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Monday's most followed: DTZ Holdings, Premier Foods, Carphone Warehouse, Costain Group, Weir Group, Oracle Coalfields

Last updated: 11:57 07 Nov 2011 GMT, First published: 12:57 07 Nov 2011 GMT

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Real-estate broker DTZ Holdings (LON:DTZ) drew interest this morning after becoming the heaviest faller in London as it revealed that according to valuations in takeover proposals it has so far received, its shares have “minimal, if any” value, given the level of its debt.

Shares in the company collapsed 86 percent to 3 pence, while the announcement showed up among the most read RNS statements of the day. In addition, DTZ topped the list of the most searched for UK companies on Google Finance.

The company, however, said that the exact value of its shares is unknown, adding that the formal sale process is ongoing and has attracted considerable interest in the business.

In contrast, midcap Premier Foods (LON:PMO) did very well today, rallying 11.5 percent to become the top riser in the FTSE 250 in early afternoon thanks to an agreement with its banking syndicate to defer its covenant test from the end of the year to March 31 2012.

This agreement forms part of the company's discussions about longer term refinancing of the Group's debt and confirms ongoing bank support for the business, said Premier Foods.

“This is an important step towards securing a longer term financial foundation for the business. I am very pleased that after sharing our vision and high-level plans, our banking syndicate has confirmed its support,” said chief executive of Premier Foods Michael Clarke.

Other popular stock exchange statements included the shutdown of all of Carphone Warehouse’s (LON:CPW) 11 Best Buy stores in the UK, which could eliminate over a thousand jobs in the country.

The decision came after the stores posted a loss of £47 million in the six months period ending September 30.

The company also announced an agreement to dispose of its interest in Best Buy Mobile US and Canada for £838 million, saying up to £813 million of upfront proceeds will be returned to shareholders.

Engineering and construction group Costain (LON:COST) has also caught the eye of investors, reporting that it has traded in line with expectations and its order book has reached £2.6 billion following major contract awards in the period from the beginning of July.

“Whilst challenging market conditions are set to continue for the foreseeable future, the Board expects to report results for the year in line with its expectations,” said Costain.

The group added that its cash position continues to be strong with over £100 million in the bank with no significant borrowings.

The update from Costain was well received by the markets as its shares climbed 1.25 percent to 203 pence, while Weir Group (LON:WEIR), which also released an interim management statement today, disappointed, seeing its shares drop 4.7 percent to 1,840 pence.

The engineering firm said conditions across the mining and upstream oil and gas markets remained strong in the third quarter and as a result its has performed well, achieving a new  record  in  quarterly  order  input.

Weir said it is confident of achieving a strong set of results in 2011, in line with its expectations, expecting to begin 2012 with a record order book.

However, investors were spooked by Weir’s comments that net debt has increased since the start of July due to further investment in working capital, which is also expected in the final quarter of the year.

In addition, Weir said conditions in the downstream market in oil and gas remain challenging while trading environment in the power and industrial segment remains mixed with continuing delays in nuclear projects and largely weak general industrial markets.

In the meantime, it was no surprise that macroeconomic concerns took centre stage on bulletin boards, where investors were discussing the situation in Italy, which saw its bond yields rise to 6.63 percent as traders were worried about the possibility of a political crisis in the country.

The Italian government is set to hold a crucial budget vote tomorrow that could potentially force the resignation of the current government led y Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, further complicating its efforts to find its way out of the debt mess.

The high yields will make it problematic for the debt-laden country to raise funds that equal more than 20 percent of its GDP next year, increasing the possibility of a default by the euro zone’s third largest economy.

On the corporate front, Oracle Coalfields (LON:ORCP) was among the most actively discussed stocks. Investors following the Pakistan operating miner drew attention to the fact that the company is developing a 1.4 billion tonne coal resource in the Sindh province, Pakistan, while its market cap stands at below £15 million.

Some posters noted that as the company’s attributable resource stands at 1.12 billion tonnes, based on the share price, the market is currently attributing a value of just 1.3 pence per tonne of coal.

Oracle investors are waiting for the release of the definitive feasibility study (DFS) over the Block VI, Thar coal project, which they said should lead to a re-rating of the shares as the markets realize the value of the company’s assets.

The plan is to mine around 1 million tonnes a year from 2013, which will be sold to Lucky Cement and used to heat its kilns.

Output will then ramp up to 2.5-3 million tonnes annually as its deal with the Karachi Electric Supply Company, or KESC for short, kicks in.

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