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Competion
The UK-Analyst Friday Competition is back! For your change to win two jars of Oglivy's Honey send us your funniest caption for the picture below. Email your entry to richard.gill@t1ps.com by 9am on Monday morning. 
Honey trader Shamus Ogilvy wants to make you banish blended honey to the back of your kitchen cupboard. His award-winning Oglivy's Honeys fine, rare and ambrosial honeys from artisan beekeepers around the world are now available nationwide. Visit www.ogilvys.com for more information. We're giving away two jars of Ogilvy's Honey to the lucky winner. 
The Markets The UK equity markets fared well on Friday with banking shares leading the way on news that the Bank of England was preparing to launch two new stimulus packages. It wasn't all good news however as it was unveiled that the UK's trade deficit widened to its highest level in almost seven years in April to 4.4 billion pounds. The gap was attributable to an 8.6% fall in overall exports following a slump in car and chemical sales overseas. Meanwhile, in Greece, politicians were making their final pleas to voters ahead of the nation's elections this Sunday, the result of which is likely to determine whether it remains a Eurozone country. At the London close the Dow Jones was up by 69.06 points at 12,720.97 and the Nasdaq was up by 21.43 points at 2,561.40.
In London the FTSE 100 rose by 11.76 points to 5,478.81; the FTSE 250 finished 122.31 points ahead at 10,696.94; the FTSE All-Share gained 15.74 points to 2,847.21; and the FTSE AIM Index climbed by 3.36 points to 674.30. 
Broker Notes Northland Capital Partners maintained its "buy" rating for Europa Oil & Gas (EOG) with a 8.30p target price. The broker expects the hydrocarbon explorer to reach average production of around 200 barrels of oil per day in the 2012 financial year, from its East Midland sites. Northland added that the firm had a good exploration pipeline in the UK and estimates that it has a mean net risked exploration potential of 3.7 million barrels. Shares in Europa were unchanged at 5.88. Panmure Gordon reiterated its "buy" recommendation for Dixons Retail (DXNS) with a target price of 28p. The high street electronics retailer is expected to report pre-tax profits of between 65 and 70 million pounds, with the broker noting improved trading in the UK during the fourth quarter. Panmure believes that focus will now shift to turning around the struggling South European market as well as its PIXmania business, with a goal of improving group profitability by 100 million pounds over the next three years. The shares inched up by 0.02p to 12.99p. 
Singer Capital retained its "buy" rating for M&C Saatchi (SAA) with an increased target price of 165p, from 161p. The broker noted that the advertising agency has enjoyed several contract wins since the start of the new financial year, adding that a number of deals from 2011 will make their first revenue contributions in 2012 as well. Singer raised its revenue target for 2012 by 6.4% to 164.7 million pounds, with earnings forecasts putting the shares on a prospective multiple of 8.7 times. The shares crept up by 1p to 138.5p. WH Ireland kept its "buy" recommendation for Avesco Group* (AVS) with a 225p target price. The media firm reported a trading profit of 2.1 million pounds in its first half, ended 31st March 2012, compared to a loss of 0.3 million pounds in 2011's comparable period, with the broker noting that the firm introduced an interim dividend of 1p per share. WH Ireland added that if the verdict for the company's case against Disney is upheld, with a decision expected in 2013, it would be worth 140p per share to the firm. Shares in Avesco were flat at 150p. Blue-Chips Shares in UK banks were bolstered by news that the Bank of England will introduce a new stimulus package, to help increase lending in light of recent weak economic figures. Instead of a new round of quantitative easing, the BOE will provide cheap loans to retail bank as long as they use it to provide loans to UK businesses. The move is designed to prevent the banks from holding onto the money, or investing abroad. This is exactly what analyst Luka Lukic was suggesting earlier this week on ShareCrazy.com. to read his analysis CLICK HERE. On the back of the news shares in Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) leapt by 18.2p to 247.6p, Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) shares advanced by 1.55p to 31.3p, while those of Barclays (BARC) gained 8.05p to 200.8p. 
In a move to increase its presence in the Irish market, SSE (SSE) has agreed to buy Endesa Ireland for a cash consideration of 320 million euros (256 million pounds). The target operates four sites across the country with a total capacity of 1.07 gigawatts, with an additional 220 megawatts of net capacity to be added in 2014, to be powered by either fuel oil or gasoil. The acquisition is expected to be earnings enhancing in the first full year of operations. The shares declined by 26p to 1,364p. Aggreko (AGK) expects to report year-on-year revenue growth of 15% for the six months ending 30th June 2012, with a 20% rise in profitability. During the period, the generator and chiller hire company won over 700 megawatts of new contracts, including a 75 megawatt deal with Japanese utility company Hokkaido Electric Power. The firm added that it would increase investment in its fleet by 50 million pounds in 2012, to 415 million pounds. Aggreko shares tumbled by 94p to 2,066p. Mid-Caps Oil and gas engineering firm Lamprell (LAM) announced that it has successfully completed the construction and delivery of the Hull 108 mobile drilling platform to Compania Perforadora Mexico. The contract was awarded in December 2011, and the firm will use 70 million dollars (45.1 million pounds) of the proceeds to pay off debt raised for the acquisition of engineering group Maritime Industrial Services, purchased in July 2011. The shares soared by 15.95p to 95p. 
India focused Essar Energy (ESSR) has begun operations at unit 2 of the Salaya I power project, which has a power capacity of 600 megawatts. The news follows on from the commissioning of the 600 megawatt Salaya I unit 1 in April, and brings the energy company's total capacity to 2.8 gigawatts. The power plant cost 1.1 billion dollars (0.7 billion pounds) and is the first of three projects scheduled for completion in 2012 which are expected to raise the firm's capacity to 4.51 gigawatts. Essar shares rose by 7.8p to 119.5p. Small Caps, AIM and PLUS Albemarle and Bond Holdings (ABM) admitted that over the last eight week period growth has slowed significantly following a marked slowdown in gold buying activity, meaning profits for the year to June would be below expectations. The company reported that it was too early to tell if this is a reflection of the reduction in footfall from the wet weather conditions or whether it is a developing trend. The shares recovered well from an early plunge, closing just 1p lower at 275p. Thalassa Holdings (THAL) finished off what has been a good week for the marine surveying company, its shares surging by 10.5p to 55p on news it has acquired a further two compressor units, increasing the firm's operational flexibility. The units have been purchased in order for Thalassa to meet the increased level of interest in its services; the group announced on Monday that contracted revenues for 2012 stood stood at circa 15 million dollars. 
The termination of a number of franchises will have a 'detrimental effect' on performance at United Carpets Group (UCG) in the year to March according to the retail carpet firm. United Carpets conceded that the challenging market environment announced earlier in the year has remained, leading to a significant proportion of its franchise network operating unsatisfactorily with particular issues in meeting their liabilities. The group's shares, which are already were already down a third since the start of the year, plunged by 1.5p to 2.25p. Hygiene control firm Tristel (TSTL) has reacted quickly to the termination of its supply arrangement with Medichem International by creating a new brand identity, Anistel. Anistel has been successfully launched, with its product range including surface disinfectants, instrument cleaners and skin disinfectants, with Tristel using its existing in-field telesales marketing team to push the brand. The firm now believes that pre-tax profits for the year to June will be at least 650,000 pounds, which may improve if a number of veterinary clients place orders before the end of the period. Tristel shares climbed 1p to 29p. Security and risk management firm Red24 (REDT) unveiled a 16% jump in pre-tax profits to 863,000 pounds for the year to March on the back of a 10.6% rise in sales to 5.82 million pounds. The firm's special risk business for insurers performed particularly strong thanks to its growing reputation in the field, while the security service division posted modest growth following increased affiliation with a number of major insurance providers. With Red24 finishing the period with cash of 2.07 million pounds, almost double that of 2011, the firm increased its dividend by 33% to 0.32p per share, offering a yield of 2.4%. Red24 shares rose 0.5p to 13.25p. Empyrean Energy (EME) announced it has satisfied the conditions enabling it to draw down on the first 10 million dollars of its 50 million dollar debt facility with Macquarie Bank. The facility will support Empyrean's participation in the development of the Sugarloaf project, an area within the highly prospective Eagle Ford Shale asset in Texas, US. The drawdown will occur as cash calls by the operator of the prospect are received. Empyrean shares closed 0.125p ahead at 7.125p. The Week Ahead Next week we look forward to final results from wine retailer Majestic Wine (MJW), electronic intellectual property company Imagination Technologies Group (IMG) and nuts and bolts manufacturer Trifast (TRI), which noted a strong recovery at the end of the year after a shaky third quarter. There will also be full year results from software developer Micro Focus International (MCRO), which broker Singer Capital expects to report EBITDA of around 176.1 million dollars (113.5 million pounds). We will also hear full year results from sports science firm Provexis (PXS), as well as telecommunications and broadband provider Daisy (DAY) with investors looking for news on the integration of Worldwide Group Holdings, acquired in April for 28 million pounds in cash. Meanwhile, there will be interim results form defence company Chemring Group (CHG) and Zambia based farmer Zambeef Products (ZAM), as well as an interim management statement from Argos and Homebase owner Home Retail Group (HOME) which Panmure Gordon maintains has too many stores and too high a cost base. * Avesco is a corporate client of Rivington Street Holdings, the ultimate owner of UK-Analyst. | 
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