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Fresnillo pleases market with gold output targeting 50% rise: Shares in mining company Fresnillo were up by 5.39%, after the company reported a “robust operational and financial performance” in 2014 at its annual meeting.

German rental property fund eyes a float on the London Stock Exchange: German real estate investment vehicle Phoenix Spree Deutschland will announce it intends to float on the main market of the London Stock Exchange next month.

Oil’s well for North Sea freelancers: The number of permanent jobs advertised in the North Sea oil and gas sector has fallen by a third in the past year following a slump in crude prices.

North Sea player Tom Cross targets $100 million deal: The Parkmead Group run by Tom Cross is looking at North Sea acquisitions worth up to $100 million (£64 million) weeks after he said the fall in the oil price created opportunities for the firm to make some cheeky offers.

Cranswick good for the long term: Cranswick, the East Yorkshire-based sausage maker, may have experienced a slight dip in reported profits in yesterday’s annual results. But looking into the detail shows that its move into cooked meats and pastries will create a more profitable future. The falling prices of pork - down to about 130p per kg from 173p per kg two years ago - led to a 10% drop in fresh pork sales, while a £4.2 million accounting charge relating to the value of Cranswick’s herd of Yorkshire pigs. So, reported pretax profits were down by £2 million on a year ago, to £52.8 million to the end of March. The sales of pork pies and sausage roles helped pastry sales jump 72% higher during the year. Overall the underlying pretax profits, which remove one-off accounting charges, gained 10.6% to £57.8 million. The shares are trading on a forecast price-earnings ratio of 16 times. This looks fair given the track record, cash generation and strong balance sheet. The move to more profitable areas of food production looks sensible and the above inflation dividend increase make the shares one for the long term. Cranswick at £15.51-37p. Questor Says “Buy”.

Babcock delivers on cash and profits: Babcock International is a prodigious generator of cash from the predictable revenue of its government defence contracts and the company once again demonstrated this with a jump in profits and 10% increase in the dividend in yesterday‘s full year results. The FTSE 100-listed company has made a habit of using this cash generation and strong balance sheet to fund expansion over the years. Shares in Babcock fell from a peak of almost £13 in February last year (once adjusted for the five-for-13 rights issue used to fund the deal). The company was also hit by a sharp fall in the oil price at the end of last year, as about a third of Avincis’ revenue comes from the oil and gas sector. The company is well placed to pick up work from the armed forces forced to deliver the same service at lower costs. The Defence and Security division which keeps tanks and vehicles moving and offers technical training for troops saw revenue fall 5% to £812.8 million but operating profits up 9% to £128.7 million. The Avincis deal increased risks to equity holders as net debts rose to £1.33 billion at the end of March. However, the cash generation was impressive and underpinned confidence in a 10% dividend increase to 23.6p, with the final going ex-dividend on July 1 and paid August 12. The dividend is covered almost three times by free cashflow. These results show that Babcock is still cash generative after the Avincis deal. Mr Rogers said that if the amount of cash the company is currently making is maintained it could look at another acquisition or return cash to shareholders within two years. The shares, trading on 14 times forecast earnings, falling to 13 times next year, remain an attractive long term bet. Babcock International at £11.11+30p Questor Says “Hold”.

GVC and Amaya link up for bwin.party bid: GVC Holdings and Canadian company Amaya Gaming have teamed-up for a €1.5 billion bid to break-up bwin.party digital entertainment, in an attempt to see-off an approach from rival bidder 888 Holdings

Poker face-off: Internet poker has lost some of its gloss with Britons since they twigged professional players were lying in wait to fleece novices. Asset transfers of a different sort are accordingly under way among businesses spawned by the noughties boom in online gaming. Bwin.party is the current prize in the consolidation card school, with 888 the latest aspirant to take a seat at the green baize by making a bid approach. A price of £1 billion has been mooted for Bwin, formed through the fraught merger of Ms Parasol’s PartyGaming and Bwin Interactive in 2011. That looks expensive, given that the enterprise value of Bwin is already 11 times forecast earnings before nasties. The Israeli Shaked family, which has a big stake in 888, will be alert to that danger. They fended off an approach from William Hill this year, judging it too tight-fisted. But sitting out consolidation altogether could leave 888 too small to compete effectively in a maturing and increasingly regulated industry

Military contracts boost Babcock profits: The biggest shake-up in decades at the Ministry of Defence has benefited Babcock, which posted a 43% rise in full year pretax profits

WPP to launch sports rights agency: WPP has stepped into the increasingly lucrative arena of sports rights, setting up a new agency to represent the likes of the Cleveland Cavaliers basketball team, Manchester City of the English Premier League, and the England and Wales Cricket Board.

U.K. banks appoint Sants to lead review of competitiveness: Sir Hector Sants has been appointed to review the competitiveness of British banks on behalf of the industry, stepping up pressure on the newly elected government to soften its recent regulatory and fiscal clampdown.

Metro Bank customers to borrow through P2P site: Metro Bank has struck a deal to become the first British bank to lend through a peer-to-peer platform, fuelling concerns that institutions are crowding out individual investors from the rapidly growing sector.

Office builders aim high in central London: Office-building in central London has risen by almost a quarter over the past six months, but the capital is still suffering from a severe undersupply of work space

At 0330GMT today, Brent crude oil one month futures contract is trading 0.18% or $0.12 lower at $66.15 per barrel, ahead of data from API. Yesterday, the contract declined 0.81% or $0.54, to settle at $66.27 per barrel as last week’s disappointing macroeconomic data from US overshadowed Iraq and Yemen clashes.

Again we revisit Royal Dutch Shell, having closely watched the shares rise +8.9% from 1984p to 2162p in the 7 trading days between 9th - 17th April. The shares have fallen subsequent to this high back to today’s closing price of 2011p, having gone ex-dividend on Thursday and closing the week down 1.96%. Adding to the decline was oversupply concerns in the oil market with Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and United Arab Emirates all ramping up their output to the highest level since 1985. Clients may take the view that this decline means shares are now approaching attractive levels for re-entry into this particular trade. Our analysis going back to March of this year indicates that the shares may fall further from these levels but that it is now an interesting time to start looking at the shares as a buy. The recent approval for Shell to commence Arctic drilling will take time to feed through to the bottom line but is no doubt a positive, given that the Arctic is thought to hold around 20% of the worlds undiscovered oil and gas reserves. We reaffirm our belief in the level of support afforded to the 1980p mark for RDSB, given that it held these levels when the oil price rout was at its peak.

Sentiment for U.K. assets fell in vote run-up: Investor sentiment toward British assets declined in the run-up to the General Election, according to a survey of investors, when polls suggested there was a strong chance of a hung parliament.

Aqua Shard scales new flowery heights: The shard, which set the record for the tallest building in Western Europe when launched in 2011, will set some equally lofty standards when the Aqua restaurant is decorated in 20 feet flowers for the launch of the Chelsea Flower Show.

M&S in spotlight as profits rise: Marks & Spencer is set to post its first improvement in annual results in four years when it presents its results to the City on Wednesday.

The Barbour jacket makes a packet as fashion brand’s annual sales jump by 10%: British outdoors fashion brand Barbour has reported a 10% jump in sales to £167.4 million for 2014 and a £10 million dividend to be shared out among the Barbour family

888 set to announce Bwin takeover bid: Online gaming group 888 is expected to announce on Monday it has made a takeover approach to rival Bwin.party digital which could create a merged business worth more than £1 billion.