PRESS DIGEST - British business press - July 23

HEALTH FOOD STORES CLEARED TO MERGE

Holland and Barratt's acquisition of Julian Graves has been provisionally cleared by the Competition Commission. In March, the Office of Fair Trading had referred the purchase of 350 Julian Graves stores to the Commission over concerns the deal could give the 500-strong Holland and Barratt an unfair advantage. But the Commission ruled on Wednesday that the merger would not create unfair competition in the sale of nuts, seeds and dried fruit.

GALIFORM UPBEAT DESPITE FIRST-HALF FALL AT HOWDENS

Shares in Galiform GFRM.L, the parent company of Howden Joinery, jumped 24 percent to close at 46.50 pence, despite a 77 percent dive in first-half profits reported by the builders' merchants. Like-for-like sales at Howden dropped by 9.8 percent but the group said that it expected an improvement in the second half. Despite the slump in profits from 20.1 million pounds to 4.7 million pounds, the group's performance beat analyst expectations. Galiform said that Howdens had performed well over the first six months of the year. Chief executive Matthew Ingle said: "We are encouraged by the resilient operating and performance of the business in a challenging environment."

QUESTOR:

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK.L) (avoid)

Galiform (buy)

The Independent

HELICAL BAR SPOTS SIGNS OF LIFE IN COMMERCIAL PROPERTY

Following two years of uncertainty, property developer Helical Bar (HLCL.L) is set to hit the acquisition trail again as it hinted at a stabilisation in the commercial property market. The group, which revealed that it expects the City to lead the way, said it had identified an improvement in the capital value of prime properties, which are let on long leases to tenants with strong covenants. However, chief executive Mike Slade reiterated his cautious stance and described current marketing conditions as a "curate's egg." During the quarter to the end of June, Helical completed 23 lettings, which boosted its annualised income by 356,000 pounds.

VODAFONE SECURES AZERBAIJAN PARTNERSHIP

Vodafone (VOD.L) has teamed up with Azerfon, one of the leading mobile groups in the oil and gas rich nation of Azerbaijan, to expand its emerging market operations. The Newbury-based group will advise its business partner on the setting up of high speed mobile data networks and mobile broadband as Azerfon is currently constructing the third generation network in the former Soviet Bloc country. Richard Daley, Vodafone's head of Partner Markets division, said on Wednesday that the country's market was attractive as mobile generation was about 75 percent "and growing rapidly."

REGENT INNS PUT UP FOR SALE AFTER MARKET DISTRIBUTING

Regent Inns, the debt-laden owner of the Walkabout, Jongleurs and Old Orleans bars and entertainment venues, has been put up for sale, following its delisting from the stock market in June. BDO Stoy Hayward, the accountancy firm, has sent out a sales memorandum to potential suitors for the group, which has suffered during the downturn and has been hit by the introduction of the smoking ban. Regent Inns announced last week that it had received "approaches to acquire certain of its assets and liabilities", but not the group's shares. Sources identified Jongleurs as the brand with the "most potential" but added that Old Orleans and Walkabout had lost their way.

INVESTMENT COLUMN:

Sportingbet (sell)

Galiform (buy)

Sinclair Pharma (cautious hold)

The Guardian

ORANGE OFFERS STUDENTS PHONE ADS DEAL

In a bid to target the key 16-to-24-year-old market, Orange, the mobile network, is set to offer students a range of promotions in return for their agreeing to receive adverts on their mobile phones. A deal with pioneering advertising start-up Blyk is expected to be announced within days as Orange tries to compete with rivals such as 02, which has used its sponsorship of the former millennium dome to offer its clients priority ticketing. Orange refused to comment on "rumours surrounding a deal" but added: "As the first major company to pioneer mobile advertising, we are always looking at ways to extend our reach."

FSA WARNING AFTER HSBC IS FINED THREE MILLION POUNDS FOR DATA SECURITY FAILURES

HSBC (HSBA.L), Britain's biggest bank, has been fined three million pounds by the Financial Services Authority for data security failures after encrypted customer details were sent through the post or left lying on shelves and not locked in cabinets. The City watchdog imposed the penalty on three HSBC firms - HSBC Life UK, HSBC Actuaries and Consultants and HSBC Insurance Brokers - and warned that financial firms which repeatedly fail to protect customer details would face ever larger fines. Clive Bannister, group managing director of HSBC Insurance, conceded the bank had "fallen short" but outlined a number of measures taken to prevent a recurrence.

FIRST GROUP PULLS OUT OF NATIONAL EXPRESS TAKEOVER

First Group (FGP.L), Britain's biggest transport group, has abandoned plans to launch a formal takeover offer for struggling competitor National Express (NEX.L), saying that it would be "inappropriate" to consider such a move. The company cited on Wednesday National Express's decision earlier in July to pull out of its loss-making east coast rail franchise as well as subsequent Department for Transport comments on the future of its other train deals for the creation of "considerable uncertainty" around the business. "The board has considered its position in light of these uncertainties and now believes it would be inappropriate to consider a formal offer at this time," First Group added.

Prepared for Reuters by Durrants