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From UK-Analyst.com: Monday 24th December 2012
The Markets According to business recovery firm Begbies Traynor, nearly 140 UK retailers are in a "critical condition" despite the current Christmas trading period. Begbies business solvency survey found that 13,700 more firms were in distress, a 35% rise in the quarter to December. Particularly hit were specialists in books, news and stationary, where distress signals were 85% higher on the previous quarter. "While book sales usually peak in the run up to Christmas, the move by consumers to use traditional book retailers simply for window shopping before purchasing online at discount prices has seriously impacted this sector", said Julie Palmer, a partner at Begbies Traynor. Also in the UK, Christmas sales figures are expected to be OK rather than fantastic according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC). The BRC estimates that 5 billion pounds was spent in British shops over the weekend as consumers stacked up on food, drink and presents. Richard Dodd, head of media at BRC said, "It has been a very busy weekend which will be crucial to delivering a Christmas that is acceptable, rather than exceptional". Incidentally, Sainsbury's reported its busiest ever hour of trading, in terms of customers served, between 12:00 and 13:00 on Saturday and said it was in line to sell 225,000 bottles of champagne and 56 million mince pies over the festive period. At the London close the Dow Jones was down by 120.88 points at 13,190.84 and the Nasdaq fell by 28.88 points to 2,664.67. In London the FTSE 100 rose by 12.25 points to 5,952.24; the FTSE 250 finished 40.49 points up at 12,402.87; the FTSE All-Share grew by 6.84 points to 3,118.01; and the FTSE AIM Index crept upwards by 1.87 points to 695.25.  Blue-Chips Global medical technology business Smith & Nephew (SN.) announced the acquisition of Healthpoint Biotherapeutics for a cash consideration of 782 million dollars (483.3 million pounds). The acquisition is in line with the company's strategy to establish a strong position in the fast growing area of wound management. Smith and Nephew's wound management division has outperformed the market in recent years and this acquisition, according to the firm, should enable it to build on this position. The shares gained 5.5p to 688.5p. Broadcasting giant ITV (ITV) has acquired a 61.5% stake in Gurney productions, a factual entertainment television production company, for 40 million dollars (24.7 million pounds) with a put and call option to buy the remaining 38.5% of the business. The acquisition was completed in an attempt to strengthen ITV's position as a producer for major US television networks. EBITA for the acquired business in 2012 is forecast to be at least 10 million dollars (6.18 million pounds). The shares were up by 0.6p at 107.2p. Mid Caps Micro Focus International (MCRO) has agreed a deal with Progress Software Corporation for the acquisition of intellectual property and other assets in relation to Progress's Orbix, Orbacus and Artix software product lines, for a total consideration of 15 million dollars (9.27 million dollars). Once the acquisition is completed (expected on the 21st January 2013) these new products will be maintained, developed and supported by Micro Focus. The shares climbed 1.5p to 571.5p. London Stock Exchange (LSE) has agreed a revised deal for the purchase of a majority stake in LCH.Clearnet, an independent counterparty group which serves major international exchanges and platforms. The offer is for 14 euros (11.42 pounds) per share and hangs on the assumption that LCH.Clearnet completes a 300 million euro (244 million pounds) capital raise; a raise in which negotiations are still on-going. The shares were up by 3p at 1,096p. 
Small Caps & AIM Financial services group XCAP Securities (XCAP) reported a 40% drop in revenues to 5.3 million pounds and an increase in operational losses from 1.4 million pounds to 4.4 million pounds for the year ended 31st August. The company cited depressed market conditions for this slump in performance and stated it is undergoing a significant cost reduction programme in order for it to breakeven and then return to profitability. The shares remained flat at 0.38p. Also amongst the small investment banks, Daniel Stewart Securities (DAN) reported a 14% drop in revenues to 3.1 million pounds for the 6 months ended 30th September. The company attributed the dip in revenues to challenging small cap broking markets; conditions which were compounded even further by extra bank holidays and the Olympics. Highpoints for the group included the sale of client Sportingbet to William Hill and the growth of Quindell Portfolio, in which the company holds a warrant position with a value of approximately 500,000 pounds. The shares were unmoved at 0.73p. Electric Word (ELE), the specialist Information business, declared that trading so far this year is in-line with the board's expectations as the group has made, "significant progress in developing new services around its evolving online platform". In particular the firm's Sport & Gaming division has seen a successful launch of its iGaming business in the USA, which is expected to create further opportunities in 2013. The shares were unchanged at 1.625p. Biotechnology company AquaBounty Technologies (ABTX) has been notified by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that the Environmental Assessment on its application for AquaAdvantage Salmon will be published on 26th December in a major step towards approval. After the assessment is published there will be a 60 day period for other agencies to make comment. The product in question uses Atlantic salmon eggs that contain growth hormones allowing fish to grow to market size in half the normal time. The shares soared by 8.125p to 15.5p. Marketing and PR group Adventis (ATG) has been restored to trading on the AIM following the publication of its annual report for the year ending 31st December 2011 and notice of its interim results to 30th June 2012. This comes a week after the group announced that it is changing its name to Reabold Resources, which will be in effect from Thursday 27th December. The shares remained flat at 1.93p. Lighting business Cyan Holdings (CYAN), declared that one of its strategic meter manufacturers in India has deployed its Advanced Metering Infrastructure product as a pilot for a leading power company in Mumbai. The product in question, Cylec, will be piloted for 3 to 6 months by India's largest integrated power company with 1,000,000 household and 150,000 corporate customers and an established international presence. The shares were down 0.08p to 0.71p. | 
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