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Buy F & C Asset Management (FCAM) in anticipation of earnings upgrades this year as the market fully factors in chairman Edward Bramson's cost-cutting measures. Broker Jefferies is forecasting earnings per share (EPS) of 11.4p in 2013, a full 15% ahead of the market consensus for 9.9p, such is the disagreement between analysts as to the level of savings that can be achieved. Bramson began his campaign to overhaul F & C after he first built a stake in the business in summer 2010. The following year he ousted the former chairman and launched stage one of a strategic review. The interims (1 August 2012) were the first tangible evidence of Bramson's impact. Cost reductions unveiled at the review drove an 11% increase in underlying EPS, despite a 9% fall in assets under management (AUM) which finished 30 June at £98.2 billion versus £108 billion in 2011.

The emerging markets (EM) fixed interest specialist is likely to benefit as Western institutional investors increase their exposure to EM debt in reaction to rock-bottom yields in their domestic markets. Ashmore (ASHM) is also well placed to take advantage of growing demand for its products from within EMs. Assets under management (AUM) grew by 70% to $63.7 billion over the four years to 30 June 2012. The bigger part of Ashmore's AUM are held in dollar-denominated EM investment grade sovereign debt, which, unlike local currency denominated EM debt, has not historically been subject to the same ebbs and flows of hot money. In the 12 months to the company's 30 June 2012 financial year end the company attracted $1.3 billion of net inflows, despite a difficult market which wiped $3.4 billion off its AUM. A growing contingent of EM institutional clients wish to buy debt issued by other EM countries. Clients from the Asia Pacific now account for 29% of AUM and central banks from these and other EMs increasingly want to buy debt in local currencies in order to reduce their dollar holdings where they see exchange-rate risk. Local currency debt, traditionally the hunting ground of speculative investors based in the West, is fast-becoming an established asset class supported by long-term domestic holders. Ashmore's local currency debt AUM rose 14% in the first quarter of fiscal year 2013 and is likely to become an increasingly important driver to overall group AUM going forward.

Developed market investors are starved of income and face the prospect of decades of muted capital returns from their domestic equity markets as austerity measures hinder growth. The answer to their dilemma is to invest globally and Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) has the capabilities to assist them. After 2012's stand-out performance some may feel nervous piling in now but the well-worn maxim of 'the trend is your friend' stands in the case of this £4.5 billion cap as customers continue to funnel cash its way. A combination of £10.2 billion of net inflows in 2012 and £17.3 billion market-related gains meant Aberdeen's equity assets under management (AUM) grew by a third in the third quarter to £100.7 billion. The company's global fund and Asia Pacific equity portfolios were particularly popular. More than half of Aberdeen's AUM are now accounted for by equities and 45% hail from retail investors, even if the general rule of thumb is last year's best-performing fund is next year's laggard. Aberdeen's global equity books, and in particular its Asia Pacific portfolios under the guidance of Hugh Young, have a very consistent track record of outperformance over periods of five years or more.

Buy life insurer St James's Place (STJ) whose finals today (24 January) are likely to reveal a resilient performance. The £2.2 billion cap has a robust business model, which focuses on the affluent market. A strong performance recorded in the first nine months of the year is likely to have continued into the fourth quarter. New business increased 6%, reflecting a 19% growth in pensions and a 23% rise in unit trust sales. These figures offset a 9% decline in protection sales. St James's Place reported net inflows of £2.3 billion during this period, while its assets under management grew 6% to £32.8 billion. Management has worked to ensure it continues to be successful in 2013. It has recruited several Independent Financial Adviser-qualified sales people meeting the Retail Distribution Review's new regulations on who can sell financial products. The company's newsflow next year could include confirmation that Lloyds (LLOY) is to sell its 57% stake in the business. This would be a positive move as it would remove a stock overhang and potentially set the scene for a rerating.

Buy Prudential (PRU) ahead of it delivering £850 million of cash by the end of 2013. Strong cash generation should underpin a progressive dividend. Despite the headwinds to hit the life industry, management has transformed the £23 billion cap in the last two years. A 5.3% rise in this year's projected dividend to 27.9p, equivalent to a 3% yield, signals the success of the turnaround. Low government bond yields and a tough economic environment mean management is focusing on its growth businesses in the USA and South East Asia. Under this plan Prudential bought Thanachart Life in November and formed a 15-year exclusive bancassurance agreement with Thanachart Bank in Thailand. The agreement gives the company 865 branches, making this the fourth-largest branch network in a country of 65 million people. Meanwhile, management is on course to achieve its goal of remitting £300 million from its Asian business by the end of 2013. At the end of the first half of the year it sent £126 million to the centre, up from £40 million in 2009.

Positive Points: The ferroalloys and iron ore divisions operated at full available capacity for the quarter while the company reported that its energy division operated at full available capacity for electricity, coal and special coke production. Overall gross ferrochrome production increased by 6.8% compared to the fourth quarter in 2011, with an 8.7% increase in high-carbon ferrochrome. Cost control and productivity enhancing initiatives remain in the spotlight for management. In an earlier announcement, the miner declared its capital expenditure programme had been reduced to $2.4 billion in 2012. The group's home base of Kazakhstan and its proximity to major economic powers such as China and Russia is seen as a transportation cost advantage over other rival resource companies.

Negative Points: Production of saleable copper in the fourth quarter was 7,756 tonnes, representing a 4.0% decrease when compared to the corresponding period in 2011. Saleable cobalt production fell 28.4% to 2,042 tonnes versus the fourth quarter in 2011. The company stated that this had been caused by an increase of internal consumption at Chambishi and a decrease in the availability of oxide ore. The group remains sensitive to global economic health, China in particular. The key commodities for ENRC are ferrochrome, iron ore and aluminium. Any material movements in these commodities may have a significant impact on corporate earnings. As a primarily Kazakhstan-based company with close links to the current government of Kazakhstan, political risk could be enhanced if there is a change in the political climate. In addition, ENRC has increased its exposure to Africa, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zimbabwe through acquisitions which again could heighten the political risk for the group.

Fourth quarter production report: Steady production results at Eurasian. Eurasian Natural Resources Corp's ferroalloys and iron ore divisions operated at full available capacity in the latest period to the end of December. The energy division also operated at full capacity for electricity, coal and special coke production. Elsewhere, in the group's non-ferrous division, production of saleable copper showed a decrease against the corresponding period due to continued power disruptions and a delay in delivery of concentrate supplied by Camrose Resources. The company acknowledged that its aluminium division operated marginally below capacity, decreasing by 1.6% when compared to the same quarter a year earlier while maintaining annual production volume at the 2011 levels. Felix Vulis, Chief Executive Officer of Eurasian Natural Resources commented, "We anticipate delivering a strong operational performance across the group in 2013." The share price is currently up 5.75% at the time of this update

Positive Points: In December, Walt Disney completed its acquisition of Lucasfilm Ltd, in a deal valued at about $4.05 billion. The deal includes the "Star Wars" film franchise. Within the parks and resorts division, Disney has spent the past few years investing heavily, including a $1.1 billion overhaul of its California Adventure Park. It delivered another solid quarter with a 7% hike in revenues to $3.4 billion, driven by its US operations. Notably, Disney's Interactive Media revenues for the quarter increased 4% to $291 million, and the division's operating results improved from a loss of $28 million to income of $9 million in the period. Walt Disney is the largest media conglomerate in the world by revenue. Its strength lies in a combination of strong brands, (Disney, Pixar, Marvel, ESPN and ABC) consistent business strategy and the steps the group have taken to make their businesses more efficient without sacrificing quality.

Negative Points: The group's studio division suffered a 43% tumble in operating income to $234 million amid lower home entertainment and theatrical distribution and to tough comparisons from a year earlier. A worsening economy could hamper results in several of the company's areas, notably in theme parks and ad-based areas like TV and cable networks. Within Interactive Media, results have been mixed of late and may continue to be a drag on profitability and cash flow. Lower results were reported from Parks and Resorts international operations, with Disney citing higher costs for new guest offerings and labour cost inflation at Disneyland Paris, along with start-up costs at Shanghai Disney resort.

Financial Highlights: Revenues rose 5% to $11.3 billion, up from $10.78 billion a year earlier. Net income for the quarter dropped 6% to $1.38 billion, from $1.46 billion.

First quarter results: Disney's profits slip yet results exceed estimates. In an announcement after the market closed yesterday, Walt Disney reported a 6% fall in profits, in part due to lower earnings at its studio entertainment division. However, Disney's share price rose 1.6% in after hours trading as the results beat analyst expectations. First quarter revenue from the company's studio entertainment division fell 5% to $1.5 billion, and the division's operating income dropped 43% to $234 million, hurt by decreases in home entertainment and theatrical distribution. The company has completed several multi-billion dollar acquisitions in recent years, most recently buying Lucasfilm Ltd, owner of the "Star Wars" franchise, for $4.05 billion. Other major deals included its acquisition of Marvel Entertainment, the comics giant, for more than $4 billion in 2009 and its purchase of Pixar Animation for $7.4 billion in 2006. Elsewhere, most of Disney's sales come from its media networks business, which includes ESPN, ABC and the Disney Channel. The division has benefited in particular as sports programming on ESPN commands higher affiliate fees. Disney noted that in the latest quarter, ESPN saw a decrease in operating income due to higher programming and production costs. In the parks and resorts division, which accounts for nearly a third of revenue, operating income rose 4.3% as revenue increased 7%. The division's results were driven by an increase in domestic operations, partially offset by a decrease internationally. Overall, despite concern for the global economic outlook, the group's diversity in both product type and geographical location continue to appeal

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Contact details T-Hrvatski Telekom Erika Kašpar, Corporate Communications and Investor Relations 00 385 1 491 2000 Elvis Kneževic, Investor Relations 00 385 1 491 1114 Anita Marić Šimek, Investor Relations 00 385 1 491 1884 E-mail ir@t.ht.hr Web site www.t.ht.hr/eng/investors College Hill Kay Larsen / Adrian Duffield +44 (0)20 7457 2020 About T-Hrvatski Telekom (Reuters: THTC.L, HT.ZA; Bloomberg: THTC LI, HTRA CZ) T-Hrvatski Telekom (T-HT) is the leading provider of telecommunication services in Croatia, serving more than 1.3 million fixed-line customers, more than 2.4 million mobile subscribers, 651,741 broadband access lines and provided TV services to 349,282 customers through its Residential and Business divisions. Since its initial public offering in October 2007, T-HT shares have traded on the Zagreb Stock Exchange, with global depositary receipts trading on the London Stock Exchange. Deutsche Telekom AG owns 51% of T-HT's shares, with the War Veterans' Fund owning 7% and the Pensioners' Fund holds 3.5%. The remaining free float is in the hands of private and institutional investors.

T-Hrvatski Telekom New Collective agreement signed; separately 403 to leave Company T-Hrvatski Telekom (Reuters: THTC.L, HT.ZA; Bloomberg: THTC LI, HTRA CZ), Croatia's leading telecommunications provider, announces that yesterday at the headquarters of Hrvatski Telekom, representatives of the employer and trade unions signed a new Collective Agreement. In addition, following a special severance offer 403 employees will leave the Company. The new Collective Agreement ensures the conditions for the realization of the Company's business goals and maintains a high level of employee rights. Whilst certain aspects of the Agreement have been rationalized, with the annual vacation bonus per employee reduced from HRK 6,000 HRK to 3,000, the majority of employees' material rights remain unchanged. This Agreement also guarantees that there will be no reductions in the workforce, excluding potential outsourcing programs within the business transformation program, during the period of the agreement. Alongside the new Collective Agreement, a special severance offer for certain employee categories has also been agreed. Based on this offer, 403 employees will leave the Group by the end of June 2013. The total cost of severance and other statutory obligations for these employees is HRK 201 million, provision for most of which was booked at the end of the 2012financial year.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/mediterraneanoil38gas-(mog)/rns/successful-flow-test-of-civita-1/201302060700082037X/

http://www.investegate.co.uk/hargreaves-lansdown-(hl.)/rns/interim-management-statement/201302060700062000X/

http://www.investegate.co.uk/british-sky-broad.-(bsy)/rns/share-buyback/201302060700051992X/

Environmental products and services group Straight announced Monday it was awarded a 1.7m-pound contract with Serco to provide recycling bins to UK's Canterbury City Council. Straight will deliver a number of containers and products as part of the council's new waste and recycling initiatives in the second and third quarters of the year. The company's 240-litre wheeled bins and 55-litre wheeled bin inner caddy will be used to collect recyclables and garden waste on alternate weeks. The collection of mixed recyclables in communal areas will be serviced by the Straight's 1,100-litre Steelybin metal bins equipped with suitable apertures. Straight's 5.0-litre and 23-litre caddies will be used as part of a new weekly food waste collection by the council. Each household will be issued with a roll of StraightCompost-a-Bag compostable liners. "I am delighted to announce our £1.7m contract win with Serco which illustrates our strength as a key player in the waste management industry and the partner of choice for contracts of this nature," Straight's Chief Executive, Jonathan Straight said.

Phil Cartmell, Chairman of Corac, said: "2012 was a year of significant progress for Corac, with successful acquisitions and evidence of increasing confidence in the commercialisation of our unique technologies in multiple sectors of significant scale. We are excited about the prospects of 2013." Corac's share price was up 11.11% to 15p at 09:53 on Tuesday.