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EADS Chief Executive Tom Enders is prepared to talk about guarantees for jobs and production sites if it merges with BAE Systems, according to an article in Germany's Bild newspaper. In an interview he also argued that a merged company offers the best opportunity to guarantee German jobs in a competitive global marketplace. It's the latest move to convince sceptical politicians in Germany, France and Britain to back the deal. Yet, political and national resistance is not going away over fears of job losses and the effect on national sovereignty. Corruption A report published by Transparency International appears to have raised heightened concerns over corruption in the industry. The Financial Times cites the report highlighting that UK defence firm BAE Systems appears to do more to prevent corruption than Airbus owner EADS. BAE ranks fourth most vigilant among companies, listed by the mechanisms they have publicly revealed aimed at minimising corruption, while EADS only scores 38th out of the 139 companies surveyed. The Guardian cites the report's author, Mark Pyman, expressing concerns that the combined entity will be above the law.

Coastal Energy has contracted the Manta jackup drilling rig for its operations in the Gulf of Thailand and offshore Malaysia. The oil and gas firm will pay a $145,000 a day for use of the rig over a period of 12 months. The company anticipates delivery of the Manta by late November. "The addition of a second drilling rig is an important milestone for Coastal, as it will allow us to conduct our development and exploration programs simultaneously," explained Randy Bartley, President and Chief Executive of Coastal Energy. "Given the active drilling programme that we have outlined, we believe a two rig programme is an appropriate step toward unlocking the value of our highly prospective asset base," Bartley added. Shares in the company tumbled 27.5p to 1,065p on the morning of the contract announcement.

Miner BHP Billiton is in talks with Petrobras to buy a stake in the Brazilian energy giant's Gulf of Mexico oil fields, according to an article in the Wall Street Journal published late Wednesday night. Petrobras, the Brazilian state-owned oil company, has reportedly valued its US offshore fields at approximately $8bn and enlisted Morgan Stanley to find a buyer for some of these assets. Reports in the Financial Times earlier in the week had suggested that Petrobras had narrowed the field to three possible bidders. BHP Billiton, a FTSE-100 constituent, was down slightly in early morning trade. However, this is maybe a delayed reaction to concerns over the effects of a slowdown in China. On Wednesday Sharecast reported that Bloomberg had cited ex-Morgan Stanley Chief Economist for Asia, Andy Xie, as forecasting that prices for iron ore - which reached a record $191.90 a metric ton on Feb. 16 last year - may plunge as low as $50 a tonne before the middle of next year. They haven't traded at that level since contract prices were set at $47 a ton in 2006. Morgan Stanley, while reiterating its 'overweight' recommendation has also lowered its price target for BHP Billiton from 2,180p to 2100p.

The main covenants are the net debt/earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) ratio, which has been set at a maximum of 2.5 times until maturity, and EBITDA/interest cover, which is required to be greater than 4 times until maturity. Renold will announce its interim results for the half year ended September 30th 2012 on Tuesday, November 20th 2012. Not surprisingly, broker finnCap expects to change its forecasts for the current year based on the latest trading update, but wants to talk to management before doing so. "As previously signalled, weaker demand conditions in Europe are affecting the group's sales in this area. The Americas continue to see year-on-year growth (although we suspect the growth rate may well be slipping there also)," speculates finnCap's David Buxton. "The group has once again illustrated how cyclical its markets are and furthermore just how operationally geared they are to changes in demand. The shares will clearly see significant weakness on the back of this announcement. The shares have recently been decent performers albeit off a low base. We place our rating under review," Buxton said

Engineering firm Renold is to take the axe to its cost base once again after issuing a profit warning. The board has made a good start with the refinancing of is main bank facilities, which will bring in an immediate reduction in borrowing margins of 1.25 - 1.50 percentage points, with scope for further savings as gearing reduces. However, the net impact of weaker demand has led the board to conclude that adjusted operating profit for the current financial year, ending March 31st 2013, will be "significantly below current market expectations and last year's result". Renold says that despite lower sales, the forecast cash flow for the year is unchanged due to further improvements in working capital ratios and careful management of other cash flows. The new banking facility is for four years, maturing in October 2016 and comprises a £41m multi-currency revolving credit facility with an additional £8m of ancillary loans. They have been provided by a banking group comprising Lloyds TSB and Svenska Handelsbanken.

Animalcare, a veterninary products group, has produced an anaemic set of full-year results with both turnover and profits below last year's levels. For the full year ended June 30th, revenue was down 8.2% at £10.9m with pre-tax profits down 27.5% at £2.1m. The results were in line with the profit warning given earlier this year. A slight positive was growth in its veterinary medicines business. Analyst Chris Glasper from House broker N+Singer writes: 'Key to the investment case remains organic growth in the Vet Meds category, with underlying growth continuing at 17%, well ahead of the market. "The regulatory approval already of the first two of a planned four new products in the year bodes well for sustaining this momentum, and the re-launch of Buprecare in calendar year 13 should help further." The company reports that current trading is "comfortably above" the same period last year so the hope is that its move up the value chain won't leave investors feeling as sick as a parrot.

Wolseley: UBS cuts target from 2,850p to 2,800p, neutral rating kept.

UBM: Westhouse Securities raises target from 715p to 805p, buy rating kept.

Ted Baker: Seymour Pierce keeps hold rating and 850p target; Panmure Gordon keeps buy rating and 975p target.

Tate & Lyle: Credit Suisse upgrades to outperform, target lifted from 700p to 750p.

Sportingbet: Deutsche Bank downgrades to hold.

Robert Walters: Seymour Pierce keeps sell stance and 165p target; Panmure Gordon keeps sell rating and 127p target.

Phoenix IT: Panmure Gordon upgrades from hold to buy, target lifted from 147p to 173p.

Pennon: Exane BNP Paribas cuts target from 750p to 700p, underperform rating kept.

Pearson: Exane BNP Paribas upgrades to outperform, 1,450p target kept. Panmure Gordon keeps hold rating and 1,300p target.

Matchtech: Seymour Pierce keeps add rating and 230p target.

Halfords: Seymour Pierce ups target from 300p to 340p, reiterates buy rating; Panmure Gordon raises target from 220p to 300p, hold rating kept.

Experian: Jefferies keeps buy rating and 1,060p target.

De La Rue: JPMorgan Cazenove upgrades to overweight, target lifted from 1,085p to 1,184p.

BTG: Deutsche Bank raises target from 384p to 394p, buy rating kept.