| From UK-Analyst.com: Thursday 13th 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 World Bank has cut its growth forecast for the Chinese economy this year from 8.4% to 7.7%, being cautious of the ongoing slowdown in some of the nation's export markets. The Bank highlighted the slowdown in Europe and the US as drivers for the decreased demand for Chinese exports. The cut comes just 6 months after the organisation raised its forecast from 8.1% to 8.4% on the back of a number of approvals in infrastructure projects around the country. The report also touched on concerns over the nation's investment-led growth model. An extract from the World Bank's report read, "The main risk related to China remains the possibility that high investment rates prove unsustainable, provoking a disorderly unwinding and sharp economic slowdown." Staying in Asia, Japanese shares plummeted, with the Nikkei index down by 6.5%, a fall which means that the index is now a startling 22% below May's five and a half year peak. The sell-off was driven by the yen hitting a 10-week high against the US dollar, triggering caution amongst investors that exporters profits would not impress this year. This comes at a time when sentiment surrounding the Japanese economy has been mixed, with investors unsure on the medium-long term consequences of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's stimulative measures. Yoshihide Suga, the country's Chief Cabinet Secretary, seemed undeterred by the Nikkei 225's latest plunge and commented, "I feel it's important not to swing from joy to sorrow every time stock prices rise or fall, and keep on doing what we need to do. The Japanese economy is steadily improving." New data revealed that US retail sales grew by more than expected in May, in an indication that the economy is slowly but steadily improving. According to figures from the Commerce Department, retail sales were up by 0.6% in May following a 0.1% gain in April - above the 0.4% rise which analysts expected. A breakdown of the figures show that sales of building materials and garden equipment performed well, underpinned by a growing demand for housing. Brian Jones, Senior U.S. Economist in New York at Societe Generale, said, "The consumer seems to be faring very well. The labor market is getting better. People realize that the employment situation has improved so they feel better and are probably willing to go out and spend money." 
At the London close the Dow Jones was up by 41.05 points at 15,036.28 and the Nasdaq grew by 5.68 points to 2,931.82. In London the FTSE 100 was up by 5.18 points at 6,304.63 and the FTSE 250 decreased by 86.66 points to 13,677.87. the FTSE All-Share inched up by 1.51 points to 3,327.49 while the FTSE AIM Index fell by 4.38 points to 708.92.  Broker Notes Panmure Gordon retained its "buy" recommendation on software firm Innovation Group (TIG) with a target price of 28p. The broker notes Innovation's latest contract win with an unnamed UK Mutual insurer and feels that it shows Innovation is able to sell software into a Tier One UK Mutual Insurer. Panmure acknowledges that the deal does not significantly move forecasts but argues that the deal underpins revenue projections for 2013 and 2014 which could help to unlock future profit growth. The shares remained unchanged at 27.5p. N+1 Singer maintained its "buy" recommendation on Utilitywise (UTW) with a target price of 130p. The broker is impressed with the company's acquisition of Energy Information Centre, arguing that it helps the group to build market share in the Industrial & Commercial market and broadens its offering in flexible energy procurement. Furthermore, N+1 Singer goes on to cite the fact that the shares are currently trading on an attractive 10 times forecast 2014 earnings multiple as a further reason to invest. The shares slipped by 2.5p to 104.5p. Canaccord Genuity retained its "sell" recommendation on Primark owner and sugar group Associated British Foods (ABF) with a target price of 1,630p. The broker is cautious on high sugar beet costs at present, with the price being driven up by poor growing weather, faulty seeds and high prices for alternatives such as wheat. Although Canaccord admits that AB Foods remains a well diversified company, it does expect near-term pressure on the shares to persist as sugar forecasts are rebased downward. The shares inched up by 9p to 1,794p. 
Blue-Chips Mining giant Rio Tinto (RIO) has agreed to sell its Eagle project to Lundin Mining Corporation for around US$325 million (207.4 million pounds) in cash. The project in question - which is 55% completed in terms of construction - is situated in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in the United States and consists of a high-grade underground nickel-copper mine and mill. Rio Tinto explained that the move was in line with its strategy of implementing divestments of its non-core operations. The shares grew by 69.5p to 2,759.5p. British Gas owner Centrica (CNA) confirmed that it has acquired a 25% interest in the Bowland exploration licence in Lancashire from Cuadrilla Resources Ltd and AJ Lucas for 40 million pounds in cash. The license covers three wells which carry a confirmed presence of natural gas. Although initial data suggests that there could be 200 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of gas in place within Cuadrilla's Bowland Shale licence in Lancashire, further drilling will take place to ascertain whether the reserves are commercial. The shares swelled by 3.8p to 371.9p. Mid Caps Homeware retailer Home Retail Group (HOME) revealed that trading within its Homebase business was "slightly behind" its expectations over the 13 weeks ended 1st June. The group used the textbook "volatile weather" card as an explanation for Homebase's underperformance, with the DIY products business having to resort to an increased level of promotional sales. On a positive note, like-for-like sales increased by 1.9% at Argos over the period, driven by sales growth in TVs and tablets. The response to the update from brokers has been mixed with Investec retaining its "buy" stance and Espirito Santo Execution Noble retaining its "sell" stance. The shares dived by 13p to 131.1p. WS Atkins (ATK), the engineering and product management consultancy, posted a 2.9% increase in underlying pre-tax profits to 104.5 million pounds for the year ended 31st March as revenues slipped by 0.3% to 1.705 billion pounds. A good performance in the UK was largely cancelled out by a "difficult year" in North America as its Peter Brown construction management business continued to struggle. Looking ahead, the group said that this year's performance in terms of both headcount and revenue growth will be influenced by the sale of the UK highways services business, expected to complete in the summer. The shares were up by 32.5p at 912.5p. Retailer WH Smith (SMWH) announced a 5% fall in like-for-like sales over the 14 week period ended 8th June 2013, partly blamed on tough comparators as the publishing schedule last year was "strong". Despite the ongoing slide in sales, WH Smith claimed that it is in a strong financial position and stressed that it remains confident in the outcome for the full year despite the uncertain economic environment. The shares fell by 17p to 714p. Small Caps InGeniousMeidaActive (IMAC) confirmed that it has sold its entire shareholding and loan stock in Digital Rights Group Limited to Modern Times Group, a Stockholm-based international entertainment broadcasting group, for a cash consideration of 13.2 million pounds. The disposed business distributes programmes such as the Inbetweeners and Doc Martin and made a pre-tax profit of 0.5 million pounds on sales of 25.4 million pounds for the year ended 31st March. The shares shot up by 4.875p to 13.75p. Imaganatik (IMTK), the technology consultancy, has appointed Megan Shea as a managing consultant, with responsibility for "new methods development, business development and client delivery as part of the ongoing consultancy-led approach which has seen several contract wins of late". Shea was previously a Senior Associate at Innosight, a US-based strategic innovation consultancy advising Fortune 100 pharmaceutical companies and she also founded Retirelife, an online business in the elderly care industry. The shares edged up by 0.01p to 0.1p. Interior Services Group (ISG) has secured 40 million pounds in international sales over the last two months, including a fit out Tiffany & Co's new 10,000 sq ft flagship store on the Champs Elysees. Other new projects include the refurbishment of 365 guest rooms and executive suites at the luxury Fairmont Hotel in Singapore and work on the new Abercrombie & Fitch store in Korea. The shares crept up by 1p to 163p. Concrete machinery specialist Somero (SOM) claimed that overall results for the current year should be ahead of current market expectations as demand for its products and services have remained healthy since April. Somero went on to say that group revenue growth in the first half of the current year is on track to be around 25% ahead of the comparable period last year. As a result the company will now look to invest in new personnel as it looks to "drive growth in the medium and longer term." The shares grew by by 1.5p to 60p. Competition operator Best of the Best (BEST) announced a 15.2% increase in revenues to 6.45 million pounds for the year ended 30th April, while the company swung from a loss of 180,000 pounds to a pre-tax profit of 120,000 pounds. The company cited the changes it made to its supercar competition as a driver in the improvements as the wider choice of cars, price points and increased frequency has helped its online business in particular. The shares climbed by 3.75p to 28.25p. Mobile commerce group Zamano (ZMNO) revelaed that it made "strong progress" in the first 5 months of this year. The company generates most of its revenue from the UK but expanded its geographical footprint into Central Europe, Scandinavia and Australia over the period. In the US, Zamano migrated its operations to a new aggregation partner, Mobile Messenger in order to extend its reach into North America, UK, South Africa and Asia. The shares were up by 0.4p at 7.9p. | 
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