| From UK-Analyst.com: Thursday 6th June 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 (BoE) has kept UK Interest rates on hold at 0.5%, in a move widely in line with analyst expectations. The BoE also confirmed that it would not be extending its quantitative easing programme despite Sir Mervyn King, the outgoing Governor, supporting a further injection of cash into the economy. Sir Mervyn has argued for an extra 25 billion pounds of bond purchases to boost Britain's sluggish economic recovery since February but has been constantly out-voted by other members of the Monetary Policy Committee. The decision to hold off on extra stimulus is consistent with recent indications which have suggested that the "green shoots" of a recovery are appearing and comes amid projections of 0.5% growth in the UK economy across the second quarter of the year. Howard Archer, Chief UK & European Economist at IHS Global Insight commented, "While we expect more stimulative action from the Bank of England, we do not expect the MPC under Mark Carney to take interest rates below the current record low level of 0.50%." The number of new cars bought in the UK increased by 11% on an annual basis in May, marking the 15th successive month of growth for the domestic car market. According to figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers, the bulk of the uplift came from a 20.9% increase in demand from the private sector, although registrations were also up across the business and fleet sectors. It is thought that these increases could have been boosted by the Scrappage Incentive Scheme and a hike in motorists switching to more efficient vehicles. The most popular car was the Ford Fiesta, while the Ford Focus and Vauxhall Corsa also remained popular. The Society of Motor Manufacturers' Interim Chief Executive, Mike Baunton, commented, "While it is clear that buying confidence among UK motorists is very strong, continued economic uncertainty abroad, particularly in the rest of Europe, will mean that manufacturers remain cautious about performance in the second half of 2013." Elsewhere, the European Central Bank (ECB) mirrored the BoE's decision to keep interest rates on hold at 0.5%, reflecting its confidence that a gradual recovery is underway. However, the ECB did lower its economic outlook for Europe this year, arguing that output would decline by 0.6% in 2013 after predicting a contraction of 0.5% earlier this year. The ECB envisages that the economy will grow by 1.1% next year. The new forecasts come a day after data revealed that Eurozone business activity shrank in May, but at a slightly slower pace, with contractions slowing in France, Italy and Spain. ECB President Mario Draghi explained his decision to cut this year's European forecasts by saying, "The governing council continues to see downside risks surrounding the economic outlook for the euro area. They include the possibility of weaker than expected domestic and global demand and slow or insufficient implementation of structural reforms in euro area countries." 
At the London close the Dow Jones was down by 9.49 points at 14,951.10 and the Nasdaq fell by 1.56 points to 2,935.58. In London the FTSE 100 was down by 83.20 points at 6336.11 and the FTSE 250 lost 156.70 points to 13,840.18. The FTSE All-Share slid by 38.91 points to 3,348.99 while the FTSE AIM Index was down by 2.73 points at 719.19.  Broker Notes N+1 Singer re-iterated its "buy" recommendation on software group Amino Technologies (AMO) with a target price of 89p. The broker notes today's trading update and is impressed by the fact that group profitability is expected to be significantly ahead of the prior year due to changes in the mix of trading. Furthermore, N+1 Singer forecasts double digit EPS growth for each of the next two years, with at least 15% growth expected in the dividend. The shares slipped by 0.75p to 81.5p. Canaccord Genuity retained its "sell" recommendation on Synergy Health (SYR) with a target price of 903p. The broker feels that profitability in the US is likely to be slightly below the group margin, implying that EPS growth is unlikely to keep pace with the top line expansion in the region. Moreover, Canaccord has reduced its revenue estimates by 2% for both FY14 and FY15, explaining that capacity constraints in its steriliser division will reduce the growth rate, particularly in the UK as other divisions are growing more slowly. The shares grew by 10p to 1,118p. Shore Capital stuck with its "buy" recommendation on financial services group Prudential (PRU), impressed with the group's management and disciplined focus on value over volume. The broker feels that Prudential's geographic presence across the savings and retirement markets of Asia, UK and the US leave it well positioned to benefit from the global trends of greater self-reliance. Shore Capital also touches on the firm's increased level of multi-channel distribution and high quality product offering as further reasons to invest in Prudential. The shares were down by 17p at 1,060p. 
Blue-Chips Oil and gas services firm Wood Group (WG.) has been awarded a contract by the Dow Chemical Company to provide approximately 140 miles of ethane, ethylene, propane and propylene pipelines in Texas. The work is in line with Dow's plans to further connect its US operations with cheaper feedstocks available from increasing supplies of US shale gas. Sentiment surrounding Wood Group amongst brokers has been positive of late, with Numis re-iterating its "add" stance yesterday. The shares fell by 12p to 814.5p. Chemicals group Johnson Mathey (JMAT) posted a 9% fall in pre-tax profits to 389 million pounds for the year ended 31st March, a fall which was not as bad as most analysts were expecting. The company conceded that it had been a tough year for its Precious Metal Products division, exacerbated by low platinum and palladium prices and smaller volumes feeding through to its distribution business due to strikes across the South African mining industry. However, the group claimed that its environmental technologies division partly offset this slump, largely due to growth in the sale of diesel catalysts for trucks. The shares climbed by 164p to 2,750p. 
Mid Caps Packaging group Filtrona (FLTR) confirmed that it is to change its name to Essentra as it looks to rebrand itself to reflect "the small but essential components which often play a critical enabling role in the products of the Company's customers." Filtrona explained that the name change - which is due to come into effect on June 26th - will give greater visibility to its customers and simultaneously create a more "cohesive and engaging culture" for its employees. The shares inched up by 1p to 698.5p. Defence and security group Ultra Electronics (ULE) has acquired Varisys Limited, a computing specialist, for an initial cash consideration of 16 million pounds with additional payments of up to 2 million pounds payable subject to performance. Ultra Electronics argues that the acquisition will allow each of its businesses to meet customer requirements more quickly and cost-effectively. The acquisition will be financed using Ultra's existing facilities and is expected to be earnings enhancing in 2013. The shares decreased by 7p to 1,694p. Small Caps Physiomics (PYC) revealed that it has signed a contract with an unnamed biotechnology company to apply its new Virtual Tumour Clinical platform to their lead compound. Under the terms of the deal, the biotechnology company will pay one upfront fee and ongoing service fees as the project develops. The update from Physiomics went on to claim that each new project that it completes will allow it to improve and extend its model, making it more applicable to more oncology projects in future. The shares rose by 0.03p to 0.14p. Energy technology group Cap-XX (CPX) has secured orders from a range of Global Automotive OEMs and Tier-1 component suppliers to the automotive industry for evaluation samples for its supercapacitors. The capacitators provide high power support to automotive stop-start systems, protecting and extending the operating life a car's battery in the process. Cap-XX argues that its supercapacitors are lighter than a battery, can operate at low temperatures and can be charged and discharged almost without limit. The shares edged up by 0.75p to 7.125p. African airline Fastjet (FJET) declared that May was its most successful month of trading in its short history, boosted by an uplift in trading in Tanzania. Fastjet generated revenues of over $1.8 million (1,16 million pounds) in Tanzania last month, up around 50% on the start of the year and claimed that the figures show that "the Tanzanian public has fully embraced the low cost airline model and Fastjet has successfully stimulated a new market". Fastjet also gave positive updates on its operations in both Ghana and Angola and maintains that it is in a good position to become Africa's first low cost carrier. The shares flew upwards by 0.41p to 1.08p. 
Pharmacuetical player Alliance Pharma (APH) has acquired all existing rights to the Syntometrine drug from Novartis AG for $11.5 million (7.4 million pounds). The drug in question is used to stop bleeding after childbirth in mothers and can already be sold legally in the UK by Alliance. The new agreement will give Alliance the right to distribute the drug in countries including Australia, South Africa and Malaysia. Broker N+1 Singer retained its "hold" recommendation on the back of the update, warning that the deal will not help the group establish a needed presence in Europe. The shares inched up by 0.875p to 37.875p. Oil and gas exploration group Frontera Resources (FRR) stressed that gas production from Mtsare Khevi in Georgia would begin almost immediately after a 8km pipeline is complete, a milestone expected to be met in the next three months. The shares have rallied over the past couple of months following the government approval of an 8km pipeline back in March. Frontera added that oil production for the first 5 months of the year totalled 29,947 bbls across its projects, slightly lower than forecast but remained adamant that it will hit full year production forecasts. The shares plummeted by 0.36p to 0.9p. Broadband provider Pinnacle Technology Group (PINN) posted a 16% fall in revenues to 5.36 million pounds for the 6 months ended 31st March, while pre-tax losses more than doubled to 1.1 million pounds. The group - which provides wifi access in public places - attributed this downturn to tough comparators, as last year's figures were boosted by the Olympics and the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. The group also explained that a fall in revenues from within its Telecom's business was a result of "charges from landline to mobile and non-geographic numbers reducing considerably". The shares lost 2.75p, finishing the day at 22.75p. | 
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