| From UK-Analyst.com: Monday 15th April 2013
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Competition Congratulations to Alastair Gray whose caption (below) has been voted the funniest and has won the UK-Analyst Friday Competition. Watch out for another contest at the end of the week. 
"Are you sure there was no horse in that dog meat?" The Markets Economic data from China has revealed a slowdown in growth in the country for the first three months of the year, partly due to a downturn in factory output across the nation. The world's second largest economy exhibited growth of 7.7% over the first quarter of 2013 which was below the 7.9% growth demonstrated in the previous quarter and even further away from the average analyst estimate of 8% growth for the period. As a result of the underwhelming figures, RBS cut its full year growth forecast from 8.4% to 7.8%, with Louis Kujism, Chief Economist at RBS in Hong Kong, explaining, "This is both due to the impact of the weaker start of 2013 and because the Q1 data shows slower quarter-on-quarter growth momentum than expected." The price of gold crashed to a two year low of $1,367 per ounce, with investors now less sure on the future prospects for the precious metal. Analysts at Citigroup were the latest to downgrade their price forecasts. Also raising concerns amongst investors is Cyprus' plans to sell gold reserves to the tune of 400 million euros (261 million pounds), which has fuelled rumours that other struggling Eurozone countries will follow suit. Other precious metals have also lost substantial value of late, with silver falling to its lowest level since October 2010, while platinum at its weakest since August last year. Dominic Schnider, an analyst at UBS Wealth Management, commented, "What we now see is panic selling, perhaps triggered by the Fed's stimulus view. The Fed has given the signal that there's a possibility to reduce QE, and that took a lot of trust out of gold." According to research from the British Retail Consortium (BRC), the number of people visiting shops across the UK in March was down by 5.2% year-on-year. Particularly badly hit were the East Midlands and the south west of England, with footfall in shops down by 8.1% and 7% respectively as the cold weather more than offset a good high-street turn out in the run up to Easter. A further study by the Federation of Small Businesses suggested that this snow-induced reduction in footfall cost small businesses in the UK approximately 174 million pounds, equating to an average loss of £1,580 per business. BRC director general Helen Dickinson, said, “The prolonged cold was the main culprit for deterring shoppers, especially compared against the far milder March of 2012. Although footfall did pick up around the Easter weekend, it couldn’t fully compensate for a weak showing across the month as a whole.â€Â
At the London close the Dow Jones was down by 80.48 points at 14,784.58 and the Nasdaq fell by 15.76 points to 2,840.72. In London the FTSE 100 was down by 40.79 points at 6,343.60; the FTSE 250 finished 165.19 points down at 13,741.61; the FTSE All-Share lost 24.32 points to 3,343.17; and the FTSE AIM Index slipped by 13.62 points to 715.90.  Broker Notes Panmure Gordon retained its "buy" recommendation on electronics retailer Dixons Retail (DXNS), increasing its target price from 32p to 45p. The broker expects the firm's upcoming trading statement to show decent sales growth in a reflection of underlying trends which have helped to deliver decent recent results for competitors Argos and John Lewis. Furthermore, Panmure is impressed with the fact that Dixons is now very close to having a debt-free balance sheet and believes this should help to form a base to generate growth upon. The shares edged up by 0.82p to 35.4p. Shore Capital maintained its "sell" recommendation on insurance group Direct Line (DLG) on fears regarding the impact of a plethora of new regulations which are due to come into play in the insurance sector. In particular, the broker is fearful over the implications of gender pricing and the upcoming Competition Commission investigation, citing poor revenue visibility because of the uncertainty surrounding these issues for Direct Line and across the whole of the industry at large. The shares slipped by 0.6p to 207p. Northland Capital re-iterated its "buy" recommendation on security technology group Starcom (STAR) with a target price of 22p. The broker is encouraged by early indications of the future sales of a new security product Starcom is producing in partnership with Assa Abloy, the largest global lock maker, in numbers which underpin its 2013 forecasts. Moreover, Northland values the business on 9.5 times its 2103 adjusted earnings forecast, suggesting a valuation of 15.3 million pounds. The shares were down by 1p at 18p.
Blue-Chips British Gas owner Centrica (CNA) has acquired a package of producing Canadian natural gas and crude oil assets along with associated infrastructure from Suncor Energy for C$1 billion (650 million pounds) in cash. The assets in question are located in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin and will be purchased as part of a joint-venture with Qatar Petroleum International. Centrica is acquiring a 60% interest in the assets and the Qatari group is taking the remaining 40%. According to estimates the assets are on track to produce 15 million barrels of oil equivalent during 2013. The shares crept up by 2.3p to 381.7p. Oil and gas producer Tullow Oil (TLW) revealed that its Sabisa-1 well in the South Omo Block in southern Ethiopia has been drilled to a total depth of 1,810 metres, with "hydrocarbon indications" recorded whilst drilling. However, the group did concede that hole instability issues required the drilling of an extra sidetrack to comprehensively log and sample these zones of interest. Separately, tests from the Ngamia-1 well in Kenya were carried out and the well flowed 81 barrels of 30 degree API oil per day using a progressive cavity pump. The shares fell by 63p to 1,097p. ADVERTISEMENT Spreadbet UK equities at t1pspreadbetting.co.uk - as well as Stock Indices, Commodities, Bonds & Forex - CLICK HERE to open an account at our brand new trading platform
Mid Caps Bookmaker Ladbrokes (LAD) declared that it has generated lower than expected profits in the first three months of 2013 as operating profits fell by 13 million pounds to 37.4 million pounds. The firm attributed this downturn in performance to poor trading surrounding the Cheltenham festival, where it generated 6 million pounds less than last year. Furthermore, the group had to contend with lower revenues from high-roller customers and a proportionally higher impact from horse racing customers. The shares lost 16.6p to 190.3p. Trading systems developer Fidessa (FDSA) announced that it delivered a "solid performance" during the first three months of 2013, with expansion into new territories offsetting the impact of subdued market conditions. Fidessa is confident that the equity markets will become increasingly busy in the medium-term and believes its technology leaves it in a prime position to capitalise on this trend through sales of its derivatives platforms. The update prompted broker Jefferies to re-iterate its "buy" recommendation on the group. The shares dived by 112p to 1,776p. CVC Capital announced over the weekend that it has held talks regarding a possible takeover offer for Betting exchange Betfair (BET). CVC Capital - the equity firm which also owns Formula One - did say that it was in discussions alongside investors such as Richard Koch, Antony Ball and others over a potential takeover approach. Betfair released a statement in response today advising shareholders to sit tight, stressing that there is no certainty that an offer will be made. The shares grew by 82.5p to 782p. 
Small Caps Coal producer Nova Resources (NOVA) announced it has failed to come to an agreement on the renewal of its current coal transportation contract with Transgobi LLC which is due to expire today. As a result the company is now exploring other options in terms of transportation and has pledged to make an announcement to the market when an agreement has been made in this regard. The shares plummeted by 0.75p to 2.25p. Shares in oil and gas exploration group Range Resources (RRl) have been suspended on both the London and Australian markets until an agreement to sell $30 million (19.6 million pounds) worth of its US assets is finalised. The deal in question relates to an agreement initially reached last month for Range to sell its Texan oil and gas interests. Range also announced the extension of its Morne Diablo and South Quarry licences in Trinidad by a further 10 years. The licence extension has included a reduction in enhanced royalty currently being paid by the company. The shares slid by 0.22p to 4.3p. Outsourcer Quindell Portfolio* (QPP) announced it has secured a new outsourcing contract with a "leading UK insurance broker" under which Quindell will service all aspects of the claims process. Quindell went on to stress that the contract is "very material to its revenues" and the largest so far signed for the period ended 31st December 2013. Equity research body GECR currently has a "buy" recommendation on the group with a target price of 40p. The shares remained flat at 14.125p. Online gaming company Probability (PBTY) announced that it moved into profit for the first time over the first three months of 2013 and now provides slot games to 14 different brands including Foxy Bingo, Wink Bingo and 888Ladies.com. The three months were characterised by significant contract wins, new product releases and the first operating profits from Playyoo, the company's Swiss subsidiary which targets the Italian market and was acquired in July 2012. The shares inched up by 1.4p to 66.9p. Publishing software provider Publishing Technology (PTO) revealed 2 new contract wins within its Advance and Pub2web divisions. Egmont International, the Scandinavian Media Group, has chosen the group's advance platform which will enable Egmont to track the status of its contracts at every stage of the life-cycle. Furthermore, Paris-based content aggregator Numerique Premium has chosen Publishing Technology to provide a new custom-built site for its e-book platform. The financial details of the agreements were not disclosed. The shares jumped by 30p to 290p. Plastics specialist Coral Group (CRU) warned that full year results are expected to be substantially below market expectations as a result of poor trading conditions which have persisted since the group last updated the market back in February. The Merseyside group attributed this deterioration to a drop-off in media and DVD sales as well as subdued demand for its ice-cream packaging products as demand was adversely affected by the prolonged cold weather. The shares ended 1.875p lower at 9.375p. * Quindell Portfolio is a corporate client of Rivington Street Holdings, the ultimate owner of UK-Analyst. | 
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