| The Markets Spain's north east region of Catalonia has requested a 5 billion euro (4 billion pound) bailout from the central government. The region accounts for around a fifth of the country's economy and is the third region to seek help from the 18 billion euro (14.3 billion pounds) rescue fund established by the government. Meanwhile, the leader of the Christian Social Union party in Germany, Alexander Dobrindt, sparked uproar by suggesting that Greece will leave the Eurozone by 2013. His party is part of Angela Merkel's coalition government and the comment was a direct contradiction to Merkel's earlier statement of wanting Greece to remain part of the Eurozone. At the London close the Dow Jones was down by 6.65 points at 13,118.02 and the Nasdaq was down by 0.7 points at 2,781.85. In London the FTSE 100 fell by 0.89 points to 5,775.71; the FTSE 250 finished 73.82 points behind at 11,375.24; the FTSE All-Share lost 2.87 points to 2,999.75; and the FTSE AIM Index declined by 4.50 points to 677.81. 
Broker Notes Panmure Gordon reiterated its "buy" rating for Bwin.party Digital Entertainment (BPTY), with a 165p target price. The broker expects the gambling company to report EBITDA of 85.9 million euros (68.2 million pounds) on revenues of 406.1 million euros (322.5 million pounds) for the first half of its financial year, with strong contributions from casino and bingo compensating for weaker poker and sports betting performances. Panmure believes that the markets have overreacted to the introduction of new gambling taxes in Germany and instead noted the company's high level of free cash flows. Bwin shares fell by 1.4p to 93.65p.  Canaccord Genuity maintained its "buy" recommendation for Restaurant Group (RTN) with a target price of 385p. The Frankie & Benny's owner will issue interim results on Friday and the broker forecasts pre-tax profits of 25.6 million pounds, compared to 24.4 million pounds in the first half of 2011. Canaccord believes the firm will have been largely unaffected by the poor UK summer weather and Olympics disruption and expects it to open between 25 and 30 new sites during the full financial year. The shares inched up by 1.7p to 329.9p. Shore Capital retained its "sell" stance for WM Morrison Supermarkets (MRW), expecting the company to have suffered a difficult first half trading period and to have underperformed its peers. The broker believes that the group will have been adversely impacted by Asda's acquisition and conversion of Netto stores, of which many are located in Morrison's core north-England market. Additionally, Shore Capital said that the company's refurbishment programme is likely to disrupt sales and may disenfranchise its value based customers. Shares in Morrison's slipped by 0.4p to 277.2p. Blue-Chips G4S (GFS) reported a 59.6% fall in pre-tax profits for the six months ended 30th June to 61 million pounds. The security group was heavily impacted by its failure to deliver on the Olympic and Paralympic Games contract, which wiped 50 million pounds from profits. In order to improve profitability, the company cut 1,100 jobs, which is expected to generate saving of 30 million pounds per annum. The firm maintained that it had a strong pipeline, worth 3.8 billion pounds per annum across a wide range of sectors. The shares dropped by 5.2p to 261p. 
Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca (AZN) announced that its Zinforo treatment for skin and soft tissue infections or community acquired pneumonia has been approved by the European Commission. The firm noted that this makes its drug the only approved cephalosporin monotherapy effective against MRSA in the continent. Separately, the firm said that it has appointed Pascal Soriot as its new chief executive. Soriot was formerly the chief operating officer of Roche AG's pharmaceuticals division. Shares in AstraZeneca edged down by 15p to 2,966.5p. Bunzl (BNZL) achieved year-on-year pre-tax profit growth of 8% in its first half, to 121.2 million pounds, on revenue growth of 7% to 2.6 billion pounds. The haulage company's performance was boosted by six acquisitions during the period, at a total cost of 77 million pounds, including expansion in Switzerland and Israel. Meanwhile, the firm added that the disposal of its UK vending business in August 2011 helped margins, noting a weakening in the UK market. The shares descended by 7p to 1,104p. Mid-Caps Shares in Chemring Group (CHG) crashed by 46.5p to 324p after the firm warned that the start of production of its anti-personnel obstacle breaching system for the Ministry of Defence will be delayed by several months. Additionally, the defence company said that it had discovered a number of errors with its Enterprise Resource Planning system, which is being installed in Florida. As a result, the firm has lowered its full year operating profit target by 15 million pounds. 
Cairn Energy (CNE) reduced its first half pre-tax losses by 91.3 million dollars (57.8 million pounds) to 50 million dollars (31.7 million pounds) but has still not found any oil in Greenland. However, the group has been able to reduce its exposure to the region by farming out a 30.625% interest in the Pitu block to hydrocarbons explorer Statoil. Additionally, the firm acquired Agora Oil & Gas and Nautical Petroleum during the period, in order to increase its short term production pipeline. The shares tumbled by 12.6p to 283.7p. Specialty chemical manufacturer Yule Catto & Co (YULC) reported pre-tax profits of 56 million pounds for the six months ended 30th June, despite revenues falling by 9.2% to 603.3 million pounds. Strong growth in Europe and North America, benefiting from the acquisition of PolymerLatex, compensated for a 42.1% fall in operating profits from Asia and the rest of the world, as the group suffered from increase competition in the nitrile latex market. The group added that it had reduced its net debt position to 174 million pounds as at 30th June 2012, from 240 million pounds at the same time last year. Shares in Yule Catto jumped by 16.2p to 158p. Small Caps, AIM and PLUS Specialty pharmaceuticals business Clinigen Group noted plans of seeking admission to AIM, following a strong year to 30th June, with sales growth of 135% to 82.1 million pounds and EBITDA rising by 109% to 17.3 million pounds. The company focuses solely on clinical trial drug supply with no wholesaling operations and the majority of its revenues come from abroad. Shares in Red Emperor Resources (RMP) collapsed by 3.23p to 4.7p after it announced that the Shabeel North well in Somalia, in which it has a 20% holding, failed to discover any oil or gas after drilling to a depth of 3,945 metres and will be abandoned. The firm noted that the operator, Horn Petroleum Corporation will now begin exploration in the Nugaal and Dharoor Valley regions, with plans to drill a well in each block over the next three years. Meanwhile, shares in Range Resources (RRL), which also has a 20% stake in the project, gained 0.23p to 5.09p. Verona Pharma (VRP) has been granted a new patent for its lead drug RPL554 in the US for the treatment of immunological respiratory diseases, such as hay fever and asthma. The drug discovery company noted that this is the fourth patent secured for RPL554 and related compounds in the country. The group is currently performing clinical trials to determine the effectiveness of the product. The shares leapt by 0.375p to 4.75p. Mobile gaming software developer Probability (PBTY) reported revenue growth of 34% to 7.2 million pounds for the year ended 31st March. Since the end of the period, the firm noted that it completed the acquisition of Swiss gambling technology company Playyoo and added that UK customer deposits rose to record levels in July, benefiting from the launch of its LadyLuck's application on the Apple App Store. Meanwhile, the group's chairman Graham Parr announced his intention of stepping down from his position in September and the firm is currently searching for a replacement. Shares in Probability were unchanged at 75.5p. 
Nyota Minerals (NYO) saw continued progress in the development of its flagship Tula Kapi gold project in Ethiopia, having successfully converted a further 260,000 ounces from inferred to indicated resources, although it noted that "approximately one quarter of the assay results are awaited". The mining group is in discussions with the Ministry for Mines and hopes to agree to terms for a licence by the end of September 2012. The shares surged by 0.55p to 5.875p. Shares in Quadrise Fuels International (QFI) soared by 1.25p to 10.25p after the firm announced that all of its partners have reaffirmed their commitment to bringing its shipping and power generation fuel MSAR to commercialisation following positives results from the AP Møller-Mærsk test vessel in early 2012. The group hopes to produce commercial volumes of its MSAR fuel from mid 2013, with the goal of reaching full production in 2014. Hightex Group (HTIG) confirmed that it has secured a contract to build and install the roof of the Beira-Rio stadium in Brazil for the 2014 World Cup, worth 10 million euros (7.9 million pounds). The membrane roof and facades manufacturer noted that this is the second deal it has won in preparation for the event and expects to complete construction in 2013. The group also noted ambitions of winning a further two stadium contracts for the 2014 festival of football. The shares advanced by 0.1p to 1.575p. | 
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