Member Info for jange

http://www.investegate.co.uk/westhouse-hld-(whl)/rns/appointment-of-new-oil-and-gas-analyst/201301240700092397W/

http://www.investegate.co.uk/kbc-advanced-tech-(kbc)/rns/preclose-trading-update/201301240700072508W/

http://www.investegate.co.uk/burford-capital-(bur)/rns/trading-update/201301240700072487W/

http://www.investegate.co.uk/public-service-props-(pspi)/rns/trading-statement/201301240700062451W/

http://www.investegate.co.uk/african-copper-plc-(acu)/rns/third-quarter-production-update/201301240700072495W/

http://www.investegate.co.uk/servicepower-tech.-(svr)/rns/acquisition-of-stratix-field-service-software/201301240700062477W/

http://www.investegate.co.uk/renewable-energy-gen-(wind)/rns/sale-of-wind-farm-portfolio/201301240700062462W/

http://www.investegate.co.uk/emis-group-plc-(emis)/rns/trading-statement/201301240700062442W/

http://www.investegate.co.uk/lpa-group-plc-(lpa)/rns/final-results/201301240700052378W/

http://www.investegate.co.uk/getech-group-plc-(gtc)/rns/trading-update/201301240700062431W/

http://www.investegate.co.uk/cpl-resources-plc-(cps)/rns/half-yearly-report/201301240700062457W/

http://www.investegate.co.uk/black-mountain-resources-limit-(bmz)/prn/expiry-of-escrow/20130124070000P8B22/

The market analyst reaffirmed its 2013 full-year results forecast of £106.9m (consensus £105.8) rising to £113.4m (consensus £111.3m) in 2014. It also reiterated its 'buy' recommendation and 750p price target. Ahead of the trading update, forecasts suggested the retailer would report decline in like-for-like sales with as much as 5.0% at its High Street stores. Nevertheless, WH Smith's shares rose more than 5.0% Tuesday after Numis upgraded the stock to 'add' with a target price of 710p.

As part of its aim to return up to £50m of cash to shareholders via a share buyback programme, the group purchased 2.48m shares at an average price of £6.38. "During the period we saw a good profit performance across the group. Margin was well managed and costs were tightly controlled throughout the business," Group Chief Executive, Kate Swann, said. "Looking ahead, we expect the trading environment to remain challenging however we are a resilient business with a consistent record of both profit growth and cash generation, and are confident in making further progress in the year." Swann announced in October 2011 that she would step down as chief executive in July 2013. Steve Clark, who joined WH Smith in 2004, will take over from Swann. Seymour Pierce Research commented on the results saying the company delivered a "reliant Christmas as management continued to focus on profitability rather than sales."

British retailer WH Smith met analysts' forecasts Wednesday as it reported a decline in sales for the holiday season. The FTSE 250 company, which sells stationary, newspapers and books, said total sales were down 4.0% and like-for-like sales tumbled 5.0% for the 20 weeks to January 20th, according to trading update. A majority of fall came from the group's High Street stores where sales dropped 5.0% and like-for-like sales declined 5.0%. However, gross margin improved in the period in line with plan and costs were tightly managed, reflecting the trading conditions, according to the group. The retailer added that it delivered good profit performance in the period with a margin well managed. WH Smith ended the period with a strong balance sheet despite the sales drop.

Earnings per share increased by 5.0% to €1.58, while pre-tax profits came in at €6.68m, up 7.0% on the year before. Higher commodity costs were offset by increased prices, savings and the benefits of its wide range of products. The firm added that Magnum and Sunsilk had joined its group of €1.0bn brands, bringing the total to fourteen. Chief Executive, Paul Polman, said the results had been achieved in tough economic conditions, with volatile commodity costs and in an intensely competitive environment. "They reflect the progress made in delivering bigger, better innovations and rolling them out faster, improving our execution in the market place and increased discipline driving savings in all areas of the business," he said. Polson warned he expected markets to remain challenging, with intense competition and volatile commodity costs. "We remain focused on achieving another year of profitable volume growth ahead of our markets, steady and sustainabl

Double digit growth in emerging markets helped push Unilever's turnover past the 50bn euro mark in 2012. But it warned the outlook remained tough, with the firm facing high competition and volatile commodity costs. Turnover increased by 10.5% to €51.3bn, helped by a positive impact from foreign exchange of 2.2% and acquisitions net of disposals of 1.1%. Underlying sales grew 6.9%, comprising volume growth of 3.4% and price growth of 3.3%. Emerging markets underlying sales grew 11.4%, reaching 55% of total turnover.

Finance house Close Bros said strong growth in its banking division was maintained while challenging trading conditions continued to hurt its securities division, with Winterflood dragged down by low retail investor activity. The banking division's loan book recorded 6.0% growth year to date to £4.4bn, after growth across the portfolio. Close Brothers said the net interest margin was lower than the last financial year as expected, however this was largely offset by a reduction in the bad debt ratio reflecting strong credit performance in the period across the businesses. Meanwhile low trading volumes across the market impacted the performance of the securities division, with Winterflood continuing to experience low retail investor activity. The asset management division continued to make progress with total assets under management (AuM) up 3.0% to £8.5bn at December 31st 2012, reflecting positive market movements over the period, it said. The revenue margin also improved reflecting an increased proportion of higher margin private client assets, it added. "The group is well positioned for the remainder of the 2013 financial year. The banking division continues to see solid prospects for growth and asset management remains on track to move into profitability during the course of this financial year," the group said in a company statement. "Challenging trading conditions continue to impact Winterflood's performance although it remains well positioned for any market recovery."

Alumina production grew 17% to a record 2.4m tonnes in the first half, while aluminium and nickel output fell 10% and 2.0%, respectively. BHP warned that a strong Australian dollar and a weak pricing environment "continued to place pressure on the group's Australian alumina and nickel operations". As for the base metals, copper (+14%), zinc (+1.0%) and uranium oxide concentrate (+8.0%) all registered growth in production year-on-year, while lead (-20%) and silver (-12%) slipped. Elsewhere, manganese ore (+11%) and energy coal (+7.0%) production increase, while metallurgical coal output was flat. BHP's diamonds business, which it has agreed to sell to Harry Winston Diamond Mines for $500m, continued to struggle, with output down 35% on the year before. The company said that the disposal of this division is expected in the first half of 2013.

Diversified mining giant BHP Billiton expects to deliver a compound annual growth rate of 10 per cent in copper equivalent terms over the next two years, the group said on Wednesday. The firm said that this was due to the release of latent capacity at a number of its highest margin businesses and strong growth across our broader portfolio. In its production report for the first six months of its fiscal year, the company said that iron ore production and sales reached a record high for the 12th consecutive half year. Iron ore output rose to 81.96m tonnes in the half year to December 31st 2012, up 2% year-on-year "as the business continued to benefit from the company's decade long investment in supply chain capacity". The company reiterated its guidance of producing 183m tonnes of iron ore for the full year, up 5.0%. Full-year petroleum production guidance also remains unchanged at 240m barrels of oil equivalent, after the company produced 121m barrels of oil equivalent in the first half, up 11% year-on-year.