| From UK-Analyst.com: Tuesday 9th April 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 UK industrial production rose by 1% in February month-on-month according to figures from the Office for National Statistics, providing further hope that the UK economy will avoid slipping back into recession. However, the uplift in activity - which beat market estimates of a 0.1% month-on-month rise - only brings production levels back up to where they were last September. The largest gains came within the mining & quarrying sector, which was up by 2.8%, while the energy supply and water & waste management sectors also grew healthily- at 1.3% and 0.8% respectively. Ross Walker from RBS commented, "It's hardly a dramatic recovery but it does look to be avoiding a symbolic triple dip recession." Staying at home, UK retail figures for March were up by 1.9% year-on-year, below the 2.7% growth which was exhibited in February, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC). The slowdown in growth is thought to have been exacerbated by the coldest March in more than 50 years, which kept shoppers off high streets. House textiles was the best-performing category, with the cold weather leading to a boom in duvet sales, but overall growth in online sales slowed. BRC Director General Helen Dickinson said, "Snow and the prolonged cold were not ideal, but not a disaster. They brought mixed fortunes for different categories." The Financial Conduct Authority has begun an investigation into last year's technology failures at the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) which left many customers unable to access their money. Last summer's fiasco was triggered by a computer failure in the overnight transfer of money between accounts which created a huge backlog in updating account balances. A statement released by the bank read, " Last summer's IT failure was unacceptable. We have already made significant improvements and over the next three years will invest hundreds of millions in our systems."
 At the London close the Dow Jones was up by 13.48 points at 14,626.96 and the Nasdaq gained 1.43 points to 2,787.56. In London the FTSE 100 was up by 36.27 points at 6,313.21; the FTSE 250 finished 74.59 points up at 13,598.30; the FTSE All-Share grew by 16.45 points to 3,322.49; and the FTSE AIM Index edged up by 0.92 to 717.65.  Broker Notes Panmure Gordon retained its "sell" recommendation on recruiters Robert Walters (RWA )but increased its target price from 125p to 144p. The broker feels that Robert Walters is a solid business but feels that "there remains sparse evidence of any sustained improvement in markets or prospects" since the group's last update. Furthermore, Panmure notes that the shares currently trade on a P/E multiple of 26.2 which, according to the broker, remains too high given the likely speed of market improvement in the short-to-medium term. The shares grew by 3.375p to 224.125p. Canaccord Genuity maintained its "buy" stance on restaurant chain Prezzo (PRZ) with a target price of 100p. The group is benefiting from increased investment behind its marketing campaign, IT systems and social media platforms. Looking ahead, Canaccord Genuity sees increasing the size of the roll-out and making bolt-on acquisitions as two key growth accelerators as cash builds on the balance sheet and believes that Prezzo will target both of these measures over the short-medium term. The shares slid by 1.75p to 84p. WH Ireland re-iterated its "buy" recommendation on oil industry servicer Getech (GTC) with a 72p target price. The broker is impressed with the group's "exceptionally strong" H1 numbers and has upgraded its FY13 and FY14 forecast as a result. Additionally, WH ireland noted that the shares currently trade on an EV/EBITDA multiple of 6.7 but feels a multiple of around 15 is more reflective of the group's true value. The shares increased by 3.5p to 67.5p. 
Blue-Chips Provider of support services to the energy industry Wood Group (WG.) has secured a two-year services contract with Total E&P UK Ltd with an anticipated value of $150 million (98 million pounds). Under the agreement, Wood Group's Production Services Network (PSN) division will provide engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning services to Total's Alwyn, Dunbar, Elgin and Franklin offshore platforms as well as the St Fergus onshore gas plant. It is thought that the contract will support approximately 200 onshore and 100 offshore jobs in the UK. The shares inched up by 4p to 852p. Oil exploration and production group Tullow Oil (TLW) announced that its subsidiary, Tullow Oil International Limited, has sold 100% of the share capital of Tullow Bangledesh Limited to KrisEnergy Asia Holdings for a consideration of $42.35 million (27.7 million pounds). The sale, which is still conditional on approval from the Bangladesh authorities, is part of the group's ongoing process of "portfolio management and asset monetisation" according to Tullow. The shares slipped by 4p to 1,187p. Vedanta Resources' (VED) subsidiary Cairn India has made the 26th oil discovery so far in the RJ-ON-90/1 block in Rajasthan. Technical evaluations indicate 10 metres of gross oil column within the Dharvi Dungar formation in Raageshwari-Tukaram where previous discoveries were in the shallower thumbli sands. Recent consensus amongst brokers has been positive, with Bank of America upgrading its "neutral" recommendation to a "buy" recommendation last week. The shares grew by 56p to 1,116p. ADVERTISEMENT Spreadbet the major resources companies 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 AZ Electronic Materials (AZEM) revealed that group revenue was down by 2% at $179.9 million (117.6 million pounds) for the first 3 months of the year in a fall driven by lower than expected sales and an "unfavourable product mix". Furthermore, the group predicts that its IC materials business is likely to continue to perform below expectations for the first half of 2013 and expects its EBITDA margin for the first half of the year to be under 30%. The shares plummeted by 129p to 240p. Transport operator FirstGroup (FGP) revealed that its financial results for the year ended 31st March 2013 will be in line with expectations, with management adamant that it is "satisfied with progress made" over the year. The Aberdeen-based group went on to confirm that the sale of eight London UK bus depots has generated 80 million pounds following the period end. Recent sentiment surrounding the stock has been on the negative side with broker Espirito Santo re-iterating its "sell" stance on the company last week. The shares were up by 5.8p at 206.7p. Ferrexpo (FXPO), the iron producer, confirmed a 10% rise in pellet production for the first three months of the year. Total production climbed to 2,485.7k tonnes in the first quarter, from 2,257.5k tonnes in the comparative period and was up from 2,474.7k tonnes in the previous quarter. The uplift in production may have been pre-empted by brokers as Citigroup, Deutsche Bank and HB Markets have all maintained their "buy" stances of late. The shares surged by 29.8p to 184.9p. Small Caps & AIM National Accident Repair Services (NARS) revealed that revenues for 2012 fell from 173.4 million pounds to 155.9 million pounds, primarily due to the closures of crash repair centres in 2011. However, stripping out these closures like-for-like sales were down by 2.6%, reflecting a reduction in insurance revenue due to the effect of declining motor claims frequency and the non-renewal of a significant contract with Aviva. However, these declines were more than offset by increased gross margins and overhead reduction, which helped underlying profitability grow by 9.2% to 6.8 million pounds. The shares fell by 2.5p to 65p. blur Group (BLUR), the e-commerce technology group, revealed that it grew revenues from $0.89 million (0.58 million pounds) to $2.81 million (1.84 million pounds) in 2012. However, pre-tax losses increased from $675,000 (441,000 pounds) to $1.23 million (0.8 million pounds) in a hike which was attributed to higher administrative costs in a reflection of the increased investment in people and technology which the group is embarking on to support top line growth. blur also announced that the total value of briefs submitted in the first quarter of 2013 were up by 180% year-on-year at $3.89 million. The shares lost 21p to 143.5p. Driver Group (DRV), the construction consultancy company, announced that its Middle East business continues to trade ahead of management's expectations, with "very good" forward order books. In addition, the group went on to reveal that its European and African operations have delivered "strong trading" in the 6 months ended 31st March 2013. As a result, management feels that the company will exceed expectations for the full financial year. The shares swelled by 10.5p to 91.5p. 
Chinese designer of branded clothing Camkids (CAMK) revealed that revenues were up by 23% at 96.1 million pounds for 2012, while pre-tax profits grew by 25% to 28.2 million pounds. In a year which was characterised by Chinese retailers sacrificing margins to clear stock, Camkids was able to increase gross margins from 35.9% to a record high of 37.1%. The company - which joined the AIM market on Christmas Eve last year - attributed this improvement to a strong uplift in revenues generated from both its clothing and footwear businesses as the group's strong brand gave it considerable pricing power in the market. The shares gained 3.5p to 103.5p. Outsourcer Quindell Portfolio* (QPP) has completed the acquisition of Abstract Legal Holdings, the parent company of Accident Advice Helpline. Quindell paid a non-refundable deposit of 19.75 million pounds towards this transaction in December 2012 and further consideration for the acquisition has now been satisfied by the issue of 242,100,000 Quindell shares (6% of the group's total share capital), which are subject to lock in arrangements ranging from 12 to 36 months. Quindell stressed that the acquisition should prove to be "significantly and immediately earnings enhancing". The shares edged up by 0.75p to 14.25p. Software group Fusionex (FXI) announced that it has increased its presence in Malaysia via the opening of a new state of the art office in what it sees as a "key strategic growth market". The 38,000 sq ft office - acquired for a total sum of 5.8 million pounds - will be used to support both Research & Development (R&D) as well as sales & marketing activities in an attempt to drive greater product penetration and generally broaden the scope of its R&D. The shares were up by 1.84p at 241.34p. * Quindell Portfolio is a corporate client of Rivington Street Holdings, the ultimate owner of UK-Analyst. | 
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