| Competition The UK-Analyst Friday Competition is back! This week's prize is a copy of Share Your Number - How Much Money do you Need to be Happy? by Adrian J. Cartwood & Debra Dragon. To enter, send your funniest caption for the picture of former Chief Whip Andrew Mitchell to richard.gill@t1ps.com by 9am on Monday morning. 
The Markets French President Francois Hollande voiced his support for the decision of Eurozone's leaders to establish a single supervisor for all banks within the common currency union, claiming that it will help economic integration. The role will be taken on by the European Central Bank and a framework is expected to be established by 1st January 2013. Meanwhile, the Office for National Statistics announced that UK public sector net borrowings declined to 10.7 billion pounds in September, from 10.8 billion pounds in the previous month, beating consensus forecasts of 11.7 billion pounds. Elsewhere, the World Trade Organisation maintained its ruling that China illegally imposed tariffs on some US steel products. The Asian powerhouse claimed that the US government was providing subsidies to the makers of these products, but the WTO said that no evidence to prove this had been presented. At the London close the Dow Jones was down by 134.91 points at 13,414.03 and the Nasdaq was down by 42.63 points at 2,701.54. In London the FTSE 100 fell by 20.90 points to 5,896.15; the FTSE 250 finished 3.05 points ahead at 12,074.30; the FTSE All-Share lost 9.11 points to 3,079.84; and the FTSE AIM Index declined by 2.07 points to 712.63. 
Broker Notes Shore Capital upgraded its stance on Johnson Service Group (JSG) from "hold" to "buy", impressed with the firm's progress with the restructuring of its dry-cleaning business. The broker noted that the company has closed 103 branches, reducing the total to around 350, and believes that this will help future cash generation and debt reduction. Additionally, Shore said that this will give the firm the opportunity to leverage its environmental policy across its remaining stores, giving it a marketing advantage. On the broker's forecasts, the shares trade on a prospective earnings multiple of 6.1 times for the 2013 financial year and offer a dividend yield of 3.5%. The shares advanced by 0.5p to 35p.  Panmure Gordon reiterated its "buy" recommendation for Avacta Group (AVCT) with a 1.75p target price. The healthcare technology company will release full year results on 23rd October, and the broker expects to see revenues of 3.2 million pounds, with pre-tax losses of 1.3 million pounds. Panmure has high hopes for the firm's flagship product, the Optim 1000, which can significantly reduce the time and cost of drug testing. The broker will also be looking for news on the firms AX-1 product, which suffered from manufacturing issues and missed its launch target. Avacta shares were unchanged at 0.875p. Investec Securities retained its "buy" rating for Workspace Group (WKP) with a target price of 335p. The broker noted that the real estate developer is undertaking a refurbishment programme at its more mature assets, which it believes will help drive rental growth. Additionally, Investec expects the firm's net asset value to rise to 405p per share by the end of 2015, from 297.9p as at 31st March 2012. The shares rose by 6.1p to 304.2p. Blue-Chips Temporary power and fridge rental company Aggreko (AGK) warned that adverse exchange movements and rising levels of bad debt led it to lower its full year profit forecast by 2.5%. The firm said that order intake in its third quarter was below prior year levels, at 115 megawatts, but noted that it secured two contracts shortly after the start of its final quarter. Year-to-date orders stand at 870MW, compared to 944MW at the same time in 2011. Aggreko shares tumbled by 164p to 2,138p. 
Petrofac (PFC) is on-track to meet its full year profit growth target of at least 15%. The oil and gas support services firm noted that its order book stood at 9.4 billion dollars (5.9 billion pounds) as at 30th September, up from 8.9 billion dollars (5.5 billion pounds) at the end of June. The group added that it is competing for a number of contracts in the Middle East and North Africa and hopes to announce a number of wins in the next few months. The shares sank by 19p to 1,613p. Haulage company Bunzl (BNZL) has continued its acquisition strategy, by purchasing UK based Indigo Concept Packaging for an undisclosed sum. The target reported sales of 6 million pounds for the year ended 31st December 2011 and is the seventh acquisition made in the year so far. Combined, the acquisitions have added 163 million pounds of annualised revenues. Meanwhile, the firm said that it has enjoyed growth across all its markets, despite the weak economic outlook in Europe and the US. Bunzl shares dropped by 45p to 1,037p. Mid-Caps Spectris (SXS) reported year-on-year sales growth of 12% in the quarter ended 30th September, primarily driven by acquisitions. Organic sales rose by 2% on a constant currency basis, while the instrumentation and controls manufacturer was impacted by negative foreign exchange movements of 3%. The group noted that it had a net debt position of 290 million pounds as at 30th September and said that it will now focus on research and development, as well as creating synergies with its recent purchases. The shares soared by 183p to 1,777p. 
Strong levels of online betting during the Olympics and Euro 2012 drove operating profits at William Hill (WMH) up by 26% in the 13 weeks ended 25th September, with online operating profits up by 42%. The bookmaker added that trading on mobile devices remained strong, accounting for 27% of its sportsbook turnover. The group also noted that it will make its final decision whether to make a formal offer for Sportingbet (SBT) by 13th November 2012. Shares in William Hill swelled by 13.3p to 356.7p. Dechra Pharmaceuticals (DPH) achieved revenue growth of 21.9% in its first quarter, largely due to a strong contribution from its Eurovet acquisitions, while organic growth was 6%. The veterinary pharmaceutical business noted that sales in the US rose by 24.8%, while European sales growth was more subdued, at 3.2%. Meanwhile, the group also reported that its finance director, Simon Evans, has decided to step down with immediate effect, having spent 15 years at the company. The shares slipped by 0.5p to 617.5p. Small Caps, AIM and PLUS Shares in Namakwa Diamonds (NAD) soared by 1.46p to 5.1p after it reported that the Court of Appeal in Lesotho had dismissed claims by Batla Minerals that it was owed a 50% interest of Namakwa's 62.5% holding in Storm Mountain Diamonds. The news follows on from the High Court of Lesotho originally dismissing the claims on 30th November 2011 and the firm noted that Batla will not be able to bring the case before any other court. Nighthawk Energy (HAWK) announced plans to drill a fifth well at the Jolly Ranch project in Colorado, 35 miles to the north of its core area. The oil and gas explorer noted that its John Craig 6-2 well is now on permanent production and is extracting between 200 and 250 barrels of oil per day, with plans to raise this to 270bopd. The firm added that it was close to reaching operational breakeven, allowing it to focus its cash reserves on new exploration in 2013. The shares plunged by 0.87p to 5.35p. Minerals explorer Red Rock Resources* (RRR) reported a pre-tax loss of 4.6 million pounds for the year ended 30th June 2012, compared to a pre-tax profit of 15.9 million pounds in the prior financial year when it benefited from a 14.2 million pound profit from its investment in Jupiter Mines. The group said that it made good progress at is projects in Kenya, Colombia and Greenland, but noted plans of disposing of its assets in Colombia and may choose to liquidate other assets. Red Rock shares leaked by 0.05p to 1.5p. 
In order to enhance its presence in the skin care sector, Alliance Pharma (APH) has agreed to buy Opus Group Holdings for 9.5 million pounds. The reported pre-tax profits of 2.1 million pounds for the year ended 31st March 2012, on revenues of 3.8 million pounds and is expected to be immediately earnings enhancing. The purchase will be largely funded from Alliance Pharma's 20 million pound revolving credit facility, bringing its total utilisation to 16.5 million pounds. The shares rose by 1.5p to 29.5p. Fastjet (FJET) has signed an operating lease for two Airbus A319 aircraft, which are expected to be delivered in November, bringing its total to three. The budget African airline has hopes of deploying five of these aircraft within six months of launch and a total of 15 of within the next 12 months. The firm added that it has hired three senior aviation executives and plans to have its inaugural fight in a few weeks. Fastjet shares were unchanged at 3.6p. 
Airbus A319 Kingswalk Investments (KWI) noted that its 33.3% owned subsidiary, European Wealth Management Group, has acquired asset manager Bradley Stewart, increasing its assets under management by 120 million pounds, to around 500 million pounds. The acquisition will be partially funded by Kingswalk issuing 200,000 pounds worth of convertible loan noted. The firm noted that European Wealth has increased its assets under management by over 200% in the last six months. The shares jumped by 0.07p to 0.59p. * Red Rock Resources is a corporate client of Rivington Street Holdings, the ultimate owner of this website. | 
No comments:
Post a Comment