| From UK-Analyst.com: Tuesday 30th 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 Japanese factory output slipped by 3.3% in June, in further evidence that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's widely acclaimed monetary policies are not completely all-reaching. The 3.3% monthly decline was worse than the average analyst estimate for a 0.8% fall in production and marks the worst month-on-month slump since March 2011 when the horrific Tsunami devastated some production capacity. A breakdown of the numbers show that the figures reflect a slight weakening of demand for smartphones in Asia - a major Japanese export market. Despite the fall, there is still positive sentiment surrounding the Japanese economy and Masaaki Kanno, Chief Japan Economist at JPMorgan, argued, "This is a minor blip, the overall trend is that of a recovery in Japan's economy." According to the Federal Statistics Office in Germany, the nation's inflation rate remained at a five month high of 1.9% for July. A deeper look at the figures show that food price inflation was up to 5.7% in July, while energy prices fell slightly on the previous year. The rate is not too far off the Bundesbank's forecast for an average 1.6% inflation rate for 2013 as the European powerhouse looks to drive the rest of the continent out of the doldrums. Heinrich Bayer, an Economist at Deutsche Postbank AG, commented, "Prices rose a bit more than expected but overall, everything is still under control. The increase is typical for the season, if you keep travel costs in mind. Overall, the price climate is rather calm, without any drivers, except food prices." ADVERTISEMENT 
At the London close the Dow Jones was up by 21.19 points at 15,543.16 and the Nasdaq was down by 24.51 points at 3,093.46. In London the FTSE 100 was up by 10.70 points to 6,570.95 and the FTSE 250 grew by 92.52 points to 14,829.92. The FTSE All-Share increased by 8.00 points to 3,486.11 while the FTSE AIM Index slipped by 1.92 points to 718.73.  Broker Notes Panmure Gordon re-iterated its "buy" recommendation on cough causers British American Tobacco (BATS) with a target price of 3,900p. The broker notes that the tobacco producer has launched its first e-cigarette brand, Vype, into the UK in an attempt to address a number of consumer issues with typical e-cigarettes. Panmure feels this is a positive development for BATS and believes that it places pressure on the UK major tobacco manufacturers, namely Imperial and JTI, to demonstrate their respective capabilities in this space. The shares edged upwards by 14.5p to 3,462p. Shore Capital maintained its "sell" recommendation on lender International Personal Finance (IPF) despite today's results revealing numbers slightly ahead of its forecasts. The broker argues that trying to push receivables growth into markets where the outlook for GDP growth is poor is not a wise strategy. On this basis, Shore Capital advises investors to take profit and look elsewhere after a period of strong performance in the shares already. The shares surged by 82p to 647p. N+1 Singer stuck with its "buy" recommendation on international development consultancy WYG (WYG) with a target price of 110p. The broker notes that the first 100p share price threshold on the firm's management incentive plan is now within sight - a factor which could motivate management to go the extra mile to succeed. With the business now entering an upgrade cycle according to N+1, the broker is firmer in its conviction that a share price of 150p is a realistic medium term target. The shares inched upwards by 1p to 90.5p. 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 
Blue-Chips Barclays (BARC) announced that it intends to raise approximately 5.8 billion pounds by way of issuing shares at 185p - a 40.1% discount to yesterday's closing price. The rights issue is part of Barclays' attempts to plug a 12.8 billion pounds shortfall and comply with new regulations on the amount of capital held by the bank relative to gross lending. Separately, Barclays revealed that pre-tax profits were down by 17% at 3.59 billion pounds over the first 6 months of the year as it has set aside yet further provisions in relation to payment protection insurance and interest rate swaps. The shares dived by 17.75p to 291.3p. Car and aeroplane parts manufacturer GKN (GKN) announced a 12% increase in sales to 3.87 billion pounds for the 6 months ended 30th June, while pre-tax profits nudged ahead by 5% to 278 million pounds. The bulk of the growth was driven by the firm's GKN Aerospace division which delivered organic sales growth of 3% despite some declines in military orders. In response to the update, Jefferies retained its "buy" recommendation on the group with a target price of 275p. The shares rose by 21.4p to 348.5p. Broadcaster ITV (ITV) revealed that pre-tax profits were up by 16% over the first half of 2013, in an increase boosted by a recovering advertising performance. ITV's advertising performance is set to further improve in the short-term as it faces an low comparative period with last summer's advertising world being dominated by the Olympic games - an event which ITV did not cover. The group went on to give special praise for its ITV studio business which has increased its presence in the US market via acquisitions in recent months. The shares increased by 9.9p to 167p. Mid Caps Pizza maker Domino's Pizza (DNO) admitted that it saw a 46% reduction in pre-tax profits for the six months to June as its struggling German arm offset growth exhibited by its core UK division. As a result of some operational issues in its German business, Domino's now plans to slow its expansion throughout the country and subsequently predicts that it will now breakeven in 2017 as opposed to the originally anticipated 2015. The update comes after broker Canaccord Genuity downgraded its "hold" stance to a "sell" earlier this month. The shares fell by 4.67p to 558.33p. Data centre provider TeleCity (TCY) confirmed that revenues increased by 16% over the first 6 months of the year as adjusted EBITDA swelled by 17.8% to 73.8 million pounds. TeleCity attributed the majority of this growth to order book growth generated from existing customers as both public and private cloud services become increasingly important to its clients. Looking ahead, the firm says it plans to expand across Europe as growth in internet usage propels demand upwards. To this end, TeleCity hinted that Stockholm and Amsterdam could be the next cities where it introduces new capacity. The shares tumbled by 71p to 916p. Pace (PIC), the manufacturer of technology behind broadband and pay TV services, boasted a 57% increase in EBITDA to $96.7 million (63.4 million pounds) for the six months to June. The set top box maker said that the uplift in earnings was driven by increasing demand for its media server products in North America. Pace went on to claim that trading since the beginning of this month has been good and revealed that it now anticipates generating full year profits ahead of original guidance. The shares swelled by 33.2p to 310.9p. Small Caps African agricultural company AfriAg (AFRI) announced that AfriAg SA, a South African entity in which it recently acquired a 40% stake, has "secured key logistics contracts" in relation to the transportation of perishable goods from South Africa to the rest of the world. These contracts include agreements to move fresh crocodile meat from South Africa to Singapore while another deal commits AfriAg to delivering fresh flowers from Zambia to Rotterdam. The financial details of the new arrangements were not disclosed. The shares were up by 0.075p at 1.675p. Theatre marketing group Reach4Entertainment (R4E) has entered into a "Heads of Terms" agreement with Allied Irish Bank in a deal aimed at restructuring its existing loan facility which is due to expire in May 2015. Under the terms of the new agreement R4E will pay an interest rate of 3% above LIBOR over the newly established 6 year term. The update comes after R4E last week confirmed that it traded in line with expectations over the first 6 months of the year as its London and New York businesses both produced "encouraging results" . The shares soared by 0.875p to 4.625p. eXpansys (XPS), the consumer electronics specialist, revealed that revenues fell by 14% to 93.2 million pounds for the year ended 30th April, pushing pre-tax profits down from 4.3 million pounds to 1.5 million pounds. The company conceded that the retail division performed below its expectations and blamed a combination of "strong headwinds" in its markets and its own organisational changes as reasons for the downfall. Looking ahead, the company maintained its commitment to cutting costs in a bid to get the retail division back and running again. The shares slid by 0.04p to 0.33p. 
Producers of sustainably sourced wood Accsys Technologies (AXS) said that revenues for the April-June period were up by 76% on the previous quarter as sales of its environmentally friendly Accoya wood product surged by 53%. Accsys claimed that the improvement was a reflection of increased marketing campaigns which have fuelled demand for the product. Looking ahead, the group expects revenue growth to continue as a result of increasing sales volumes and recent price increases. The shares grew by 0.01p to 0.145p. Pure Wafer (PUR), the provider of wafer reclaim services, claimed that it saw strong levels of trading for the year ended 30th June as demand from its Asian Markets continued to grow. Pure Wafer went on to argue that the future looks bright as many of its major customers have committed to substantial new investment in 300mm silicon chip manufacturing facilities which should, in turn, "give rise to further substantial wafer reclaim opportunities in the near future." The shares increased by 0.5p to 5.75p. West African Minerals (WAFM) claimed that it has found five separate banded iron formation blocks after drilling at its South Djadom project in Cameroon. The new discoveries should be classified as the group's first mineral resources over the next few months. The group went on to confirm that angled diamond and reverse circulation drilling, combined with trenching, is now taking place in order to define the boundaries of these mineralised units. The update comes after broker SP Angel stuck with its "buy" recommendation and 96p target price in recent days. The shares ticked upwards by 1.625p to 11p. | 
No comments:
Post a Comment