Round-up: Wincanton, Empresaria, Xaar...

Haulier Wincanton says operating profit held up well between October and January, though, as previously flagged, pre-tax profit for the year to 31 March 2010 is expected to be below the results reported last year. Higher finance costs following a refinancing are the reason.'The continuing strength of our traditional core in the UK & Ireland, the attractive growth prospects of our newer sectors & services, and the recovery and development opportunities in our Mainland European businesses, give the group three areas of strategic focus with attractive profit potential for the future,' it added.Daily Mail's digital division Associated Northcliffe has acquired 50% of Globrix, the UK's largest free-to-list property search engine, has the largest stock of property for sale and rent on the market. Globrix will remain free-to-list. The gross assets of the 50% stake in Globrix acquired are negligible.International staffing group Empresaria expects full year pre-exceptional earnings will be in line with market expectations even though second half revenues fell by 1% to £103m.Full year revenues fell 6% to £195m (2008: £208m), with full year net fee income 20% lower to £41m.Second half net fee income from continuing businesses dipped 12% to £22m. The group will write-off down some smaller companies in the group by £4.5m."Increased demand for temporary staff, particularly within Germany and the UK at the end of 2009 and in early 2010, has resulted in a better than anticipated performance in December and an expectation of a stronger than anticipated performance in January," it added.Printer technology group Xaar's trading for the fourth quarter of 2009 was in line with the Board's expectations with e trends seen in October carrying through to the year-end. OEM customers are continuing to develop digital printing machines incorporating Xaar's Platform 3 technology and, whilst some applications are now technically proven and contribute material revenue to Xaar, others still remain some way from full commercialisation. "Xaar remains committed to providing its Platform 3 customers with the necessary support to bring these developments to a successful conclusion and has continued to incur some significant costs in doing this," it added.