Friday's Stock Market Report from UK-Analyst: featuring Experian, Eros International and the Weekly Competition

From UK-Analyst.com: Friday 13th July 2012 Competition The UK-Analyst Friday Competition is back! For your chance to win a copy of The EU in a Nutshell by Lee Rotherham (RRP12.99) send your funniest caption for the picture below to richard.gill@t1ps.com by 9am on Monday morning. The Markets Shares across Europe rebounded as poor growth figures from China fueled speculation that the nation's central bank would take further steps to increase its monetary stimulus programme. The world's second largest economy posted economic growth of 7.6% for the second quarter of 2012, the sixth consecutive quarter of growth decline and the lowest pace in three years. In the UK, the construction sector delivered a stark picture of the state of the economy as output for the sector was shown to have fallen by 6.3% in May, according to official figures. The main driver of the fall was a 22% slump in new public works, a reflection of the impact of government cuts. At the London close the Dow Jones was up by 165.75 points at 12,739.02 and the Nasdaq was up by 25.49 points at 2,570.79. In London the FTSE 100 gained 57.88 points to 5,666.13; the FTSE 250 finished 119.78 points ahead at 11,043.83; the FTSE All-Share rose by 26.91 points to 2,934.22; and the FTSE AIM Index climbed by 4.92 points to 693.94. Broker Notes Panmure Gordon reiterated its "sell" recommendation for Mothercare (MTC), with a target price of 155p. The children's goods retailer will issue a first quarter trading update on 19th July and the broker expects the firm to report a 7% decline in UK sales, with 16.6% growth internationally. Panmure believes the UK business will continue to lose money for at least the next three years, pointing to high levels of competition. The broker added that the firm hired Dominic Lavelle as its interim finance director and noted that Lavelle has a history of making very significant changes. Shares in Mothercare were unchanged at 192.25p. Canaccord Genuity retained its "buy" rating for Aviva (AV.) with a target price of 350p. The broker approved of the firm's decision to simplify its operations, estimating that the reduced revenues will be offset by cost reductions. Canaccord noted that only 15% of the insurance company's capital is employed in high performing business areas, suggesting significant room for improvement of returns. On the broker's earnings forecasts, the shares trade on a prospective multiple of 15.1 times for 2012, falling to 6.7 times in 2013. The shares advanced by 4.3p to 293p. Daniel Stewart maintained its "sell" recommendation for Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) with a 26p target price. The broker raised concerns that the bank will be forced to sell 630 branches to Co-operative Group at a significant discount to the previously rumoured 1.5 billion pounds. Daniel Stewart now expects the figure to be more around the 1 billion pound mark, including additional performance based payments. Additionally, the broker believes the company's deleveraging will result in a loss of mortgage market share. The shares inched up by 0.03p to 30.2p. Shore Capital lowered its stance on Booker Group (BOK) from "hold" to "sell" stating that while the food wholesaler is a strong company, it believes that the time has come to take profits. On the broker's forecasts, the shares trade on a prospective earnings multiple of 18.2 times, a significant premium to its UK peers. Additionally, Shore pointed to its EV/EBITDA multiple of 11.2 times, putting it on par with global giants such as Coca-Cola. Booker shares declined by 2.35p to 88.95p. Blue-Chips Experian (EXPN) reported revenue growth of 7% for the three months ended 30th June, year-on-year (14% at constant exchange rates) including 11% growth in Latin America (33% at constant rates). The credit checker's performance was heavily impacted by the depreciation of the relative strength of the US dollar, but benefited from a number of acquisitions, including Virid Interatividade Digital and Computec. The shares fell by 19p to 932p. Mobile telecoms giant Vodafone (VOD) announced a 50/50 joint venture with peer Three to share physical network and site infrastructure in Ireland. The deal covers around 2000 locations in the country and will generate cost savings, by allowing the firms to buy equipment together in larger orders. The shared infrastructure will also allow for better mobile network coverage for customers. Vodafone shares crept up by 0.95p to 182.85p. Mid-Caps Electronics distributor and maintenance company, Electrocomponents (ECM) achieved 5% sales growth in the UK during its first quarter, ended 30th June, with the firm's new Raspberry Pi miniature computer accounting for 2% of the growth. However, international sales declined by 2%, with the largest fall of 4% being in North America. The group noted that its maintenance business represented around 60% of total sales and 54% of revenues were secured through online operations. Shares in Electrocomponents jumped up by 12.8p to 212.5p. Small Caps, AIM and PLUS Shares in Eros International (EROS) slipped by 12.5p to 182p as the Indian film producer posted an 8.3% decline in pre-tax profits to 43.6 million dollars for the year to March as cost of sales and administrative costs soared, despite revenue jumping 25.4% to 206.5 million dollars. The improvement in top line was attributable to a number of major global releases during the year including Ready, Ra. One, Rock Star and Desi Boys. The firm however was hit by a significant rise in amortisation costs, a hike in marketing spend and a disproportionate jump in rental, legal and personnel costs. A steep decline in the value of the Indian rupee meanwhile only poured salt into wounds. As part of the ongoing development drilling programme at the Trintes field, offshore Africa, Bayfield Energy (BEH) confirmed the B3 23ll well has been completed and has achieved production at a stabilised rate of 536 barrels of oil per day. The oil and gas exploration company noted the results confirm the production potential of the south-west part of the field where three further development wells are planned to be drilled this year. Following the addition of B3 to its production portfolio, Bayfield is now generating in excess of 2,300 barrels of oil per day from the Trintes field. Bayfield shares surged by 5.5p to 18.5p. The announcement that Eredene Capital (ERE) could be returning 15.3 million pounds to shareholders by way of a tender offer sent shares in the Indian infrastructure company 1.625p higher to 15.125p. In 2010 Eredene won, as part of a consortium headed by Spanish port operator Grup Maritim TCB, a deal to build and operate a new container terminal at Ennore Port in southern India. Eredene went on to raise 29.5 million pounds to fund its 22% working interest in the deal, however the project has been delayed thanks to on-going negotiations with the State Bank of India regarded debt financing. As a result, Eredene has been able to reduce its contribution to the project and will be in the position to return cash to investors by purchasing 19% of the company's issued share capital at 18p per share. The acceleration in the roll-out of EMIS Web software enabled clinical software business EMIS Group (EMIS) to confirm trading for the six months to June was slightly ahead of expectations. At the period end there were 747 live EMIS Web GP practices with 121 being installed in June alone, the result of a significant increase in the size of the workforce dealing with this product. The group added its senior management team was also bolstered by the recent additions of a new chief operating officer and chief technology offer, which it hopes will address further opportunities within the clinical software marketplace. EMIS shares jumped 12.5p to 630p. Cyan Holdings (CYAN) shares slipped 0.075p to 0.4p on news that the utility metering software design company plans to raise 2.1 million pounds via a issue of more than 600 million shares - just over a third of its current share base of 1.64 billion - at a price of 0.35p, a discount of 26.3% to the pre-announcement share price. Cyan intends to use to proceeds of the placing to fund general working capital requirements and business development. Cyan made a pre-tax loss of 3.15 million pounds in 2011 on sales of 460,000 pounds. Kazakhstan cement manufacturer Steppe Cement (STCM) unveiled some impressive progress during the first half of 2012, reporting a 2.4% rise in the quantity of cement sold to 615,838 tonnes and a 19.9% increase in the average selling price per tonne to 54.28 pounds. These two factors combined translated into a 23% increase in the revenue generated from cement sales to 33.43 million pounds, news that was enough to send its shares 1.5p higher to 27.5p.

Ensure delivery of tips and research from UK-Analyst.com, add UK-Analyst@news.t1ps.com to your address book. UK-Analyst.com is owned by t1ps.com Limited which is regulated and authorised by the Financial Services Authority. The information contained within "The Stock Market Reporter is not intended as financial advice and its veracity cannot be guaranteed. You are receiving this email because you have signed up with us to receive it.

If you do not wish to receive such emails please use the following link to unsubscribe.

UK-Analyst.com is owned by t1ps.com Ltd which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority

The hot share tips given here are of necessity, general. They cannot relate to the individual circumstances of investors. Anyone considering following the share tips contained here should seek independent advice from a Financial Services Authority authorised Stockbroker or Financial Adviser. So, while we would not wish to reduce our liability under the FSA regulatory regime, we cannot otherwise be held liable if individuals suffer losses through following share tips contained on this site or emailed out as free share tips. The value of investments can go down as well as up. The past is not necessarily a guide to future performance. Investing in shares can lose you part or all of your capital although the potential returns are theoretically unlimited. The difference between the buy share price and the sell share price for smaller company shares (penny shares) can be significant. Profits from dealing in shares may be liable to tax - the level of tax and bases of relief from tax are subject to change. Changes in the rates of exchange may have an adverse effect on the value or price of an investment in sterling terms if it is denominated in a foreign currency. Financial spread betting is a high risk investment, losses from which are potentially unlimited. Some of the shares recommended on this site will be smaller company shares. By their nature such investments can be relatively illiquid and thus hard to trade. And that makes such investments more of a high risk than larger company shares (or 'small caps'/'penny shares'). UK-Analyst.com defines a smaller company share as any stock traded on AIM or PLUS or which has a market capitalisation of less than GBP300 million.