PRESS DIGEST - British business - March 3

The Times

LLOYDS CUTS ANGER UNION

Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY.L) has been criticised by the Unite union following the announcement that the bank is cutting a further 370 jobs in wealth and international, group operations and group executive operations. Lloyds has plans to cut 15,000 posts throughout the year. The union has also been told that Capita (CPI.L) will cut 390 jobs in Bristol.

DEAL OF THE DAY

Biotechnology group Renovo (RNVO.L) saw its shares rise by 0.5 pence to 28 pence after it said it had improved its agreement with drugs group Shire (SHP.L), which also rose by 22 pence to 1465 pence. The deal means Renovo will receive a new five million dollar milestone payment and the rights to license its scar tissue treatment Juvista worldwide excluding Canada, Mexico and the United States.

TIDDLER TO WATCH

Shares in Coms rose 0.88 pence to 5.25 pence following an upbeat trading update. The telecoms group, whose voice over Internet service is used by Glastonbury music festival organisers, has undergone a considerable period of restructuring and broker Astaire described January's move into profit as a significant milestone.

NEED TO KNOW: WH IRELAND

The Lancashire financial services group WH Ireland has reported that its cost-cutting programme has brought it through the economic crisis "in good shape". The company declared a full year pre-tax loss of 2.1 million pounds, an improvement on 2008's 2.5 million pound loss.

TEMPUS

Meggitt (MGGT.L) (pass)

Jardine Lloyd Thompson (JLT.L) (buy on weakness)

Keller Group (KLR.L) (hold)

The Daily Telegraph

BABCOCK HOLDS VT TALKS TO FIND "FAIR PRICE"

Babcock (BAB.L) and VT Group's VTG.L advisers are holding a series of meetings in order to arrive at a deal regarding a fair price for defence services company VT. Babcock has made a top offer of 715 pence a share while VT has signalled intent to hold out for 750 pence a share. The Takeover Panel has placed a deadline of April 12 for Babcock to make a formal offer or walk away for six months. VT also has a deadline of March 8 to make a firm offer for the support services company Mouchel (MCHL.L) for which it has been bidding since December.

RSA EXPECTS TO LOSE 30 MILLION POUNDS AFTER DISASTER IN CHILE

Insurance group Royal & Sun Alliance has revealed it expects losses of around 30 million pounds as a result of last weekend's earthquake in Chile. Paul Whittaker, chief executive of emerging markets at RSA, said: "At this time our absolute priority is making sure we can service our customers and provide them with whatever support they need. Our thoughts are with all our colleagues, brokers and customers in the region". The claims are unlikely to hit its 2010 profits.

OLYMPICS ENGINEER SEES PROFITS FALL BY 38.5 MILLION POUNDS

Shares in Keller Group (KLR.L) closed on Tuesday down 24 pence at 651 pence after the engineering contractor posted a fall in full-year pre-tax profits. The group reported profits of 74.7 million pounds, down from 113.2 million the year before due to the shrinking global construction industry and a shortage of contracts. Suggesting that the sector was likely to contract further, the group said it had yet to see a sustained upturn in orders and that 2010 was likely to be "another challenging year". However, Keller also said it expected government spending to remain relatively robust as well as spending in Australia and emerging markets, which accounted for 26 percent of the group's revenue last year.

WOOD GROUP EYES OIL OPPORTUNITIES

Oil services firm John Wood Group (WG.L) intends to spend up to 200 million dollars on acquisitions this year, despite reporting a fall in profits on Tuesday. The firm was affected by weakness in the engineering market, falling natural gas prices and delayed projects, with pre-tax profits falling by a third to 264.8 million dollars. Revenue was down six percent at 4.93 billion dollars. Chief executive Allister Langlands said the company would seek "opportunistic acquisitions" in places such as Abu Dhabi, Angola, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia. The firm also intends to expand its clean energy expertise alongside its oil and gas offering.

JLT RULES OUT LARGE DEAL AS PROFITS RISE

Britain's largest listed insurance broker, Jardine Lloyd Thompson (JLT.L), reported a rise in pre-tax profits and said that it did not intend to make a "transformational acquisition" this year. The broker enjoyed a 14 percent increase in revenue from higher fees and commissions for its insurance and pension's services provision. The company saw a pre-tax profit of 102 million pounds for the year, an increase on 92.8 million pounds the year before. Panmure analyst Barrie Cornes said the full-year results were better than had been expected as the economic downturn had not hit the company as first predicted.

QUESTOR

Fresnillo (FRES.L) (take profits)

Admiral (ADML.L) (avoid)

The Independent

TESCO CLOBBERS RIVALS BUT CO-OP STEALS THE SHOW

Tesco's (TSCO.L) reported an increase in sales of 5.9 percent for the 12 weeks to February 21, beating rivals Asda and Sainsbury's, according to figures revealed by Kantar Worldpanel. However, it was the Co-operative Group which recorded the best growth in the supermarket retail sector, beating its competitors with a sales increase of 16.3 percent.

INVESTMENT COLUMN

Barclays (BARC.L) (hold for now)

HSBC (HSBA.L) (hold)

Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY.L) (a speculative buy, sell above 75 pence)

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L) (avoid)

The Guardian

THE CITY REDS BEHIND MOVES TO BLOW THE FINAL WHISTLE.

Goldman Sachs chief economist Jim O'Neill, a lifelong Manchester United supporter, has emerged as the mastermind of an attempt to wrest control of the football club away from the American Glazer family. Despite the Glazers' declaration that the club is not for sale, O'Neill thinks that an offer of around a billion pounds would change their minds. Nearly 700 million pounds alone is needed to clear the club's debts. Football takeovers expert Hank Potts at Barclays bank described O'Neill as being "well positioned" to attract wealthy international investors to fund a bid.

Prepared for Reuters by Durrants.