|
From UK-Analyst.com: Thursday 7th March 2013
IMPORTANT: Are your UK-Analyst emails being delayed? Add UK-Analyst@news.t1ps.com to your safe senders/contact list to help resolve the problem
The Markets The Bank of England held fire on pumping billions of pounds into the nation's sluggish economy, leaving its quantitative easing programme unchanged at 375 billion pounds. The vote on the decision is likely to have been a close run thing after last month three out of the nine member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted in favour of injecting another 25 billion pounds into the economy. The UK economy has contracted in four of the previous five quarters and output remains 3% below its pre-recession peak of nearly 5 years ago as policy makers clash on how best to aid the situation. The Bank also held interest rates at 0.5%. Howard Archer of IHS Global Insight commented, "The Bank of England's decision to hold off from stimulative action was highly likely the result of a tightly split vote and we strongly suspect that the MPC will act in the second quarter and very possibly as soon as April." Elsewhere, Eurozone interest rates have been held steady at 0.75% for the eighth month in a row by the European Central Bank (ECB). The decision was in line with the consensus of the majority of analysts who do not expect the ECB to alter the record low rates until next year at the earliest. Michael Schubert, Economist at Commerzbank, commented, "Interest rates are not the problem, but the spread between interest rates in the euro zone's core and the periphery [is]. Not much can be achieved with a cut and the ECB seems to be aware of this." Across the pond the US trade deficit for January widened on demand for crude oil imports and a decline in sales of gold. Figures from the Commerce Department in Washington revealed a 16.5% increase in the deficit to $44.4 billion (29.22 billion pounds) in an increase which was slightly above the average analyst estimate of a rise to $42.6 billion (37.05 billion pounds). It is expected that the sale of American-made goods, which help to contain the trade gap, will increase this year as the European markets stabilise and emerging markets including China pick up. David Sloan, Senior Economist at 4Cast Inc commented, "The overall picture is fairly stable for this year. We should see modest increases in exports. Most of the world is growing." At the London close the Dow Jones was up by 45.45 points at 14,341.69 and the Nasdaq slid by 7.64 points to 2,800.20. In London the FTSE 100 was up by 11.52 points at 6,439.16; the FTSE 250 finished 30.08 points up at 13,953.35; the FTSE All-Share was up by 8.30 points to 3,395.72; and the FTSE AIM Index crept up by 3.38 points to 745.26.  Broker Notes Canaccord Genuity retained its "buy" recommendation on soft drink specialist Nichols (NICL) with a 1,000p target price. The broker is excited about the prospects of the group's recently initiated multi-country partnership in North Africa with ECCB and Castel and feels that it will add 8-9 countries in North Africa to its operations, enabling it to use its Coca-Cola distribution network to drive gains. In addition, Canaccord concedes that the resignation of CEO Brendan Hynes is a negative but insists that he will leave the business in a strong position. The shares were up by 7.75p at 895.5p. Panmure Gordon maintained its "sell" recommendation on cinema operator Cineworld (CINE) with a 238p target price. The broker feels that trading so far this year has been relatively good as demand has been boosted by popular films such as "The Hobbit" and " Life of Pi". However, Panmure feels that the film slate for the remainder of 2013 is not as good as it was in 2012 and sees a fall off in demand as a result. Panmure goes on to say that the adjusted EV/EBITDA multiple of 7.5 is too rich given this poor short-medium term outlook. The shares slid by 4.75p to 277p. Shore Capital re-iterated its "sell" recommendation on investment firm Schroders (SDR)despite today's 2012 results being better than its own expectations. The broker did note that assets under management grew by 24.7% to 212 billion pounds over the period - a figure which was above expectations for 208.7 billion pounds. However, Shore Capital believe that the shares still look expensive as they are currently trading on a PE multiple of 17 times and feels that there are better value plays in the market for those looking for some equity market exposure. The shares climbed by 52p to 2,088p. ADVERTISEMENT Want to learn what some of the UK's most successful investors think of the current markets?
Then make sure you come to this year's Master Investor show. Speakers include the UK's 112th richest man Jim Mellon, Innocent Smoothies founder Richard Reed and infamous bear raider Evil Knievil, amongst many others. To claim a free pair of tickets (worth £40) CLICK HERE and enter the promo code UKA2013 Blue-Chips Supplier of temporary power Aggreko (AGK) posted a 13% increase in revenues to 1.58 billion pounds for 2012, while pre-tax profits grew by 11% to 367 million pounds. Trading within both of the group's Power Projects and Local Business units was good, with revenues growing by 15% and 13% respectively over the year. However, trading margins were six points down in the Power Projects arm as a result of increased bad debt provisions, mobilisation costs relating to a contract in Mozambique and a reduction in revenues from a US military project. The shares leaped by 171p to 1,929p. Insurers Aviva (AV.) announced a 3.1 billion pounds after tax loss for 2012 after reporting an after tax profit of 60 million pounds in 2011. The main reason for the loss was a 3.3 billion pounds hit the company took on the sale of its US business. Stripping out the effect of the sale of the U.S business underlying operating profit stood at 1.8 billion pounds, 4% down on 2011. As a result of the reported loss Aviva will slash its final dividend by 44% to 9p per share, implying a 27% fall in full year dividend to 19p. The shares plunged by 41.2p to 318.6p. Insurance group Standard Life (SL.) revealed a 65% increase in annual operating profit to 900 million pounds for 2012 in a result which was ahead of the average analyst estimate of 853 million pounds. The improvement was largely driven by Standard Life's core British division where operating profits were up by 58%. Britain's fifth biggest insurer went on to reveal that it is to pay a special dividend of 12.8p on top of the regular dividend of 14.7p, up 6.5%. The shares slid by 3.8p to 370.4p. ADVERTISEMENT Spreadbet on the UK banks at t1pspreadbetting.co.uk - as well as other Equities, Stock Indices, Commodities, Bonds & Forex - CLICK HERE to open an account at our brand new trading platform
Mid Caps Betting platform operator Betfair (BET) announced a 4% decline in group revenues to 90.5 million pounds for the three months ended 31st January as it pulls out of markets where gambling regulations are not clear such as Greece, Cyprus and Germany. UK revenue, however, was up by 6% driven by the continued strength of mobile betting as well as "favourable sporting outcomes". The group said that it is on target to hit its lowered targets for this financial year. Recent consensus amongst brokers has been strong, with Panmure Gordon and Jefferies issuing "buy" recommendations in recent weeks. The shares grew by 34p to 722p. Engineering group Spirax-Sarco (SPX) reported a 15% increase in pre-tax profits to 138.5 million pounds for 2012 on a 2% increase in revenues to 661.7 million pounds. Geographically, sales were strongest in the Asia-Pacific region while sales in Europe, Middle East and Africa remained flat. As a result of the encouraging results management has raised the total dividend by 4p to 53p per share and will also pay a special 100p dividend later in the year. The shares gained 150p to 2,653p. Energy services firm Hunting (HTG) announced a 36% increase in revenues to 825.8 million pounds for 2012 while underlying pre-tax profits grew by 55% to 123.6 million pounds. The results benefitted from a 19% increase in the number of offshore active units drilling in the Gulf of Mexico supported by a further 6% increase in other regions where Hunting operates internationally. Another positive for the group was that the WTI crude oil price has also been relatively stable throughout the year and, in turn, capital expenditure by major exploration companies has been sustained. The shares lost 20p to 911.5p. 
Small Caps & AIM Engineering firm Turbo Power Systems (TPS) has received a $3.2 million (2.06 million pounds) spare parts purchase order from Bombardier Transportation. Under the agreement Turbo Power Systems will supply the Chicago Transit Authority with spare power units for its new fleet of Metro subway cars. The deal forms an extension to an existing $14.2 million (12.37 million pounds) contract between the two parties with this phase of work expected to be completed by the end of 2014. The shares powered up by 0.14p to 0.25p. Debt advisory firm Cleardebt (CLEA) intends to de-list from AIM on the back of a 73% plunge in pre-tax profits to 123,000 pounds in the second half of 2012. The company attributed this drop off in performance to a continuation of the general trend of falling insolvency numbers in the UK over recent quarters. The company has organised a shareholder meeting on the 25th March in which approval for the trading cancellation will be proposed. The shares plummeted by 0.55p to 0.25p. Blavod Wines and Spirits (BES), the owner of premium drinks brands, announced that it has received an order from Woolworths Limited for its RedLeg Rum to be stocked across Australia and New Zealand in 450 stores. The move is in line with the company's strategy of establishing the brand in Australia as it looks to boost global sales. The shares were down by 0.05p to 0.9p. 
Pawnbrokers H&T Group (HAT) reported a 27.7% fall in pre-tax profits to 17 million pounds for 2012 driven by a decline in gold purchasing profits and an increased cost base as the company continues with its store expansion programme. The group was keen to stress that it has achieved a 10.7% increase in its pledge book to 51.6 million pounds boosted by the decision to attract larger sized loans and the impact of new store openings. The shares fell by 29.75p top 320p. Smart energy outfit Ubisense Energy (UBI) announced the extension of a significant geospatial contract with a large European telecommunications network operator worth 1 million euros (870,000 pounds). Under the deal Ubisense will continue to provide planning extensions for the operator's fibre to home network across Europe. The deal enhances the presence of the group's geospatial business building on recent good sales momentum in the division. The shares were up by 1p at 197p. Video security firm Indigo Vision Group (IND) posted an 11% increase in revenues to 16.1 million pounds for the 6 months ended 31st January 2013 but reported a 26% dip in pre-tax profits to 926,000 pounds. The group cited the increased costs involved with recruiting additional development engineers, sales account managers and pre-sale support engineers as reason for the squeeze in profitability. In the current period the group confirmed that it is trading "comfortably ahead" of the corresponding period last year. The shares fell by 2.5p to 330p. | 
No comments:
Post a Comment