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Thursday, June 21, 2012

Thursday's Stock Market Report from UK-Analyst featuring Rolls-Royce, Aquarius Platinum and ServicePower Technologies


From UK-Analyst.com: Thursday 21st June 2012

The Markets

European leaders are to meet once again as Greek prime minister Antonis Samaras confirmed that he wanted to renegotiate the terms of the nation's bailout. It is believed that those in Athens would like to see the terms of the loans increased so that the monthly payments would be smaller. Spain meanwhile said it was close to completing the audit of its banks after which it will confirm exactly how much funding its banking sector will need to keep it from trouble. Back home there was some positive news for the high street as month-on-month UK retail sales were shown to have sprung 1.4% higher in May, beating analysts' 1.2% forecast. In addition, mortgage lending and home sales also rose last month, having fallen in April. However, the Council for Mortgage Lenders admitted this measure would likely zig-zag throughout the year as events such as the Diamond Jubilee and the Olympics distorted figures.

At the London close the Dow Jones was down by 95.32 points at 12,729.07 and the Nasdaq was down by 33.27 points at 2,590.06.

In London the FTSE 100 fell by 55.93 points to 5,566.36; the FTSE 250 finished 76.14 points behind at 10,946.67; the FTSE All-Share lost 25.27 points to 2,891.45; and the FTSE AIM Index declined by 1.58 points to 681.23.

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Broker Notes

Daniel Stewart reiterated its "buy" recommendation for CML Microsystems (CML) with an increased target price of 22.9p, from 19.8p. The semiconductor manufacturer reported sales growth of 6% for the year ended March 2012, to 23.41 million pounds, roughly in-line with the broker's forecast of 23.92 million pounds. Daniel Stewart believes that the firm's core Hyperstone solid state memory product will be a key component of its clients' long term development plans, providing high revenue visibility. On the broker's projections, the shares trade on a prospective multiple of 12.1 times for 2013, falling to 9.9 times in 2014. CML shares were unchanged at 271.5p.

Shore Capital downgraded its stance on WM Morrison (MRW) from "hold" to "sell", with a target range of between 225p and 260p. The broker reduced its 2013 pre-tax profit forecast by 5.5% to 889 million pounds, noting that the supermarket has been losing market share since autumn 2011. Shore attributes this to the firm's new ranges, such as M-Kitchen, failing to resonate with traditional customers, while not yet attracting more upmarket clientele. The shares fell by 3.9p to 269p.

Panmure Gordon maintained its "buy" recommendation for Endace (EDA) with a 530p target price. The broker believes that the appointment of Simon Wilson as a non-executive director for the network monitoring company will provide it with considerable experience, given his prior work at peer SurfControl. Additionally, Panmure said that the group's recent strategic review, conducted by Deutsche Bank, provided it with useful insights into how to develop its business. On a prospective EV/Sales multiple of 2 times for 2013, the broker noted that the shares trade at a 50% discount to its international peers. Endace shares stayed flat at 367.5p.

Singer Capital retained its "buy" rating for Creston (CRE) with an increased target price of 80p, from 75p. The communications group met the broker's 2012 full year targets, with a higher than expected dividend of 3.5p. Singer is encouraged by the firm's growing international exposure, accounting for 30% of revenues, compared to 25% in 2011, and believes that this will increase further as the Corkery acquisition is integrated. The shares were unchanged at 54p.

Blue-Chips

Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) announced that it has begun construction of a new Advanced Blade Casting Facility in Rotherham. The factory will be capable of manufacturing 100,000 blade per year for use in jet engine turbines, and is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2014. The aerospace company also noted that it had invested 950 million pounds in developing its infrastructure in the UK over the last five years. Rolls-Royce shares inched up by 4p to 860.5p.

Mid-Caps

Ashtead Group (AHT) reported pre-tax profits growth of 332% in the year ended 30th April 2012 to 130.6 million pounds, with fourth quarter growth of 736% to 25.6 million pounds. The industrial equipment rental company invested 476 million pounds during the year, primarily on fleet replacement, reducing the average age of the rental fleet to 37 months, from 44 months. The firm also noted significantly improved operational efficiency and enjoying lower financing costs. Ashtead shares climbed by 4.4p to 254.8p.

It was a short roller coaster ride for Invensys (ISYS) shareholders after the shares shot up some 25% in the last half hour on trading on Wednesday before crashing back down 37p to 220p on Thursday. Excitement was sparked by speculation over a potential takeover of the engineering and information technology company. However, the firm quashed these rumours by stating that while it had been in preliminary discussions with prospective buyers, these talks have since been discontinued

Shares in Aquarius Platinum (AQP) crumbled by 6.5p to 53.2p after it announced that the scheduled ramp-up at its Everest mine in South Africa encountered poor ground conditions and suffered from strikes. Combined with the relatively weak price of platinum, the miner said that this has rendered the site uneconomic and it will therefore be closed until conditions improve. This is the latest in a string of calamities to befall Aquarius, including a fire at its Mimosa operation in Zimbabwe and the closure of its Marikana project.

Dixons Retail (DXNS) reported a 3% fall in full year like-for-like sales, although noted a recovery in the final quarter, with growth of 5%, year-on-year. The commercial electronics retailer enjoyed a strong performance in the UK & Ireland and Northern Europe markets, with profits rising 15% and 12%, while Southern Europe and its online PIXmania business both reported losses of 19.8 million pounds and 13.8 million pounds respectively. The group substantially reduced its net debt from 206.8 million pounds to 104 million pounds and added that it has secured a new 300 million pound credit facility maturing in June 2015. The shares rose by 1.19p to 17.19p.

Small Caps, AIM and PLUS

Noventa Limited (NVTA) shares collapsed 1.35p to 2.75p as the mineral exploration company conceded that following ongoing negotiation with Richmond Capital LLP it no longer expects to finalise the 13 million dollar refinancing plan announced last month. As a result the board is now exploring other routes to finance its operations including a possible equity issue while continuing in discussions with Richmond. Noventa's existing 10 million dollar loan facility with Richmond expires on 31st July 2012 and the company must find additional finance before this arrival of this date.

Continental Coal (COOL) shrugged off the recent fall in its share price, which has seen the coal miner's market cap fall by more than half to 31 million pounds since March, by reporting it is not aware of any reason for the fall. The board reassured investors that its two thermal coal mines in South Africa are both forecast to achieve record production in 2012 and that the Vlakvarkfontein mine in particular has generated cash flows in excess of budget year to date. Relieved by the news, investors piled back into the shares, which climbed 0.75p to 7.375p.

Financial difficulties advisor Fairpoint Group (FRP) unveiled it now expects pre-tax profits for the year to December 2012 to be ahead of market expectations thanks to strong growth from its claims management services arm. While market conditions for the group's core activities remain subdued this division is expected to continue to contribute positively through the remainder of 2012 and 2013. Net borrowings as of 19th June were 75% lower than the figure announced at the start of the year at 1.6 million pounds. Fairpoint shares rose 6p to 67.5p.

News of three further contract wins at ServicePower Technologies (SVR) sent shares in the field management group up 0.75p to 7.125p. ServicePower will provide its software-as-a-service-platform, ServiceOperations, which enables clients to manage the dispatch of jobs and the payment of claims to Americas distribution company ESI International, and consumer electronics manufacturers Funai Service Corporation and Haier America Trading. Chief executive Mark Duffin commented "the extended capabilities of the platform and increasing customer-base mean we are well positioned for future growth".

Technology investment company Spark Ventures (SPK) achieved an 18% increase in net asset value to 16p in the year to March following impressive growth from a number of companies in its portfolio. Spark generated a profit of 10.1 million pounds for the year on the back of unrealised investment uplifts from Kobalt, Aspex and notonthehighstreet.com, the latter more than doubling in value to 11 million pounds. The board added it expects to announce another substantial shareholder return come autumn this year. The shares closed 1.25p higher at 8.75p.

Enova Systems (ENV) announced the chief executive officer Mike Staran and non-executive director Richard Davies have both resigned from the board of directors this week to pursue other business interests. As previously outlined by the company due to continued delays in industry adoption of electric vehicle technology, which resulted primarily from ongoing battery cost and reliability concerns, Enova's revenues continue to significantly decrease. As a consequence and as part of cost cutting measures, in excess of 80% of the workforce has now left the company. The shares slipped 2.5p to 10p.

Correction from Stock Market Report on Wednesday 20th June 2012:

A 33% rise in revenue to 58.9 million Malaysian ringgits (11.8 million pounds) and a 13% increase in pre-tax profits to 10.9 million ringgits (2.1 million pounds), during the year to December 2011, sent shares in Red Hot Media International (RHM) 2.5p higher to 36p. The firm benefited from its expanding market share in the advertising sector, which accounted for 97% of the group's revenue, and so a 22% decline in sales from its newly restructured financial services businesses only marginally offset growth. As a reward for investors' patience, the company will be issuing a maiden scrip dividend to shareholders of one new ordinary share for every ten shares held. In addition to this, the board will seek approval from shareholders for a additional 20% share special dividend.

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