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Date: Tuesday 26 Aug 2008

LONDON (ShareCast) - Taylor Wimpey shares were a hot item Tuesday on the back of a report in Building magazine which said the beleaguered housebuilder had been given breathing space by its bankers.

The magazine reports that Taylor Wimpey is on the verge of finalising an all-debt deal with its banks which would involve interest cover covenants being converted into cash flow covenants.

The deal is said to be similar to one concluded by equally hard pressed competitor Barratt Developments earlier this month.

Taylor Wimpey is weighed down with £1.7bn in debts and saw its share price virtually halve on 2 July when it admitted that it had failed to secure a deal with existing and potential investors to raise further equity capital.

The company said at the time it remained committed to raising new funds “in the near future”.

Full details of the deal are expected to be revealed on Wednesday along with the company’s interim results, which are likely to make grim reading for shareholders.

The company’s order book was 33% lower by value at 29 June than at the comparable period in 2007, and the company has announced write-downs of £660m in the value of its land bank this year with £550m of that in the UK. Attention will be focused on whether further write-downs are deemed necessary.

Oil and gas company Tullow Oil is up almost 10% in August having fallen throughout most of July.

Like most oil companies it will have benefited from high oil prices, though the effects of these will be partially offset by its hedging strategy.

Broker KBC Peel Hunt is going for pre-tax profits of £116m for the first half of 2008, up from £67m a year earlier. The broker says the real driver of the share price, however, is the exploration potential, so updates on drilling activities may prove of more interest than the P&L.

Market research group Taylor Nelson Sofres, the subject of unwelcome bid interest from WPP Group, gets the chance to toughen up its shareholders’ resistance to WPP’s offer with interim results due on Wednesday.

All regions are expected to contribute to growth, with Europe and ALM (Asia Pacific, Latin America, Middle East and Africa) continuing their strong performance, although more modest growth is seen in North America.


Wednesday August 27

INTERIMS
1st Dental Laboratories, Axis-Shield, FBD Holdings, Glanbia, Johnston Press, Kingspan Group, Lookers, OJSC Pharmstandard, Paddy Power, Plaza Centers, SEGRO, Severfield-Rowen, Source BioScience, Stadium Group, Taylor Nelson Sofres, Taylor Wimpey, The Advantage Property Income Trust Limited, Tullow Oil, Yule Catto

INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE
Brunner Investment Trust

INTERIM EX-DIVIDEND DATE
Admiral Group, Benfield Group, British Smaller Technology Companies VCT 2, Capita Group, FDM Group, Fidessa, Fresnillo, Henderson Opportunities Trust, Holders Technology, InterContinental Hotels Group, Liberty International, Mondi, Ocean Wilsons, Patsystems, Raymarine, Rights & Issues Trust, Robinson, ROK, Treatt, United Business Media, W H Ireland, Wren Homes, WSP Group, Xaar

QUARTERLY EX-DIVIDEND DATE
Canaccord Capital

FINALS
Ennstone, Hargreaves Lansdown, West Pioneer Properties (DI)

AGMS
Aortech International, Bglobal, Gasol, Triple Point

TRADING ANNOUNCEMENTS
Safestore

FINAL EX-DIVIDEND DATE
Admiral Group, AssetCo, Blacks Leisure, British Smaller Technology Companies VCT 2, Datong, eServGlobal, Fletcher King, Henderson Smaller Cos. IT, HMV Group, Intelek, NCC Group, Spice, Stagecoach Group, Templeton Emerging Markets Inv Trust, Touchstone Group

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