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From UK-Analyst.com: Monday 23rd July 2012
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Competition Congratulations to Lawrence Grantham whose caption (below) has been voted the wittiest and has won the Friday competition. Watch out for another (less offensive) contest later in the week.  "Another blackhole filled on the balance sheet" The Markets A growing fear that the Spanish government may soon be forced to request a bailout pushed stock markets deep into the red on Monday and forced the Spanish 10-year to a new euro-era record of 7.56%. Subsequent to the drop, Spain's market regulator CNMV placed a three month ban on short-selling, a move it hopes will reduce volatility and maintain market order. On Friday, one of the country's largest regions, Valencia, requested financial aid from the central government, with the Murcia region admitting it would consider following suit on Sunday. Meanwhile in the UK, the Financial Services Authority said a further seven banks had agreed to review the sale of specialist insurance to small business to check they have not been mis-selling. The move follows the emergence last month that Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds and RBS could face a bill of up to one billion pounds for mis-selling 28,000 interest rate protection products to small businesses. 
At the London close the Dow Jones was down by 157.57 points at 12,665.00 and the Nasdaq was down by 53.39 points at 2,564.65.
In London the FTSE 100 fell by 117.90 points to 5,533.87; the FTSE 250 finished 271.94 points behind at 10,896.91; the FTSE All-Share lost 61.78 points to 2,873.37; and the FTSE AIM Index slid by 17.33 points to 668.47. 
Broker Notes Investec Securities reiterated its "buy" recommendation for Kirkland Lake Gold (KGI) with a 1,007p target price. The broker said that the US focused gold miner has 4 million ounces of gold inventory in a region that has historically produced 22 million ounces. Investec added that the firm is undertaking an expansion programme, with the broker forecasting production to rise to 196k ounces per year, from 98k ounces in 2012. Shares in Kirkland declined by 16.5p to 661p. 
Shore Capital retained its "buy" rating for Provident Financial (PFG), expecting the loan provider to report pre-tax profit growth of 10% in its first half, ended 30th June, to 68.5 million pounds. The broker forecasts pre-tax profits of 22 million pounds from the group's Vanquis Bank division and noted that it has begun expansion into Poland, at a cost of 1 million pounds. Shore also pointed to the attractive dividend yield of 6.2%. The shares dropped by 47p to 1,173p. Blue-Chips Mining group Anglo American (AAL) reported a 92.6% year-on-year fall in underlying earnings from its platinum business, in the six months ended 30th June, to 21 million dollars (13.5 million pounds). The news follows on from the departure of the platinum division's chief executive, Neville Nicolau, on 19th July to be replaced by the chief financial officer, Bongani Nqwababa. Shares in Anglo American sank by 84.5p to 1,944p. 
Pennon Group (PNN) announced that it has won a 25-year contract to construct and operate a recycling plant for Glasgow. The new facility will process between 175,000 and 200,000 tonnes of waste per annum, with the goal of reducing the use of landfills by 90%. The water utility and waste management firm noted that the plant will cost 160 million pounds to construct, to be paid for through exisiting funds, and is expected to come online in 2016. The firm added that the site will generate electricity, with expected capacity of 15 megawatts. The shares leaked by 16p to 774.5p. Real estate company Hammerson (HMSO) saw net rental income declined 1.6% for the six months ended 30th June, against 2011's comparable period, to 141.6 million pounds, while net asset value rose by nearly 1% to 535p pear share. During the period, the firm sold the majority of its office portfolio for 518 million pounds, 5% above book value, as well as a luxury goods retail property in Paris for 138 million pounds. The group also increased its interim dividend by 5.5% to 7.7p. Hammerson shares inched down by 3.7p to 457.3p. Mid-Caps Shares in Dialight (DIA) jumped by 52p to 1,049p on news that first-half pre-tax profits surged 34.3% to 8.2 million pounds. The LED manufacturer noted strong demand for its products, with the obstruction and white industrial lights divisions achieving revenue growth of 40% and 65% respectively. Separately, the firm announced that it had developed a new traffic signal which it claimed was more cost efficient and cheaper to maintain than traditional lights. 
Fast food chain Domino's Pizza (DOM) reported system sales of 286.9 million pounds for the 26 weeks ended 24th June, up 11% on the prior year, with pre-tax profits rising 13.2% to 21.5 million pounds. Unlike other companies, the group actually benefited from the heavy rain, as more customers chose to stay indoors. The group also continued developing its position in Germany, opening four new shops with the goal of having 18 by the end of the year, and a further 18 in 2013. The shares fell by 12.5p to 506.5p. Stagecoach Group (SGC) completed the acquisition of Coach America for a cash consideration of 134.2 million dollars (86.5 million pounds), expanding its presence in the US. The target, which declared bankruptcy in January 2012, operates nine businesses across the country, including California, Texas, Ohio and Maryland. The public transport company has also agreed to buy a number of coaches for a maximum consideration of 25.6 million dollars (16.5 million pounds). Stagecoach shares crept down by 2.7p to 284p. Small Caps, AIM and PLUS Product development software firm Sopheon (SPE) confirmed it was successful in concluding a number of deals before the end of June, meaning revenue visibility for the current year to December stands at 9.6 million pounds. This compares to revenue visibility of 7.8 million pounds at the mid-point of 2011 and is thanks to an ever strengthening sales pipeline for Sopheon's products. Despite continuing a controlled expansion of its staff levels throughout the last year, the firm expects EBITDA for the six months to June to be significantly ahead of the first half of 2011. Sopheon shares jumped 1p to 5p. Significant drill intercepts at Uranium Resources' (URA) Mtonya mine have confirmed the continuity of uranium mineralisation at the prospect, increasing its attractiveness as a commercial mine. The latest drilling results at the Tanzania-based prospect, at depths between of 120 and 220 metres, have uncovered uranium grades of up to 1,869 parts per million. With the group's drilling campaign progressing well ahead of schedule, with 16,500 of 20,000 metres of drilling now complete, Uranium Resources remains on course to define a JORC-compliant resource by the first quarter of 2013. Uranium Resources shares rose 0.425p to 2.675p. Pinnacle Technology Group (PINN) has been granted permission to market and distribute US security firm EES Soft's anti-theft computer security software across Europe and Russia. The software suite, which the two parties have entered into an exclusivity agreement for, allows victims of computer theft to rapidly pinpoint the location of their stolen machine, and also allows the remote locking of devices and for the recovery of data. Chief executive officer Alan Bonner commented the deal "adds tremendous value to our service proposition and helps differentiate us from our competitors". Pinnacle shares finished 0.225p higher to 0.3375p. 
Hong Kong based children's experience days provider LYZE Group is soon to list on AIM, raising 3 million pounds. The firm, which provides educational, artistic and activity packages for young people, such as sporting competitions and theatre visits, will use the proceeds of the placing to expand across China. Founded in 2006, the firm currently operates from three centres in Hong Kong with active membership of 2,000, running 500 classes a week and generating monthly income of around 130,000 pounds. 32Red (TTR), the online betting and gaming operator reported a 50% jump in revenue to 16.5 million pounds for the six months to June as its casino arm saw a surge in customer numbers. An 81% jump in active casino customers to 31,722 over the period was more than enough to offset a 15.8% decline in the average casino player yield to 457 pounds. Poker revenue climbed 20% to 600,000 pounds and other online games reported a more than doubling in revenue to 700,000 pounds. This was all achievable thanks to a continued focus on marketing, even while the group was able to reduce its cost per acquisition of customer by 4% to 166 pounds. The company also noted that during the 20 days since the period end it has seen a 28% climb in revenue against its 2011 comparable, suggesting that the company will deliver revenues for the 2012 financial year ahead of expectations. Management concluded with the comment that it aims to see a continuation of this strong growth as it takes its first measured steps into entering the Italian market later this year via the launch of 32Red.it. 32Red shares added 1.125p to close at 41.75p. |
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