| From UK-Analyst.com: Wednesday 2nd October 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 70.70 points at 15,121.00 and the Nasdaq was down by 3.58 points at 3,249.47. In London the FTSE 100 closed down by 22.51 points at 6,437.50 and the FTSE 250 dropped by 75.14 points to 14,891.26. The FTSE All-Share was down by 12.85 points at 3,432.23 while the FTSE AIM Index fell by 5.61 points to 782.00.. Blue Chips Shares in Tesco (TSCO) slipped by 1.1p to 358p as it reported a 23.5% drop in profits for the first half of its financial year, to 1.39 billion pounds. UK like-for-like sales - which exclude new store openings - fell by 0.5% on the back of tough market conditions including increasing competition from the likes of Aldi and other discount retailers. Elsewhere, Tesco said profits fell by 67% in Europe to 55 million pounds, while Asian profits, excluding China, dropped by 7.4% to 314 million pounds. However, CEO Philip Clarke insisted that the company was making progress on its turnaround plan, with the UK Food like-for-like performance having improved to +1% in the second quarter and UK trading margin stable at 5.2%. Tesco also said that the average large-store refresh led to sales uplifts between 3% and 5%, with improved margin. Also of note was the large fall in capex as the firm refocuses away from large new store openings to improving its in-store experience and increasing the number of convenience outlets. Some analysts believe that this will free-up cash for better returns to shareholders, given time.
Tesco's malaise contrasts with a pick-up in quarterly sales at arch-rival Sainsbury's (SBRY), which saw sales (ex-petrol) at stores open over a year rise by 2% in the 16 weeks to 28th September, driven by growth at local convenience stores and online. Sainsbury's online grocery sales rose by over 15% in its second quarter, while convenience store sales increased 20% as customers topped up more often during the warm summer weather. Total sales for the second quarter rose by 4.6% excluding fuel. Sainsbury's, whose current grocery market share is at its highest in almost a decade at 16.6%, has also benefited from the success of its "Brand Match" pricing initiative, growth of own-brand sales and a big push into non-food areas such as kitchen electricals and cookware. According to market researcher Kantar Worldpanel, Sainsbury was the only one of Britain's "big four" grocers to increase its market share over the last year. Despite the news the shares fell by 4.9p to 385.3p. ADVERTISEMENT Films can provide a unique and potentially lucrative investment opportunity. Earn Royalties for 25 years Opportunity to appear in a major film production as an extra or spend the day on set watching the filming A listed cast of Hollywood stars Request our free no obligation film investment brochure CLICK HERE Mid Caps Domino's Pizza (DOM) served up a 4% increase in UK like-for-like sales in its third quarter with the last 2 weeks being particularly strong. This is an increase on the 3.9% like-for-like sales growth the firm saw in the same period last year and came despite what the company called "an extended period of unusually warm weather" this year. Digital sales now account for an ever great proportion of total sales, up to 62.4% from 58.4% this time last year. Total online sales grew by 19.8% to 72.3 million pounds. Interestingly, mobile sales now make up 29.3% of total online sales, having leapt by 102.5% in the 13-week period. CEO Lance Batchelor said that the introduction of a new store design had resulted in store opening delays, but those problems now seem to have been iron out. The firm remains confident of meeting brokers' expectations for the full year. Domino's shares closed 21.5p higher at 610.5p.
One retailer that didn't fare so well in the warm weather was Dunelm (DNLM). Like-for-like sales at the out-of-town homewares retailer fell by 5% in the 13 weeks ending 28th September because fewer people visited its 135 stores. The group said sales were particularly down in July. However, CEO Nick Wharton noted a return to like-for-like growth over the remainder of the quarter and said he sees good opportunities for growth. Dunelm said it plans to open another six more stores and boost advertising before Christmas. Analysts at Peel Hunt downgraded their full-year forecasts and retained Dunelm as one of their top picks in the sector. With the caveat that brand awareness remains relatively poor, they said Dunelm offers double-digit earnings growth, strong levels of cash generation and operating metrics. Dunelm shares tumbled by 46p to 880p.
Electronic parts supplier Electrocomponents (ECM) reported 1% growth in first-half underlying sales, helped by growth in businesses outside the UK, particularly in North America and continental Europe. The company, whose products include mobile phone accessories to thermometers, said international businesses sales rose 3% in North America and continental Europe, while Asia Pacific was flat. Sales in the UK fell 3%. The group also revealed that e-commerce sales growth was around 6% and now makes up around 57% of total sales. Shares in Electrocomponents rose by 3.2p to 282.5p.
SOCO International (SIA) announced that testing of the TGT-10XST1 exploration well on the H5 fault block of the Te Giac Trang field is complete. The well, which exceeded all pre-test expectations, flowed at combined average maximum production from the three zones tested at over 27,600 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd). The final test, in the Lower Miocene Intra Lower Bach Ho 5.2 Upper and Lower sequence, flowed at an average maximum rate of 5,156 barrels of oil per day (bopd) and 32.5 million standard cubic feet of gas per day (mmscfd). Ed Story, President and Chief Executive of SOCO, said the well, represents one of the most prolific individual wells ever tested in Vietnam and that the results reaffirm SOCO's belief that TGT is "clearly a very significant oil field by anyone’s standards". SOCO shares jumped by 18.55p to 416.55p.
Small Caps Pawnbroker Albemarle & Bond (ABM) conceeded that it has not been able to conclude negotiations regarding underwriting an equity raise of approximately 35 million pounds and regarding a revised banking package, to the satisfaction of the Board. This follows Monday's news that the fall in the gold price has causied significant uncertainty for profits in the current financial year. However, the company has signed agreed terms of a deferral of its 30th September 2013 covenant test until 30th October with its lending banks and is now focussing its efforts on constructive discussions with the banks to explore all possible options to remedy potential covenant breaches later in the current financial year. The shares plunged by 41p to 28p. Writing exclusively on t1ps.com infamous short seller Evil Knievil commented, "..the business may be burdened with inescapable overheads which swamp trading profits however intelligently management duck and dive. " Vmoto (VMT), the manufacture and distributer of electric powered scooters has raised AUS$5 million and signed a deal with an un-named Chinese electric vehicle producer. The deal is a joint-venture with a private Chinese electronic technology company, under which it will will utilise Vmoto's manufacturing facility in Lishui District, Nanjing. In return the Chinese firm will provide its technology and new product and market development plans for existing and future Vmoto customers. The placing, which was over-subscribed, was completed at a price of $0.022 (1.27p) per share and was over-subscribed. The funds will be used to invest in the joint-venture, expand into China and for product development. Vmoto shares fell by 0.025p to 1.45p. Shares in Mobile Streams (MOS), the mobile content distributer, fell by 8.5p to 67.5p despite the firm posting revenues up by 145% at 53.9 million for the year to June. Pre-tax profits for the period were up by a more pronounced 200% at 4.8 million pounds. The results were mainly driven by an increase in Mobile Internet sales in Latin America, especially Argentina, Mexico and Colombia. Mobile Streams added that it has started the new financial year positively and has continued to increase its mobile internet subscriber numbers. 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 
Shares in Andor Technology (AND), the manufacturer of high performance scientific digital cameras, rose by 14.75p to 382.25p after the firm said it expects to report results for the full year in line with expectations. The firm said it is beginning to see tangible benefits from a recent sales restructure, with order intake during the second half of the year being better than anticipated. Full year order intake is expected to be at record levels with the majority of the year-on-year growth coming from OEM customers. Andor added that market conditions remain challenging in the near-term but that it is focused on initiatives to deliver long-term growth, including executing on acquisitions. African miner Pan African Resources (PAF) confirmed the settlement of wage negotiations at its Barberton Mines. For the financial years ending 30th June 2014 & 2015 the average Barberton salary and wage bill increase will be around 8%, effective from 1st July 2013. This follows a similar deal at the firm's Evander Gold Mine, where the wage increase was also 8%. Pan African has now concluded all of its wage negotiations for the next two financial years. The shares closed 1p higher at 16p. Begbies Traynor (BEG), the insolvency specialist, has completed the acquisition of the trade and assets of Cooper Williamson, the Manchester-based corporate insolvency specialist. In the year to 31st May 2013, the firm reported revenues of 1.7 million pounds and a pre-tax profit of 0.4 million pounds. Following completion, Cooper Williamson's client case load and management will join Begbies' existing Manchester office. The update comes after the company announced earlier in the week that market conditions have continued to be subdued as business insolvencies fall. Shares in Begbies closed down by 0.5p at 35.5p. | 
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