BP Share News (BP.)

Broker comments in the UK today. Compiled by Dow Jones Newswires Markets Desk, markets.eu@dowjones.com Contact us in London. +44-20-7842-9464 Markettalk.eu@dowjones.com 0950 GMT [Dow Jones] BP's (BP.LN) asset sales to Apache (APA) are positive says Credit Suisse. "This transaction should remove concerns on BP's ability to finance its obligations." Apache will pay BP a cash deposit of $5B, notes CS. It estimates a total post-tax cost net to BP for Macondo of $44B over four years and after this move and based on existing funding lines of about $10B, CS thinks BP is able to fund up to $34B of costs and liabilities pretax. Excluding Macondo, CS estimates BP can generate $40B of free cashflow, fully covering $29B of post-tax Macondo costs and $10.5B of '11 dividends. Outperform rating, 515p target. Shares +3.8% at 402.2p. (andrea.tryphonides@dowjones.com) 0940 GMT [Dow Jones] The sale of BP's (BP.LN) US, Canada and Egypt assets to Apache Corp (APA) is a positive development, says Dolmen Securities. It marks the beginning of BP's divestment program, which will allow it to position its balance sheet so as to absorb the fallout from the Gulf of Mexico disaster, the brokerage says. Dolmen notes BP is expected to continue this program of asset sales over the coming weeks, with the oil major announcing Tuesday that it had informed the government and staff in Pakistan and Vietnam it intends to sell the majority of its assets in those regions. Shares +3.9% at 403p. (michele.maatouk@dowjones.com) 0937 GMT [Dow Jones] Panmure Gordon lifts its target price for SL International (SSL.LN) to 1163p from 885p, following Reckitt Benckiser's (RB.LN) cash offer of 1171p/share. Panmure doesn't see a counter offer being made and expects shareholders to accept the offer. The acquisition would represent an excellent strategic fit for Reckitt - with both Durex and Scholl becoming 'power brands' within the Reckitt stable - and should deliver continued growth. The acquisition would also enhance Reckitt's position in both China and Japan. SSL rated buy. Shares +33% at 1175p. Reckitt +2.6% at 3273p. (peter.nurse@dowjones.com) 0753 GMT [Dow Jones] Hochschild (HOC.LN) second-quarter production figures are solid, says Ian Rossouw of JPMorgan Cazenove. "Overall [this is] a positive release from Hochschild with a strong recovery in production and year-to-date production tracking in line with our FY2010 forecast with some potential to surprise to the upside." Ares, which is expected to close in 2H 2010, performed above expectations as it's effectively already produced what Cazenove estimated for the full year. The mine may now continue production beyond the scheduled close. Exploration also, is proceeding in line with expectations. Shares -0.8% at 290.90p. (alex.macdonald@dowjones.com) 0737 GMT [Dow Jones] Hochschild (HOC.LN) shares are slightly lower in thin volume while the rest of the FTSE mining sector is up because the miner's second quarter results were in line with expectations and failed to excite investors, says Cailey Barker of Numis Securities. Market participants "were expecting a bit more....[There] was no real update on the strategic stuff and people wanted more [news] on exploration," he says. Numis has a hold rating and a 330p target. Hochschild -0.1% at 293p. (alex.macdonald@dowjones.com) 0701 GMT [Dow Jones] Ocado Group's transition to becoming a listed company is proving to be a challenge, says Shore Capital. Says Ocado will clearly be disappointed that it has not raised the desired funds to proceed with the floatation at the aspired issue price of 200p-270p a share. However, the brokerage sees this as a "victory for common sense." Moreover, thinks that a revised 180p price is still too high for Ocado at this juncture. In the meantime, says the reputation of the company and the stock can only be tarnished by recent events, "which is a shame for all concerned," says Shore. (andrea.tryphonides@dowjones.com) 0659 GMT [Dow Jones] Reckitt Benckiser's (RB.LN) acquisition of SSL (SSL.LN) will accelerate its shift to the faster growing and higher margin health and personal care sector, says Chas Manso at Evolution. Says deal has been rumored for many years but now Reckitt has the balance sheet to do it. "The strategic rationale has been apparent for quite some time," he says. He rates Reckitt buy with 3800p target price. Shares closed Tuesday at 3190p. (michael.carolan@dowjones.com) 0657 GMT [Dow Jones] BP (BP) got a good commercial price for the $7 billion in assets it agreed to sell to Apache (APA) Tuesday, says ING analyst Jason Kenney. "Based on the book value it looks like a positive divestment," with a price of $19.44 a barrel for proved reserves. "I don't see this asset sale process as a fire sale...it's a good opportunity for BP to offload some peripheral businesses," he says. BP shares closed Tuesday at 387p. (james.herron@dowjones.com) 0654 GMT [Dow Jones] Land Securities Group (LAND.LN) is "delivering as you like to see in the current market," says JPMorgan. Has three main points: the company confirms the start of Trinity Leeds Shopping Center development, which is welcome; it delivers on targets, including progress on its development pipeline, sales and acquisitions, and "exactly what you would like to see in this type of environment; and Land Securities maintained its medium-term recovery outlook. Has neutral rating, with a target price of 765p. Shares closed at 581p. (anita.likus@dowjones.com) 0652 GMT [Dow Jones] Piper Jaffray upgrades Anite (AIE.LN) to neutral from underweight, and lifts the price target to 41p from 28p. Says the company's FY '10 results are ahead of expectations, and it is building a strong position in 4G/long-term evolution (LTE) in its wireless division. Says FY '11 will likely continue to be 2H weighted, but thinks the risk profile is changing. Says, "with clear signals that Anite is well positioned to gain a strong market position in 4G/LTE we feel the risk profile is shifting on Anite." Shares closed on Tuesday at 38.8p. (andrea.tryphonides@dowjones.com) 0652 GMT [Dow Jones] Morgan Stanley initiates Aggreko (AGK.LN) at equalweight with a 1600p target. Says Aggreko is a high quality business with significant long-term growth potential, and offers exposure to the trend of a global shortfall in power generation. However, "the downside risks cannot be ignored, namely, new competition and political upset in the IPP business, and further cyclical pressures in the local division." Says the risk-reward is too balanced for a buy rating. Shares closed at 1540p Tuesday. (peter.nurse@dowjones.com) Contact us in London. +44-20-7842-9464 Markettalk.eu@dowjones.com 0650 GMT [Dow Jones] Land Securities' (LAND.LN) first-quarter update is "reasonably upbeat," says an analyst at Evolution Securities. There are "no surprises and basically decent progress." The analyst adds that Land Securities has a very large City and West End development program, is bullish on the London office cycle and that both void rate and units in administration continue to fall, which is good. Still, he says he prefers rival British Land. (BLND.LN). Add rating on Land Securities, 630p target. Shares closed Tuesday at 581p. (anita.likus@dowjones.com) 0649 GMT [Dow Jones] HSI rises tad more vs midday, +0.8% at 20,416.51, bolstered by gains in U.S. stocks overnight, also as A-shares reverse losses with Shanghai Composite last +0.5%. Senior broker at Emperor Securities says A-shares' momentum "looks strong," notes A-shares led global equity market correction (peaked at roughly 3,500 in August 2009, earlier this month fell to near 2,300). "If A-shares have indeed bottomed out, which is a big if, then Hong Kong should track A-shares to move higher." Most blue chips higher, led by New World Development (0017.HK) +3.7% at HK$13.06, after Morgan Stanley starts stock at Overweight with HK$18 target; China Resources Power (0836.HK) +3.1% at HK$17.06. Market volume remains unexciting though at HK$33.56 billion. (robert.li@dowjones.com) 0647 GMT [Dow Jones]--Russia's severe drought and the "near certainty" of a poor grain harvest this fall will accentuate inflation risk for the country, Alfa Bank says. Raises its year-end inflation target to 7.5% from 7.0%. Higher inflation also lowers the possibility of further rate cuts from Russia's central bank, Alfa says. (ira.iosebashvili@dowjones.com) 0643 GMT [Dow Jones] China posts on-year, on-month declines in June refined copper imports due to arbitrage opportunities remaining closed for most of 2Q, says Shanghai Cifco Futures analyst Wang Zhouyi; adds copper consumers undergoing destocking after massive amount accumulated last year given "operation rates at cable and wire makers were pretty high--around 85%." Says imports may recover a bit in July, August on reopening of profitable arbitrage window between Shanghai, London. China's refined copper imports in June down 44% on-year, down 24% on month to 211,957 tons, while 1H imports down 13% on-year at 1.56 million tons, customs data say. (yue.li@dowjones.com) 0643 GMT [Dow Jones] Bunds are down Wednesday as stocks are expected to open higher, scuttling demand for safe-haven government bonds. The market is also preparing for an EUR4B auction of 30-year bunds later in the session, although there is no economic release of note in the euro zone. "With no key economic data today, the market will continue to track the 2Q earnings season along with rumours relating to Friday's stress tests. With Bernanke's testimony only due after the European market close, bund activity may be quiet today," says WestLB. September bunds are down 0.25 at 128.65 and the 10-year bund is down at 103.11 to yield 2.64%. (neelabh.chaturvedi@dowjones.com) 0639 GMT [Dow Jones] September bunds are down 0.25 at 128.65 and WestLB says the lows at 128.58 and 128.42 guard against a move towards key support at 128.18. Resistance is pegged at 129.14, 129.27 and 129.54. (neelabh.chaturvedi@dowjones.com) (MORE TO FOLLOW) Dow Jones Newswires July 21, 2010 05:50 ET (09:50 GMT)