PRESS DIGEST - British business press - Nov 6

The Times

DIC FORCED TO PLOUGH IN 53 MILLION POUNDS TO PROP UP DONCASTERS

Sovereign wealth fund Dubai Investment Capital has injected 53 million pounds into its 700 million pound engineering business Doncasters, in order to prevent a breach of banking covenants. DIC has been hit hard by the credit crunch after buying at the top of the market and, of its six portfolio companies, only Merlin has survived this year without an injection of capital. DIC has paid almost 100 million pounds in total into Doncasters, German industrial packaging business Mauser and UK hotel business Travelodge.

TREASURY SAYS NORTHERN ROCK MAY LOSE SAVERS AS GOVERNMENT PULLS OUT

The Treasury expects the withdrawal of government guarantees protecting 100 percent of deposits at government-backed bank Northern Rock will precipitate the withdrawal of billions of pounds of retail deposits. Treasury insiders have indicated that the government intends to removes the 100 percent guarantees in the spring in order that the "good bank" part of the business can be valued and sold back to the private sector.

RISE IN ADVERTISING SPENDING HIGHLIGHTS RENEWED PUSH FOR VOLUME BY UNILEVER

There are signs that advertising spending -- regarded as a significant indicator of economic activity -- is rising. Unilever (ULVR.L) announced Thursday that its spending on advertising rose 13 percent in the three months to Sept. 30 while ITV (ITV.L) reported a 4 percent year-on-year rise in advertising sales for December, the first rise since June 2008. Marks & Spencer (MKS.L) is to screen nine different advertisements over the Christmas period on a budget of 10 million pounds. General advertising spending in the UK is expected to be down by around 15 percent this year. Internet advertising is expected to fall by a much smaller percentage.

TEMPUS

Invensys (ISYS.L) (Buy)

Segro (SGRO.L) (Hold)

Catlin (CGL.L) (A buy for the brave)

Daily Telegraph

RBS TO LIFT VEIL ON TOXIC LOAN BOOK

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L) will reveal on Friday the full details of the 240 billion pounds of corporate and commercial loans that it intends to insure under the government's asset protection scheme (APS). The bank is also expected to report operating losses for the third quarter in line with those reported in its second quarter in August. RBS had originally intended to protect 325 billion pounds of assets in the APS but decided to withdraw some assets from the scheme. This coupled with significant writedowns in the value of other loans has significantly reduced the headline figure and the entry fee to the APS that RBS will have to pay.

PRU STARTS SHARIA-COMPLIANT FUND MANAGEMENT BUSINESS

Prudential (PRU.L) has launched a new fund management business in Malaysia aimed at the Southeast Asian Muslim population. The business, called Prudential Al-Wara' Asset Management Berhad, will be compliant with sharia law -- meaning that none of the funds invested into it will accrue interest. Instead investors will be able to benefit from the fund's returns as Islamic law allows profit when the risk is shared by the investor and the company. The business will begin with around 267 million pounds under management.