From UK-Analyst.com: Tuesday 29th January 2013
The Markets According to (yet another) survey, house prices rose by 1.7% in England and Wales in 2012. The Land Registry said that the average property price rose by 0.8% in December month-on-month, taking the average house price to 162,080 pounds. This follows reports from the Halifax and Nationwide earlier in the month, which reported respective falls of 0.3% and 1%. Figures from the Land Registry are seen as being more accurate however, due to the figures being based on actual sales as opposed to the banks' surveys being based on mortgage approvals. Over in the Eurozone, Spanish retail sales fell by a massive 10.7% year-on-year in December, taking sales for the year as a whole down by 6.8%. The figures come after the troubled economy recently reported an unemployment rate of 26%, with youth unemployment standing at a shocking 55%. The government is currently planning spending cuts of c.40 billion euros in order to reduce its paella debt and to prevent the need for a bailout. Over in the US, later this evening Facebook is expected to report its fourth quarter earnings. Following last year's disastrous IPO the company will be hoping to meet consensus analyst expectations for earnings of 15 cents per share on revenues of $1.51 billion. Analyst Arvind Bhatia at Stern Agee commented, "Facebook is well-positioned to benefit from two ad trends: the shift from off-line to on-line advertising, and the increasing importance of a social context for online ads." 
At the London close the Dow Jones was up by 72.36 at 13,954.30 and the Nasdaq was 0.71 points higher at 2,743.14. In London the FTSE 100 closed at a near five year high of 6,339.19 (up 44.78 points); the FTSE 250 finished 24.93 points down at 13,107.56; the FTSE All-Share gained 18.93 points to 3,317.93; and the FTSE AIM All Share slipped by 2.45 points to 736.98.  Broker Notes Following yesterday's interims from Filtronic (FTC), broker Panmure Gordon reiterated its 'buy' stance and increased its price target for the wireless specialist from 58p to 74p. Citing what it called the 'big picture' of the roll-out of 4G/LTE and Filtronic's leadership position in this niche market, the broker said it expects momentum to accelerate through 2013 and 2014 as other regional operators catch up. The broker made substantial upgrades, notably increasing pre-exceptional EBITA from 2 million pounds to 2.5 million pounds. "The valuation has long been very attractive," argues Panmure, "but investors have been unsure about the operational outlook – now any concerns should abate." Shares in Filtronic surged by 5.5p to 51.5p.
N+1 Brewin reiterated its 'buy' stance for set-top box maker Amino Technologies (AMO) after yesterday's full year results which showed continued improvement in both profitability and cash generation. The broker said lower like-for-like revenues reflected the introduction of lower price point products which have been successful in Eastern Europe. Nevertheless, the streamlined product portfolio resulted in significant margin benefits and gross margin rose 9.3 percentage points year-on-year to 42%. The broker also pointed out that operating cash conversion was almost 100% and Amino now has 17.1 million pounds in net cash (45% of the market cap). A 3p dividend is up 50% year-on-year, "well ahead of our forecast, and expected to grow at least 15% pa for 2 years." The broker also increased its share price target to 89p from 64p. Shares in Amino finished down by 2p at 76p.
Broker Shore Capital retained its 'buy' recommendation for Diageo (DGE) ahead of the beverage manufacturer's interim results for the six months ended 31st December 2012, due to be released on Thursday. The broker reckons that Diageo will report a robust set of interims which will continue to highlight the resilience of its business model. "We believe Diageo remains in a strong position as it benefits from structural rising demand for spirits as well as its portfolio of leading international spirit brands," argues Shore. Although the broker conceded that the shorter-term performance might be held back by a lack of upgrades and no M&A story, it said it sees the business as continuing to transition away from being a defensive company to a structural growth story. Diageo shares added 13p to close at 1,872.5p.
Blue-Chips British Land (BLND) confirmed that it continued to trade well in the three months to December 2012, despite markets remaining tough. The property owner saw UK occupancy unchanged at 97.7% at the period end, with rents in administration being low at 0.8% of total rent. However, following a tough start to 2013 this figure has since risen to 1.2%. Over 665,000 sq ft of lettings and pre-lets were agreed in the period and lease renewals with lettings and renewals across the portfolio were agreed at 13.1% above expected rental value. A 6.6p dividend will be paid for the quarter, up by 1.5%. The shares remained flat at 563.5p, although broker Panmure Gordon has a 600p target. An interim management statement from National Grid (NG.) reported a continued solid performance since September last year. The utility infrastructure company expects to spend 3.6 billion pounds this year on capital investment, with 1 billion pounds having been raised by the firm's UK and US operating companies in the form of long-term debt. While the company re-confirmed its positive outlook for 2012/13, broker Seymour Pierce believes the impact of UK price controls may force the firm to cut its dividend and to raise further capital. It has a "sell" stance and a 617p target. The shares slipped by 1p to 701.5p. Cough causers British American Tobacco (BATS) have appointed Dr Richard Tubb as a Non-Executive Director. Dr. Tubb is one of the longest serving White House physicians, serving Presidents Clinton, Bush and Obama, and will be paid 90,000 pounds for his role. Apparently, President Obama quit smoking in 2010. BATS will be hoping Dr. Tubbs does not have the same effect on its customers! The shares gained 45.5p to 3,301.5p. 
Obama smoking
Mid Caps Anite (AIE), the provider of software to the wireless and leisure travel industries, has bought the elegantly named Propsim channel emulation product set from Finland's Elektrobit Corporation. Propsim develops radio frequency channel emulation test equipment, using a laboratory based platform and a suite of associated software applications. Anite is paying 31 million euros in cash for the deal (c.26 million pounds) from existing facilities. The firm expects the deal to enhance adjusted earnings per share in the first full year of ownership, before transaction and integration costs. The markets did not respond well to the deal, the share price falling by 2.6p to 143.2p. Engineering data and design IT systems provider AVEVA (AVV) said that it continued to perform well during the third quarter (to December), with strong cash generation being seen. The Engineering & Design Systems division saw good progress, driven by continued strength in the Oil & Gas markets. In Power, the firm saw steady growth, while Marine remained depressed, although the firm said that the offshore sector remained positive. The group added that it has not seen any noticeable shift in regional trends reported at the time of the interim results. AVEVA shares fell by 6p to 2,180p. Another Q3 trading update came from outsourcing firm Mitie Group (MTO). The firm reported good progress over recent months, with strong organic growth being driven by new and expanded contracts. As at 30th September 2012, 98% of budgeted revenues for the current financial year had already been secured, with total revenue growth expected to be higher in the second half. Notable recent contract wins include a deal to provide integrated FM services for British Sky Broadcasting Group (Sky) - worth over 100 million pounds over five years, a 4.7 million pounds cleaning and environmental services contract with East Hull Primary Care Trust and a 30 million pounds repair and maintenance contract with the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham. Mitie shares slipped by 0.5p to 280.1p.
Small Caps & AIM Shares Toye & Co (TOYE) soared by 20.5p to 58p after the manufacturer of military and masonic regalia agreed to dispose of its property at 19-21 Great Queen Street in London to the developer for a maximum consideration of 2.75 million to 3.25 million pounds. Toye is selling up due to the large amount of capital held up in the property, and the belief that sales could be serviced more cheaply from elsewhere. In part, the proceeds will be used to pay off debt of around 1.5 million pounds. The firm added that trading in 2012 was in line with management expectations and that the property disposal is not expected to have a material impact on trading performance. A production update from Leni Gas & Oil (LGO) on the Goudron and Icacos Fields in Trinidad confirmed that production has averaged 170 barrels per day (bopd) over the past week, with production reaching 201 bopd on the 27th January. The Goudron Field has now exceeded the company's second production target of 150 bopd set when it acquired the operatorship of the field last October. Leni Gas is now producing from 22 wells at Goudron and expects to be able to achieve production from at least 50 wells within 12 months of the acquisition. At the Icacos Field 32 bopd gross has been averaged, with 16 barrels being net to the company. The shares fell by 0.11p to 1.24p. Computer-aided design specialist Delcam (DLC) raised expectations for its 2012 performance with revenue expected to be at least 47 million pounds and pre-tax profits expected to come in at around 5 million pounds, up from 46 million pounds and 4.3 million pounds respectively in December's update. The update follows January’s announcement that the firm had achieved a new one-month record in December 2012 for orders of software licences and maintenance contracts. Sales growth was generated in established markets, such as automotive and aerospace, but also in newer markets such as dental. The shares have performed well of late (+102% over a year), with the company having set record levels of sales for six consecutive half-year periods. Delcam shares raced ahead by 95p to 1,232.5p. 
Next Fifteen (NFC), the marketing and communications firm, flagged a good start to the current financial year as it continues to increase its focus on social and digital media. The group reported strong growth in these disciplines, with several new client wins secured (including Viacom, Virgin Management and Verizon) and a "strong new business pipeline" in key markets. Furthermore, as part of its on-going investment in digital a new agency will be launched during the spring focusing on data-driven marketing services. The group added that it continues to explore a mix of organic investments and acquisition opportunities. Next Fifteen shares lost 1p to 100.5p.
Mobile gambling specialist Probability (PBTY) has conditionally raised 2.8 million pounds (before expenses) through the placing of 4,421,875 shares with both new and existing institutional shareholders at a price of 64p per share. The proceeds will enable the firm to accelerate marketing investment in its UK B2C (business to consumer) business, and build upon the momentum it has achieved to date. Probability also said its B2B (business to business) business is also entering an exciting stage in the UK and Italy, and that the proceeds will provide additional resources to pursue opportunities in this area. Probability shares remained flat at 67.5p. Also at the top of the AIM risers was Herencia Resources (HER), the Chile focussed mine developer. The shares rose by 0.41p to 1.23p after the firm announced that a recent survey supports the potential extension of mineralisation at the zinc-lead-silver-gold Paguanta project to over 1,600 metres. A total of six targets were identified, three of which are new and untested targets and three have been partially tested by Herencia. The firm said that they could add significantly to the existing Paguanta Resource. | 
No comments:
Post a Comment