Profitable Group step up Magpies interest

It is understood they have registered their interest with Seymour Pierce a day after sources close to the group claimed it was planning a bid.

Several parties have contacted the investment bank, whose chairman Keith Harris has once again been handed the job of finding a buyer at owner Mike Ashley's asking price of £100million, but the process remains in its infancy.

There was again no official comment from the group's Singapore offices, while senior club officials had earlier dismissed suggestions that discussions had already taken place and revealed there had been talks with "three or four" other parties.

But Profitable have privately insisted they are serious candidates as a list of contenders gradually emerges.

The company, which has former Liverpool midfielder Steve McMahon as its group commercial director, is the first to raise its head above the parapet, although it may not be the last.

A South African consortium and an Oman-based group reportedly retain an interest in Newcastle, while speculation involving former chairman Freddy Shepherd refuses to go away.

Shepherd, who was left with little choice but to sell his shares to Ashley after he had bought out the Hall family, is rumoured to have been asked to spearhead a bid by an unidentified consortium.

Intriguingly, the city's evening newspaper, the Evening Chronicle, has claimed Shepherd has already held talks with Alan Shearer, although the nature of their meeting remains unclear.