gulf Keystone had reached the end of its woes, Danny Fortson said in the Sunday Times. The Inside the City columnist said Gulf Keystone's $41m rights issue meant it could keep running for now. But it struggles to make money from its operations in Iraq's Kurdish region at today's low oil price. But Fortson pointed out that Jeremy Asher is a big investor in Gulf Keystone and an adviser to Israel's Haifa - one of the few refineries to take Kurdish crude last year. If it did so again, that could help Gulf Keystone.

Lookers shares should rise as it sheds the untrustworthy image of car dealers by focusing on customer service, Midas argued in the Mail on Sunday. Lookers is doubling basic salaries and paying bonuses based more on customer satisfaction than cars sold. Brash job applicants are being turned away. The switch is designed to increase the chance of selling service deals to customers returning frequently for new cars funded through finance schemes. Annual profits for 2014 rose 35% to £65m and the dividend increased 10%. Lookers is moving with the times. Buy, Midas said.

Buy shares of Town Centre Securities, Questor recommended in the Sunday Telegraph. The property investment fund has increased its portfolio and found good tenants, including Morrisons, the anchor tenant at its biggest site, the Merrion Centre in Leeds. Pre-tax profit for the six months to December 31st rose by £1m to £12.3m and the shares trade at a 6% discount to net assets. The prospective dividend yield is 3.4%. The shares have risen 32% since Questor tipped them in February 2013 and the columnist that recommendation stands.

Marston's shares have risen to 156p from 88p since the Mail on Sunday's Midas column tipped them in January 2010. They have further to go as the brewer and pub group focuses on local and premium beer brands and smartens up its pub estate. Chief Executive Ralph Findlay has been selling traditional pubs and building modern pub-restaurants with a wider appeal. Annual profits fell last year as Findlay sold more sites but Marston's remaining pubs have performed well. Existing shareholders should stick with Marston's and newcomers could also buy at today's price.

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