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IDOX, an AIM-listed supplier of software and services, has bought FMx, a supplier of computer-aided facilities software. FMx, which is being bought for £5.6m in cash, provides facilities management software solutions to corporate, public and commercial property customers in over 30 countries. It reported revenues of £2.7m and underlying operating profit of £0.9m in the year ended March 31st 2012. The acquisition will be funded from IDOX's cash and existing debt facilities and is expected to be immediately earnings enhancing. FMx will be merged with IDOX's existing Engineering Information Management (EIM) division under the McLaren Software brand and management. The addition of CAFM Explorer to the IDOX EIM product range extends the division's existing project collaboration solution, now enabling it to encompass the lifecycle of a building, campus or facility.

Shaft Sinkers, an international shaft sinking and underground construction group, fell to a 52-week low following news that some of its workers at Lonmin's Saffy shaft have gone on strike. This disruption to operations comes amid strike action elsewhere in South Africa's mining sector. In a statement the company said: "Management's priority is to maintain safety, peace and stability and to continue constructive dialogue with employees whilst adhering to the Labour's Relations Act." It added that work at the Moab project for AngloGold Ashanti continues to be interrupted due to strike action and warned: "Should the broader on-going industrial action in South Africa's mining industry continue, this may adversely affect the margin earned on the company's South African operations. The company will provide further updates as and when appropriate."

Early warning signs However, it considers that companies in its 'significant' problems category are an earlier stage indicator of the trend in the financial health of 'Corporate UK' and these show a wide divergence in the health of SMEs compared to larger companies. Within this category, there has been a 10.5% increase in SMEs exhibiting signs of earlier stage distress to 208,067 (Q2 2012: 188,265) compared to a 61% decrease in large companies to 10,951 (Q2 2012: 28,123). The increase in SMEs experiencing distress has been driven primarily by marked increases in specific sectors, including; construction and real estate (up 41% and 148% respectively), transport & logistics (up 70%), print & packaging (up 52%) and hotels (up 66%). The regions showing the greatest increases in 'Significant' distress amongst SMEs include Scotland (up 22%), the East of England (up 20%) and the North West (up 20%). This increase may also reflect the considerable increase in the number of newly incorporated companies registered in the 2011/12 year, many of which have been formed by individuals pushed into starting their own businesses due to unemployment but, unaware of the risks involved in starting a new business, many are unfortunately already showing 'significant' financial distress. All this corporate misery should bode well for Begbies Traynor's insolvency work. Consensus estimates are for pre-tax profits for the year ending April 30th 2013 of £8.06m on turnover of £59.6m.

'Critical' distress Across the UK, companies experiencing 'critical' distress (the most severe risk level) were down 17% to 4,107 (Q2 2012: 4,947) compared to the previous three months, indicating a marked reduction in the number of companies with a high propensity to fall into insolvency in the next quarter. However, the report says this fall in critical distress does not represent an improving picture of corporate health overall. This is because actions measured within the 'critical' problems category - such as the issuing of county court judgements and winding up petitions - are typically at their lowest during Q3 due to seasonal factors, including Court holidays. This has been exacerbated by both creditor forbearance and the fact that the majority of businesses, by instigating tougher credit control procedures and avoiding transacting with companies with poor credit scores and payment records, have reduced their need to resort to court actions to recover unpaid bills.

Bigger companies and those based in the south of Britain are faring better than their smaller, northern rivals, according to the latest 'Red Flag Alert Report' from Begbies Traynor Group, the insolvency accountant. The results of the report on the health of corporate UK confirm anecdotal evidence. Among its findings were that the corporate nation is starkly divided, with a marked increase in financial distress in the third quarter (Q3) among businesses based in the North and small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), while southern based companies and larger businesses have shown a marked improvement in financial health. It also noted the growing impact of 'zombie' businesses - those which are in debt and only just generating sufficient cash to survive - and the growing effect they are having on the natural UK recovery cycle.

Accsys Technologies, which recently announced a 50:50 joint venture with NEOS Industries Holdings, has announced the completion of INEOS's subscription for 23.53m shares in Accsys at 0.17 euro per share. The two companies have formed a new joint venture company, Tricoya Technologies, which has been formed to develop and exploit Accsys' Tricoya technology for use within MDF, particle board and wood plastic composites. Paul Clegg, Accsys' Chief Executive Officer, said: "We are very pleased and encouraged to be able to welcome INEOS, a global petrochemical player and a global leader in the field of technology development and licensing, as a significant shareholder in Accsys. "This €4.0m investment, together with INEOS's commitment to the Tricoya Technologies Limited joint venture strengthens Accsys' position as the undisputed world leaders in wood modification technology and enhances our ability to deliver value from our technology platform."

Brooks Macdonald, an AIM-listed integrated wealth management group, has reported an 'encouraging' first quarter, which delivered an increase in funds under management. At September 30th, discretionary funds under management totalled £3.751bn, up 6.5% compared to three months earlier. These numbers include Brooks Macdonald Funds, but exclude Braemar Estates and the group's new investment management administration service. Chris Knight, Chairman of Brooks Macdonald said: "Last year was tough but successful for Brooks Macdonald as we continued to grow funds under management and profits. The group is well positioned for RDR, financially stable and has a number of exciting growth opportunities."

Analysts react Investec, Seymour Pierce and Jefferies have all maintained their 'buy' ratings on the stock. Analysts at Charles Stanley on the other hand were of the following opinion: "Investors have become accustomed to upgrades with Aggreko announcements but today's IMS for the third quarter has only delivered a 'robust' performance. There are likely to be modest downgrades to 2012 estimates and there appears to be a slowdown in the potential rate of growth. "In particular, bad debts and adverse movements in exchange rates will impact profitability. Given that the shares are highly rated and need to deliver strong growth, we are downgrading our recommendation to 'reduce'."

Guidance mixed Aggreko said that the Local division will likely have a stronger-than-expected performance in the second half, but second-half revenue growth in IPP will be lower than it had hoped at the time of the interim results. What's more, IPP margins and returns for the year will be lower than 2011. Group revenue totalled £734m in the first half of 2012, up 15% year-on-year. The Local business accounted for £404m of this, while IPP accounted for £330m. "Overall, trading continues to run broadly in line with our expectations. Despite the increase in bad debt provisions during the year and unusually high mobilisation costs, we expect that group margins for the year as a whole, both on a reported and underlying basis, will be at similar levels to last year," the firm said. "Since our last trading update in early August, however, exchange rates have moved against us, and we have also increased our bad debt provisions; we expect that, between them, these two factors will impact our anticipated profits for the year by about 2.5%." Aggreko also mentioned that the rate of fleet capital expenditure (expected to be £415m in the current full year) in the first half of 2013 will be lower than 2012 "given the need to absorb into the wider business the fleet we built in the first half for the London Olympics, and being mindful also of a weakening macro-economic outlook in many developing economies."

Temporary power and temperature control group Aggreko got an Olympics revenue boost in the third quarter, but guidance for the full year was mixed, with some parts of the business performing better and worse than expectations and currency movements likely to have a negative impact on the bottom line. Trading since July 1st to date has been strong, the firm said, with reported revenues in the third quarter up 22%. On an underlying basis, which exclude revenue rom major one-off events (such as the Asian Games in 2011 and the London Olympics in 2012), sales grew by 13%. International Power Projects (IPP) revenues were up 15% excluding pass-through fuel and currency movements, though margins in the quarter were lower than the same period last year due to the unusually high mobilisation costs relating to the Mozambique contract. "We also increased further our bad debt provision in the quarter, which, set against a large release in the third quarter of 2011 depressed margins relative to the prior year," Aggreko said. Meanwhile, the Local business performed better than anticipated with reported revenues up 32% (+11% underlying) and margins showing improvement.

The company expects to appoint an additional independent non-executive director, not drawn from either of the existing RSL and FLG boards, in due course. While relevant regulatory processes have now been completed, the changes to the board remain subject to shareholder approval to amend the company's constitution to enable, among other things, the appointment of UK resident executive directors. The general meeting to seek shareholder approval is expected to be held during the first quarter of 2013.

They new board will consist of the following members: • Andy Briggs, group Chief Executive Officer, • Tim Tookey, group Chief Financial Officer • David Allvey, Independent Non-Executive • Mel Carvill, Independent Non-Executive • Clive Cowdery, Non-Executive • Peter Gibbs, Independent Non-Executive • Phil Hodkinson, Independent Non-Executive • Nick Lyons, Independent Non-Executive • Robin Phipps, Independent Non-Executive • Belinda Richards, Independent Non-Executive • Karl Sternberg, Independent Non-Executive • John Tiner, Non-Executive • Tim Wade, Independent Non-Executive

Resolution, the FTSE 100 life insurer, has announced that Chairman Mike Biggs is to leave in the first quarter of 2013, once its new corporate governance procedures and new board in place. The company says that while he remains committed to chairing the new board to oversee this period of change, he has decided that it would be appropriate to hand over to a new chairman once the transition has been completed. "Mike considers the governance changes create a natural point at which to appoint a new chairman and this will also enable him to focus on his other non-executive commitments." The company has commenced an appointment process for the new chairman and the additional independent non-executive director, led by Phil Hodkinson, Senior Independent Director.

Steve Smith, a board member and Chief Investment officer (CIO) at British Land, is to stand down next year, the company announced on Friday morning. Smith, 59, who joined real estate investment trust (REIT) as CIO in January 2010, will leave the board on March 31st 2013 and cease working for the company on June 30th 2013. He was formerly the Global Head of Asset Management and Transactions at AXA Real Estate Investment Managers and has also worked as the Managing Director as Sun Life Properties. The firm was keen to emphasise that, since Smith started as CIO, the business has made "significant progress on a £1.2bn Central London office development programme, invested £1.1bn in acquisition and disposed of £600m of mainly retail assets". British Land has a £10.3bn prime real estate portfolio with 37m square foot of property under management. Chief Executive Officer Chris Grigg said that Smith's property expertise has been "invaluable for the business and I am grateful for his contribution and personal support over that time." Meanwhile, Smith said: "British Land is in great shape and I believe that in the coming period the company will continue to build on its excellent performance record. My very best wishes to Chris and the team."

Nicholas Cadbury, who is jumping ship from Premier Farnell to become the Finance Director of Whitbread, will join the of Costa Coffee shops owner on November 14th. The announcement coincided with the news that Mark Whiteling, who will be replacing Cadbury at electrical components distributor Premier Farnell, will be taking up his role of Chief Financial Officer at Premier on November 5th. Cadbury will step down from the Premier board when Whiteling joins, and will leave Premier Farnell on November 13th. The managerial merry-go-round was announced September 4th, and the latest announcements merely confirm start dates of the principals involved.

"The board believes that Spectris remains well positioned to deliver on its expectations for the year as it realises both the benefits of its recent acquisitions, especially Omega, and the increase in the proportion of resilient revenues generated in the business," the company said. Net debt at the end of the period was £290m.

Spectris saw a robust performance in the final quarter of its financial year and while like-for-like (LFL) sales growth had slowed from the first half, analysts said that this was as expected. The instrumentation and controls company said that reported sales during the last quarter were up 12%. This included a 13% contribution from acquisitions and a negative currency effect of 3%, the firm said. On a constant currency organic (LFL) basis, sales for the three months to September 30th were up 2%. "The company saw LFL growth across all four segments during the period albeit at a slower pace than in the first half of this year." Jefferies reiterated its 'buy' rating for the stock this morning saying: "Spectris has modest visibility, and hence outlook statements are typically limited in terms of the guidance given to the market (...) This is a resilient performance and better than many will have feared, with slower growth versus 1H12, reflecting the macro-economic environment - this has been anticipated by the market." Asia Pacific LFL sales grew by 6% with China driving growth with LFL sales up 15%. North American LFL sales increased by 1% while European LFL sales were down 2%.

Infrastructure investment firm HICL has acquired a 50 per cent equity and 75 per cent loan note interest in Prime LIFT Investments (PLI), a 60 per cent private-sector partner in two LIFT (Local Improvement Finance Trusts) companies, the Birmingham & Solihull LIFTCo and the Staffordshire LIFTCo. These two companies have developed 25 new health and social care facilities with a total development cost of approximately £170m over the last eight years. HICL will work with Prime, along with the public-sector shareholders in the two LIFTCos, to continue to provide the health and social care facilities within the Birmingham & Solihull and Staffordshire areas. The group has also acquired a further 9% equity and loan note interest in the Connect Project, which is focused on upgrading and operating London Underground's radio and telecommunications systems, giving it a 28.5% interest overall. The total consideration for the two acquisitions was £33.75m, which was funded from the group's existing cash and debt resources. The acquisitions bring the total number of infrastructure investments within the group's portfolio to 75.

"The strong profit growth across the business in Q3 [third quarter] is pleasing, albeit benefiting from gross win margins above the normalised and expected ranges as well as from favourable timing on costs," declared Ralph Topping, the Chief Executive of William Hill. "Our continuing marketing investment and further innovations underpin progress across the business and the board remains confident in its expectations for the full year," Topping added. Meanwhile, Playtech, the junior partner in William Hill Online, said it continues to engage in constructive discussions with William Hill regarding the future of the joint venture, and should William Hill choose to exercise its option to buy out Playtech, it would do its bit to ensure a smooth handover of the 29% stake in order to ensure a seamless transition and support WHO's growth going forward. Mor Weizer, Chief Executive Officer of Playtech, said of WHO: "Current trading is very encouraging and regardless of William Hill's as yet undetermined final decision on the call option, we look forward to working with WHO and maintaining our very positive relationship. Playtech actively supports all of its licensees and believes that there is significant continued growth potential for WHO."

William Hill Online delivered 18% growth in net revenue, while online operating profit at £34.8m was 42% higher than the prior year. Playtech's non-controlling interest entitles it to £10.2m of this. Sportsbook turnover overall was up 27%, with in-play - where bets are taken while events are in progress - up 47% and pre-match up 14%. The Sportsbook gross win margin was 7.8%, up from 6.9% in the third quarter of 2011 and, as a result, Sportsbook net revenue grew by 43% year-on-year in the period. Mobile Sportsbook turnover grew 331% and accounted for 27% of the total Sportsbook turnover in the period. Gaming net revenue, i.e. poker and other casino games, was up 5% year-on-year. On the Retail side, net revenue grew 3%, primarily driven by a strong over the counter (OTC) gross win margin of 18.5%, versus 16.6% in the corresponding quarter of 2011. Operating costs were up 2% and operating profit increased by 8%. OTC net revenue increased by 5% and gaming machine net revenues grew 2% with August, when the Olympics and Paralympics were on, proving a drag on growth. Gross win per machine per week was £888, down from £890 a year earlier.