Sunday tips round-up: Petra, Easyjet, Norkom

23rd Jan 2011 13:42

Petra has bought the Finsch diamond mine in South Africa from De Beers, after it raised £205m in a placing.This means that the company will be producing more than 3m carats a year from 2012, compared with expectations of 1.2m carats in the current year. By 2014, the group expects to be producing 5m carats. The mine has been developed by De Beers so it has excellent infrastructure. Petra will be the third-largest diamond producer in the world after De Beers and Russian state-owned group Alrosa. Buy says the Telegraph.Shares in low-cost carrier easyJet crashed 16% on Thursday after the company said that its first-half loss may double. The losses are a result of recent snow chaos, rising fuel costs and the effect of strike action in France and Spain. In its update on first-quarter trading, easyJet said that total pre-tax losses are expected to be between £140m and £160m, compared with £78.7m last year. Rising fuel costs have added £1.17 a seat to costs, when compared with the first half of last year, and this trend is likely to continue, as the cost of all petroleum products continues to rise globally. However, there was growth in the first quarter. Total revenue rose by 7.5% to £654m and "seats flown" grew by 7.7% to 13.8m. The shares are trading on a September 2010 earnings multiple of 9.3 times, falling to 7.9 in 2012. The fall seem overdone. Buy says the Telegraph.Shareholders in financial crime prevention specialist Norkom have been richly rewarded by BAE Systems 177p-a-share recommended offer. They will receive an offer document from BAE in the next couple of weeks and will then have three weeks to respond. So they can either wait for a cheque to come through the post or sell in the market now. There is always the chance of a counter-offer emerging, but Norkom's directors have recommended the BAE offer and the market share price is near the offer price, so the market believes the defence giant's bid will not be superseded. Impatient investors may prefer to sell now says the Mail on Sunday.Please 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.