MARKS & SPENCER SAYS TRADING 'MORE DIFFICULT' SINCE OCT 12

BREAKING NEWS

* Mandelson comes out fighting on state aid; Brussels urged to halt protection of national industries - FT

* Private sector set for extra 1 bln stg boost from NHS - FT

* BRITISH AIRWAYS attacks US bankruptcy procedures, widely used by the American airline industry, as being another form of state aid - FT

* Shares in JARVIS plummet 60 pct as a warning of further losses and financial setbacks raises fresh concerns about the future of the support services group - FT

* DIAGEO and Pernod Ricard strenuously deny a claim by the Columbian government that they are embroiled in the contraband liquor market - FT

* BT buys Infonet for 965 mln usd

* Kohlberg Kravis Roberts understood to be among the private equity suitors for COX INSURANCE, the motor insurer that confirmed bid interest at the weekend

- FT

* RAYMARINE, the supplier of fish finders and navigation equipment to leisure boaters, plans to seek a listing on the main market in an initial public offering that could value it at close to 125 mln stg - FT

* CARPHONE WAREHOUSE has the worst overall customer satisfaction record among all the leading mobile phone retailers, according to a new survey by JD Power and Associates - Independent

* J SAINSBURY faces further distribution woes next week as EXCEL, which runs the supermarket's East Kilbride distribution centre, holds crisis talks to avoid a strike - Times

* Financial Times considering closing its weekly media supplement, Creative Business, in a 7 mln stg cost-cutting drive - Guardian



PRESS COMMENT

FT

THE LEX COLUMN comments on BRITISH AIRWAYS (for BA's charms as a geared cyclical play to emerge, higher traffic volumes need to be accompanied by pricing power), BT/Infonet (financially, the deal stacks up nicely, given the scope for cost reductions), News Corp, Chinese currency - IMPERIAL TOBACCO (hard to see where share price upside will come from until the buy-back programme gets under way)

Mail

BIOFUELS CORPORATION (a ceremony takes place today to mark the start of work at its 250,000-ton-output complex Seal Sands)

Express

WHO'S DEALING: INTERTEK (chairman sells 50,000 shares at 678-1/2 pence each) - SHARE WHISPER: WINCANTON (expected to make a bid for CHRISTIAN SALVESEN once its interim results are out of the way on Thursday) - BROKER'S VIEW: KINGFISHER (Merrill Lynch cuts estimates)

Independent

THE INVESTMENT COLUMN: FKI (worth holding), CARR'S MILLING (avoid), VTR (buy)

Times

RUMOUR OF THE DAY: WORLD TELEVISION (word it has won a contract to televise The Greatest Race on Earth, the inaugural four-marathon event sponsored by Standard Chartered, the bank) - DIRECTORS' DEALINGS: INTERTEK (directors sell stock) - IMPERIAL TOBACCO (sell), DCC (avoid), COX INSURANCE (worth holding in the expectation that a bid materialises)

Guardian

SAGE (Microsoft competition threat) - COURTS (rumours that some of its leather suppliers have stopped doing business with the company because they could no longer obtain credit insurance)

Telegraph

QUESTOR: IMPERIAL TOBACCO (nothing wrong with smoking out a bit of profit, if you've made it), FKI remain a good recovery play), UNIQ (with the company still looking ripe for a takeover, it could be a good idea to hang on a little longer)

Morning all.

Just a reminder that the webcast is about to start at 11am

Ian

Afternoon all