Sunday share tips: Imperial Tobacco, Merlin, BT

3rd Nov 2013 13:36

Imperial Tobacco Chief Executive Alison Cooper has got a tough task in trying to make up for falling cigarette sales in the West, the Sunday Times's Danny Fortson said. In his Inside the City column, he argued Cooper had yet to produce ideas to get Imperial moving. Cost cuts and premium brands have not made much difference and the big prize is more sales in developing markets. She will update investors on October 5th and analysts at Exane BNP Paribas forecast adjusted operating profit roughly unchanged at 3.1bn pounds ? about the same as in 2012. Not terrible but not exciting, Fortson argued. Buy Merlin Entertainments when it floats later this month, the Mail on Sunday's Midas column advised. The owner of Legoland and Madame Tussauds has performed well in tough economic times with visitor numbers rising on average 11% a year since 2008 and operating profit increasing 13% last year to £346m. Now, 20% of sales are in North America and 14% are in Asia. The rest is from Europe, mainly Britain. Chief Executive Nick Varney wants the split to be a third each and the flotation will help the company expand. Existing management will keep large stakes, giving reassurance to new investors.Hold on to BT shares, which have risen as investors have backed its TV war with BSkyB, the Sunday Telegraph's Questor column argued. The early signs of its bet on giving away sports TV coverage to broadband customers are encouraging and there is scope for more cost cutting. Its retail business is enjoying its strongest growth for 10 years. BT has got itself into a good position but after doubling in the last two years the share price now reflects its prospects.Enquest is a boring company that may be getting more interesting, Danny Fortson said in the Sunday Times's Inside the City column. When it was spun off from Petrofac, Enquest was meant to consolidate North Sea oil fields but progress has been poor. Tax changes mean Enquest will no longer be liable for all the decommissioning costs of fields it wants to buy. One of the biggest obstacles to investment has been lowered and it may free Enquest to be more active.SFPlease note: Digital Look provides a round-up of news, tips and information that is impacting share prices and the market. Digital Look cannot take any responsibility for information provided by third parties. This is for your general information only as not intended to be relied upon by users in making an investment decision or any other decision. Please obtain a copy of the relevant publication and carry out your own research before considering acting on any of this information.