| From UK-Analyst.com: Tuesday 17th 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 In welcome news for the Bank of England, UK inflation slipped to 2.7% in August, down on the 2.8% level which was recorded for July. The data from the Office for National Statistics marked the second successive monthly fall and was in line with market expectations. A breakdown of the figures shows that the drop was partly down to falls in air fares and petrol. However, the current 2.7% rate is still significantly above the Bank's 2% target. Jens Larsen, an Economist with RBC, commented, "Absent a shock in petrol or utility prices, inflation may come down quicker than the MPC (Monetary Policy Committee) thinks." According to the European Auto Manufacturers' Association, European car sales were down by 5% in August, despite a 10.5% pick up in UK sales over the period. The data - which scuppers hopes that the bottom of the market has been reached - comes after the UK Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) this month said that the industry had benefited from rising interest in new fuel efficient models. Hyundai Europe Chief Allan Rushforth explained, "What we're seeing right now in the European car industry is a squeezed middle. German premium brands are coming down through the market while Hyundai is moving up - making life very difficult for European volume brands rooted in the mainstream." 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 34.80 points at 15,529.58 and the Nasdaq was up by 20.52 points at 3,189.21. In London the FTSE 100 was down by 52.69 points at 6,570.17 and the FTSE 250 fell by 139.77 points to 15,152.26. The FTSE All-Share was down by 28.06 points at 3,500.52 while the FTSE AIM Index fell by 4.36 points to 785.04.  Broker Notes Beaufort Securities maintained its "speculative buy" stance on natural resources company Tricor (TRIC) after it announced a new Iron Sand/Sand project yesterday. The broker feels that both of the group's businesses are highly scalable and believes that an opportunity exists to increase output for sand and iron sand at its current sites if Tricor acquires more machinery and iron sand plants. On this basis, Beaufort argues that the operations have potential to throw off significant amounts of free cash flow. The shares increased by 0.5p to 7p. Canaccord Genuity has upgraded its "hold" stance to a "buy" on trading platform operator IG Group (IGG), increasing its target price from 414p to 675p. The broker is impressed with the firm's 1Q trading update which revealed a 15% increase in revenues over the period. Canaccord expects this trend to continue and expects a total return of 16% including dividends over the next year. The shares were up by 10p at 604.5p. 
Blue Chips The government sale of Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) has started, with institutional investors being sold 6% of the bank. The deal - which was struck at 75p per share and raised 3.2 billion pounds - is part of the government's plan to support the economy and "get the best value for the tax payer", an idea which looked a forlorn hope in the depths of the recession back in 2009. Demand for a portion of the 6% cut of the bank is thought to have been high, fuelling hopes that the government could go on to sell all of its shares before the 2015 general election. The shares were down by 2.71p at 74.65p. Mid Caps Retailer Debenhams (DEB) claimed that its full year results for the year ended 31st August are likely to be in line with expectations, driven by like-for-like growth in transaction value over the period. The department store also revealed that online sales had surged by 46.2% over the year, with market share gains delivered in both clothing and non-clothing categories. In response to the update broker N+1 Singer retained its "buy" recommendation and 110p target price. The shares were up by 1.8p at 105p. Printing specialist Domino Printing (DNO) announced a 7% increase in sales for the 10 month period ended 31st August but refused to get carried away on the back of concerns centred on current market conditions. The barcode-printer manufacturer attributed the sales growth to expansion in its US business but went on to warn of potential lower investment in capital equipment in India. Despite these concerns and the ongoing stagnation in Europe, the group remains confident of maintaining current growth levels for the year as a whole. The shares slipped by 23.5p to 650p. Construction firm Galliford Try (GFRD) saw revenues slip by 2% to 1.467 million pounds over the year ended 30th June, while pre-tax profits grew by 17% to 74.1 million pounds. The firm was quick to praise the performance of its housebuilding arm which, according to the firm, has capitalised on investment in "high return land opportunities" and an improving housing market, especially in the South-East of England. The shares fell by 16p to 1,048p. Small Caps Document management software provider INVU (INVU) saw its revenues inch up from 1.28 million pounds to 1.36 million pounds over the six months ended 31st July, pushing up net profits from 0.04 million pounds to 0.13 million pounds. The improvement in performance was attributed to growth in software and related services revenue, driven by the group's new invoice processing offering. Looking ahead, INVU hinted that its next major software release is scheduled for the second half of the year. The shares soared by 0.25p to 0.79p. Chemicals group Graphene NanoChem (GRPH) confirmed that its "PlatClear" waste-based second generation biofuel and the group's Senawang chemicals facility have both received approval from the US Environmental Protection Agency. This approval means that PlatClear can now be sold into the US, which is forecast to be the world's largest biofuels market by 2017. At present, the product is currently sold into the EU market as well in Malaysia. The shares surged by 6.375p to 72.125p. Fresh from announcing a significant contract win yesterday, Nature Group (NGR)announced an increase in underlying pre-tax profits from 8.08 million pounds to 10.99 million pounds over the 6 months ended 30th June. Nature Group explained that this improvement has come about as a result of all three divisions - Maritime, Oil and Gas and Engineering - either meeting or exceeding original expectations. The shares were up by 3.5p at 40.5p. 
Ukranian dairy product distributor UKRproduct (UKR) reported a 29% fall in gross profits over the 6 months ended June 30th as a tough market, characterised by shortage of raw milk supply in Ukraine, forced the company to rise prices to a level which made its products too expensive for consumers. To combat its squeezed margins, the firm intends to improve sourcing capability and accelerate its current cost cutting programme in the short-medium term. The shares were down by 1.625p to 12.625p. Business software provider K3 Business Technology (KBT) announced results for the year to June which were in line with previously downgraded expectations, with adjusted pre-tax profits more than halving to 4.37 million pounds. At a meeting with management today, CEO Andy Makeham conceded that a combination of delayed orders and subdued markets had taken its toll on its performance over the first half of the year but stressed that the company is now in a position to capitalise on a more stabilised retail software market going forward. The shares jumped by 10p to 139.5p. Mobile technology group Bango (BGO) saw its loss before tax widen from 1.32 million pounds to 1.83 million pounds over the first 6 months of 2013, as revenues slid by almost 2 million pounds to 3.57 million pounds. However, Bango said it was confident on its future prospects after developing its relationship with Microsoft and establishing a new partnership with Mozilla. Geographically, the firm said that the firm was particularly geared for growth in India, Brazil, Malaysia and Indonesia. The shares dropped by 21p to 163p. | 
No comments:
Post a Comment