Wednesday tips round-up: Vodafone, BPI, UTV Media...

Vodafone chief executive Vittorio Colao has taken about a billion of costs out of the group, which will generate free cashflow of £6.5bn over each of the next three years.

Vodafone does not need the windfalls coming in from China or anywhere else; analysts are dreaming of share buybacks, but no guidance is being given. For now, the company has pledged to raise its dividend by no less than 7% a year. The shares are buttressed by a 6% yield. A solid hold says the Times.

The rising price of polymers meant BPI's first-half operating profits were off by 10% at £12.2m, ahead of a £2.8m net gain from a property sale. Though the outcome for the rest of the year will inevitably depend on what happens to prices, there is sufficient confidence in the future for the interim dividend to be increased from 3.5p to 3.65p. The shares therefore look cheap, selling on a little more than five times this year's earnings and yielding a respectable 5% suggests the Times.

Safestore, which provides storage to more than 44,000 customers, said that revenues grew by 9% on higher occupancy and that it expects to hit full-year targets, sending the shares up by 11.7%. The storage sector may have a tough time of it in the coming months, but there is enough evidence to suggest that Safestore is well set to deal with some nasty bumps. Buy says the Independent.

Investors fancying a dabble in the Russian property market could do worse than Raven Russia, suggests the Independent. The Guernsey-based group specialises in commercial property in Moscow and St Petersburg, and after an initial development phase - buying the land and building the facilities - is now in full swing finding tenants for its warehouses. Not for the faint-hearted, but for investors looking for some interesting diversity, Raven Russia is worth a punt. Buy says the Independent.

UTV Media predicts revenues will be 10% up overall in the third quarter, and it has continued to reduce its debt pile. While investors should be wary that a slide in the economy could see revenues suffer, at analysts' estimated price of 6.9 times full-year earnings, this stock looks worth buying says the Independent.

BTG is loss-making at present, having poured R&D spend into Varisolve, which treats varicose veins without surgery. It is expected to return to a limited profit next financial year, though any bonanza from its real blockbuster, CytoFab, which treats sepsis, looks further off. Too soon to chase says the Times.


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