| From UK-Analyst.com: Monday 13th May 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
Competition Congratulations to John Coleman 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. 
"Still cant see Arsenal winning a trophy, even with these on!"
The Markets Industrial output in China was worse than expected in April, casting further doubts on the vitality of the world's second largest economy. According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, industrial output was up by 9.3% year-on-year, which was above March's figure of 8.9% but below market forecasts for a 9.5% rise. The data showed that manufacturers of transport equipment experienced one of the sharpest slowdowns last month, while crude oil output also slipped. The announcement will come as a further shock to investors who have already been dealt a blow this year with news that growth of the economy unexpectedly fell in the first quarter of the year to 7.7%. Liang Youcai, a Senior Economist at China's State Information Centre warned, "Economic activity remains weak. We now expect second-quarter gross domestic product growth of around 7.8-7.9 % if there are no stimulus measures." Here in the UK, businesses are growing more confident on prospects for the economy according to findings from the Confederation of British Industry (CBI). The CBI revealed that businesses' view of the future have shifted upwards slightly, although it kept its forecasts for the country's economic growth unchanged from February at 1% in 2013 and 2% in 2014. It is thought that the government's Funding For Lending Scheme is helping the situation, providing smaller companies with access to relatively cheap loans in order to finance operations they may not have otherwise been able to engage in. The CBI's Director--general, John Cridland, said, "Amongst CBI companies, there's a general sense that the forward mood has brightened a little. When I talk to small businesses, they are already seeing the benefit on cost [of loans], and lower cost leads to more availability." Over the pond, US retail sales rose in April, confounding analyst expectations for a reduction in activity. Figures from the U.S Commerce Department revealed a 0.1% increase in sales in April following a 0.5% fall in March, in a turnaround boosted by increased public purchasing power as house prices increased and fuel costs declined. Michael Moran, Chief Economist at Daiwa Capital Markets America, commented, "Consumers are staying active and providing support to the economy. We will see a slowdown this quarter, but it won't be dramatic. There will be some damping of spending due to the payroll tax, but it will be mild."
At the London close the Dow Jones was down by 48.23 points at 15,070.26 and the Nasdaq fell by 5.03 points to 2,975.99. In London the FTSE 100 grew by 6.78 points to 6,631.76; the FTSE 250 finished 15.76 points higher at 14.299.90; the FTSE All-Share swelled by 2.64 points to 3,492.65; and the FTSE AIM Index inched up by 0.83 points to 717.81.  Broker Notes Canaccord Genuity retained its "buy" recommendation on construction group Interserve (IRV) with a 560p target price. The broker believes that Interserve is well positioned to secure further contract opportunities in the UK Justice, Welfare and Defence markets over the next two years. Moreover, Canaccord feels that, in contrast to some of its London-listed peers, Interserve's international business will augment its rate of profits growth and the broker has issued above-consensus forecasts on Interserve as a result. The shares were up by 3.7p at 496p. N+1 Singer maintained its "buy" recommendation on electronics group Darty (DRTY) with a 65p target price. The broker is of the opinion that Darty is moving into a key recovery phase with a competent new CEO now in position and with Italy/Spain exit risks behind it. Furthermore, N+1 Singer is excited on the prospect of an upcoming trading update which could shed light on further group restructuring in an announcement which, according to the broker, has the potential to enhance forecasts despite the stagnant macro-economic backdrop. The shares slid by 0.25p to 52.25p. Panmure Gordon retained its "buy" recommendation on shipping group Clarkson (CKN) with a 2,000p target price. The broker feels that Clarkson is in an excellent position to capitalise on recovering shipping and capital markets in the medium-long term. Additionally, Panmure remains bullish on the longer-term prospects for the group and feels that the group's balance sheet gives it the flexibility to strengthen and grow its business further as and when opportunities arise. The shares dived by 34p to 1,616p. 
Blue-Chips British Gas owner Centrica (CNA) expects full year earnings growth to be in line with expectations after a good performance in the UK over the first four months of the year. The group's UK residential energy supply business delivered a 28,000 increase in accounts over the period, boosted by increased levels of customer retention. Moreover, average residential gas consumption was 18% higher in the first four months of 2013 as a result of the prolonged cold weather in the UK. The shares climbed by 3.3p to 380.8p. Newly formed Glencore Xstrata (GLEN) revealed that total copper production increased by 15% to 537,300 in the first three months of the year, boosted by a strong uplift in production from its Katanga and Mutanda projects in Africa. Furthermore, gold output was up by 9% to 578,000 ounces while cobalt, ferrochrome, platinum, palladium and rhodium output also gained strongly on last year. However, the miner conceded that it did see "some softening in prices towards the end of the quarter", while agricultural production suffered as widespread unfavourable weather took its toll. The shares increased by 1.4p to 345.3p. Broadcasting giant ITV (ITV) has acquired a 60% stake in High Noon Entertainment, a US production company which specialises in reality and entertainment shows. ITV will pay $25.65 million (16.7 million pounds) with a top-up payment in 2015 based on the performance of the company. High Noon made an operating profit of $5.7 million (3.7 million pounds) in 2012 and generated around 80% of its production revenue from returning series. The shares were down by 0.2p to 130.4p.
Mid Caps Platinum producer Lonmin (LMI) posted pre-tax profits of $54 million (35.2 million pounds) for the 6 month period ended 31st March, up from $18 million (11.7 million pounds) for the previous year. The performance prompted management to increase platinum production guidance from 680,000 ounces to 700,000 ounces for the full year. The improvement in performance reflected a recovery from last year when Lonmin's operations were plagued with labour unrest and violence. The shares fell by 0.2p to 130.4p. Gambling business Rank Group (RNK) reported a 2% decline in like-for-like revenues for the 18 weeks ended May 5th in a fall in performance blamed on cold weather which kept punters away. On this basis the group declared that it expects its results from continuing operations to be marginally below last year. On a positive note, Enracha, Rank's operator of 11 bingo clubs in Spain, managed to increase like-for-like sales by 1% during the 18-week period. The shares lost 5p, finishing the day at 161p. Life sciences group Diploma (DPLM ) revealed a 10% increase in revenues to 139.7 million pounds for the six months ended 31st March 2013, driven by the acquisitions of three new European Controls businesses. Stripping out the effect of the acquisitions, group revenues increased by 2%. Adjusted profit before tax increased by 3% to 26.9 million pounds on this revenue uplift. The update was enough for broker Jefferies to re-iterate its "buy" recommendation on the group with a 615p target price. The shares were down by 17.5p at 582p. Small Caps Medical technology group Angle (AGL) revealed that its Parsortix non-invasive cancer diagnostic product can now "harvest" cells for analysis. This development offers the prospect of personalised medicine and other treatment selected specifically to address the individual patient's own cancer with better patient outcomes and lower costs of treatment. Commercially, the group claimed that it is has had "positive" discussions with cancer research centres and hospitals who apparently all agree on the importance of this harvesting capability in meeting a key unmet medical need. The shares soared by 9p to 54p. PhotonStar LED (PSL), a manufacturer of smart lighting solutions, has been awarded a grant by the UK Department for Energy and Climate Change for up to 372,269 pounds. The funds will be used to develop PhotonStar's ChromaWhite smart circadian retrofit LED lighting solutions which represent Photonstar's next commercial opportunities in products which are predicted to reach the market in 2014. The shares jumped by 1p to 9.75p. Transense Technologies (TRT), the provider of sensor systems, announced that its trading division, Translogik, has received its two largest single orders to date, totalling 320 units, for its commercial truck tyre inspection tools. This contract win takes the company's total probe sales for the first four months of the year to over four times the comparable six month period of last year. The financial details of this particular contract were not disclosed. The shares inched up by 1p to 10.125p. 
Quindell Portfolio* (QPP) provided further clarification on the equity swap revealed in last week's results which has caused some concern amongst investors. Quindell defended itself and argued that the equity swap does not expose company to any further share issue or payment of cash and that all shares related to the equity swap are already issued and included in basic EPS calculations. On this basis the outsourcer went on to say that it knows of no valid reason for the recent share price decline and pointed to its strong balance sheet as proof of the underlying clout of the business. The shares grew by 1.1p to 7.1p. Coms (COMS),the internet telephony group, reported total sales of 3.5 million pounds for the year ended 31st January which equated to an underlying EBITDA loss of 1.15 million pounds. The update comes just weeks after Coms secured a 15 million pounds contract with an unnamed customer. The company added that its new in-direct sales (wholesale) division has built up a sales pipeline of 7 million pounds worth of annualised revenue and the retail division has won 3 new contracts with two NHS Trusts based in the North and a Police Constabulary based in the South East. The shares slid by 0.4p to 2.175p. Video search engine owner Blinkx (BLNX) posted a 129% increase in pre-tax profits to $24.6 million (16 million pounds) for the year ended March 31st on a 98% increase in revenues to $198 million (128.35 million pounds). The company attributed this success to the underlying structural growth in its online advertising markets coupled with the accelerating contribution from successfully integrated prior year acquisitions. Moreover, the company revealed that one-off contributions from the Olympics and US Presidential elections generated around 10% of its FY2013 revenue. The shares increased by 8p to 115p. * Quindell Portfolio is a corporate client of Rivington Street Holdings, the ultimate owner of UK-Analyst. | 
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