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Sweett Group, an international property and infrastructure consultancy, has completed the sale of its 19% stake in Lift Investments to JV UK Company. The sale, which was made for a total consideration of £0.7m in cash, is part of the group's strategy to capitalise on the value of its existing PFI investment portfolio in order to reinvest in the further development of its core business operations.

Primary Health Properties, a provider of modern primary healthcare facilities, has said one of its wholly-owned subsidiaries has been contracted to fund the development of and acquire a new modern, purpose built medical centre to be constructed in Stourbridge, West Midlands. The property will be wholly let to a GP practice for a 25-year term and will cost PHP £8.5m (net assets acquired £8.5m). The centre is expected to be completed in the second half of 2013.

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GoldStone, which is focused in West and Central Africa, has said it now holds 100% of the Akrokerri licence following its acquisition of the residual 4.9% interest held by Volta Resources. GoldStone purchased the stake for a consideration of 1.5m ordinary GoldStone shares, which Volta is not permitted to dispose of before June 30th. The Akrokerri licence was renewed on May 12th 2011 for a 12 month period. Newbury Racecourse, a racing, entertainment and events business, has completed a joint venture development agreement with David Wilson Homes (DWH) regarding the long-term redevelopment of the racecourse. Under the agreement DWH will purchase three areas of land at the racecourse on which around 1,500 homes are to be constructed over the course of the anticipated 10-year development programme. DWH is committed to pay a minimum of £42.6m over the course of the programme with the majority of payments being received in the latter stages of the project.

Terrace Hill Group, a leading UK property development and investment group, has announced the conditional acquisition of a foodstore and residential development site in Midsomer Norton, Somerset, and reported good progress with three other foodstore developments around the country. The acquisition would be the tenth committed foodstore development in the company's portfolio. Plus Markets Group has agreed to dispose of Plus Derivatives Exchange, its wholly-owned subsidiary which was set up to provide derivative-related services, to Pipeline Capital. The consideration will be payable on completion of the disposal is a nominal cash amount of £10,000 which will be used for general working purposes by the company. Sweett Group, an international property and infrastructure consultancy, has completed the sale of its 19% stake in Lift Investments to JV UK Company. The sale, which was made for a total consideration of £0.7m in cash, is part of the group's strategy to capitalise on the value of its existing PFI investment portfolio in order to reinvest in the further development of its core business operations. Primary Health Properties, a provider of modern primary healthcare facilities, has said one of its wholly-owned subsidiaries has been contracted to fund the development of and acquire a new modern, purpose built medical centre to be constructed in Stourbridge, West Midlands. The property will be wholly let to a GP practice for a 25-year term and will cost PHP £8.5m (net assets acquired £8.5m). The centre is expected to be completed in the second half of 2013

Vatukoula Gold Mines, which owns the Vatukoula mine in Fiji has seen a sharp drop in its stock price as it revealed growing development expenditure it hitting production rates. In the three months to the end of August the site produced 120,000 tonnes of ore compared to the 115,000 in the preceding quarter but this appears to be below market expectations. The "grade" of the rocks, which means how much gold they actually contain, rose from 3.55 to 3.89 grams per tonne. Vatukoula is certainly spending money to increase productivity. Capital investment in the 12 months to the end of August was £16.2m, versus £11m in the prior year. This left total cash at just £2.4m compared to £12.8m in August 2011. David Paxton, Vatukoula Gold Mines Chief Executive said: "The increase in capital development has impacted on our short-term gold recoveries, but in the longer-term will enable Vatukoula to realise our production targets. These results should therefore be seen in the context of our efforts to transform the mine's underground mining prospects and realise our overall operational objective of long-term economic mining."

"They are also on a marked discount to Amazon shares, for example, and deliver a superior free cash flow yield to Yoox (£20m net cash roughly at YE2012E)," the broker adds. Yoox is an Italian Internet and mail order fashion retailer.

"While medium-term prospects remain compelling, major initiatives from re-platforming are at least 12 months away. We see a year of consolidation ahead, with limited scope for upgrades. Hold," is the view of Peel Hunt's John Stevenson. Panmure Gordon is clearly a fan, however, declaring that ASOS still has "it", whatever "it" might be. "The UK performance was particularly impressive (+15% vs. consensus +13%, PGe [Panmure Gordon estimate] +17%). This shows that ASOS still 'has it' in the fiercely competitive UK market which is still ASOS's single most important market, representing 39% of retail sales in the nine months reported to date, and 35% in Q4," the broker said. "We see ASOS as one of the most exciting stories in the sector, offering investors exposure to a rare combination of superior top line growth and careful margin expansion. Although the shares have increased by 63.6% year to date, vs. the UK general retail sector +21.6%, we continue to expect sector and market out-performance as the brand itself, as well as the website, continues to gain traction internationally," Panmure Gordon enthused. If you subscribe to Panmure Gordon's bullish view, you will be investing at a heavy price, as the shares trade on a significant price/earnings premium to the UK market, but Panmure Gordon thinks this is deserved given the company's growth prospects and its continued ability to lead the way in the online fashion market.

"Profit for the five months ended August 31st and pro forma full year, are expected to be in line with expectations, and we approach our new financial year with continued confidence," said Chief Executive Nick Robertson. Broker reaction Canaccord Genuity has noted the fourth quarter (Q4) slow-down in sales growth but has no plans to change its bullish view. The group confirmed that full-year expectations will be met, so the broker is not expecting any upgrades in respect of the fiscal year to the end of August 2012. "Against a challenging backdrop we are encouraged that ASOS has kept its rate of sales growth above 30%," Canaccord Genuity analyst Wayne Brown said. "The shares have had a good run outperforming the FTSE 350 retailer sector by 18% the past 3 months. The shares are likely to soften today,but we remain mindful that the largest shareholder (Bestseller) has increased its stake to 26% last week and this could provide support and aid to bid speculation," Brown suggests. Peel Hunt reckons the figures are good enough to inspire modest upgrades in the consensus forecast towards its own forecast of full-year profit before tax of £44.5m, but is sticking with its neutral position on the stock.

Online fashion and beauty store ASOS turned in its usual quarter of strong top line growth, although after the share's recent good run, market reaction to its trading update was muted. Group revenues were up 31% to £145.2m in the group's fourth quarter, which following a change in year-end now runs to the end of August. Retail sales were up 31% year-on-year (y/y), with a 15% rise in the UK and a 42% jump in international trading. The market had been looking for a y/y gain of around 30% for the group as a whole; Panmure Gordon had predicted UK sales would be up 17.0% and international sales 47.3% higher. Peel Hunt was slightly more pessimistic, going for a 44.9% increase in international sales. International sales now make up 65% of the company's total business, it said. Retail sales for the full year to the end of August increased 38% to £538m. ASOS's retail gross margin was up 70 basis points - or seven-tenths of a percentage point - on prior year, while the number of active customers on its site rose by almost a third to 5m by the end of August.

uranium Resources, a uranium exploration company, has said further high-grade intercepts at its wholly-owned Mtonya uranium project in southwestern Tanzania have further reinforced its model of continuous uranium mineralisation at depths between 120m and 220m. The maiden resource is expected in the first quarter of 2013. Over 25,000 metres of diamond drilled has been completed at Mtonya to date.

Frank Nelson, the Finance Director of Galliford Try, the house-building and construction firm, has sold 80,000 shares on the same day the company reported soaring profits in the year ended June 30th. Nelson, who was appointed to the board in 2000, traded in the shares at 686.63p each for a total of £549,304. He made the sale despite the company announcing it would nearly double the dividend from 26p to 30p per share. Profit before tax surged 80% to £63.1m from £35.1m the previous year, while earnings per share jumped 89% to 60.9p from 32.2p last year. The divi rose in line with earnings, from 16p to 30p. The current order book is more or less stable at £1.65bn, versus £1.7bn at the end of June 2011.

Nick Buckles yesterday staked his future at G4S on the findings of an independent probe into the firm's Olympic failures. The chief executive could draw his 28-year career with the group to a close if he is found to be accountable for the company's failure to provide 10,000 guards for the Olympics. It came as Games organisers Locog laid out the firm's catalogue of failings before MPs. On its worst day, G4S provided less than two thirds of the required staff numbers, Locog's chief executive Paul Deighton told the Home Affairs Select Committee. During the Games more than 60% of venues were left with a 15% deficit in guard numbers - a level viewed by organisers as critical, he added. Appearing before the same group of MPs yesterday, Buckles admitted the buck stopped with him, The Daily Mail reports.

international engineering firm AMEC is buying a stake in a Brazilian oil and gas company as it builds its presence in the largest deepwater market in the world. The agreement will mean AMEC acquires a 50% stake in Kromav Engenharia from its owner managers for $12.5m in cash. Kromav is a privately owned Brazilian offshore oil and gas and marine engineering company based in Rio de Janeiro. It has a team of around 200 people specialising in engineering services for offshore platforms, FPSO (Floating, Production, Storage & Offloading) vessels and other marine applications. Simon Naylor, President of AMEC's Natural Resources Americas business, said investing in Brazil was one of the key factors in delivering its strategic plan, called Vision 2015. "The combination, AMEC KROMAV, will be able to better assist customers and regional operators in the largest deepwater market in the world." Vision 2015, announced in December 2009, has the goal of more than doubling group earnings per share to over 100p in 2015, fro 43.4p in 2008.

"We recognise that the route to sustained recovery is likely to take some time but we are committed to building on French Connection's core strengths," Marks added. "The operational focus of the initiatives is on improving our store operations, developing our product offering and improving merchandise management. In addition we have strengthened our senior management team and will continue to target the disposal of loss making stores. We are confident that these actions will produce a growing positive impact on our trading performance over the next two financial years."

Fashion brand French Connection revealed a first half loss compared to a profit the same time a year earlier in what the company described as a "very difficult" six months. The group, which issued a profit warning in May, posted a pre-tax loss of £6.3m in the six-month period ended July 31st 2012 compared to a profit of £0.7m in 2011. Revenue during the period fell to £96m compared to £102.8m a year earlier. Chairman and Chief Executive Stephen Marks commented: "The last six months have continued to be very difficult for French Connection's UK/Europe retail business which has had an impact on the Group results for the period." "We have completed our extensive review of the retail business and have implemented a set of detailed initiatives across a broad number of fronts designed to improve the performance of the retail division and the business in general." Profit margins were hurt as the retailer slashed prices in a bid to boost sales. Gross margins fell 2.3% to 47.7%. Meanwhile the key UK/Europe retail division suffered another difficult season, with revenue down 10%. North America fared better, with revenue and profit improving and further growth in licensing income. French Connection said it had a solid performances from the Rest of the World business and its Asia joint ventures.

This was up 35% the year before, with average selling prices of each house now £215,100, up 7% on the previous year. This was down to "building larger and higher specified homes in better locations", it said. Chairman Steve Morgan said that despite the encouraging start to the year and the recent government Housing and Growth announcement, the outlook for the industry remained challenging. "Supply of mortgages, although slightly improved on last year, remains a significant constraint, as does public confidence due to the country's fragile economic state," he said.

Housebuilder Redrow overcame the stagnant housing market, saying a fifteen per cent rise in selling prices had strongly boosted profits over the last year. It also welcomed the government's controversial plans to relax requirements for affordable housing on new developments, saying this would have a positive effect on the delivery of new homes. However, it said the NewBuy scheme, through which the government underwrites mortgages for new buyers, had not been such a success due to lenders not reducing rates to reflect the lower risk. Group revenue for the year increased 5.8% to £479m, while pre-tax profit was up 70% to £43m. This was predominantly due to average selling prices rising from £164,800 to £189,900. The firm added it had started the new year with reservations per outlet at a similar level to last year. Total private reservations in the first 11 weeks of the new financial year were up 16% as a result of a year-on-year increase on outlets from 73 to 84. Its strategy of focusing on its New Heritage Collection - homes built using 1920s and 1930s-inspired designs - paid off, with the brand now represented 67% of private turnover during the year.

Imperial Leather soap maker PZ Cussons is confident of a return to profitable growth this financial year, though conditions remain difficult in its core market of Nigeria and challenging elsewhere. In a statement covering trading since June 1st, the group revealed that unrest in the north of Nigeria has continued to affect sales rates, while consumer disposable income remains affected by the removal of part of the fuel subsidy in January. On the bright side, margins in Nigeria have improved as a result of lower raw material costs and margin improvement projects. In the UK, trading in the washing and bathing division has been robust despite continued high levels of promotional activity in the trade. The group sees new product launches as the key to deterring consumers from trading down to own-brand products, and the next few months will see the launch of new Imperial Leather limited edition shower and bath products, and a new seasonal edition of Original Source. The Cussons Mum and Me range, targeted at the mother and baby market, achieved full UK distribution by the end of July, and early sales rates are encouraging following an advertising blitz in August. In the beauty division, the poor summer weather in Europe adversely affected sales of St Tropez, but the other brands in the portfolio have performed well, the group said. Performance in Poland has been strong while trading conditions in Greece remain difficult.

The book building process, where the group's agents gauge interest in the placing in the market, is expected to close no later than 16:30 (London time) on Wednesday, but may be closed earlier or later at the discretion of the joint book-runners. As at August 31st 2012, Capco's gross debt was £400m and the cash balance was £127m, resulting in net debt of £273m, an improvement on the net debt figure of £397m just two months earlier. Based on June 30th property values, and adjusted for the sales completed in the second half of 2012, the pro forma debt to assets ratio was 18%, the company revealed, down from 24% at the end of June. The valuation of Covent Garden was upgraded in June by 4.5% to £856m. The group's site at Earl's Court saw its value lifted 4.6% to £620m.