| From UK-Analyst.com: Tuesday 6th August 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 At the London close the Dow Jones was down by 104.37 points at 15,507.76 and the Nasdaq was down by 21.38 points at 3,121.81.
In London the FTSE 100 was down by 15.37 points at 6,604.21, the FTSE 250 fell by 82.08 to 15,115.10. The FTSE All-Share slid by 9.81 points to 3,511.02 and the FTSE AIM Index slipped by 2.32 to 729.12. ADVERTISEMENT 
Fracking - fear or the future? Click here to download your complimentary report now. Losses can exceed deposits Broker Notes Following yesterday's results from banking giant HSBC (HSBA) Canaccord Genuity reiterated its "buy" stance and 825p target price. The broker believes that the firm is on track to achieve strong capital generation as impairments abate given better underlying collateral valuations in the US business and the current pace of run off. Canaccord also expects management to chase growth where sustainably possible and continue to restructure operations which underperform targets. HSBC shares fell by 5.7p to 716p. Shore Capital moved its stance from "buy" to "hold" on specialist agricultural and distribution business NWF Group (NWF).The broker notes strong results for the year to May, which were ahead of expectations. However, Shore believes that the operating environment may not be as beneficial in the current year and so the earnings profile of the business looks likely to comeback. The broker downgraded its stance as it believes the shares, ahead of any tweaks to forecasts, are now up with events on a forward price/earnings ratio of 10.4 times and an EV/EBITDA ratio of 5.8 times. NWF shares closed up by 4.5p at 120p. 
Blue-Chips Shares in insurer Legal & General (LGEN) jumped by 2.5p to 201.9p after it announced a 22% increase to its interim dividend following an increase in profits for the first half of the year. The insurer said investors will receive an interim dividend of 2.4p a share on 30th September, up from 1.96p a year ago, following a 13% rise in pre-tax profits to 592 million pounds. Broker Shore Capital said the figures were better than expected and reiterated its 'buy' recommendation on this "excellently-positioned business in the UK savings, protection and annuity markets." L&G chief executive Nigel Wilson said he was excited about the group's future, pointing to a ten-fold increase in bulk annuity sales to 670 million pounds, while individual annuity sales grew 44% to 754 million pounds during the first half.
Asia-focused Standard Chartered (STAN) said its first-half net profit fell by 24% to $2.13 billion as growth in emerging markets slowed. The bank was particularly hard hit by a weak performance in South Korea, with revenues falling 5% in the first half. It posted a goodwill impairment of $1 billion in Korea, representing a lower value of assets in the country. Performance was also affected by weak numbers in Singapore where profits fell 12%, but the bank saw improvements in its African market where profits were up 10%. CEO Peter Sands said the group was unlikely to see double-digit revenue growth this year due to uncertainty and "growing turbulence" in the global economy. It also asserted that growth would not be at the expense of increased risks or higher levels of bad debt. Standard Chartered shares finished 43.5p ahead at 1,567.5p.
Intercontinental Hotels (IHG) is to return $350 million (c.227 million pounds) to shareholders through a special dividend after a strong period of trading. Strong demand in the US helped operating profit for the first six months of 2013 rise by 20% to $338 million, ahead of analysts' expectations. IHG, which operates over 4,600 hotels worldwide, said that its global scale has allowed it to reinvest in the business whilst growing margins, resulting in solid underlying profit gains and strong cash flows. Revenue increased by 7% to $936 million, while global revenue per available room (RevPAR) - a key industry measure - rose 3.7%. In the firm's core US market, RevPAR grew by 4.5%, compared to growth of just 0.4% in Europe. In China, a key target market for the firm's future growth, RevPAR fell slightly, which the company put down to a combination of natural disasters in Western China in the second quarter and tougher macroeconomic conditions. Intercontinental shares rallied 122p to 2,030p.
Aerospace engineer Meggitt (MGGT) posted a 7% rise in first half profits to 182 million pounds, driven by the ramp-up of civil aerospace programmes and a recovery in aftermarket sales. The company, which raised its interim dividend by 10% to 3.95p, said revenues grew 4% to 810 million pounds. Its civil aerospace business posted a 15% rise in revenues during the period as as rival planemakers Airbus and Boeing ramped-up production to record levels. The firm pointed out that global airlines will buy $3.5 trillion of aircraft over the next 20 years to meet demand for travel to and from emerging markets and renew ageing fleets with more fuel-efficient planes, which should help suppliers such as Meggitt. The firm, which also announced new contract wins on Sikorsky helicopters and Irkut jets, said it expects to make further good progress in 2013, delivering mid-single-digit revenue growth. Meanwhile, revenues at its military unit were down 1% due to the impact of defence spending cuts, particularly in the US. Shares in Meggitt finished 10.5p lower at 544p. Mid Caps Engineer Rotork (ROR), reported a 12% increase in first-half profits to 69.4 million pounds, boosted by acquisitions and higher margins. The company's order intake rose by 9.4% to 202 million pounds during the first half, leaving the firm confident of further progress as it goes through the year. Revenue on a reported basis rose 12% to £276.1 million. The company, which makes valve-control systems for the oil, gas and water industries, also announced the purchase of GT Attuatori Italia, a pneumatic rack and pinion manufacturer based in Milan, alongside two subsidiaries based in Bonn, Germany; and Renfro Associates, a valve adaption and mounting business based in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, US. Shares in Rotork soared 208p to 2,912p.
Shares in high street baker Greggs (GRG) fell by 39.3p to 402.3p after it revealed that like-for-like sales fell by 2.9% in the first half of 2013, partly due to cold weather at the start of the year. Half-year profits fell by 4.6 million pounds to 11.4 million pounds, and it warned annual profits would now be 3 million pounds lower than expected, with recent trading having also been dinted by July's heatwave. In response, Greggs has pledged to reshape the business and accelerate its shop refits, although it warned the changes would result in one-off charges of up to 8 million pounds in the second half of the year. It also announced the launch of a customer loyalty scheme to try to win more customers. So far this year, Greggs has opened 19 new shops, which has helped increase total sales by 3.4%. Small Caps Voice and data telecommunications business AdEPT Telecom (ADT) has signed an agreement to acquire approximately 3,000 business customer contracts from Bluebell Telecom for an initial cash consideration of approximately 2 million pounds. Further consideration of c.0.5 million may be payable based upon performance of the contracts post-acquisition. Based on recent management accounting information, annualised revenue and EBITDA attributable to the contracts being acquired is anticipated to be approximately 1.8 million pounds and 0.6 million pounds respectively. The shares advanced by 11.5p to 152.5p. A trading update from cloud eCommerce marketplace business @UK (ATUK) saw its shares close 2.75p higher at 13p. The company said that it has enjoyed strong trading in the first six months of the year, delivering growth in ecommerce marketplace and spend analysis revenue of over 100%. The Company Formations division continued to see a small decline but overall revenues enjoyed strong growth, resulting in a significant reduction in operating losses. @UK added that the second half year has started strongly with significant cash generation to provide the funds for international rollout. A brief half year trading update from Walker Greenback (WGB), the luxury interior furnishings group, confirmed another successful trading period. Brand sales, manufacturing and licence income have all delivered a positive performance and margins have been strong. As such, the company remains confident of the outlook for the full year. Walker Greenback shares closed the day 2.5p higher at 138p. 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 
Investors' favourite 1PM (OPM) has agreed a new block discounting facility of 1.5 million pounds. The asset financier will use the facility exclusively for writing new business. 1PM also announced that it has received a further 270,000 pounds from its quarterly loan programme with Lesmoir-Gordon, Boyle & Co set up in March, taking the total received to date under this deal to 0.59 million pounds. The shares slipped by 0.003p to 0.31p on the day but have more than trebled in the year to date. Interim results from financial services group Share (SHRE) reported pre-tax profits up by 16% at 693,000 pounds for the six months to June. Results were driven by revenues rising by 4% to 7.3 million, with the firm's operational gearing helping to boost profits. Trading was helped by client assets held in accounts rising by by 10% to 2 billion pounds. Shares in the owner of the Share Centre and Sharefunds remained flat at 21p. Software Radio Technology (SRT), the advanced radio communications business, has won an order worth $0.67 million for a mixture of its Class A and Class B OEM products from an un-named North America based customer. The order will be shipped to the customer during August and September this year. The shares sailed ahead by 0.25p to 36.35p. | 
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