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Consumer electronics repair specialist Regenersis rose after it reported strong figures and was bullish in its outlook. Group revenue rose by 13% to £139.9m in the year to the end of June, with operating profit up 24% to £7.8m. The firm now intends to recommence paying a dividend to shareholders, announcing a final dividend of 1.1p per ordinary share to be paid n December. It added that the company was trading in line with market expectations and opportunities for global growth, both organically and by acquisition, remained good. "Our markets and specific client contracts continue to show growth and present regular opportunities to win significant new business," said Chairman Matthew Peacock. "The board continues to target double digit revenue growth on steadily improving operating profit margins and, given good return on capital employed, expects to continue its R&D and capital expenditure programme."

To counter the recession the group is focusing on its loyalty programme, which aims to improve customers purchases of vaccination and drug sales (which are migrating online). The Chief Executive Simon Innes said of the results: "The progress made in growing the membership of our loyalty schemes and the expansion of our e-commerce activities have been notable achievements in the year. We continue to focus on organic growth whilst also developing new revenue streams and continuing to grow through selective strategic acquisitions." One person who won't be around much longer at the firm is Chief Financial Officer, Paul Coxon, who will leave at the end of the calendar year. Panmure Gordon reiterated its "buy" rating, saying "CVS has exceeded our expectations on most measures, reflecting a strong performance across the board. LFL [like-for-like] revenue progress has been pleasing and continues to deliver positive momentum into the current year." The broker has maintained its forecasts at this juncture, but believes there could be "some upside potential from a variety of sources (organic, M&A, e-commerce) as we progress through the year."

CVS Group, the rapidly expanding veterinary surgery chain, has reported growing revenues and its second ever dividend as pet owners have continued to splash the cash during the dog days of the recession. In the 12 months to the end of June CVS grew revenue by 7.1% to £108.7m while like-for-like sales increased by 2.9%. Adjusted earnings before interest, tax depreciation and amortisation have increased by 7.9% to £15.7m (2011: £14.5m). Cash generated amounted to £15.5m down from the 2011 figure of £17.6m; reflecting a one-off improvement in supplier payment terms in the prior year. Profits before tax decreased by 11.3% to £3.8m after a one off charge related to new financing terms agreed at the end of 2011. In December last year CVS paid its maiden dividend of 1p per share, and it's now announced a further dividend of 1.5p per share. CVS does appear to be going places. The stock price has risen 62% in the last year and the number of surgeries now absorbed into the chain has reached 231. CVS is the biggest employer in the UK veterinary profession with approximately 2,300 staff, including around 550 vets

Hornby argues its product range still stands it in good stead; its Scalextric Star Wars set recently won one of three best new toy awards at the London Toy Fair, while the company continues to make good progress in growing sales in continental Europe. Against a challenging background, the firm said "we have redoubled our efforts in innovation and product development, building on our core brand strengths and also extending our reach based on newly developed technologies". However, it remains to be seen if the age of the train is here again.........

"Sales of London 2012 merchandise were lower than forecast. Whilst, prior to the Games, major account listings for our products were strong, and consumer purchases were encouraging, the major retailers had also purchased substantial quantities of London 2012 merchandise from other licensees," the group said in a statement. The market was essentially flooded and as soon as the Olympics were over the products that weren't sold became instantly worthless. Faced with lower than expected sales during the Games, the major retailers resorted to deep price discounting. "The consequence of this for Hornby was that retailers lost confidence in many categories of London 2012 merchandise, and repeat orders for our products were cancelled," the company said. Other travails were out Hornby's hands. As well as weaker than expected demand for London 2012 merchandise, business was damaged by disruptions in China when a supplier decided to shut down several factories. The result is Hornby expects results to come in below expectations, hoping to break-even for the financial year ending March 31st 2013, but this is the second profit warning of the year, raising questions about its place in the modern world.

t's difficult not to feel sorry for Hornby - and not just because its product lines are a gift to headline writers who gleefully declare it has 'gone off the rails' or is 'losing steam'. It is one of the companies that will forever remind people of a simpler time; when watching a miniature train endlessly circle an equally diminutive track was the height of entertainment. A time when 'play station' was two words rather than one. However, as is so often shown in business, a proud heritage does not necessarily translate into sales. If it did we'd still have Woolworth's, Kodak cameras, and considerably more music shops. Today Hornby, another great legacy brand, released a profit warning. Yet this venerable firm has not been resting on its laurels. The group recently produced a string of Olympic-themed toy train sets and a chrome finish model of the Olympic Velodrome, for example. However, while choosing to compete for a share of the Olympics pot of gold may have seemed an obvious thing to do, it turned out to be a mistake.

"Based on early trading, setting Maltby aside, and despite a slow start to production at Tower, we are cautiously optimistic that we will meet or even exceed our overall budget for this financial year." Broker WH Ireland is reviewing its rating following the trading update. It had previously rated the shares a "buy" with a 1385p price target. "Setting aside the deep mine, Maltby, the outlook statement is strong and the group is tendering in Asia for the first time. The latest developments at Maltby, however, which caused the group to warn in May, have prompted a reassessment of the balance of future value / inherent risk in the mine. The catalyst for this consideration is the unwelcome news that gas issues are adding delays and risk to the face line completion and subsequent production," notes Nick Spoliar at WH Ireland. "Against this background, the group has raised the possibility that that the mine itself may be closed, with an end October deadline for this decision. This would be a major change, arguably removing a major distraction and releasing the energy of the business in the direction of a fully service-based model, but at the price of an impairment charge and further downgrade," Spoliar suggests. "Closing Maltby would effectively strip out, we estimate, c£8m of EBITA [earnings before interest, tax and amortisation], leaving however higher quality or at least more risk averse earnings. In either circumstance, the group remains very comfortably within its covenants," Spoliar said.

Mining, processing and logistics group, Hargreaves Services, may be forced to abandon its mine in Maltby, South Yorkshire as 'gas issues' have hampered the development of a new coal panel. Hargreaves has had a difficult year after reporting delays in the construction of panel "T125" in May. Tuesday's announcement that gas, water and oil have all been found at the site could lead to a possible abandonment putting the company's investment in Maltby, and future revenues, in jeopardy. No firm decision will be reached until an independent assessment has been completed The stock had fallen 20% by 11:57 and is now down 49% since the end of May. The problems at Maltby have overshadowed what looks like a decent set of results, with revenues up 24.6% on the prior year at £688.3m and profits before tax rising 16.8% to £43.1m. Net debt has risen to £77m from £66m in 2011. Commenting on the results, Chairman Tim Ross said: "The developments at Maltby were unexpected and we are closely assessing the implications ... However, the overall progress we have made across all our divisions is encouraging and gives us confidence in further growth in the business going forward.

Mediterranean Oil & Gas (MOG) saw a decline in profit in the first half of the year, despite a significant boost to revneues and fairly stable sales costs. Turnover for the six month period increased from €4.7m to €7.9m year-on-year, while profit from continuing operations before tax fell from €2.9m to €2.1m. The cost of sales increased from €1.0m to €1.2m, while administrative expenses climbed from €1.4m to €2.4m and finance income declined from €6.2m to €0.1m. During the period gas production rose to 26.2m standard cubic metres (scm), compared to 4.74m scm in the same period the previous year. The main reason for this growth was that the most recent half included a full six month's production from the Guendalina field. Chief Executive William Higgs said: "The first half of 2012 was a period of consolidation after the start-up of the Guendalina gas field. We used this time to chart the path for our business and have recently achieved key steps along that path, across our portfolio. Our focus on delivering excellent technical work has been rewarded with the farm-out in Malta and our retention of the operatorship for at least the first exploration well. "The divestment of non-core assets onshore Italy will enable the team to concentrate on adding value at Ombrina Mare and Malta in the coming months, as well as adding additional opportunities for growth into our Resources Factory." Cash at the period end totalled €4.14m compared to €3.7m at the end of the same half the previous year.

Profits at Bond International Software were hit as recruitment firms paired back on IT investment. The firm, which provides software to the recruitment sector, added that a shift from from traditional licences to cloud-based deals - known as Software as a Service (SaaS) - had also impacted the bottom line. The result was total revenues for the group dropped 5% from £18.4m in 2011 to £17.4m in 2012. Operating profit dropped almost a third to £1m, while earnings per share fell to 2.07p. The company said it had significant prospects both in the UK and abroad, but these are likely to be less lucrative SaaS deals and might not have a material impact on short term results. "The staffing software market remains challenging and while we remain cautious about the UK and USA, the group is well placed to take advantage of continued growth in key emerging markets and to prosper when growth returns to the economy," said Group Chief Executive Steve Russell. "In the last six months Bond has continued to invest in, and expand operations, in Asia Pacific, leading to a significant contract win in Japan, showing continued confidence in our service offering and strength in this market."

Exchange rate movements did not help matters either, with the group taking a £25m hit from translating the euro and Polish zloty back into sterling for reporting purposes. Just last week Kingfisher beefed up its board with the appointment of three new executive directors. Karen Witts, who was named as Group Finance Director in July, will take a seat on the board on October 1st when she joins the company. Sitting around the table she will find new boys Euan Sutherland and Philippe Tible. Sutherland is Kingfisher's Group Chief Executive, while Tible is the firm's Divisional Chief Executive Officer, Castorama and Brico Depot responsible for Kingfisher's businesses in France, Poland, Russia and Spain

Pressure groups campaigning for more women in executive positions in Britain's board rooms will be heartened by the appointment of Catherine May as Director of Corporate Affairs at brewing giant SABMiller. May will join SABMiller's Executive Committee, reporting to Executive Chairman Graham Mackay, and will be responsible for media, investor relations, political affairs, corporate affairs, corporate social responsibility and internal communications. May held a similar role at Centrica between 2006 and 2011, and before that she was Group Director of Corporate Relations at Reed Elsevier. "With her extensive international corporate affairs and communications experience, she will make a great contribution to our performance as one of the world's leading brewers, leading the strong corporate affairs function built up by Sue Clark, and continuing to develop the critical capabilities which help to grow our business sustainably for the benefit of all of our stakeholders," Said Mackay. Sue Clark, who used to be Director of Corporate Affairs, was appointed Managing Director of SABMIller Europe in June 2012.

Overall, it believes it is well positioned for the current financial year. Commenting on the results Chief Executive Preben Prebensen said: "We have achieved a solid overall performance as we continue to focus on executing our strategy and maximising the opportunity for each of our businesses in the current market environment." "Looking forward, our strong balance sheet and the market positions of our businesses leave us well positioned for the current financial year." The full year dividend has been increased 1.5p to 41.5p, reflecting the group's solid performance in the 2012 and confidence in future trading.

Finance house Close Bros reported a mixed set of results for the full year with strong growth in its banking division while difficult trading conditions hurt securities. The banking division posted a 27% increase in adjusted operating profit to £135m. Close Brothers said its loan book increased 20% to £4.1bn and the bad debt ratio improved to 1.5%. Winterflood continued to experience low levels of market activity. Its results were affected by low retail investor risk appetite and reduced client trading activity across all sectors, particularly in the less liquid AIM and small-cap stocks, the group explained. Adjusted operating profit fell to a 10-year low of £16m from £43.2m a year before. The group said asset management has mostly completed its restructuring and is now positioned for future profitability. Adjusted operating loss was reduced to £4.3m from a loss of £8.6m the previous year. Group operating pre-tax profit rose to £134.9m for the year ended July 31st compared to £78.5m the same period a year ago. Market forecasts were for pre-tax profit of £132.22m. Net interest income for the period increased to £270.9m from £230.9m previously. Adjusted operating profit increased 2% to £134.2m and adjusted basic earnings per share increased 4% to 67.3p.

Rentokil Initial is set to become the third largest pest control firm in the US after it agreed a multi-million dollar deal to buy the Western Exterminator Company. The British firm said Western's 36 offices, located primarily in California and the adjacent states of Arizona and Nevada, would give it exposure to 46m people living in these states. Chief Executive Alan Brown said the deal enabled the company to compete more effectively in the US, particularly for customers looking for nationwide coverage in pest control or specialty chemical distribution capability. Rentokil will initially pay $99.6m, with a deferred consideration of up to $15m payable within 18 months. The tie-up will make the firm the third largest pest control company in the North American market with revenues of $330m in pest control services and $90m in speciality chemical products distribution. Over the last seven years Rentokil has substantially increased its footprint in the US through acquisitions that have seen revenues there grow from less than $30m to $420m.

British booze giant, Diageo, has confirmed it is in talks to invest in Indian outfit United Spirits. United Spirits is listed on the National Stock Exchange in Mumbai and rumours of the transaction have seen the shares rise 8% since Monday. United's market cap is currently around 141bn rupees, or £1.62bn. It also claims to be the biggest spirits company in the world by volume, owning the McDowells rum and brandy brands. Tuesday's statement makes clear there is no certainty "discussions will lead to a transaction".

As a result Hornby beleives it will not achieve its forecasts for the current financial year and, therefore, anticipate results will be approximately break-even for the financial year ending 31st March 2013. The group warned that disruption to shipments from its major supplier in China will be substantial for the remainder of the financial year. Net debt at 31st August 2012 was £7.8m compared to £14.3m a year earlier.

Shares of toy train-set maker Hornby plunged after it warned it will not meet full year expectations and expects to only break even in the current financial year following disappointing sales of Olympics merchandise. The group, which produced a string of Olympic themed toy train sets and a chrome finish model of the Olympic Velodrome, said macro-economic factors continue to depress consumer spending and retailers continue to buy cautiously. "Sales of London 2012 merchandise were lower than forecast. Whilst, prior to the Games, major account listings for our products were strong, and consumer purchases were encouraging, the major retailers had also purchased substantial quantities of London 2012 merchandise from other licensees," the group said in a statement. "Faced with lower than expected sales, the major retailers resorted to deep price discounting. The consequence of this for Hornby was that retailers lost confidence in many categories of London 2012 merchandise, and repeat orders for our products were cancelled," it explained. As well as weaker than expected demand for London 2012 merchandise, business was also adversely impacted by supply disruptions.

The Africa and Vietnam focused oil and gas company, Soco International, has announced it is to sell its subsidiary Soco Cabinda. Cabinda is the name of an enclave (or more accurately, an exclave) of Angola, separated from the rest of the country by a strip of territory belonging to the Democratic Republic of Congo. Under the terms of the deal, the buyer, Quill Trading, has paid a non-refundable deposit to Soco for the option to acquire, within 120 days, the entire shareholding in Soco Cabinda. Quill already has a 20% stake and with the purchase will get full exposure to Soco Cabinda's 17% interest in the so called Cabinda North Block . Soco says its subsidiary has gross assets of $32.5m.

"DMGT has delivered a solid revenue performance over the year to date, driven by continued strength in our B2B operations," said Martin Morgan, DMGT's Chief Executive Officer. "Going forward our focus will remain on driving organic growth, operational and financial efficiency and pursuing an active portfolio management approach," he added. The share price rose 12p to 502p in the first hour of trading.