Sunday share tips: BG Group, BSkyB, Firestone Diamonds

27th Jul 2014 17:00

Sell shares of BG Group, Danny Fortson recommended in the Sunday Times. The shares were the best performers in the European oil industry in the second quarter of this year despite the absence of a Chief Executive. Chairman Andrew Gould's reputation has supported the shares while he stands in and he is close to appointing a replacement for Chris Finlayson, who quit three months ago. Gould has said there are no sacred cows in BG's global operations and has put some of its North Sea fields up for sale. But the share price has run ahead of achievements, Fortson said in his Inside the City column.Don't bet against BSkyB's Chief Executive Jeremy Darroch, the Sunday Times's Danny Fortson advised. Darroch is expanding his pay-TV business after agreeing to buy sister companies in Italy and Germany. Shareholders need to consider whether BSkyB is overstretching itself by issuing shares and taking on £5bn of debt to pay for the deal. Targeted cost savings look paltry but the prize is to export BSkyB's ability to sell TV and broadband to Germany and Italy, where takeup is lower than in the UK. If Darroch achieves this, shareholders can do well. Rupert Murdoch controls BSkyB and the Sunday Times.Take a punt on Firestone Diamonds, Midas advised in the Mail on Sunday. The miner has proved a rough ride for investors but with new management installed the shares are starting to rise after tumbling from more than £20 in 2008 to 21p by April last year. Stuart Brown, who became Chief Executive last September, has secured new financing from serious investors such as South Africa's Absa. The cash is a vote of confidence in Brown's decision to focus on Firestone's Liqhobong mine in Lesotho. Firestone burnt investors in the past, but the situation looks different this time.SF