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British Land: Goldman Sachs moves target price from 564p to 565p, buy recommendation unchanged.

Belvoir Lettings: Seymour Pierce raises target price from 91p to 112p, buy recommendation remains unchanged.

Babcock International: UBS downgrades from buy to neutral.

Alternative Networks: Westhouse Securities downgrades from buy to add, target price of 280p kept.

Shares in chemicals group Johnson Matthey rebounded on Thursday morning following a sharp fall the day before, with Credit Suisse providing a lift after upgrading its rating for the stock from 'neutral' to 'outperform'. The stock dropped 5.8% on Wednesday after the company reported a 6% fall in first-half pre-tax profits and said that the performance in the second half will be similar to the first. Credit Suisse said that it recognised some negatives in the statement with low volumes seen in autos and metals, but thinks that the guidance for the second half is "conservative". The broker forecasts a second-half adjusted pre-tax profit some 5% higher than the first half due to seasonality and some improvement in platinum group metals prices. "We think the short-term negatives have now been flagged and are in the share price. Mid-term, we forecast good growth, and believe the shares are at a reasonable price." The shares are trading at 13.1 times full-year earnings, which represents a 19% discount to peer Umicore and an 18% discount to its long-term average of a price-to-earnings multiple of 15.5. The target price for the shares has been lifted from 2,300p to 2,400p.

Panmure admits that with the uncertainty surrounding the stock, shares are unlikely to be outperformers for the remainder of the year. "We remain buyers on the view that the long term outlook for earnings remains good. Also, at some stage, there might be some help from the UK economy and, in the meantime, self-help opportunities should support profits and therefore the shares."

Third-quarter profits at B&Q and Screwfix owner Kingfisher are expected to fall when its reports next Thursday but Panmure Gordon remained upbeat today with a 'buy' rating and 350p target price. The broker expects like-for-like sales to fall across the board in the third quarter. As for the bottom line, retail profits are expected to decline by 6% to £256m largely due to currency. On a constant currency basis, this will be a flat reading. Profits are predicted to drop by 10% in France and by 7% in International, led by Poland. In the UK, profits are forecast to rise by 7% as a result of the stock clearance in the second quarter and a continued improved performance from Screwfix. "It is not difficult to be bearish on the profit outlook for Kingfisher. Clearly, with 50% of profits earned in France, if the consumer economy was to take a further turn for the worse, then there are more downgrades to come. We view the worst case outlook as a 30% downgrade to profits in France, which translates into a 15% fall at the group level.," Panmure said. "However, it is possible to look more favourably at the outlook. For instance, the French government has announced its intention to reduce social security costs that companies pay by 6%. If this were to be implemented (which is far from certain), then it would be worth €30m to the bottom line."

Since the October trading statement, shares have been flat, with the broker highlighting investors' concerns about slowing lager volume growth in the second quarter (from 5% in the first quarter to 3%). Meanwhile, there were worries over margin delivery given currency, input cost an Eastern European headwinds. So, with EBITA margins coming in ahead of expectations, Jefferies said: "Reason to cheer for investors, we believe." "The flat share price performance of SABMiller since the trading update in October has seen its peers catch up in terms of valuation with the company trading on a calendar 2013 price-to-earnings multiple of 15.8x (vs peers on c. 14.3x) which we believe remains attractive given SABMiller's higher-growth profile and strong emerging market footprint."

Jefferies has reiterated its 'buy' rating and 2,990p target price for drinks group SABMiller after a better-than-expected first half. Earnings before interest, tax and amortisation (EBITA) and earnings per share (EPS) came in 1% and 4% ahead of consensus estimates. Also the broker said: "Despite some concerns about margin delivery in H1 due to inputs cost/currency/E-European headwinds, the company delivered EBITA margins of 18.2%, 60 basis points ahead of consensus." However, while the 8% organic revenue growth was pre-reported in last month's trading update, reported revenues missed consensus estimates by 2.5% owing to a more adverse currency impact. Nevertheless, the broker predicted that the figures would be taken well by the market and they were, with the stock up 5.98% at 2,790.5p in mid-morning trade.

Positive Points: Profits in Latin America, the company's largest region, rose 15% in the half, helped by selective price increases and savings from more efficient purchasing. The group acquired Australian brewer Foster's in December 2011 in a deal valued around US$10 billion, opening a near half share of the Australian beer market. Management declared that the Foster's integration programme was progressing well with synergy delivery and capability build running ahead of schedule. It "contributed significantly" to the increase in profits, added the company. Investment in brand development will remain a group priority, along with a focus on innovation, distribution and systems to sustain growth. SABMiller is the world's second biggest brewer by volume after Anheuser-Busch InBev. Net debt was reduced by around US$750 million to US$17.1 billion. The group's dividend policy continues to be progressive.

Negative Points: In Europe, profits fell 10%, a result of higher raw material costs and an increased level of marketing spend. Performance was also affected by the shift from on-premise to off-premise consumption as well as discounted competition. Raw material and input cost pressures are expected to continue at a level similar to that of the first half of the year, said the group. Currency movements had an adverse impact of six percentage points on group revenue growth in the first half year, principally due to the weakening of the South African rand and Central European currencies. Industry specific risks include exposure to changing consumer fashion, affordability of its products and spending trends. It is possible that harsher anti-alcohol laws or an increase in beer tax excise could impact on SAB's businesses. With the group's considerable emerging markets exposure, a general slowdown in these economies would impact on group profits.

Financial Highlights: The brewer posted an adjusted pre-tax profit of $2.76 billion in the six months to the end of September. A 12% rise from the $2.45 billion made in the same period a year earlier. Revenues climbed 11% higher to $17.47 billion. An interim dividend of 24.0 US cents per share was declared, up 2.5 cents (12%) from the prior year's interim dividend.

Interim results: SABMiller profits boosted by Foster's acquisition. London headquartered SABMiller registered a 12% rise in its first half year profits, boosted by the acquisition of Australian brewer Foster's and strong growth in Latin America, its largest region. Profitability was boosted by cost savings and acquisitions, offsetting higher raw materials prices and adverse foreign exchange swings stemming from weakness of the South African rand and central European currencies. In Latin America, profits rose 15%, helped by selective price increases and savings from more efficient purchasing, SABMiller said. Elsewhere, development of brands and product ranges continued across the group's portfolio were supported by further improved operating processes. The acquisition of Foster's in particular had "contributed significantly". Total beverage volumes were 4% ahead of the same period a year ago with lager volumes up 4%, soft drinks volumes up 6% and other alcoholic beverages up 12%."We grew volumes and revenues across most regions despite a moderation of growth in some emerging markets," the company said in a statement.

Company overview SAB Miller is one of the world's largest brewers, with more than 200 beer brands and some 70,000 employees in over 75 countries. It is also one of the world’s largest bottlers of Coca-Cola products. The group's portfolio of brands includes premium international beers such as Pilsner Urquell, Peroni Nastro Azzurro, Miller Genuine Draft and Grolsch, as well as leading local brands such as Aguila, Castle, Miller Lite, Snow and Tyskie. SABMiller PLC's primary listing is on the London Stock Exchange, with a secondary listing on the Johannesburg Securities Exchange in South Africa.

More positively, it produced free cashflow of £59.5m, £19m more than in the first half of last year. This enabled net debt to be reduced by £31.3m since the end of the 2011 financial year to £107.9m. The interim dividend of eight pence a share was maintained and will be paid on January 25th. Commenting on the company's figures analysts at Seymour Pierce said: "As expected, it is too early for a strategic update as the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Matt Davies only started a month ago. (...) We do not believe Halfords is suffering from structural issues; it is suffering from maturity, a tired offer and operational inefficiencies. Profits, in our view, have now bottomed and while there is much for the new CEO to do, we believe forecast risk has shifted to the upside. "We are retaining our Buy recommendation and our price target of 390p, which would put the shares on a calendar 2013 price-to-earnings multiple of 13.9 times- marginally ahead of the sector rating ex ASOS."

As was flagged by Halfords on the past 4th of October, the bikes and car accessories retailer has produced weak interims. It also said it will deliver full-year pre-tax profits slightly below FactSet's consensus estimate of £70.21m. Presenting results for the half year ending September 28th, Chairman Dennis Millard said: "Our second-half Retail planning assumptions remain unchanged and cautious given the prevailing pressures on the consumer as we approach the important winter and Christmas trading periods. We continue to plan for a full-year group profit, before tax and non-recurring items, of between £66m and £70m." His caution seems sensible as interim pre-tax profits were down 22.5% at £42.4m (2012 first half: £54.7m) on revenues that were almost flat at £455.6m (2012 first half: £454m). The company's performance was dragged down by its Retail division, which saw sales drop by 1.9% to £393m (2012: £400.6m) and operating profits before non-recurring items plunge by 23.6% to £42m (2012: £55m). Its much smaller Autocentres operation performed far more strongly, increasing sales by 17.2% to £62.6m (2012: £53.4m), while increasing operating profits before non-recurring items by 10% to £3.3m (2012: £3m).

Sports apparel retailer JD Sports Fashion saw like-for-like sales growth pick up slightly in the third quarter despite seeing what it labelled as a 'tough' environment. Like-for-like (LFL) sales in the core UK Sports and Fashion Fascias in the 16 weeks to November 17th grew by 1.5%, up from the 1.1% growth seen in the first half. The company said: "The trading environment in our markets remains tough and particularly so for the Fashion Fascias. This is reflected in the split of the LFL sales in the 16-week period, being Sports Fascias +3.5% and Fashion Fascias -6.6%." Nevertheless, JD gave a positive outlook for the turnaround at Blacks, the outdoor leisure retailer that was acquired in January of this year. "We have commenced investment into the Blacks stores and early signs are encouraging for the future," the firm said. It will provide an update on the division in its post-Christmas trading update in January 2013. As usual, JD said that its full-year results are "substantially dependent" on the performance through the important Christmas period, particularly in the last two weeks of December. "At this stage the board believes the group remains on course to deliver earnings in line with current expectations."

"We are announcing some pleasing progress for our Fund Management Company. The fundraising for ICG Europe Fund V, which is already 15% ahead of our €2bn target at €2.3bn, will result in this fund being our largest ever mezzanine fund and the largest fund of its type in Europe. This is a considerable achievement in a very difficult fund raising environment and supports our ambition to grow our fund management franchise. "Institutional investors are increasing allocations to credit as they recognise the contribution this asset class can make to the overall yield of their portfolio. We are confident that this trend will continue. The success of ICG Europe Fund V, with a highly diversified global investor base, is an endorsement of our strong position in the credit markets and evidence that our recently enhanced distribution capabilities are already delivering benefits." The group said that in the first six months of the financial year it invested £469m on behalf of the mezzanine funds and ICG, which is more than the £406m invested in the whole year to March 31st 2012.

intermediate Capital Group, the specialist investment firm and asset manager, has reported a significant drop in half year group pre-tax profit (PTP) as a result of the difficult economic climate, but still announced a 0.3p increase in the dividend payment to 6.3p. Although fund management company PTP edged £0.1m higher to £17.2m in the six months ended September 30th, investment company PTP declined from £91.7m to £22.4m, giving overall PTP of £39.6m (2011: £108.8m). Earnings per share more than halved from 21.6p to 10.3p. In addition to the economy, the group also attributed the reduction to PTP to a slow exit market, which it said has resulted in a low level of realised capital gains. It also took material provisions for two large assets which are undergoing restructurings. The investment portfolio was also lower, decreasing from £2,414m to £2,344m year-on-year, while third party assets under management fell from €9,165m to €9,127m over the same period. However, assets under management rose 6.0% to €12.1bn in the first half of the year, up from €11.4bn at March 31st, with continued momentum into the second half. This includes €9.1bn in third party funds. Chief Executive Officer Christophe Evain, said: "The difficult economic climate has negatively impacted our results for the period, leading to provisions for two large assets and a low level of realisations. The remainder of the portfolio is broadly resilient but the economic environment remains volatile.

Broker comment Investec Analyst Steve Liechti, has a 'buy' on Daily Mail & General Trust with a price target of 578p. He commented: "This is a net positive in our view, despite slight earnings per share dilution, given a probable boost in sentiment following further focus on business-to-business and is evidence that DMGT management is getting things done."