| From UK-Analyst.com: Wednesday 28th 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 The ongoing crisis in Syria has seen the oil price surge to a six-month-high. However, global equity markets failed to claw back yesterday's losses as investors fled from shares and headed for "safe haven" alternatives such as gold, perceived as more secure in times of potential uncertainty. This move into gold saw the spot gold hit its highest point since May, at $1,433.3 an ounce. Although Syria is itself not a major oil producer, the surge in the oil price is centred on the possibility that Western intervention in Syria could prompt a wider regional conflict, given the support that Iran has provided to the regime - which in turn could affect oil production in these more significant territories. Nick McGregor, oil analyst at Redmayne Bentley Stockbrokers, said, " Every move closer to Western military action in the Middle East is going to have a big impact on the oil market's nerves, and if military action does happen there will be a significant risk premium built into the oil price." Here in the UK, retail sales rose at an unexpectedly high rate in August, consistent with the quickest pace of hiring in over 10 years. The Confederation of British Industry's (CBI) monthly distributive trades survey increased from +17 to +27, significantly higher than the average analyst estimate for a jump to +19. It is thought that sales were boosted by the hot weather, the royal-baby effect and morale-boosting sporting victories during the month. The figures fuel further expectations for a true recovery within the UK economy. However, not everybody is convinced on the foundations of the improvement. Barry Williams, who chairs the CBI Distributive Trades Survey Panel, commented, "A rise in spending is welcome news, but the bottom line is that confidence will not bounce back fully until family finances improve further." In his biggest public speech since taking office as Governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney said that the UK economy was improving, but stressed caution on some facets such as the housing market. The former Governor of the Bank of Canada hinted that the central bank would not be afraid to pump more money into the economy if it thought it was necessary to aid growth and maintained that unemployment would probably not reach the 7% threshold which would see the bank consider an increase in interest rates for at least three years. Mark Carney said, "The upward move in market expectations of where Bank Rates will head in future could, at the margin, feed into the effective financial conditions facing the real economy. The MPC [Monetary Policy Committee] will be watching those conditions closely." ADVERTISMENT 16% returns from short-term property investment? - CLICK HERE
Pre-construction finance is big business. And securing it requires pre-sales that developers don't have the experience to secure.
Invest just a deposit into major UK city centre developments for contractual profits over 3-5 years. 16 projects since 2009.
Nothing in life is risk free, but your deposit is protected, there are no ongoing costs and no obligation to complete on your purchase.
Find out more without obligation - if you don't like what we have to say, simply unsubscribe and you'll never hear from us again.
CLICK HERE to see details of a sample project – London projects also available!
At the London close the Dow Jones was up by 38.34 points at 14,814.47 and the Nasdaq grew by 9.86 points to 3,069.44. In London the FTSE 100 was down by 10.91 points at 6,430.86 and the FTSE 250 fell by 142.23 points to 14,625.76. The FTSE All-Share was down by 7.87 points at 3,419.94 while the FTSE AIM Index slipped by 1.31 points to 750.26.  Broker Notes Shore Capital retained its "sell" stance on product tester Intertek (ITRK), despite the shares outperforming the market by 7% since its interims were released last month. The broker feels that margins remain under some pressure, especially in commodities and Asian markets. On the whole, the broker remains concerned that investors are being asked to pay too much for growth in the 6% to 8% range, especially given the fact that sizeable acquisitions are proving hard to come by. The shares were down by 25p at 3,205p. Beaufort Securities maintained its "speculative buy" recommendation on gold explorer Noricum Gold (NMG) after the firm yesterday revealed that it has commenced drilling at its flagship Rotgulden Gold project. The broker is encouraged by this development and notes drilling operations at the mine have delivered healthy results in the past. Beaufort Securities acknowledges that the shares were up by 9.5% yesterday and feel this upwards trajectory could accelerate once drilling results become available. The shares fell by 0.1p to 1.05p. Canaccord Genuity lowered its "buy" stance to a "hold" recommendation on sports marketing group Chime Communications (CHW), sticking with its target price of 330p. The broker notes that the upcoming period will see a hit from the closure of the Brazilian Olympic stadium (where Chime has a sponsorship contract), weakness of the Real and the build up of costs in advance of the World Cup. As such, Canaccord now projects flat earnings in FY13 given the tough comparables with the London Olympics but 29% EPS growth in FY14. The shares were down by 4p at 310p. 
Blue-Chips Aerospace and defence group Meggitt (MGGT) confirmed that it has agreed to acquire engineering group Piezotech for a fee of $41.2 million (26.5 million pounds) on a cash and debt free basis. Meggit explained that the move will complement the manufacturing of its high performance piezo-ceramic technology for extreme temperature gas turbine sensors and will also improve its position in emerging energy and medical markets, especially the downhole drilling and medical application sectors. The shares slipped by 6p to 536.5p. Security firm G4S (GFS) saw pre-tax profits slip by 8.1% to 136 million pounds over the first half of 2013, despite a 7% rise in revenues to 3.648 billion pounds. The fall in profitability came as a result of a falling margin, reflecting a lost prison contract in the Netherlands and squeezed pricing in Britain and Europe. To combat its plight, G4S, which still seems tainted after last year's Olympic security contract debacle, has raised 348.1 million under a placing at 247p per share. The shares were up by 7.1p to 252.4p. Mid Caps Online gaming group 888 Holdings (888) revealed that revenues for the 6 months ended 30th June grew by 7% to $200.1 million (128.9 million pounds), while pre-tax profits almost doubled to $35.5 million (22.9 million pounds). The uplift in performance was driven by the firm's B2C Casino and poker operations, especially within the struggling European economies of Italy and Spain. 888 Holdings re-affirmed its excitement on the potential of the US market, stressing that it is in the right position to take advantage of the opportunity and maximize market share as regulation takes place. The shares fell by 1.9p to 143.1p. Precious metals group Polymetal (POLY) posted a net loss of $255 million (164.2 million pounds) for the six months ended 30th June, well down on the net profit of $157 million (101.1 million pounds) which it recorded over the first 6 months of 2012. Polymetal explained that the deterioration in performance was down to non-cash impairment charges, unrealised foreign exchange losses, and a decrease in adjusted EBITDA, impacted by falling metal prices. On the back of the update, Morgan Stanley retained its "overweight" recommendation and 750p target price on the group. The shares plunged by 43p to 698p. Defence group Chemring (CHG) confirmed its anticipated fall in turnover for the three month period ended July as revenues came in at 142.8 million pounds, down on the 165.1 million which was generated in the prior year period. Chemring has been hit by defence spending cuts within NATO markets and delays in order placements by customers across most of its geographic markets. Despite these hurdles, Chemring maintains that it will hit market expectations for the full year. The shares grew by 5.5p to 313p. Small Caps Northcote Energy (NCT), the oil explorer, confirmed that it has finalised a deal with Aminex to buy a stake in producing assets in Texas. Northcote will pay US$450,000 (290.000 pounds) for the assets, with US$150,000 (96,600 pounds) paid in cash and the rest being paid in shares. Under the terms of the deal, Northcote will acquire up to a 25% working interest in certain producing leases at the South Weslaco Field, Hidalgo County, Texas. During the six month period ending 30th June 2013, the net interest produced 29 BOEPD and generated average revenues of over US$16,000 (10,303 pounds) per month. The shares jumped by 0.025p to 1.53p. Wealth management group Mattioli Woods (MTW) saw revenues increase by 14.3% to 23.41 million pounds for the year ended 31st May, while adjusted pre-tax profits grew by 9.9% to 5.56 million pounds. Over this period, total assets under management increased by around 20.5% to 3.64 billion pounds, boosted by the acquisition of Ashcourt Rowan's pension business in April this year. The update prompted broker N+1 Singer to retain its "buy" recommendation and 330p target price on the group. The shares were up by 13p to 323p. After its initial warning to the market yesterday, media investment firm Concha (CHA) has confirmed that one of its investment firms, Moshen, has called in a firm of insolvency practitioners. After news of "financial irregularities" at Moshen sent the price plunging by 30% yesterday, the shares dived by a further 0.006p to 0.014p. 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 
Medical study firm Retroscreen Virology (RVG) has signed a new viral challenge model contract with a "global biopharmaceutical company" for the provision of an influenza challenge study, with the contract valued at 2 million pounds. Management argues that its model will accelerate the drug and vaccine proof of concept decision-making process significantly. The deal follows a similar agreement struck last week with another pharmaceutical company worth 4.7 million pounds. The shares crept upwards by 7.5p to 320p. African airline group Fastjet (FJET) revealed that tickets for its new domestic route, from Dar es Salaam to Mbeya in Tanzania have gone on sale. Initially, flights will run three times a week but this may become more frequent if the demand for the route is as high as some experts are expecting. Fastjet pledge to offer tickets from as low as $20 (13 pounds) as it looks to develop both commercial and leisure traffic. Beaufort Securities issued a "speculative buy" stance on the group earlier this month. Despite this potential new revenue source, the shares were down by 0.875p at 6.25p. Oil and gas group Oilex (OEX) confirmed that its shares have been placed on trading halt on the Australian Securities Exchange. The suspension is pending the release of an announcement in relation to a proposed capital raising. Oilex went on to say that it expects this announcement to be made within the next few days and trading in Oilex shares will resume trading on the ASX when this occurs. Oilex currently holds a diversified onshore oil and gas portfolio with a near-term drilling program that could increase its production in India. The shares plummeted by 0.675p to 2.825p. | 
No comments:
Post a Comment