Market Report: Brokers give Experian credit for Brazil bid talks

News that Experian, the consumer credit rating agency spun out of GUS in October, is in exclusive talks with its Brazilian rival Serasa, passed largely unnoticed on Wednesday, thanks to the Budget. However, some brokers believe that a deal is good news, and UBS and Credit Suisse both raised their target prices in the light of a possible bid.

In a note to clients, Credit Suisse pointed out that Serasa is the world's fourth- largest consumer credit group and that acquiring it would give Experian access to high-growth emerging markets. The Swiss broker reiterated its "outperform" rating and 700p price target. Despite this, shares in Experian fell 3p to 600.5p.

A vague bid rumour did the rounds at Antofagasta, the Chilean copper mining group, as the stock rallied 19.5p to 518.25p. Some traders put the move down to metal prices, but futures were only marginally better and the copper rivals Kazakhmys, 15p better at 1,149p, and Vedanta Resources, up 2p to 1,336p, barely registered on radar screens.

Whitbread bounced back after some profit-taking on Wednesday, with traders buoyed by talk of a $3bn (£1.53bn) bid for the US hotels group Orient Express. One trader said: "Whitbread should hang on to this bid premium for a while even if a bid does not materialise." The shares closed at 1,898p, 34p better.

Retail sales figures came in at double City forecasts, prompting speculation that the Bank of England may be forced to raise interest rates and encouraging investors in banking stocks. Barclays added 26.5p to close at 737p, helped by talk that it will attempt to push through a merger with ABN Amro. Meanwhile, ABN upped its recommendations on Lloyds TSB and HSBC, 6.5p better at 565.5p and 17p firmer at 898p respectively.

An initial burst of enthusiasm among traders wore off as the session progressed, and London shares lost much of their early gains. However, late bargain-hunting dragged the FTSE 100 higher, to close 61.2 better at 6,318.

A robust trading statement from the specialist mortgage lending companyParagon Group had a positive impact across housing-related sectors. Rightmove, the online estate agency, topped the mid-cap risers with a 30p gain to 513.75p as Paragon told investors that activity in the first half of the year has remained strong. Savills was also in demand, adding 19.5p to 677p. Altium Securities reiterated its "buy" stance on Paragon with a 750p price target, helping the shares to close 24.5p firmer at 612p.

Goldman Sachs upped its price targets for the engineering group Charter, 29p better at 913p, and the temporary office space provider Regus, 7p firmer at 143.25p. The broker raised its price target for Charter to 1,100p, implying 24.4 per cent of upside from yesterday's opening price of 884p, although somewhat bizarrely it maintained a "neutral" recommendation. Its target for Regus is 195p, implying 48 per cent of upside.

Medsea Estates Group, the Spanish estate agency group, was a strong small- cap riser after a solid set of full-year results. Although some investors believe the boom in Spanish property is looking decidedly toppy, the company reported a bullish set of results, with pre-tax profits rising to £2.9m, up from a £0.5m loss last year, along with a 55 per cent jump in full-year revenue to £13.3m. The shares added 3p to close at 16.5p.

Poor drilling news and a subsequent downgrade by the broker Bridgewell Securities sent Global Energy 24p lower to 104p, although the broker did point out that the bad news makes the company vulnerable to a bid. The group said testing at its Luna Llena-1 well in Colombia had not found it commercially viable.

Traders are looking out for developments at Central African Mining, the group chaired by the former England cricketer Phil Edmonds, after 16 million shares changed hands on Wednesday and almost 10 million went through yesterday as the price nudged 1.25p better to 62.25p, a three-month high. The word is that a US hedge fund is looking to build a sizeable position on the back of production figures from the Congo.

Finally, small-cap investors will be expecting a decent start for Enfis as it makes its debut on AIM today. The solid-state lighting manufacturer is another technology start-up from Sir Terry Matthews' stable, and the Welsh entrepreneur is expected to retain a 15 per cent stake. The company has raised £4m through a placing by the broker Noble at 140p per share and demand for the stock is thought to have been strong.

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