SHARE TIPS FROM THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPERS
A round-up of share tips from the Sunday business sections.

Mail on Sunday Alpha Airports (81p) has shown good recovery in the second half of its financial year after the double impact of war in Iraq and Sars. First-half sales grew 1% to 213m with growing budget airline traffic giving its retail arm a boost. This offset a fall in flight catering which suffered from the slide in long-haul travel. The paper notes its recent share price rise but says prospects look better now than they have for a long time.

Sunday TelegraphFriends Provident reported a rise in nine-month sales while its rivals struggled with falls. The paper says Friends (137.25p) is the only life insurer to trade at below its underlying worth of 153p-a-share it rates the shares a buy. It also tips Persimmon (464.5p), now the UK's largest housebuilder after its takeover of Beazer, and computer games firm Eidos (156p) which it says looks cheap compared to US peers.

Independent on SundayInvestor faith inconsumer products giant Unilever (502.5p) has been tested this year by warnings over sales forecasts and a US slowdown. However, third quarter results showed encouraging growth in emerging markets, while the group remains very profitable and is sticking to full-year forecasts of double digit profit growth. The paper says there is talk of share buy-backs or an increased dividend and reckons shares are undervalued.

Sunday ExpressThird quarter figures from Abbey National (562.75p) suggest the troubled bank may be over the worst. Although the trading statement was neutral overall, its personal finance arm showed a rise in mortgage market share and progress on cost cuts. Closure of its portfolio business unit, cause of many of the bank's woes, is also on track under new chief executive Luqman Arnold. Analysts at Commerzbank have a price target of 670p.