| The Markets Initial jobless claims in the US came in at 382,000 for last week, 12,000 more than was expected, and up on the previous month's revised figure of 367,000, according to the Labor Department. The agency noted that some 9,000 of these were the result of tropical storm Isaac, which hit the gulf coast, including New Orleans. Despite the poor result, US stocks climbed higher in anticipation of a new round of quantitative easing by Ben Bernanke's Federal Reserve as it looks to stimulate the country's economy. On a wider scale, the collective GDP growth of the G20 slowed to 3% in the second quarter, down from 3.2% in the previous quarter, said the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development. Struggling Eurozone countries such as Italy dragged down the performance, while emerging market countries such as China and Brazil continued their strong trend. At the London close the Dow Jones was up by 27.40 points at 13,360.75 and the Nasdaq was up by 8.02 points at 2,799.70. In London the FTSE 100 rose by 37.84 points to 5,819.92; the FTSE 250 finished 35.48 points ahead at 11,846.53; the FTSE All-Share gained 18.87 points to 3,037.21; and the FTSE AIM Index climbed by 2.29 points to 697.74. 
Broker Notes Canaccord Genuity reiterated its "buy" recommendation for BG Group (BG.) with a 1,625p target price. The oil and gas giant's shares have fallen to 18 month lows versus the European sector, which the broker feels is unwarranted. While the firm's production has been broadly flat for the last three years, Canaccord believes growth is set to begin, forecasting volumes rising by 14% per annum from 2013 to 2015. The broker also expects the company's EBIT from liquid natural gas operations to double between 2011 and 2016 due to low levels of hedging and increased volumes. BG Group shares advanced by 23.5p to 1,263p.  WH Ireland retained its "buy" rating for Noble Investments (NBL) following strong first half results, with pre-tax profit growth of 59% to 2.4 million pounds. The broker said that the rare coin trader offers diversification benefits due to the low correlation between the value of coins and equity markets. WH Ireland noted that the group has no debt and believes that the firm's inventory is undervalued by 1.8 million pounds. The shares were unchanged at 164p. Daniel Stewart maintained its "buy" stance for NetPlay TV (NPT) with a target price of 14p. The interactive TV gaming company achieved first half revenue growth of 33% to 13 million pounds, with the broker noting a good rate of players also utilising the firm's mobile platform. Daniel Stewart added that the group's strong cash flow generation has led it to introduce an interim dividend of 0.15p. On the broker's forecasts, the shares trade on a prospective earnings multiple of 11.5 times for 2012, falling to 9.7 times in 2013. NetPlay shares grew by 0.125p to 12.25p. Blue-Chips Fashion retailer Next (NXT) said that it performed ahead of expectations in its first half, with profits rising by 10.2% to 251 million pounds, benefiting from new store openings and improved cost control. The firm added that it returned 112 million pounds to shareholders through buybacks and increased its interim dividend by 12.7% to 31p. However, investors were concerned to hear that the group suffered from an "unusually quiet" trading period in August and early September, sending the shares tumbling by 259p to 3,320p. 
After the markets closed on Wednesday 12th September, BAE Systems (BA.) confirmed that it is in discussions with European aerospace company EADS with regards to a possible merger, which if successful would create the second largest aerospace and defence business in the world. Under the current terms, BAE shareholders would own 40% of the enlarged group. However, many believe that there are a number of potential problems that will need to be overcome, such as the group's differences of opinion when it comes to dividends, with BAE traditionally offering better yields. BAE shares descended by 26.5p to 337.1p. Mid-Caps Premier Farnell (PFL) reported a 51% fall in pre-tax profits to 31.8 million pounds for its first half, as revenues declined by 3.2% to 479.2 million pounds. The engineering firm warned that its core market of semiconductors is contracting at a greater rate than the underlying economies, with declines in the US and Europe of 10.4% and 10%, respectively. The group noted that it has very limited visibility, but hopes that as markets recover so will its margins. The shares swelled by 18.2p to 190p. 
Electronics company Imagination Technologies Group (IMG) said that it was trading in-line with expectations, with strong growth in sales volume, and believes that it is on track to meet its target of 1 billion annual unit shipments by 2016. The firm's Pure division saw a small recovery in the UK market and plans to release several new products during the Christmas period. The firm added that it acquired Nethra Imaging in order to increase is capabilities in the camera and video intellectual property sector. Shares in Imagination leaked by 44p to 566p. Dunelm (DNLM) achieved pre-tax profit growth of 15.1% to 96.2 million pounds for the year ended 30th June 2012, with the firm noting market share gains on a like-for-like basis. The home furnishings retailer opened 14 new stores during the year, bringing the total to 118, and has committed to opening a further 9. Strong cash flow generation resulted in the firm finishing the year with a net cash position of 65.2 million pounds, up from 35.1 million pounds at the same time last year. The shares rose by 34p to 659p. Small Caps, AIM and PLUS Shares in Universe Group (UNG) soared by 0.5p to 2.875p after it reported a pre-tax profit of 404,000 pounds for the six months ended 30th June, up from a loss of 235,000 pounds in 2011's comparable period. The software company attributed the improved performance to its successful restructuring, completed at the end of 2011 and added that its recent placing to raise 1.7 million pounds leaves it well positioned for future growth. The group also noted that it benefited from the first stage of an equipment renewal programme by one of its major supermarket clients. Elektron Technology (EKT) saw revenues for the half year to 31st July fall by 13.1% to 29.9 million pounds, with pre-tax profits tumbling to 0.8 million pounds from 2.8 million pounds. The monitoring and control system developer suffered from clients deferring spending due to the uncertain economic backdrop in the UK and mainland Europe. The group added that this trend is likely to continue for the rest of the financial year but has hopes that geographic expansion will help compensate. The shares crashed by 3p to 16.25p. Oil and gas producer Resaca Exploration (RSOX) warned that it is in breach of its debt covenants and is therefore unable to draw further funds to continue exploration projects, limiting its operations to those that are self-sustaining. Therefore, the group no longer believes that it will be able to meet its target of producing over 1,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in the 12 months ending 30th June 2013. As at 30th June, the company had net debt of 57 million dollars (35.4 million pounds) and, as a result of the breaches, the interest has increased by 200 basis points to 14% on subordinated debt and 350 basis points to 7.5% on senior debt. The group believes it may need to sell a number of assets in order to reduce leverage and provide working capital. Resaca shares plunged 15.5p to 21p. 
Mobile payment platform developer Vipera (VIP) announced that it expects to receive 500,000 pounds from a large Italian customer this year, as part of a contract worth an estimated 1.5 million pounds over three years. The client's name was not disclosed but was described as a major gambling company with a network of 45,000 outlets across the country. The shares climbed by 1.25p to 7p. Oxford Pharmascience Group (OXP) has exercised its option to exclusively license a drug delivery technology for statins, from University College London. The new products will be launched under the Safestat brand and will be used for the treatment of cardiovascular disease. The group noted that the worldwide statins market in 2009 was worth over 27 billion dollars (16.8 billion pounds). Shares in Oxford Pharmascience jumped by 0.3p to 1.375p. PLUS-quoted Equity Resources (EQRP) reported losses of 36,950 pounds for the year ended 31st May 2012, down from a profit of 34,702 pounds in 2011, with the net asset value of its investments falling from 1.07 million pounds to 230,250 pounds. The group's funds are split evenly between Regency Mines (RGM) and Red Rock Resources (RRR) and it should be noted that Equity Resources' chairman John Watkins is a non-executive director for both of these companies. With an unimaginative investment strategy and, arguably, a rather large conflict of interests, Equity Resources looks to be another pointless investment vehicle clogging up the PLUS market. The shares were unchanged at 1.25p. * Regency Mines and Red Rock Resources are corporateclients of Rivington Street Holdings, the ultimate owner of UK-Analyst. | 
No comments:
Post a Comment