| From UK-Analyst.com: Friday 13th September 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 US retail sales grew at an unexpectedly slow rate in August, adding to fears that the moderate growth in the economy of late may be built on not so strong foundations. Retail sales increased by 0.2% last month, down on the 0.4% growth which was delivered in July. This fall comes as a drop in the sales of clothing, building materials and sporting goods almost cancelled out a pick-up in the sales of cars and electronics. Chris Williamson, Chief Economist at Markit, commented, "The message from the various official data that are available is therefore that the economy continued to grow in the third quarter, but that growth is likely to have slipped from the 2.5% annualised pace seen in the second quarter." Over in Asia, it is now expected that India's economy will grow by 5.3% over this financial year, lower than the earlier estimate of 6.4%, on concerns of reduced government spending. The predictions from the Prime Minister's economic advisory panel are now in line with the country's central bank projections. India's economy has delivered dwindling levels of growth over recent times as the country has been forced to deal with a lack of industry reforms and a slump in key export markets as its image of a key global growth driver fades. Anjali Verma, Chief Economist at PhillipCapital said, "My fiscal deficit estimate is now 5.5%, but it all depends on how Chidambaram manages it. He can't go back to slashing planned spending like last year. " 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 66.74 points at 15,367.38 and the Nasdaq slipped by 2.43 points to 3,173.14. In London the FTSE 100 closed up by 8.47 points at 6,580.51 and the FTSE 250 increased by 17.55 points to 15,209.62. The FTSE All-Share was down by 2.60 points at 3,506.42 while the FTSE AIM Index grew by 0.36 points to 780.12.  Broker Notes Beaufort Securities stuck with its "buy" recommendation on retailer Next (NXT) after the company announced interim results yesterday. The broker argues that the macro-economic factors, crucial for the future performance of the company, seem to be progressing in the desired direction, barring the trend of real earnings of the customers. Furthermore, Beaufort argues, given the company's "strong" online offering, the diversification into home-wares and new overseas markets means that Next's share price has scope for further upside. The shares were down by 20p at 5,185p. Shore Capital retained its "buy" recommendation on property firm Paragon Group (PAG) after the Council of Mortgage Lenders revealed that buy-to-let lending volumes increased by 11% to 2 billion pounds. The broker feels that this bodes well for Paragon, given its status as the leading independent buy-to-let lender in the UK. The shares were up by 4.2p at 334.8p. Westhouse Securities re-iterated its "add" recommendation on Wilmington Group (WIL) with a target price of 210p. The broker feels that Wilmington encompasses a portfolio of high quality B2B information and training assets spanning a range of end markets. This, coupled with evidence of a gentle improvement in macro trends, has increased Westhouse's confidence that the company will deliver against its medium-term growth expectations. The shares inched up by 3p to 193p. 
Blue Chips Vodafone (VOD) has secured enough shares in Kabel Deutschland - for its 7.7 billion euro (6 billion pounds) offer for Germany's premier cable company - to complete the deal. In this morning's statement it was revealed that, "The 75 percent minimum acceptance condition has been met" while Vodafone claimed that it would publish details on Monday of the number of shares tendered. The acquisition will allow Vodafone to offer more television and fixed-line services in Germany, its largest European mobile market. The shares increased by 1.9p to 212p. Mid Caps Engineering firm Kentz Corporation (KENZ) confirmed that construction firm M+W Group does not now intend to make a further offer for the company. M+W Initially announced an indicative offer for Kentz in early July which was rejected by the Kentz' Board on the grounds that the offer did not value he firm highly enough. The news comes a day after it emerged that AMEC decided not to make an offer for the company after it too announced plans for a possible cash offer for the firm last month. Kentz shares were down by 7p at 492p. Pub operator JD Wetherspoon (JDW) announced a 6.3% increase in pre-tax profits to 76.9 million pounds for the year ended 28th July, as like-for-like sales grew by 5.8% over the period. Wetherspoon partly attributed its good performance to record sales of traditional ales and ciders and also revealed plans to open around 30 pubs in the year ending July 2014. The update comes after broker Numis re-iterated its "add" recommendation earlier this week. The shares swelled by 17p to 752p. Imagination Technologies (IMG) has signed a further license agreement with MediaTek Inc, a semiconductor specialist. Imagination technologies argues that the agreement "will ensure MediaTek has access to innovative and market leading graphics technology for years to come." Although the exact terms of the agreement were not disclosed to the market, it was confirmed that Imagination Technologies would receive license fees, and royalty revenues on shipments incorporating Imagination's IP. The shares shot up by 32.3p to 339.7p. Small Caps Engineering services firm Lamprell (LAM) has been awarded a rig refurbishment contract by the Millennium Offshore Services group. The rig in question is capable of operating in water depths of 300 feet and it will be converted into an accommodation support vessel for the purpose of accommodating 290 personnel. The deal is likely to generate 64 million pounds in revenues for the company. The update comes the week after Nomura downgraded its "neutral" stance to a "reduce" recommendation. The shares grew by 3.75p to 144p. Fellow engineering services firm Redhall Group (RHL) conceded that trading over the 6 month period to September is likely to come in below market consensus. Redhall explained that this was partly the result of reduced activity levels and margins in the nuclear sector and slower than anticipated order intake on some new contracts. The firm also went on to warn that it has incurred some extra restructuring costs recently as it has looked to shrink the business to suit current activity levels. The shares slipped by 12.5p to 43.5p. London Capital Group (LCG) confirmed that it has agreed to sell ProSpreads Limited to Apostar Holdings Limited, a privately owned company registered in Gibraltar. London Capital Group - which received net cash of 1.5 million pounds as a result of the deal - said that the transaction will allow LCG to focus on its core businesses and consolidate its financial resources. The business in question reported a profit of 0.1 million pounds in the six months to 30 June 2013 on revenue of 0.7 million pounds. The shares inched up by 0.5p to 35p. 
Drinks brand owner Blavod Wines and Spirits (BES) claimed that it has substantially reduced its costs in recent months as a distribution agreement signed back in May with Hi-Spirits Limited has allowed it to "rationalise its own operations" and reduce its headcount. Because of these developments, Blavod said that its own brand revenues have continued to increase over recent months with its RedLeg Spiced Rum delivering a particularly "impressive growth in sales". The shares surged by 0.4p to 1.2p. Nighthawk Energy (HAWK), the oil and gas exploration company, announced that there was record average gross oil production last month of 1,661 barrels per day at its 100% owned and operated Smoky Hill and Jolly Ranch projects in Colorado. The company also said that a number of new drilling permits are being progressed while further development of Arikaree Creek will begin in the middle of next month, ahead of the company's initial expectations. The shares were down by 0.9p at 9.35p. Equipment rental company Northbridge Industrial Services (NBI) announced a rise in revenues from 14.2 million pounds to 18.6 million pounds for the 6 month period ended 30th June, pushing operating profits up by 70% to 2.8 million pounds. The firm partly attributed this growth to an improvement in its Middle Eastern business following the expansion of transformer rental into the region. Separately, the firm confirmed that it has acquired Crestchic, a specialist in the rental of loadbanks and transformers, for 6.63 million pounds. The move - which Northbridge argues is in line with the group's strategy of acquiring companies in niche sectors - will be funded by a placing of new shares. The shares were up by 17.5p at 425.5p. | 
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