| From UK-Analyst.com: Wednesday 12th 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 A study by the Institute for Fiscal Studies revealed that UK wages have fallen by more in real terms in the last five years compared with any other five year period in modern history. Workers have been hit with pay cuts of 6% in real terms since the financial crisis began back in 2008 as the cost of living has far outpaced growth in wages. The report also revealed that small companies are more likely to cut wages rather than lay off staff whereas larger companies are more likely to make redundancies. Paul Johnson, director of the IFS, said,: "This time really does seem to be different…it has been deeper and longer than those of the 1990s, the 1980s and even the 1930s. It has seen household incomes and spending drop more and stay lower longer." Staying in the UK, unemployment fell by 5,000 in May according to new data from the Office for National Statistics. The data - which marks the seventh consecutive monthly drop - means that the unemployment rate remains unchanged at 7.8%. The positive news is the latest in a string of recent upbeat data, including figures released yesterday which revealed that the UK's industrial output rose for a third straight month in April. However, the figures did not appease everyone as Unison General Secretary Dave Prentis warned, "Whilst any drop in unemployment is welcome, the overall picture is still gloomy. There are far too many people out of work, women and long-term unemployed are particularly badly affected, and public sector jobs are being slashed." Elsewhere, equity index provider MSCI has lowered Greece's status from a developed market to an emerging market as the country failed to meet practices currently found in developed markets for such things as securities borrowing and lending facilities. Greece - which is currently in its sixth consecutive year of recession and suffering from a 27% unemployment rate - was also penalised for not meeting developed market criteria for size for the past two years. The downgrade will further hamper Greek efforts to harbour a recovery as investors look upon the country as being even more risky. A statement from the MSCI read, "Market participants have commented that in-kind transfer and off-exchange transaction-like facilities that were introduced in 2008 by the Greek authorities and the Athens Stock Exchange, are so restrictive that they are, in practice, unusable." 
At the London close the Dow Jones was up by 5.34 points at 15,127.36 and the Nasdaq slipped by 5.18 points to 2,954.66. In London the FTSE 100 was down by 40.63 points to 6,299.45 and the FTSE 250 decreased by 41.57 points to 13,764.53; the FTSE All-Share slid by 19.64 points to 3,325.98 while the FTSE AIM Index fell by 1.37 points to 712.52.  Broker Notes N+1 Singer maintained its "buy" stance on Amino Technologies (AMO) with a target price of 89p. The broker notes that Amino has won a contract extension to deliver HD IPTV boxes to a major South Eastern European operator. N+1 Singer feels that this shows that Amino's strategy has allowed it to remain competitive in addressing the large scale opportunities that still exist within the region - one factor behind the broker's forecast of double digit EPS growth for each of the next two years. The shares inched up by 1.5p to 86p. Shore Capital stuck with its "sell" recommendation on retailer Marks and Spencer (MKS), partly over concerns with the womenswear business. The broker feels that the recent visual changes made to womenswear appear to be "underwhelming" despite the management changes last year. Furthermore, Shore Capital does not see earnings rebounding over the next two years despite a significant investment in multi-channel and organisation re-structuring. The shares fell by 6.1p to 439.6p. Canaccord Genuity retained its "buy" recommendation on rigid plastics packaging products maker RPC Group (RPC) with a target price of 470p. In view of yesterday's results, the broker retains its view that RPC remains an attractively valued combination of defensive end markets with potential upside coming in the shape of both organic and inorganic opportunities. Moreover, Canaccord feels that the "refreshed" management team will give the company more vigour going forward. The shares slid by 1.1p to 411.5p. 
Blue-Chips After the market closed state owned bank Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) revealed that Stephen Hester will be stepping down as Group Chief Executive later this year. Hester was appointed to the Board in October 2008 and to the position of Group Chief Executive in November 2008, leading the bank through its recovery and restructuring after the financial crisis. He will receive payment in lieu of notice of 1.6 million pounds, representing 12 months pay and benefits. Supermarket giant Sainsbury's (SBRY) delivered like-for-like growth of 0.7% for the 12 weeks ended 8th June 2013, marking the group's 34th consecutive quarter of like-for-like growth. The increase was boosted by Sainsbury's Taste The Difference brand, which benefited from a 10% increase in sales. The group was also keen to stress the success of its non-food operations, with sales in with kitchen electricals up 34% year-on-year and cookware up by nearly 23%. Morgan Stanley responded to the update by retaining its "overweight" recommendation on the group. The shares edged up by 2.4p to 365.1p. Vodafone (VOD) confirmed that it has made a preliminary approach to Kabel Deutschland over a possible offer for the company. Kabel Deutschland provides TV, Internet and phone services to more than 8 million German households and has a market value of around 6.62 billion euros (5.6 billion pounds). Separately, the firm announced the launch of two relatively cheap new smartphones, the Smart III and the Smart Mini, designed to allow more people access to mobile internet around the world. The shares slipped by 11p to 181p. The Canadian-led consortium flirting with Severn Trent (SVT) over a possible takeover has walked away from negotiations after seeing three offers rejected by the water company. The LongRiver consortium's last offer was at 2,200p per share, valuing the water company at 5.2 billion pounds and was rejected by Severn Trent which argued that the offer failed to reflect the long-term value of the company. Under market regulations, the two parties had until 4pm yesterday to re-start talks if the negotiations were to continue. However, this did not happen and the consortium is now not permitted to submit another offer for Severn Trent for another 6 months. The shares dived by 172p to 1,765p. Mid Caps Oil exploration group Heritage Oil (HOIL) claimed that it has successfully addressed the issues which have recently limited oil output in Nigeria during the first quarter and gross production has now returned above 35,000 barrels per day. According to Heritage, all key fields are in now in production and work is now underway which should allow output to rise in a manner consistent with management expectations. The current sentiment surrounding seems rather positive with Goldman Sachs upgrading its recommendation on the group to a "buy" last week. The shares increased by 6.2p to 142.4p. ADVERTISEMENT Investor evening in London on Monday 17th June with 4 exciting small cap growth stocks presenting CLICK HERE for more details Attendance is FREE, but places are strictly limited Small Caps Home electronics specialist JSJS Designs (JSJS) announced that its JSJS Lightwave product will be rolled out across 120 Maplin stores in the UK. The move comes after a successful pilot period in which the products were sold in 20 Maplin stores. The firm also announced that it now has 10,000 users using its online services to remotely manage their homes on a daily basis, up from 6,000 at the beginning of the year while the firm is preparing the launch of new apps for its next generation heating apps. The shares were up by 0.02p to 0.26p. Online retailer ASOS (ASC) posted a 45% increase in retail sales to 194 million pounds for the three months ended 31st May, an increase driven by demand-boosting price reductions on own-brand products. The firm was also quick to praise the impact of its link up with Primark, reporting that the response had been "phenomenal" over the first week of the trial. The group went on to highlight good progress in the US, France, Germany and Australia and claimed that full year results are in line to be consistent with expectations. The shares grew by 51p to 4,032p. Film distribution firm Intandem Films* (IFM) has raised 831,000 pounds at a price of 0.5p per share to pay down short-term debt, secure select commercial projects and for general working capital purposes. The company has also entered into a 1 million pounds equity financing facility over a period of 36 months with Darwin Strategic Limited. Intandem went on to warn that the company will not have adequate working capital if the placing is not fully approved. It also confirmed that there are currently nine fully contracted films on the slate, of which four are fully financed, including Killing Hasselhoff, a comedy thriller starring David Hasselhoff. The shares lost 0.33p, finishing the day at 0.65p. 
Dewhurst (DWHT), the manufacturer of lift and ATM components, conceded that the 6 month period ended 31st March was a "difficult" one for the group. The firm revealed that revenue was down by 17% for the period, while pre-tax profits were down by 41% at 1.7 million pounds. Dewhurst explained that the fall in profitability was a result of a significant customer changing to a new product which did not require its work. The refreshingly honest update admitted that sales have been weak in almost all areas other than North America and that there was no sign of any improvements in the short-term. The shares were up by 5p at 487.5p. Technology group Elektron Technology (EKT) has completed the sale of its subsidiary, Total Carbide Limited, a manufacturer of sintered Tungsten Carbide components, to Versarien plc for a total consideration of approximately 2.3 million pounds - 1.23 million pounds in cash and 1.05 million pounds worth of shares in Versarien. Elektron said that the deal was part of the "rationalisation of its portfolio" as it looks to focus on Connectivity and IMC (Instrumentation, Monitoring and Control). The shares climbed by 0.25p to 14.13p. Ferrex (FRX), a developer of manganese and iron ore projects in Africa, claimed that it is soon to release the results of its definitive feasibility study of the Nayega manganese project in Togo as it looks to move the project into production next year. Ferrex stressed that the initial cost of the mine is likely to be around $15 million (9.57 million pounds), but argued that the mine could generate more than this within the first year. The miner also stressed that it is making progress in its projects in both Gabon and South Africa and expects to update the market with a significant amount of news flow on these projects over the coming months. The shares jumped by 0.15p to 1.215p. * Intandem Films is a corporate client of a subsidiary of Rivington Street Holdings, the ultimate owner of UK-Analyst. | 
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