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Rental equipment specialist Vp said trading through the winter period has been satisfactory and expects to report full year profits in line with market expectations. The group, which provides products and services to oil and gas exploration markets, civil engineering, rail and construction, added that while there has not been a tangible improvement in overall market conditions, most sectors have remained stable. Vp which operates six divisions: Groundforce, UK Forks, Airpac Bukom, Torrent Trackside, TPA and Hire Station, said sustained demand from regulated infrastructure markets has continued to provide a solid base for the group, in what has otherwise been soft general construction demand. Otherwise in oil and gas, the lower levels of liquefied natural gas activity have continued into the second half as expected. "However the board is pleased to report that we have secured a number of LNG contracts in the Asia Pacific region which will contribute in the new financial year," it said in a statement.

South American-focused gold producer Orosur Mining has completed the development a ramp and lateral waste development to enable production at one of its projects. The company reported that ore development was underway and stoping was planned to commence in the Arenal Deeps area by the end of February. Completion of the ramp and lateral development is expected to enable the Orosur Mining to access higher grade transverse stope ore for the first time in the last quarter of the financial year ending May 31st. Fowler: 'milestone' achieved David Fowler, Chief Executive Officer of Orosur Mining, commented: "I am very pleased to have achieved this important milestone which is a credit to San Gregorio management and employees who have developed the first underground mine in Uruguay over the past two years. "This achievement has also importantly been achieved during this fiscal year as San Gregorio has transitioned from contractor development to owner operated development to reduce costs."

Bumi plc climbed 10% in London trading after announcing the deal. However, the Bakries have threatened to withdraw the proposal and maintain its presence in Bumi plc if Rothschild's plan is passed at the shareholder meeting next week. "Any changes to the board of Bumi plc voids the term agreement that we signed in London this week and we will immediately commence legal action if our relationship agreement isn't honored," Bakrie Group Senior Vice President Christopher Fong told the Jakarta Post. Bumi plc's board has also urged shareholders against the proposal as it goes against its plans to separate from the Bakrie Group and Bumi Resources.

Rothschild and Indonesia's influential Bakrie family formed Bumi plc in 2010 by bundling together the assets of two coal companies - a 29% stake in Bumi Resources and an 85%stake in PT Berau Coal Energy. The Indonesian coal assets from the Bakries were merged with Rothchild's investment vehicle, Vallar, and renamed Bumi plc. But company infighting and investigation into financial wrongdoing has seen Rothschild and the Bakries unwind their interests in the company. In a heads of terms agreement, the Bakries proposed swapping its 23.8% stake in Bumi Plc for 10.3% of Bumi Resources. The agreement will also see Bumi Plc its remaining 18.9% of its Bumi Resources stake for $278m in cash.

The investigation sparked a dispute between major Bumi plc shareholder Bakrie Group and company co-founder Nathaniel Rothschild. "Shareholder votes at Bumi have been massively distorted to the disadvantage of Indonesian shareholders. And the Panel was kept in the dark about key facts at the time of creation of Bumi Plc," said Nirwan Bakrie, the Chairman of Bakrie Group, in a statement to the London Stock Exchange on Wednesday. However, the market has showed rising optimism over a February 21st shareholder meeting of Bumi Plc to resolve an ownership dispute between Rothschild and the Bakries. Shareholders will vote on a proposal to replace the current board including its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Rothschild has recommended removing at least 12 of the company's 14 directors and bring in a new board.

Net debt at the year-end was reduced by 22.6m to 192.8m. The group has proposed a final dividend of 6.4p per share, up by 6.7% from the same time last year, giving a full year dividend of 10p compared to 9.25p previously. In a separate statement Morgan Crucible confirmed that Andrew Hosty has been appointed as group chief operating officer with immediate effect following the company's adoption of a new organisational structure.

Morgan Crucible said 90% of the group performed resiliently but substantial demand declines in the defence and renewable energy markets meant disappointing results in the Engineered Materials Division. "As a result, significant actions were taken in the second half of 2012 to align our cost base with the reduced demand levels particularly in the Engineered Materials businesses," it said. The Ceramics Division EBITA margin improved to 14.3% in 2012 compared to 13.5% in 2011 on revenue that was 1.9% lower than 2011 on a constant currency basis. Meanwhile revenue in the Engineered Materials Division fell 15.2% for the year on a constant currency basis with EBITA margins declining to 9.4% from 13.4% before. "Based on the restructuring actions taken in the second half of 2012 and some initial benefits from the 'One Morgan' model, we expect to improve our profit run rate by some �10m in 2013 compared to the second half of 2012," it said

Materials group Morgan Crucible said weak demand in the defence and renewable energy markets drove down full year earnings. The maker of ceramics used in wind-turbine blades said pre-tax profit slumped 26.9% to 111.4m in the year ended December 31st 2012 while revenue for the period fell 8.5% to 1.01bn. "The group's overall order intake levels have stabilised in the last two to three months. Nevertheless, we expect the end-market environment to remain fluid and uncertain in 2013. In this environment, our focus remains on self-help initiatives," it said in a company statement. Group EBITA margin for the full year was 12.1% compared to 13% previously and group underlying operating profit margin, after restructuring and one-off costs, was 10.8% compared to 12.9% in 2011.

Endeavour International Corporation on Thursday announced the appointment of Catherine Stubbs as Chief Finance Officer. Stubbs, who has been with the US oil and gas company since it was founded in 2000, will begin effective immediately. "I have had the pleasure of working with Cathy for over twenty years and she has been with Endeavour since the company was founded," said William L. Transier, Chief Executive Officer. "With her experience and understanding of our business, she is the right person to lead our financial team." Stubbs has more than 20 years of experience in financial management in the energy industry, most recently serving as Senior Vice President in finance for Endeavour. She started her financial career with KMPG and has also worked for Ocean Energy. Endeavour is focused on the acquisition, exploration and development of energy reserves in the North Sea and United States.

The group is preparing to move the Transocean Prospect rig to the West Rochelle area to begin drilling the second production well in order to start-up the Rochelle development. It will take an estimated 120 days to drill. "Once the investigation and fatigue analysis are concluded, the company anticipates that drilling operations will re-commence at East Rochelle," Endeavour said. Endeavour is the operator of the Rochelle development and has a 44% working interest in the field located in Blocks 15/26b, 15/26c and 15/27.

Endeavour International Corporation has suspended drilling operations on the East Rochelle oil well in the UK Central North Sea following a severe storm. The storm, which lasted several days, removed the cement around the top of the 36-inch conductor pipe, which anchors the well to the seabed floor. It created a non-uniform hole around the conductor, extending about four to five feet in diameter and 25 feet in depth. "As a result of this finding, drilling operations have been suspended on the East Rochelle well," the group said. "The company is conducting a thorough analysis to identify the cause of the cement loss and evaluate if there has been any potential fatigue damage to the conductor itself. The work to repair the cementing around the conductor pipe has been completed."

John Lewis has been traditionally held a model image as it is owned by its employees who share in the group's profits. Last month the company posted record high store sales for the holiday period, outperforming high street rivals. The company made 684.8m from sales for the five weeks to December 29th, up 14.8% from the year before.

Britain's biggest department store John Lewis could axe 325 store manager positions despite robust sales. The proposal is part of the chain's long-term growth strategy which includes streamlining its management structures across the group. The company said it has started consultation on the changes which affect managers at all of its department stores. There are four levels of management at stores - a managing director, a steering group, department managers and section managers. The cuts will hit the third level of management and will create some new jobs at the steering group level. If John Lewis decides to go ahead in slashing jobs, it is believed it would mark the most significant cull since 2009 when the company reviewed its overall structure.

The proposed merger of soft drinks manufacturers Britvic and A.G.Barr lost some of its fizz after the companies announced that the Competition Commission had commenced an investigation. The groups reported that the Office of Fair Trading had referred the merger to the Competition Commission due to concerns that a tie-up could reduce competition between certain brands of A.G. Barr and Britvic. A statement issued by Britvic reported that both parties believed that "the merger will not result in a substantial lessening of competition and that they will be able to demonstrate this to the Competition Commission". However, the probe represents a major set-back for drinks makers, which previously announced that the effective date of the merger would be February 26th. The investigation could take six months and after that both companies said there was no longer a guarantee the tie-up would even go ahead. A statement from Britvic read: "The Competition Commission's investigation is expected to take approximately six months. If clearance is received from the Competition Commission on terms satisfactory to both A.G. Barr and Britvic, the boards of A.G. Barr and Britvic will each reconsider, at that time, the terms of a possible merger between A.G. Barr and Britvic. "There can be no certainty or assurance that, following such clearance, any such merger would be forthcoming or that any offer will be made by either A.G. Barr or Britvic". Britvic's brands include Robinsons, Fruit Shoot, R Whites and Tabngo. A.G.Barr's brands include Irn Bru, Tizer and Rubicon.

Latin Resources, the mineral exploration company with projects in Peru, has published an update on the volume of heavy minerals estimated at its Los Conchales project in northern Peru. Snowden Mining Industry Consultants estimated that there is 1.1bn tonnes of maiden JORC Inferred Resource at 6.1% heavy mineral (HM) in situ in Los Conchales. The new JORC-Inferred Resource Estimate exceeded Latin Resources' previous conceptual exploration target for Los Conchales of 690m tonnes at 6.8% HM that was reported on July 26th. The update reported that the Los Conchales Magnetite concentrate should attract a premium over other Titanomagnetite concentrates in the market which generally sell at a discount to Pilbara Fines recently ranging from $125-$135 per tonne in Chinese ports.

"Our late stage R&D pipeline now holds the prospect of future growth from LDX (the active ingredient in Vyvanse) in major depressive disorder, binge eating disorder and negative symptoms of schizophrenia. Our intrathecal programs are also progressing well as we plan the next clinical trials for Hunter CNS and Sanfilippo A and continue to enrol MLD patients into the ongoing Phase 1/2 trial. A phase 2b study of SPD602, our iron chelating product, is underway and headline results are expected later this year. "Shire is in great shape, with the current business performing well, a promising pipeline of new growth opportunities, and the strategy in place to deliver an exciting future. As we look forward to the year ahead, we expect our financial results to show further growth in line with current consensus earnings expectations for 2013(1)."

However, the group stressed its confidence in the year ahead and said it is in a strong position following what it described as a strong set of results. Full year product sales rose 12% to $4,407m, with total revenues up 10% at $4,681m. In the fourth quarter product sales rose 5.0%, with total revenues also up 5.0% at $1,201m. Product sales fell 35% to $82m during the period. Angus Russell, Chief Executive Officer, said: "It's been another strong year for Shire with 12% growth in product sales and 14% growth in non-GAAP earnings, which have driven particularly strong cash generation. While delivering strong financial results, we continue to invest in our emerging late stage R&D [research & development] pipeline. "Our ADHD portfolio is performing very well in a growing global market and we see further growth going forward. The positive opinion received from the European regulators for Elvanse is a significant milestone and we're now preparing for country launches in some of the largest markets in Europe

Pharmaceuticals company Shire took a hit on Thursday after admitting that on a US GAAP basis its 2012 operating income fell 14 per cent as it revealed that sales of its Adderall XR product had dropped 19 per cent. In an otherwise upbeat set of results, the company said sales of Adderall has fallen to $429m, primarily due to lower prescription volumes following the approval of a new generic version of the product in the second quarter of 2012. Reported product sales were also affected by the accounting for the settlement of the Impax Laboratories litigation. Operating income, on a US GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles) basis, declined from $1,109m to $949m year-on-year, primarily resulting from charges to impair intangible assets for its Resolor product in the EU ($198m) in 2012. The impairments were due to lower actual and projected performance for the product given the increasingly challenging European reimbursement environment, the group said. Furthermore, a charge of $58m also negatively affected operating income, which related to the agreement in principle with the US government to resolve a previously disclosed civil investigation.

The group was also hit by iron ore prices, which during the last half of 2012 averaged 27% lower than a year earlier at about $116 a ton, according to data from The Steel Index. Prices have since recovered, reaching a 15-month high of $158.50 a ton last month on signs of economic recovery in China, the largest consumer of industrial metals.

"I am concerned by recent political signals in Mongolia calling into question some aspects of the investment agreement," Walsh said in a webcast. "This undermines the partnership we have built and the stability on which a project of this size and scale depends. "It puts at risk future investment not only by Rio Tinto but by others considering investing in Mongolia." The company said first commercial production from Oyu Tolgoi is scheduled to commence by the end of June, subject to the resolution of the issues. Rio and Mongolia plan to resume discussions this month. Fears over the deal were addressed after the company reported its first ever annual loss of $2.9bn - a 151% drop from the $5.8bn net profits reported the year before. The losses reflected writedowns on its Alcan takeover in 2007 and a coal acquisition in Mozambique, where transport challenges have slowed development and coal output estimates have been cut.