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Rio Tinto's new boss on Thursday said he was concerned over the Mongolian government's comments on the agreement that underpins its Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold mine. Sam Walsh, who was appointed Chief Executive last month, voiced his dilemma in relation to tensions between the company and the government, which is under pressure to raise more money from mineral wealth in Mongolia ahead of the presidential election in May. President Tsakhia Elbegdorj said Mongolia should have more control of the mine once it is in full production, while another official said the government doesn't support the project. The government is asking Rio Tinto to revise the current shareholders agreement and project finance in relation to the project. It comes amid reports the government could push the mining giant for more funding outside its original 2009 investment agreement which includes a 5.0% royalty on all sales. Rio has twice rejected Mongolia's demands in the past 18 months for a greater share of profits from the mine.

Last month the parent company reported mixed output in the fourth quarter, with coal, copper and diamond output rising year-on-year, but nickel, platinum and iron-ore output falling partly because of illegal strikes in South Africa. Anglo has been undergoing a massive shake-up including the appointment of new Chief Executive officer Mark Cutifani, brought in to turn the business around. Similarly Rio Tinto has welcomed Sam Walsh to the helm. The company posted Thursday a net loss of $2.9bn, a 151% drop from the $5.3 net profits reported the year before.

FTSE 100 mining group Anglo American unveils its 2012 results Friday, one day after rival Rio Tinto posted its first-ever annual loss. According to market data on Digital Look, the group is expected to report revenues to the tune of £18.4bn and pre-tax profits of £3.3bn. Earnings per share are anticipated to fall 62% to 121.64p. The company's struggles have been duly noted ahead of the results. Earlier this month Anglo said it would take a loss of $225m at its troubled South African platinum division for last year, compared with a $410m profit in 2011. Anglo American Platinum, or Amplats, in January announced a major restructuring programme after being hit by strikes and falling prices in 2012. The shake-up would see the company close down some mines and consolidate certain assets, a move that would affect 14,000 jobs. Amplats reported a IFRS headline loss of 1,468m South African rand, or $170m, for the 12 months to December 31st, compared with a $527m profit in 2011.

Top Director Sells Plastics Capital (PLA) Director name: Mr Richard Vessey Amount sold: 142,809 @ 81.50p Value: �116,389

North Atlantic Smaller Companies Inv Trust (NAS) Director name: Mr Christopher H B Mills Amount purchased: 2,917 @ 1,320.00p Value: 38,504

Top Director Buys City of London Investment Group (CLIG) Director name: Mr Barry M Olliff Amount purchased: 25,000 @ 295.00p Value: 73,750

Richard Vessey, the founding shareholder of Plastics Capital, sold a slice of his stake in the niche plastics products group. Vessey, who is also a Non-Executive Director, disposed of 142,809 at 81.50p each, generating �116,389. He now holds 2.47m shares in the company, equal to 8.98% of the issued share capital. At the end of January the group said it has been trading in line with market expectations, amid stable conditions. It said that although the market in Europe has remained depressed, elsewhere sales are growing as expected. Both margins and cash generation were reported to be strong and similar to those seen last year.

Meanwhile, TV delivered over 215 half-hours of programming in the first 10 months, up from 152 previously, as revenues increased 30%. The company expects to deliver a total of 290 half-hours of programming this financial year. However, Distribution revenues have fallen 4.0% year-to-date "reflecting the decline in the physical home entertainment market in Canada offset by growth in the US where increased activity in the Group's US film business delivered higher volumes."

Film, TV and music company Entertainment One said that revenues in the year to date have increased by 15 per cent, helped by its recent acquisition of Alliance Films, a leading distributor of filmed entertainment products in Canada, the UK and Spain. Excluding the contribution from the Alliance acquisition, which was officially completed last month, revenues rose 11%. The firm said that full-year earnings for year ending March 31st are expected to be in line with management's expectations. Film, which accounts for around half of group revenues, saw turnover rise 24% in the first 10 months of the year as it released 159 movies theatrically, up from 125 the year before. This growth generated a 56% increase in box office receipts. The biggest titles of the year so far include the latest film of the Twilight saga, The Impossible, Quartet and Django Unchained. In regards to the Alliance acquisition, the firm said that the business integration process is progressing well. "The integration is delivering savings ahead of schedule and remains on track to deliver management's synergy target."

Describing the outlook and strategy going forward, Hambro added: "Mining company valuations continue to trade below historical averages and there is in our view the potential for strong returns over the medium term. We remain focused on companies with balance sheet strength and high asset quality as we believe these factors will be key differentiators. "In addition, the market is becoming increasingly discerning about capital allocation by mining managements. Companies must show themselves to be highly disciplined in their approach to costs and management of their assets."

View on Rio Tinto holding: ComfortableCommenting on the markets, Evy Hambro, representing the Investment Manager, said: "2013 began with both global equities and mining equities rising as improving economic data and the averted fiscal cliff provided momentum to the market. "While global equities continued their upward trajectory, mining equities paused slightly before weakening at the end of the month as the market took profits following their strong run since the market low in September." Commenting on the mining sector, he said: "Mining companies provided a number of updates in January, Rio Tinto announced $14bn of write downs from their acquisitions of Riversdale and Alcan. These were combined with the news that Tom Albanese would be replaced with Sam Walsh, who was previously head of the iron ore division as Chief Executive Officer. "While this news initially appeared to concern the market, we remain comfortable with our holding as the write downs reflect poor investments made in the past which the market has already largely taken into account and the new CEO has been a long standing member of the management team at Rio Tinto."

The BlackRock World Mining Trust has published a portfolio update disclosing heavy exposure to the Anglo Australian mining group Rio Tinto. The Trust, which reported that the portfolio had a net asset value (NAV) undiluted for one year of -15.1%, stood by its holding in the company saying that the mining sector had the potential to deliver strong returns over the medium term. Over three years, the NAV of the BlackRock World mining Trust was 16.6% and over five years it was -1.7%. A breakdown of the portfolio showed a heavy weighting towards the diversified mining sector, with this accounting for 39.2% of total assets followed by base metals, which accounted for 20.3% and industrial minerals, which represented 10.4% of total assets. The portfolio's largest investment was Rio Tinto, with shares in the company accounting for 10.2% of total assets, followed by BHP Billiton, accounting for 9.0%. Rio Tinto posted a net loss of $3.0bn in the year to December today, down from a net profit of $5.8bn a year ago.

Medgenics, the AIM-listed biopharmaceutical company developing treatments for chronic diseases, has closed an underwritten public offering of 5.6m shares of common stock and Series 2013-A warrants to purchase up to an aggregate of 2.8m shares of common stock. The shares and the warrants were sold together as a fixed combination, each consisting of one share of common stock and a warrant to purchase one-half of a share of common stock, at a price to the public of $5.25 per fixed combination. The gross proceeds to Medgenics were $29.4m, before deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and other offering expenses payable by Medgenics. In addition, Medgenics granted the underwriters a 45-day option to purchase up to an aggregate of 840,000 additional shares of common stock and additional warrants to purchase up to an aggregate of 420,000 shares of common stock.

Alastair Clayton, Chief Executive Officer of Centurion, said: "Through this partnership with Balamara we have gained exposure to an exciting polymetallic project that already has established and growing JORC Resource." "Centurion views this transaction as delivering several benefits; a published JORC Resource including nearly two million ounces of high-grade silver, huge exploration upside potential and importantly a foothold in a truly underexplored mining destination in a stable EU candidate nation."

AIM-listed resource exploration and development company Centurion Resources has established a strategic partnership with Balamara Resources to support the continued development of its Balkan interests. The partnership includes the acquisition of a 10% equity position in North Mining, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Balamara, which operates the previously producing Monty project. The acquisition comprises a �375,000 staged-payment investment, with proceeds to be spent on the exploration activities at Monty. The transaction is in line with the company's strategy of building a portfolio of resource projects in Europe. Monty encompasses the main Brskovo deposit and several adjacent satellite deposits, Zuta Prla and Visnjica. The Brskovo target has a JORC-compliant Indicated and Inferred resource of 2.5m tonnes at 3.84% zinc, 3.17% lead, 0.31% copper including an initial JORC Inferred silver resource of 880,000oz at 16.5 grammes per tonne.

Qannas Investments has sold its entire stake in Abu-Dhabi based investment holding company Al Waha Capital for 15m Dirham in cash. The disposal represents a return of 24.3% and an annualised return of 87.9%. The payment received for the interest exceeded each of the reported daily closing market prices for Waha Capital's shares since May 2011. Qannas, an AIM-listed close-ended investment company, acquired its interest in Waha Capital in October 2012. Waha Capital, listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, has interests in aircraft and other asset leasing, maritime, land development and financial services businesses. The transaction comes after Waha Capital reported an annual net profit for 2012 of 214.4m. Proceeds of the disposal will be distributed to Qannas shareholders. The unaudited estimated net asset value per share of Qannas is $1.23 following the disposal of its investment.

The board has recommended total dividends for 2012 of $17.33 cents, a 15% increase over 2011.

Positive Points: Shire's focus on niche drug areas like hyperactivity and rare diseases has sheltered it from the patent expiries and pricing pressures in Europe that its bigger rivals have suffered. The company benefited from a one-time royalty income of $38 million in Q4 following the resolution of a disagreement with GlaxoSmithKline and ViiV Healthcare relating to royalty payments for 3TC and ZEFFIX. Shire is one of the U.K.'s largest pharmaceutical companies by market capitalisation having grown rapidly in recent years, due largely to its acquisitive nature and its specialisation in treatments for rare diseases. During Q4 2012, Shire commenced a share buy-back programme, for the purpose of returning f

Negative Points: The company said sales of Adderall had fallen to $429 million in 2012, primarily due to lower prescription volumes following the approval of a new generic version of the product in the second quarter of 2012. Continuing execution with respect to pipeline drug approvals is required to support longer-term performance forecasts. Litigation risk remains in a number of potential products associated within the group's Human Genetic Therapies (HGT) business.

Financial Highlights: Total product sales for the quarter ended 31st December were $1.09 billion, up 5%. Overall, revenues totalled $1.2 billion due to a combination of higher product sales and royalties. Royalties in Q4 2012 benefited from one-time royalty income of $38 million. Shire reported a strong balance sheet with continued robust cash generation. A net cash position of $373 million was recorded at 31st December 2012. The board has recommended total dividends for 2012 of $17.33 cents, a 15% increase over 2011.