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The Markets
Shares posted further gains and bond yields fell on Wednesday on speculation that the European Union and International Monetary Fund were getting closer to agreeing on a deal to purchase government bonds, lowering borrowing costs across the Eurozone. There was also optimism that Greece can now channel its full attention into its austerity plans as New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras was sworn in as the country's new prime minister. He vowed his government would do whatever it could to tackle the economic crisis. In the UK meanwhile, official figures indicated unemployment had fallen by 51,000 to 2.61 million in the three months to April, suggesting the economy was on the road to recovery. The Office for National Statistics made the comment that whereas in previous months the rise in employment was down to part-time workers taking up new employment, May's increase was spread between part-time and full-timers. At the London close the Dow Jones was down by 8.14 points at 12,829.19 and the Nasdaq was up by 2.10 points at 2,622.93.
In London the FTSE 100 rose by 35.98 points to 5,622.29; the FTSE 250 finished 151.88 points ahead at 11,022.81; the FTSE All-Share gained 21.28 points to 2,916.72; and the FTSE AIM Index climbed by 2.63 points to 681.79. 
Broker Notes WH Ireland upgraded its stance on 1PM (OPM) from "outperform" to "buy", with an increased target price of 0.15p, from 0.125p. The asset financing company announced a new 2 million pound facility, which the broker noted will significantly increase its lending power, forecasting a loan book of 13 million pounds by the end of the 2013 financial year. WH Ireland added that the group successfully entered the Northern Irish market and increased its lending limit to 50,000 pounds per customer, from 30,000 pounds. 1PM shares were unchanged at 0.1p. Shore Capital kept its "sell" rating for Admiral Group (ADM) following the Office of Fair Trading's slating of the motor insurance industry - calling it "dysfunctional" and "inefficient" - and decision to refer it to the Competition Commission. The broker believes that this could lead to Admiral taking a substantial hit to its ancillary income, which accounts for 63% of its pre-tax profits, as it may be revealed that this includes revenues from morally questionable sources. The broker also noted that personal injury referral fees, worth 7 pounds per vehicle, are likely to be banned from April 2013, denting profits further. The shares advanced by 24p to 1,179p. 
Fox-Davies reiterated its "speculative buy" recommendation for Alecto Minerals (ALO) following the completion of the African focussed miner's due diligence on the Licence 223 bauxite block in Guinea. The broker was impressed with the quality of the site as well as its proximity to existing rail and port infrastructure, but raised concern over the complications of operating in the country due to heavy regulation. Fox-Davies also pointed out that the firm has other assets in Mauritiania and Ethiopia, as well as a strong cash position. Shares in Alecto stayed flat at 1.83p. Canaccord Genuity maintained its "buy" rating for Restaurant Group (RTN) with a 385p target price. The broker noted that the Frankie & Benny's owner continued to enjoy growth, with like-for-like sales up 4% in the first 19 weeks of the financial year and total sales 8% higher. Canaccord added that figures from airport owner BAA indicated a 1.7% increase in air passengers in the period from January to May, which the broker believes could help boost the firm's concession businesses. The shares grew by 3.3p to 297.3p. Blue-Chips Oil and gas services company Petrofac (PFC) announced that it is the selected bidder for the Panuco integrated production service contract, in Mexico, in a joint-venture with Schlumberger. The development deal is expected to last for 30 years and covers four onshore fields, containing around 1,600 wells. Petrofac will make an initial investment of 17.5 million dollars (11.1 million pounds) in the project over the first two year, of which 75% will be reimbursed through a cost recovery mechanism. The shares declined by 57p to 1,455p. 
Rio Tinto (RIO) plans to invest 4.2 billion dollars (2.7 billion pounds) in order to develop its iron ore business, with 88% of the funds going to its Pibara mine in Western Australia. The remaining 501 million dollars (318.5 million pounds) will be used to install infrastructure at its Simandou project in Guinea. The mining giant noted that this would have no impact on the previously announced capital expenditure of 16 billion dollars (10.2 billion pounds) in 2012. Shares in Rio gained 44p to 3,095p. In a move to enter the Brazilian market, Sage Group (SGE) has acquired a 75% stake in accounting and payroll software developer Folhamatic Group, for 125 million pounds. The business software company noted that the target has a large presence in the country, with 13,000 accounting firms and 46,000 businesses as clients. In the year ended 31st December 2011, Folhamatic reported revenues of 42.4 million pounds, of which 80% was recurring. The shares jumped by 14p to 267.5p. Mid-Caps Shares in Kesa Electricals (KESA) sank by 2.75p to 52.5p after the company reported a pre-tax loss of 17 million euros (13.7 million pounds) for the year ended 30th April, compared to a pre-tax profit of 85.6 million pounds for the prior financial year. The electronics retailers suffered from very weak trading in Europe, leading it to cut its full year dividend from 7 cents (5.6p) to 3.5 cents (2.8p). Following the disposal of its UK Comet business, the group announced plans to rebrand itself after its core French brand, Darty. 
New World Resources (NWR) reported that it won its case at the Enterprise Chamber of the Amsterdam court of Appeals to acquire the remaining A shares of its Dutch division New World Resources NV. All other shareholders will be forced to sell their stakes to the coal miner at a price of 3.96 euros (3.2 pounds) per share. The payment is expected to go through after the period for appeal has lapsed on 19th September 2012. The shares climbed by 7p to 329.1p. Small Caps, AIM and PLUS Shares in TEP Exchange Group (TEX) surged 0.025p to 0.10p on news the endowment policy market maker had achieved a eight-fold increase in sales to 1.04 million pounds in the year to December thanks to the receipt of licencing fees for its electric platform from SL Investment Management. As a result, TEP saw its 2010 pre-tax of 86,000 pounds transform in a profit of 687,000 pounds, although the firm will not propose a dividend due to the recent cancellation of the licencing contract. Thankfully for investors the next set of financial statement will be generated on a going concern basis. Healthcare Locums (HLO) shares climbed 0.125p to 3.5p as the health and social care workforce company said that legal proceedings filed against the company and a number of its directors earlier this year has been voluntarily dismissed by the claimant. Permian Master Fund, Arundel Capital, Privet Capital and Flinn Investments had all alleged Healthcare Locums had misrepresented the company's profit figure in 2010. A 33% rise in revenue to 5.9 million pounds and a 13% increase in pre-tax profits to 1.04 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. 
Despite revenues falling by 29.1% to 7.77 million pounds in the year to December at Tinci Holdings (TNCI), the China focused environmental engineering saw its bottom line transform from a 96,000 pound loss to a 251,000 pound profit thanks to a firm control of operational costs. The fall in sales was attributable to ever increasing competition in the fleu gas desulfurisation market which made it more difficult to win meaningful contracts. Despite the group's end of 2011 order book more than halving to 4.57 million pounds the board plans on turning Tinci into a product-orientated company by developing processes involving the production of chemical products, utilising its close relationship with China Oil. Antimony exploration and development Tri-Star Resources (TSTR) provided the results of an independent geological assessment of the Göynük deposit in Turkey, which detailed a number of antimony mineralisations in within a volcanogenic core. Despite this there was insufficient geological and lateral grade continuity apparent in the drill hole assay results, meaning the prospect could be categorised a a JORC compliant mineral resource. Tri-Star shares slid 0.875p to 0.7125p. Rialto Energy (RIA) was pleased to report that the Gazelle-Pa ST3 well offshore Côte D'Ivoire was successfully drilled into a total depth of 2959 metres encountering the oil and gas zone it had anticipated. Samples collected from the well will now be collected and used to assist in the design if the Gazelle field development processing facilities. The shares climbed 1.125p to 16.25p but still trade someway off the company's IPO price of 27p this April. | 
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