| From UK-Analyst.com: Tuesday 23rd July 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 exports have reached their highest level since before the financial crisis according to new data from the British Chamber of Commerce (BCC). The BCC's trade index - which is based on export documents issued to businesses by the BCC - increased to 118.12 in the second quarter, up by 2.9% on the same period last year. The report also reveals that 42% of manufacturing firms reported higher export sales, while 31% of firms expect to employ more people this year. This latest positive piece of news will further fuel hopes of positive UK GDP growth figures for Q2. BCC Director General, John Longworth, commented, "Export sales and orders have gone up, confidence is high and expectations around profitability have increased. Even more businesses have taken on staff this quarter, with many expecting to hire again next quarter." George Osborne made it clear that any extension to the controversial "help to buy" scheme will not assist buyers who already own homes. Instead, Osborne has now pledged to guarantee part of a home-buyer's mortgage on properties worth up to 600,000 pounds for first time-buyers only. The scheme, which allows people to purchase new homes with just a 5% deposit, has been heavily criticised, with some arguing that it could lead to a new housing bubble. Graeme Leach, Chief Economist at the Institute of Directors, warned, "When the scheme is withdrawn any rise in prices that has taken place will be undermined, with potentially disastrous results. There is a real risk that the housing market will become dependent on the underwriting by government, making it very difficult politically to shut the scheme down." ADVERTISEMENT Get free trading guides from Evil Knievil (How to successfully short stocks), Zak Mir (Top AIM market picks for 2013) and other top financial commentators by CLICKING HERE 
At the London close the Dow Jones was up by 12.55 points at 15,558.10 and the Nasdaq slipped by 13.49 to 3041.74. In London the FTSE 100 was down by 25.73 points at 6,597.44 and the FTSE 250 fell by 27.36 points to 14,822.21. The FTSE All-Share slipped by 12.02 points to 3,497.02 while the FTSE AIM Index slid by 0.4 points to 719.86.  Broker Notes Shore Capital stuck with its "buy" recommendation on oil exploration outfit Northern Petroleum* (NOP) despite the firm announcing yet another dry well. The broker notes that that the GM-ES-4 exploration well offshore French Guiana has "failed to encounter hydrocarbons". However, given Northern's small interest in GM-ES-4 (1.25%), combined with recent changes to the company's asset base and management team, Shore Capital sticks its neck out and keeps its faith in the business. The shares were down by 1.625p at 30.5p. Panmure Gordon stuck with its "sell" recommendation on Premier Foods (PFD) with a target price of 65p. The broker is impressed with how Premier Foods has successfully delivered on its targeted cost savings to the bottom line and notes that Premier has announced a further 10 million pounds in "complexity cost savings" to be delivered in H2. However, Panmure believes that the primary issues for Premier remain its balance sheet and pension fund liabilities and, as a result, it envisages a 200 million pounds equity raise. On this basis, the broker feels the recent share price rally is over-done. The shares climbed by 5.25p to 90.25p. N+1 Singer maintained its "buy" stance on software provider Allocate Software (ALL) with a target price of 80p. The broker feels that the shift towards a business model with more emphasis on recurring revenues is a positive step for the firm. Moreover, N+1 Singer cited the fact that bookings, deferred revenue and unbilled orders are higher than anticipated which, according to the broker, suggests a stronger underlying performance than reported. The shares edged up by 0.5p to 84p. 
Blue-Chips Office software provider Sage Group (SGE) claims that it has traded in line with expectations since 1st April, in a performance boosted by good levels of trading from within the UK business. Sage also argues that its business in mainland Europe has performed resiliently, especially in France and Spain, despite the weak underlying market conditions. The update prompted Sanlam Securities to re-iterate its "sell" stance, lowering its target price from 330p to 315p. The shares jumped by 6.2p to 359p. Oil exploration group Tullow Oil (TLW) conceded that its Cachalote-1 exploration well off the coast of Mozambique has not encountered any oil. This latest development comes as the aforementioned GM-ES-4 exploration well in French Guiana, in which Tullow holds a 27.5% stake, failed to find any commercially viable reserves and not long after projects in Ethiopia were also delayed. Analysts at Morgan Stanley stuck with their "overweight" outlook on the shares and 1,510p target price despite the setback. The shares dived by 74p to 1,041p. Chemicals group Croda International (CRDA) announced a 6.3% increase in pre-tax profits to 133.1 million pounds for the 6 months ended 30th June as revenues inched upwards by 1.3% to 562.7 million pounds. The improvement was driven by an increase in profits from all three business segments, with the group's Industrial Chemicals arm delivering the biggest improvement. Looking ahead, Croda expects to deliver "further progress throughout the remainder of the year" despite the ongoing economic slump in Europe. Nevertheless, the shares fell by 120p to 2,449p. Mid Caps Consumer brand owner PZ Cussons (PZC) posted a 16.5% increase in pre-tax profits to 107.5 million pounds for the year ended 31st May while revenues edged up by 2.8% to 883.2 million pounds. The Imperial Leather brand owner partly attributed the improvement to an 11.5% increase in Africa-sourced revenues - a territory which accounts for 40% of total sales. The update comes a week after the group announced that it had penetrated the Asia-Pacific market via the acquisition of Australian baby food company Rafferty's Garden. The shares grew by 8.5p to 396.5p. Ireland-based insurer Beazley (BEZ) reported a 27% fall in pre-tax profits to $82.3 million ( 53.6 million pounds) for the first 6 months of the year as lower investment income took its toll. Beazley explained that investment returns were lower due to mark to market losses in its fixed income holdings caused by rising interest rates. In response to the update, broker Numis re-iterated its "add" recommendation and 260p target price on the shares, which tumbled by 17p to 225.7p. Financial trading facilitator IG Group (IGG) revealed that pre-tax profits were up by 3.5% to 192.2 million pounds for the year ended 31st May despite a 1.4% slip in trading revenues to 361.9 million pounds. IG explained that the company benefited from a decent second half as its customers tried to capitalise on increased volatility brought about by a crash in the price of gold, the Cyprus bail-in and a shift in monetary policy in Japan. The shares lost 16p, finishing the day at 582p. Small Caps Milestone Group (MSG) intends to roll-out a curriculum-based education programme for children by early next year. The digital media and technology company will launch a programme aimed at improving the behaviour of children amongst pupils in years 4, 5 and 6 in primary schools across the UK. From a financial perspective, Milestone said it has a target population of 25,000 schools in the UK and will charge in the region of between £500-£700 per school per year. The shares shot up by 0.15p to 0.675p. Property developer Inland Homes (INL) claimed that profits for the first half of the year will come in above market expectations as it has ramped up its house building programme. Inland said that it had sold 55 homes over the first 6 months of the year, generating revenues of 11.4 million pounds, well up on the 1.7 million pounds which was generated in the corresponding period last year. Looking ahead, the group is positive on its short- -medium term prospects as it has recently secured planning permission for hundreds of plots in Poole and Chelmsford. The shares were up by 1.75p at 32p. Oil exploration player Wessex Exploration (WSX), which has a 1.25% stake in the GM-ES-4 exploration well which was abandoned today, has, like Tullow and Northern Petroleum, suffered as a result of its exposure to the project. Tullow has a 27.5% stake in the Guyane Maritime licence and is partnered by Royal Dutch Shell, which is the operator with 45% ownership. Total holds 25%. The remaining 2.5% portion is held by Northpet, a company that is 50% owned by Northern Petroleum and 50% owned by Wessex Exploration. Wessex inevitably put a positive spin on the news by arguing that the data from this well will now be integrated with that information on previously drilled wells in order to help with future projects. The shares plummeted by 0.375p to 0.85p. 
Clean energy firm Bglobal (BGBL) swung into a pre-tax loss of 2.1 million pounds for the year ended 31st March after it generated 0.67 million pounds in the previous year. The turnaround came as revenues from continuing operations fell from 16.03 million pounds to 11.58 million pounds, in a fall blamed on "a year of transition for the group" after the acquisition of Draig Technology back in September 2012. The shares slumped by 0.625p to 3.875p. Surveillance technology group Synectics (SNX) has signed a 2.5 million pounds contract to provide its security systems to a "large Liquid Natural Gas project in Australia". The installed system will help to monitor offshore facilities using marine camera stations. Synectics - who said that most of the proceeds from the deal would be received this financial year - argued that the agreement illustrates its increasing presence in this niche sector. Westhouse Securities stuck with its "buy" recommendation and 545p target price on the back of the update. The shares swelled by 5p to 420p. Waste management firm Augean (AUG) revealed that revenues for the first six months of the year were up by 23.4% as recently developed activities including the disposal of radioactive wastes and North Sea waste management services fed through to the group's financials. However, Augean warned that it remains within a competitive market which is offering "limited growth from traditional markets". The shares lost 0.5p, finishing the day at 36.5p. | 
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