The high street scrapping over Marks & Spencer finally came to an end last week. Philip Green, realising that he could not garner sufficient shareholder support to force the board to open its books, walked away on Wednesday.

The rules state that he cannot make a further offer for six months. The onus is now firmly on the new M&S management team to drive the business recovery and reward the loyalty of its large individual shareholder base. The pressure is on, particularly so, as the autumn and winter ranges have already been ordered by the previous management.

AstraZeneca is possibly the most widely held share by value in the region. Thousands of ICI workers, who are mostly ICI pensioners now, took part in share rewards of ICI stock. In June 1993, ICI shareholders received a free issue of Zeneca shares on a 1 for 1 basis. At the issue date, ICI shares were then re-valued at 631p and Zeneca shares valued at 625p.

The fortunes of the two companies subsequently headed off in different directions. Although the share prices have fluctuated widely since 1993, it is clear which company has done better. ICI shares currently stand at just over £2, whereas AstraZeneca have recently headed south towards £23. At their best, in March 2002, the shares peaked at £36.

Thursday sees AstraZeneca publish half-year numbers. The shares have taken a bit of a hammering over the past month, not helped by a major broker downgrade, citing concerns about the prospects of leading drugs Seroquel and Exanta.

A big problem for the large pharmaceutical companies is the threat of competition from generic drug producers. These are often fended off by lengthy lawsuits to stop them coming to market. This, then, gives the pharma giants enough time to come up with the latest blockbuster drugs.

Drug trials now have to take longer and there is always a desire from governments to reduce the patent period. AstraZeneca has survived the toughening regulatory background comparatively well. Indeed, the US Government is supportive of drug companies to the extent that it does not wish to see widespread global drug piracy.

The importance of the US elections later in the year cannot be underestimated. AstraZeneca, like other global players, has a very high proportion of its sales in North America. John Kerry, the Democrat candidate, has stated that there would be healthcare reforms on any change of administration.

Difficulties with cholesterol-lowering drug Crestor have caused some questioning of the previous consensus that AstraZeneca had the world's strongest portfolio, but Exanta, Nexium and Iressa are all possible blockbusters for the rest of the decade.

PD Ports made its debut on the junior AIM market last week. Floated at 100p a share, the price closed at 97p at the end of the week. It is obviously early days to make anything of the new company over one week. Many of the same employees through Tees and Hartlepool Port Authority, Powell Duffryn and Nikko held shares in their company, and it is hoped that at some stage in the future, incentives will be offered to encourage the workforce to take a greater participation in the ownership of the company.

- For investment advice contact Anthony Platts on 01642 608855.

Published: 20/07/2004