| From UK-Analyst.com: Wednesday 17th 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 Figures from the Office for National Statistics revealed that UK unemployment fell by 57,000 to 2.51 million in the three months to May. The unemployment rate for the country is now 7.8%, with the total number of people in employment rising by 16,000 to 29.7 million. There continue to be significant regional differences in performance however, with London and the South East seeing 36,000 fewer unemployed for the period, while the West Midlands saw a rise of 15,000. More concerningly, the figures showed that 915,000 people have been out of work for more than a year - the highest total recorded since 1996. Over 460,000 people have been jobless for more than two years. Minutes from the Bank of England's July meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) revealed that policy makers voted 9-0 in favour of keeping the quantitative easing programme at its current level. In June, two members of the (MPC) voted to expand the programme, with the change in opinion hinting towards the future direction of the Bank under new Governor Mark Carney. Combined with the positive employment figures the news helped the pound rise against the US dollar as investors took the view that more monetary easing was less likely. 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 down by 10.74 points at 15,441.10 and the Nasdaq was up by 3.01 points at 3,080.48. In London the FTSE 100 closed up by 15.58 points at 6,571.93 and the FTSE 250 was up by 42.04 points at 14,724.28. The FTSE All-Share rose by 8.39 points to 3,481.83, while the FTSE AIM Index added 3.08 points to 714.90.  Broker Notes N+1 Singer moved its stance for carpet and bed seller Carpetright (CPR) from "sell" to "hold", with a 710p target price. The broker believes that the firm is well placed to benefit from any stabilisation in the consumer economy and a pick-up in housing activity. It also highlights that overdue improvements to the store proposition and customer service are key to widening appeal and growing sales. However, due to the "scorching" July the broker anticipates that UK like-for-like sales growth will ease to c.2-3% in Q1, compared 5.6% in Q4. Carpetright shares added 1p to close at 693p. Canaccord Genuity has a 40p target price and "buy" stance on Africa based gold miner Amara Mining (AMA). The broker is encouraged to see that results from the second phase of matallurgical test work on the company's Yaoure project in Cote d'Ivoire shows the ore body has a simple metallurgy. It also believes that the availability of a hydro electric power plant 5 kilometres from the site offers great potential to minimise power costs. Canaccord values the Yaoure project at 10p per share based on $15 an ounce for its attributable resources, with its 40p valuation for the company based on a net asset value basis. Amara shares closed the day 0.125p higher at 11p. All Leisure Group (ALLG), the cruise line operator, is rated as a "buy" by Panmure Gordon, which has a 60p target price for the shares. Following technical problems with two of the four generators on its MV Voyager ship, the broker notes that All Leisure now estimates that the net one-off cost to the company of cancelling Voyager cruises in May/June will be in the region of 1.6 million pounds. However, on a positive note, the integration between the cruise and tour operating divisions remains in line with management's expectations, with synergies on track. Also, trading for Winter 2013/14 has started very well. Trading on a 2014 earnings multiple of 6 times Panmure feels that All Leisure holds significant recovery potential which isn't factored into the valuation. The shares remained flat at 31p. 
Blue-Chips BHP Billiton (BLT), the world's largest diversified commodities group, reported record full-year production at its iron ore operations. BHP said that production had jumped by 9% to 187 million tonnes for the year to 30th June. This follows Tuesday's results from peer Rio Tinto (RIO), which also reported record output figures. Industry commentators said the commodity giants were planning on continued strong demand from China, despite the country's economy seeing a slowdown in growth. BHP is working to increase its output capacity of iron ore - still its biggest earner despite the recent fall in prices - to 220 million tonnes a year by December, ahead of schedule. Meanwhile, copper production at BHP's Escondida mine in Chile also rose by 28% to 1.1 million tonnes. Shares in the miner closed up by 36p at 1,868p.
Severn Trent (SVT) revealed that rebuffing recent bid approaches has cost it 19 million pounds in legal and advisory costs. Severn Trent criticised the bid, which last valued it at $8.2 billion, as failing to reflect its long-term value or potential. In a trading update today, the firm said trading across the group was in line with its expectations and prior guidance. Customer prices in its water business rose by 2% from 1st April. Under the firm's dividend policy of RPI plus 3% growth, the dividend for 2013/14 is set to be 80.4p, representing growth of 6% year-on-year. Shares in Severn Trent trickled up by 6p to 1,752p.
Shares in engineering firm Smiths Group (SMIN) slipped by 14p to 1,377p after it warned that headline operating profit for the year would to be up to 15 million pounds below current expectations due to problems at its Smiths Detection business. Smiths Detection, which accounts for c.17% of the company's revenue, had identified three contracts whose outcomes were expected to be "materially adverse" to its previous expectations. The company, whose products include explosive detectors and surgical needles, said it also decided to make additional provisions for costs related to certain legal disputes in the Smiths Detection business. Broker Investec said it believes the incident is a one-off occurrence. "Although this update is negative," commented Investec, "it does not fundamentally change our view that this is a group containing high-quality operations, most of which are performing well against mixed market conditions."
REIT Land Securities (LAND) said its "Walkie-Talkie" skyscraper should be two-thirds let by the time it opens next year as companies revive moving plans shelved during the financial crisis. The tower, located in the City of London's insurance neighbourhood, currently has pre-letting deals for 52% of its floor area, said the UK's largest listed property developer. The firm is anticipating a wave of companies will have to move in the next few years as leases expire, but expects a supply squeeze due to low levels of construction during the financial crisis to limit their choices. It has also announced the start of more than one billion pounds of London schemes this year with no lettings in place, including the 897,000 square feet Nova Victoria scheme of offices, shops and apartments being developed with Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. Shares in Land Securities fell by 24.5p to 945p. Mid Caps Addled transport firm FirstGroup (FGP) said trading in the second quarter was in line with management expectations but warned shareholders there was still a lot to do to restore the company to strength. First said the recovery programmes at its First Student and UK Bus arms were on track, after a 615 million pounds rights issue completed during the quarter had eased pressure on its balance sheet and allowed room for investment in the business. Meanwhile, although revenues at the US Greyhound business fell by 6.1% in the second quarter, cost cuts have kept profitability on track for the year. Shares in the firm failed to gain traction on the update, and finished only 0.5p higher at 92.85p.
Bundled utility provider Telecom Plus (TEP) posted an 11% increase in first-quarter customer numbers, underpinned by the addition of more distributors to its network, and said it expects profit in the first half to be ahead of last year. The company, which operates through the Utility Warehouse brand, said the number of distributors rose about 6% in the quarter ended 30th June to 39,848. Customer numbers rose by 13,372 during the period, taking its customer base to 474,404, while the number of services provided rose 16% to 1,666,327. Shares in the company tumbled 88p to 1,302p as investors took profits.
Civil engineering firm Balfour Beatty (BBY) has been awarded a five-year extension to its contract with Yorkshire Water, worth around 70 million pounds, helping to lift the shares 5.2p to 228.9p. Under the extended contract, which runs from 2015 to 2020, Balfour Beatty will continue to upgrade the water network, replacing mains and relining old mains. The company, which has issued two profit warnings recently, said last week that strength in the US market means it is confident revenues will rise in the second half of the year.
Electrocomponents (ECM), the electronics and maintenance products supplier, said underlying sales grew by 1% for the quarter ended 30th June, with International up by 2% and the UK down by 3%. However, it said the change in the UK sales performance from being flat in the first seven weeks of the quarter is due to the phasing of Raspberry Pi sales in the prior year. Meanwhile, eCommerce sales grew faster than the group as a whole, rising 6% to account for 56% of total revenues, after Electrocomponents invested in website functionality. Shares in the firm rose by 2.9p to 252.5p. Small Caps Shares in Naibu Global International (NBU) added 3p to 64.5p after announcing that its 2013 Autumn and Winter Ranges have seen a 17.8% sales increase at its seasonal sales fair. The Chinese manufacturer and supplier of branded sportswear added that a new factory in Quangang will be operational by the end of 2013, with no disruption to production during the period. This will take the total number of production lines to ten. Naibu also confirmed that trading across its 3,150 Naibu branded outlets remains strong and that trading across all divisions continues to be in line with management expectations for the current financial year. On house broker Daniel Stewart's forecasts Naibu shares currently trade on a price/earnings multiple of just over 1 time for the current financial year and yield a prospective 10%. In addition, the company had net cash amounting to more than the current market cap at the end of December. Writing on t1ps.com, infamous Evil Knievil (aka Simon Caukwell) calls Naibu shares "staggeringly cheap" but points towards the market's distrust of Chinese accounting for the lowly valuation. Daniel Stewart has a 200p target price, implying 210% upside. Boozer owner Spirit Pub Company (SPRT) announced in a statement that it was hosting an, "analyst site visit to a number of its Managed and Leased pubs in the Greater London area." We assume this is corporate speak for a pub crawl. Luckily for the sozzled scribblers no material new information was disclosed and no updateon currenttrading was provided.The shares were flat at 71p. Outsourcers Quindell Portfolio* (QPP) revealed that gross sales for the six months ended 30th June are expected to be approximately 166 million pounds, up from just 45.6 million in the comparative period. Adjusted earnings for the period are expected to be c.1.1p per share, compared to 1.4p in the whole of the last financial year, with adjusted operating cash flow for the half year significantly ahead of expectations. The results were driven by multiple new significant contract wins driven by regulatory changes in the Services Division and multiple new technology contracts and extensions across key markets and geographies in the Solutions Division. Quindell shares ended the day flat at 10.75p. Oil & gas explorer Sound Oil (SOU) has struck gas after recent appraisal drilling at its Nervesa asset in Italy. The company confirmed the identification of 476 metres of gross pay and 239 metres of gross reservoir with 46 metres of net gas pay in 13 separate zones. Planning for completion operations has now commenced, with a view to providing the necessary well test data for certification by the Italian Ministry of Economic Development. First gas sales are expected in 2015. Sound Oil shares closed up by 1p at 11.875p. 
Consultancy and software provider to the hydrocarbon processing industry KBC Advanced Technologies (KBC) expects to meet market forecasts for the full financial year after a strong performance in the six month to June. In the Consulting business the firm has continued to deliver project milestones and in the Technology division has achieved further contract awards. Total contract awards for the first half were 32.5 million pounds, ahead of the 17 million pounds achieved in the same period in 2012. KBC added that the forward order book remains strong and that cost initiatives have progressed to plan in the first half. The shares gained 1.5p to 76p. Ubisense (UBI) the location-based smart technology business, achieved record orders of c.17 million pounds - an increase of 83% - in the six months to June. The firm added that it expects this momentum to continue into the second half, which gives it confidence in meeting full year expectations. Ubisense also announced a contract win worth over 1 million euros with an un-named European automotive manufacturer for its Ubisense Smart Factory System. Following a successful pilot installation at the plant, which demonstrated significant business benefit the manufacturer has now chosen to roll out the system across one of its assembly plants. The shares ran ahead by 7.5p to 192.5p. Shares in real-time 3D and 2D x-ray imaging business Image Scan (IGE) surged by1.125p to 2.625p after announcing contract wins totalling 850,000 pounds. Won since 20th June, the company has secured four multiple unit contracts for the supply of security equipment. Image Scan has now booked new contracts of 3.1 million in the year to date, 42% ahead compared to the same period last year. * Quindell Portfolio is a corporate client of a subsidiary of Rivington Street Holdings, the ultimate owner of UK-Analyst. | 
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