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"The company should reiterate its +15% average returns across its major growth projects." Ahead of the results, Rio said it would continue operating its Gove alumina refinery in Australia's Northern Territory after the government offered 10 years' worth of its domestic gas supply. The company had warned it would have to mothball the refinery, operated by Rio Tinto subsidiary Pacific Aluminium, if it could not secure a cheap gas supply to run its energy-intensive operations at Gove, east of Darwin. In other news, Rio was said to have proposed initial terms on a $4.0bn project financing for the Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold mine in Mongolia as it tussles with the government over profits.

Mining heavyweight Rio Tinto will on Thursday reveal its first set of full-year earnings since Sam Walsh took the helm as Chief Executive Officer. Analysts at JP Morgan expect the group to report 2012 underlying earnings of $48.9bn along with further details on its recently announced cost cutting target of circa $3.0bn. "We expect saving to be exceeded in future years [we model $4.4bn of cuts off the calendar year 2015 cost base with circa 75% from the iron ore and aluminium divisions]," the broker said. A full year dividend of $1.525 and a final of $0.80 were anticipated by the broker for the year, with no significant rebasing of the dividend until Feb 2014. JP expects the Iron Ore division to generate 85% ($8.85bn) of the 2012 product group earnings and forecasts cash expenditure of $14.5bn, higher than the company's guidance of $13.6bn due to timing and currency impacts. "We do not expect any further project approvals and therefore no change to the calendar year 2014 capital expenditure guidance of circa $13bn," it said

Treveria, a German retail focused real estate investment company, has agreed to dispose of the Silo D property portfolio over a period of time and has appointed an investment management who will be paid 1.8 per cent on each sale. Under the agreement, the servicer, Situs Asset Management, has granted an extension to the standstill agreement to June 11th 2013, with the intention to provide four-months rolling extensions moving forward. "Treveria Silo D looks forward to working together with the new asset manager and the servicer in the implementation of the business plan," the group said.

The firm was keen to stress that its results for the current financial year (ending March 31st) will demonstrate substantial year-on-year improvement, due to "excellent" progress at Foils Americas, Foils Europe and Laminates. However, it admitted the outlook for both Holographics and Laminates is now "less than favourable", saying that within the latter the favourable impact on volumes for next year will be mitigated by some recent losses on other supply positions. "The board remains confident that the group will make further progress in the year ahead," it said.

Shares in API Group tumbled on Wednesday after the company reported that its full year results are likely to be marginally below previous management expectations, which came as a double blow as the group announced has opted not to go ahead with the anticipated sale of the company. The drop in full year results is primarily a result of a continued weak performance in the Holographics division. The company revealed it had concluded that a sale of the group at this time as it is "unlikely to gain sufficient recognition for the underlying value of the business or to deliver best value for shareholders", and as a result, it has "decided to terminate the formal sale process with immediate effect". In a statement API said: "The board remains focused on maximising shareholder value and committed to maintaining an open dialogue with shareholders about how best that can be achieved."

The company is in talks to secure a further 1,200 hectares to the north of the existing plantation and another 800 hectares to the south. "Through [Tropical Farms] we have already established a successful cocoa trading business," Agriterra Chief Executive Andrew Groves said. "With this acquisition and investment we are now entering the second phase of our growth strategy focussed on developing our own plantations. "The plantation is in a highly productive and suitable area for cocoa production, and with the investment programme already underway, we are looking forward to the plant out this season and increasing our production."

The group has already started investing in the rehabilitation and development of the plantation with the installation of a nursery which will be the largest cocoa production facility in Sierra Leone. The nursery has an irrigation system capable of supporting capacity of up to 500 hectares worth of seedlings and covers a green area of 1.6 hectares. It currently contains 250,000 seedlings in the germination process, which once matured, will be used to plant a 200-hectare area that is in the process of being cleared. Tropical Farms has employed 160 workers from the local community and purchased machinery to begin works.

Coffee and chocolate demand showed no signs of slowing down as African agricultural company Agriterra announced Wednesday it had expanded its cocoa and farming operations in Sierra Leone. The company's wholly-owned subsidiary, Tropical Farms, has acquired a 50-year lease with a 21-year extension option over a cocoa and coffee plantation covering 1,208 hectares, located 40km from Kenema in south-east Sierra Leone. The plantation, formerly run by Beresfords, will be rehabilitated and redeveloped in order to recommence the production of cocoa, coffee and additional cash crops. A further 546 hectares, located north of the plantation was also signed on the same terms as the plantation.

"We remain confident that we will achieve the previous guidance of 5,000 bopd exit rate for 2013."

A new generator will be installed on Alpha along with preventative maintenance. The problems were noted alongside Trinity's sales results for January which averaged 2,260bopd net, ahead of budget for the period. The news comes after Bayfield said it would merge with Trinity, in a reverse takeover of the London-listed company. Each Trinity share will receive about 7,478 new ordinary shares of Bayfield. Monty Pemberton, Chief Executive Officer of Trinity, said he was pleased with the company's results last month and is looking forward to the merger. "We eagerly await completion of the merger with Bayfield to provide the financial resources needed to rectify Bayfield's current production issues and deliver the work programme as presented in the Admission Document," he said.

Bayfield Energy Holdings and Trinity Explorer said operational problems have hit production at their Trintes oil field off the coast of Trinidad. The companies reported a failure of the main generator of its Alpha platform at the prospect. "Following repairs to the generator, intervention work has been undertaken to resume production from the wells impacted by the power outage," Bayfield said in a statement. "Production from these wells is increasing though still at levels below those achieved prior to the incident. "12 wells from a total of 36 potential production wells are currently shut-in awaiting remediation." Remedial action is in progress and expected to add up to circa 410 barrels of oil per day (bopd) by the end of March. Current gross production is circa 1,800 bopd.

"We encountered a number of operational difficulties, some of which have been resolved and others where actions are beginning to impact and restore operational productivity. "There were also challenges out of our control in terms of exchange rates and labour unrest in South Africa. Management worked hard to mitigate the effects of the strike action however we could not escape the general impact on the entire industry. We are looking ahead into 2013 with cautious optimism that this does not repeat itself." He added that despite the challenges the company continued to sign new contracts including for a vertical shaft at the Kibali gold mines in Congo and for work at the Rampura Agucha mine in India with Hindustan Zinc.

Shaft Sinker Holdings expects to report a 13 per cent fall in 2012 revenues after labour strikes in South Africa hit operations. The shaft sinking and underground infrastructure group said last year presented difficulties in the midst of protests at its sites and weakening of the South African Rand currency. Revenues are pegged at £197m in the year to December 31st, down from £227m in 2011. Profit before tax is also anticipated to drop significantly from the previous year's £13.5m with a guidance of £3.0m to £4.0m. The group forecast a decrease in gross profit margin to 10% from 16.9%. The company ended the year with net borrowings of about £2.8m, compared to £8.6m in the first half, as operations began to recover. In the second half interest bearing debt was reduced by £2.7m to £11.2m and gross cash increased by £3.2m to £8.4m. "The 2012 financial year presented us with a number of challenges," said Chief Executive Alon Davidov.

"The group has also benefitted from significantly increased market share in the UK and Ireland, temporary and contract recruitment in the Benelux and Germany, and a steadily improving result from Asia, where investment in two additional offices in Hong Kong and Sydney was made during the course of 2012." Harvey Nash also said the integration of the Talent IT business in Belgium, acquired on May 31st 2012, has gone well and results for the year have met expectations. During the period the company returned to a positive net cash position of around �4.0m. The group plans to pay a final dividend of 1.795p per share (2012: 1.635p), resulting in an increase of 10% in the total dividend per share for the year (2012: 2.66p). The company has also completed an agreement with The Royal Bank of Scotland to raise the total amount of facilities and headroom to around 52m (previously around 40m) with immediate effect to fund working capital as required when recruitment markets recover.

Harvey Nash, a global professional recruitment and outsourcing group, cheered investors on Wednesday morning with the news its full year results for the period ended January 31st are set to be slightly ahead of recently upgraded expectations, prompting a 10 per cent increase in its final dividend payment. Total revenue will be in the region of 590m, compared to 533m the previous year, with gross profit of around 80m (2012: 78.5m), and profit before tax of around 8.6m, 0.1m higher than that achieved the previous year. In a pre-close trading update, the company made the following statement: "Demand for highly skilled technology professionals has created skills shortages in the mobile and digital segments of the technology market. Clients, particularly in Europe, have continued to favour flexible contract and temporary hiring over permanent and executive recruitment. "However, there has been continued demand for outsourcing and offshoring. With its broad portfolio of services and leading market positions, the group has been very well placed to capitalise on these trends during the year.

Positive Points: Fourth quarter like-for-like sales growth materialized at the upper end of analyst forecasts. The relatively new Chief Executive's plans to rebalance the company towards Health & Hygiene categories continue to be pursed. A US vitamin manufacturer has recently been acquired, a licensing deal with Bristol Myers-Squibb for Latin American health brands such as painkiller Tempra, with an option to buy after three years, has recently been signed. Management guidance appeared to broadly reassure investors. It noted that "we remain committed to our goal of net revenue growth on average +2.0% per annum above our market growth, and moderate operating margin expansion (ex its pharmaceutical business). For 2013, we are targeting net revenue growth of +5-6% including acquisitions and disposals announced to date. Given the early achievement of cost savings in 2012, we expect to maintain operating margins in 2013." Sales to the Emerging Markets are growing. Its LAPAC division (comprising: Latin America, North Asia, South and South East Asia, Australia New Zealand) reported annual like-for-like growth of 11%, with expansion coming from Latin America, North Asia and South East Asia, driven by distribution expansion, innovation and increasing penetration. Its RUMEA division (comprising: Russia & CIS, Middle East, North Africa and Turkey, Africa-Sub-Sahara) reported annual like-for-like growth of 8%, driven by strong growth in Russia & the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States - former Soviet Union states). Management previously confirmed that the group's new organisational structure was fully in place and that they were seeing early benefits of increased operational focus, in particular, speed, scale and consistency in execution. Cost savings from acquisitions continue to be pursued. Many of the group's products e.g. Nurofen painkillers, continue to prove defensive in difficult economic times. The group's dividend policy remains progressive. The total dividend for 2012 was increased by 7% compared to 2011.

Negative Points: For its Europe and North American (ENA) region, unadjusted reported sales declined by 3%. Consumers remain pressured, particularly in Southern Europe. Competition from rivals remains intense, particularly in the group's home European market. Furthermore, other household goods companies are also looking to the Emerging Markets to provide future growth. Concerns regarding potential rival drugs impacting on the group's Pharmaceutical business remain. The company's heroin substitute drug Suboxone lost its US tablet patent in October 2009. The company has received a civil claim for damages from the Department of Health and others in the United Kingdom, regarding alleged anti-competitive activity involving its Gaviscon (heartburn) brand. The claim is under review and at the time of the results the Directors do not believe that any potential impact would be material to the Group financial statements. Volatile input and packaging costs remain a threat with regards to its profit margins. Largely due to its acquisition of US vitamin business Schiff Nutrition, group net debt has risen to £2.42 billion compared to £1.79 billion at the end of 2011.

Financial Highlights: Group net revenue rose by 1% to £9.56 billion Gross margin increased by 0.5% to 57.9% Operating profit rose by 2% to £2.43 billion The total dividend for 2012 was increased by 7% compared to 2011

Full year results: Reckitt pursues Health & Hygiene in the Emerging Markets. The announcement pleased investors, with the share price gaining by over 3% in opening trading. The relatively new Chief Executive's strategy to rebalance the company's product portfolio towards Health & Hygiene products looked to be paying off. Management noted that "strong results from Health Powerbrands Durex and Gaviscon, and from Hygiene Powerbrands Dettol, Lysol, Finish and Harpic had led performance." Furthermore, the gross profit margin had increased by 0.5% to 57.9%, aided by a more benign input cost environment, product pricing adjustments, an improved product mix and savings from its ongoing cost optimisation programme. A high incidence of flu in the final quarter of the year, particularly in North America, had also played its part, whilst the company's drive to increase its sales in the Emerging Markets remained ongoing. Finally, management outlined further its strategy going forward, highlighting that it was now setting the target of Health & Hygiene categories becoming 72% and Emerging Market areas becoming 50% of its core business net revenue by 2015 - a year earlier than previously targeted. In all, some investor doubts persist. The timing of expected generic competition for its Suboxone heroin substitute drug in the US continues to overhang, whilst competition such as Unilever has also been looking to grow its Emerging Market exposure. Furthermore, the share price has already enjoyed a 20% plus gain over the last six months compared to a lift of just over 8% for the wider FTSE-100 index (as of 13Feb2013). Nonetheless, US vitamin manufacturer Schiff Nutrition has recently been acquired, a licensing deal with Bristol Myers-Squibb for Latin American health brands such as painkiller Tempra, with an option to buy after three years, has recently been signed, whilst Emerging Market sales have grown.

William Hill: Deutsche Bank takes target price from 422p to 436p retaining a buy recommendation.