PRESS DIGEST - British business - July 9

The Times

GFK TEAMS UP WITH FINANCIAL BIDDER TO TOP SORRELL IN THE FIGHT FOR TNS

A consortium led by German market research group GfK (GFKG.DE) is to make a last-ditch attempt to prevent advertising giant WPP (WPP.L) from winning control of Taylor Nelson Sofres TNS.L. GfK plans to top any bid that Sir Martin Sorrell, WPP's chief executive, announces on Wednesday and is already in talks with TNS about a nil-premium merger. The Takeover Panel imposed a "put up or shut up" deadline of Wednesday by which WPP has to show its hand, following its indicative offer last week of 260 pence a share. The WPP board met on Tuesday night to decide whether to table a formal bid.

IRATE M&S SHAREHOLDERS DEMAND FRESH TALKS WITH BOARD

Institutional investors in Marks & Spencer (MKS.L) are preparing to mount the largest protest vote against the high street retailer for a decade as they push for fresh talks with the board about how the company is run. Following the profit warning that wiped one billion pounds from M&S shares last week, the company will be pressed to address concerns about how Sir Stuart Rose will manage the business as executive chairman, shareholders said. In protest at Rose's dual role, which ignores corporate governance best practice, about 25 percent of investors are expected to abstain or vote against his re-election at Wednesday's annual meeting.

PERSIMMON CUTS 1,100 JOBS AS HOUSEBUILDERS SUFFER

Persimmon (PSN.L), one of the UK's biggest housebuilders, is to cut more than 20 percent of its workforce as the property market continues to suffer. The company will shed 1,100 jobs, bringing total job losses in the sector to 4,200 in a week. Mike Farley, chief executive, said: "This is not a short-term scenario. We think this will last for 12 to 18 months, depending on how the mortgage market reacts." Persimmon's shares, which have tumbled 90 percent in the past 18 months, rose by four percent on Tuesday despite it revealing that its sales revenues were down 34 percent to about one billion pounds.

The Daily Telegraph

MERGER OF AA AND SAGA LIFTS REVENUES

The private equity backed merger last September of travel and insurance services company Saga and roadside assistance group the AA helped drive a four percent increase in revenues in the year to the end of January. But Acromas, formed following the merger, was pushed 255.7 million pounds into the red at the pre-tax level by costs accrued in digesting the six billion pound deal. Ebitda rose 8.4 percent to 484.5 million pounds on pro-forma revenues of 1.5 billion pounds.

A&L CLOSE TO ENDING HUNT FOR NEW CHAIRMAN

Alliance & Leicester ALLL.L is close to appointing a successor to Sir Derek Higgs, the bank's late chairman, who died in April. A&L is in final discussions with Alan Gillespie, chairman at Ulster Bank for the past seven years, and will hope the appointment will steady its share price amid fears the bank might have to raise new capital. The stock has fallen from eight pounds to below three pounds since January and on Tuesday closed 33.75 pence down at 214.75 pence.

HEYWOOD WILLIAMS SHARES FALL BY 46 PERCENT

Heywood Williams HYWD.L, the door and window manufacturer, has said full-year profits are likely to be "significantly below market expectations" as a result of the housing slump. The building materials group said difficult trading conditions in the first half of the year were "likely to deteriorate further in the second half", which saw its share price plummet by 46 percent. It refused to rule out further redundancies in the second half, having already shed 135 jobs in the six months to June 30. The shares closed down 6.27 pence at 7.48 pence.

The Independent

MORSE STOCK PLUMMETS 18 PERCENT AS CHIEF EXECUTIVE LEAVES IT FIRM

The IT services company Morse (MOR.L) announced on Tuesday the departure with immediate effect of chief executive Kevin Alcock. In its full-year trading update, Morse said annual earnings to the end of June are expected to be broadly flat at 12.2 million pounds on revenues marginally below last year's 257 million pounds. The company attributed this to "some deterioration in short term services in the final quarter of the year as clients have reduced discretionary spend". The shares fell by 17.7 percent.

PRIMARK'S OXFORD STREET STORE HAS TAKEN 200 MILLION POUNDS SINCE IT OPENED

Primark has had sales of nearly 200 million pounds at its flagship Oxford Street store since its opening last year. The approximately 70,000 square foot store, which is thought to be delivering average weekly sales of between 2.5 million and three million pounds, witnessed chaotic scenes at its April 2007 opening as shoppers scrambled to be the first inside. Associated British Foods (ABF.L), Primark's owner, will give a third-quarter trading update on Wednesday that is expected to show Primark's sales growth has slowed but remains ahead of high-street rivals Next (NXT.L) and Marks & Spencer (MKS.L).

WAITROSE TO OPEN CONVENIENCE STORES IN PURSUIT OF 27 BILLION POUND MARKET

Waitrose is planning to take on Marks & Spencer (MKS.L), Sainsbury's (SBRY.L) and Tesco (TSCO.L) with the launch of its first grocery convenience store early next year. The consultant Anthony Wysome, a former senior project manager at Waitrose, has been re-hired as head of convenience to lead the John Lewis Partnership-owned [JLP.UL] chain's push into the fast-growing 27.4 billion pound market for small shops. "We would hope to be trialling a shop within six to nine months," said a Waitrose spokeswoman.

The Guardian

B&B INVESTORS FLEE AS SHARES FALL FURTHER 19 PERCENT

The 400 million pound rescue package put together for Bradford & Bingley BB.L by some of the City's largest financial institutions has had little impact on the continuing slide in its stock as investors continued to desert the bank on Tuesday. B&B's shares were down 19 percent by the close to a new low of 34 pence. One analyst speculated the bank would end up being bought by a rival for next to nothing: "It is hard sometimes to see the difference between this situation and Barings, which was bought for a penny by ING after it collapsed."

TNK-BP FACES TAX AUDIT WITHIN HOURS OF HARRASSMENT COMPLAINT

Tax inspectors in Moscow have started an "unusually rigorous" audit of TNK-BP in the latest blow to BP's (BP.L) Russian joint venture. The requests for unprecedented levels of information on a group of foreigners seconded to the company came just hours after Gordon Brown had raised the issue of official harassment of the company with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. A BP spokesman in London said: "These kinds of audits go on all the time but the latest one seems to involve an unusually rigorous claim for documentation."

PARTYGAMING STRUGGLING TO MATCH PRIZES

The London-listed gambling group PartyGaming (PRTY.L) is struggling to match its online poker competitors in Europe for the sign-up bonuses and competition prizes they offer, the company said on Tuesday. "Strong competition -- particularly from poker sites that continue to accept U.S. players -- has led to an increase in bonuses and costs associated with some of our poker tournaments," PartyGaming said in a statement. The group's shares closed down 10 percent, falling 24.75 pence to 223.5 pence.

Prepared for Reuters by Durrants