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Electrical, digital and optical connections provider Volex said it expects revenue and profit for the year ending 31st March 2013 to fall short of previous company expectations after an unexpected change in demand from its largest customer in the consumer sector. "These lower growth expectations are driven primarily by a delay in product launches and a change in product component strategy by our largest customer," the group explained. "Furthermore, we are also experiencing lower current and forecast demand from a number of other consumer sector customers reflecting the broader economic conditions. We expect revenues and margins in our industrial, telecoms/datacoms and healthcare sectors to be broadly in line with our previous expectations." While total group revenues for the full year are expected to show year-on-year growth of around 5%, the lower than expected consumer revenue and resulting loss of operational leverage will impact the reported operating profit, which Management now expects to be broadly in line with that of FY2012, it added. As a result, management has initiated a programme of material cost reductions across the group and will focus on improving gross margins through improved labour efficiency and productivity, reduced scrap rates, other operational improvements and the introduction of new, higher margin products.

"All four of our divisions recorded increases in revenue year-on-year although the Microsoft UK Division was affected both by market conditions and our investment programme, and saw profitability decrease. Against that, the International Division delivered an especially good performance and the Managed Services Division continues to show significant growth potential. We signed £13.3m of major new contract wins across the group, up 20% on last year, with many of the benefits still to come. Deal slippage continues to be a feature of the trading environment. "We see the new financial year as a year of investment, with two areas of specific focus being our Microsoft Dynamics AX product and Managed Services. We anticipate that the benefits of our investment programme should come through during the course of 2013."

Software firm K3 Business Technology Group has terminated its previously announced formal sale process with immediate effect, after deciding that the proposals it had received are not at 'a level that would be acceptable to shareholders and are therefore not recommendable by the board'. The news came as the firm restated its results for the year ended June 30th. Revenue for the year increased from £52.8m to £67.96m, boosting gross profit from £29.3m to £39.5m. Cost of sales rose from £23.5m to £28.5m. Pre-tax profit for the 12 months rose slightly from £4.9m to £6.0m. The final dividend for the year was increased to 1.0p per share (2011: 0.75p). Adjusted earnings per share increased by 10% over the year to 30.2p (2011: 27.5p) while basic earnings per share increased by 16% to 20.3p over the year (2011: 17.5p). Cash generated from operations was £7.28m (2011: £5.64m). Operating cash flows in the year included £1.24m in respect of regularising liabilities that were significantly outside normal statutory due dates and commercial terms at the date of acquiring companies and trades, £0.59m of acquisition costs, £0.32m of exceptional reorganisation costs and £0.76m of exceptional income relating to the sale of IP. Chairman Tom Milne said: "In tough trading conditions, K3 delivered good results for the year. One of the strengths of the business is that a considerable portion of group income is recurring, with existing customers accounting for recurring revenues of £33.74m, up 40% on last year. Revenues also benefited from the five significant acquisitions completed in the year.

Recruiter Work Group was another hitting a 52-week low after issuing a profit warning on Tuesday morning. "Prospects for the wider economy and the recruitment market remain uncertain which makes forecasting a challenge and we are finding that the conversion of our pipeline is taking longer and is more uncertain than has been the case previously," said Chairman Simon Howard. The firm expects to be profitable this year but not meet market expectations.

Engineering firm Corac also took a hit after it announced a first half loss of £3.84m, compared to a £2.35m loss the year before, but the firm said it was trading in line with expectations for the year with continuing good order book visibility for the balance of the year and going into 2013.

Shares in Origo Partners hit a 52-week low after the Beijing-based private equity investment firm announced a first half investment loss, pushing it into the red at the interim stage. Having enjoyed investment income of $23.6m in the first half of this year, the group suffered an investment loss of $38.6m in the first half of 2012, resulting in a loss before tax of of $37.3m, compared to a profit of $19.4m a year earlier. Its net asset value dropped to $204.2m from $240.6m the year before. Over half the firm's portfolio is mining stocks, which have been hit by the world's ongoing economic woes. Its investments in Mongolia are also in the spotlight as "resource nationalism" is growing in the country.

Kedco, a renewable energy group focusing on the production of clean energy in the UK and Ireland, has signed a heads of agreement to acquire Reforce Energy, a renewable energy development company, ahead of signing final legal contracts and the completion of all pre-conditions relating to the acquisition. The acquisition, if completed, will be satisfied by the issue of new Kedco ordinary shares and would not involve cash consideration. Reforce, which was founded last year, is focused on small-scale renewable projects across various technologies. The company's key markets are the UK, Ireland and Northern Ireland where it already has an active pipeline of over 60 projects with a capacity of in excess of 40MWs at various stages of development. Gerry Madden, Chief Executive of Kedco, said: "As recently reported to Kedco shareholders, we have been examining a potential acquisition which we believe has an attractive and diverse portfolio of complimentary projects as well as a strong and experienced management team. "Kedco has a clear strategy to become one of the UK & Irelands largest independent renewable energy companies. This acquisition would add both breadth to the pipeline and available technologies as well as depth to the management team."

"Our primary objective for the financial year to 30th June 2012 was to win the Scottish Premier League title and provide a route to the Group Stages of the UEFA Champions League," declared club Chairman Ian Bankier. "I am delighted to be in a position to report that this objective was fulfilled. Having recovered the SPL title in May, we then qualified for the Group Stages of the European Champions League after defeating Helsinki and Helsingborgs in the third qualifying round and play-offs. Our reward is participation in the highest echelons of European football for the first time since season 2008/09," he said, adding that the financial benefits of getting beyond the European qualifying rounds are "material".

Celtic got its priorities right in its full-year results statement, listing the football club's achievements on the pitch before moving on to the financial highlights. Mind you, the club seems to have done rather better on the footie pitch than in the market place. Despite winning the Scottish Premier League, losing in the final of the League Cup and hosting four European home ties - twice the number it hosted the year before - it still slipped into the red. Loss before tax in the year ended June 30th was £7.37m, versus a profit the year before of £0.10m. This was despite investment in football personnel virtually halving to £5.24m from £10.29m in the previous year. Group revenue eased to £51.34m from £52.56m the previous year. 2011/12 was hailed as a successful season for ticket sales with over 42,500 standard season tickets sold with a value of more than £13.8m. Home match tickets sales of over 220,000 generated an income of more than £4.5m, which included the club's Europa League Play Off and Group Stage matches. Year-end net debt widened to £2.77m from £0.53m, but it does not look like the club's supporters need to worry at the moment about the prospect of following its Glasgow rival, Rangers, into administration.

Fuel-cell maker Ceres Power says an independent review has concluded its technology is on track to provide combined heat and power in people's homes. The group's main product is a fuel-cell that operates on mains natural gas and generates the heating and hot water and the majority of the electricity for a typical UK home. Dr Nguyen Minh, a former Chief Scientist at GE Global Research, has given the Ceres kit the thumbs up, concluding that it will be robust enough for residential use and cheap enough to make commercially viable.

Dr Peter Coleman, Deputy Director of Research at The Stroke Association agreed, adding: "When a stroke strikes, time lost is brain lost, meaning that getting to hospital and receiving treatment quickly is absolutely essential. "A test such as this which could be used to quickly diagnose a stroke, possibly before a patient arrives at hospital, could speed up the treatment process and potentially improve outcomes." Proteome's share price rose 3.2% on Tuesday morning and has now gained 63% in the last 12 months.

Medical technology group Proteome Sciences has released details of a study into a blood test which could reduce brain damage in thousands of stroke victims. The group has been collaborating with researchers at the University of Geneva to produce the test which can tell how long ago a stroke actually took place. The exact timing of a stroke has a big influence on the kind of therapy that is used to help patients recover. Treated quickly, the brain damage caused by strokes can be significantly reduced, but as many strokes take place during sleep, it is often difficult to know when the symptoms began. During the study, scientists found one protein, known as GSTP, which showed an almost instantaneous increase in the blood of stroke patients, peaking at three hours after onset and returning to normal levels within around six hours. Extrapolating the results across patients who were admitted to the Geneva Hospital in 2006/7 with suspected stroke, but who did not know when their stroke symptoms started, indicates that testing for GSTP could result in as many as five times more people being eligible for the highly effective "rt-PA" treatment, which can only be used within 4.5 hours of a stroke under UK medical guidelines. The leader of the study, Professor Jean-Charles Sanchez, said: "This is a major step towards improving the management of ischaemic stroke patients using the drugs that we already have available. A simple blood test that matches the therapeutic window of rt-PA is a major advance."

"In this context, the company's board may consider targeted buybacks of its own shares were a realisation of any assets completed." The market was unimpressed - the stock fell 4.55% in morning trading and has now lost 38% of its value since February.

zimbabwe focused investment firm, Cambria Africa, says it is considering a potential asset sale and share buyback as its stock price continues to lag behind its tangible asset value. Revenues in the 12 months to the end of August were $12.9m, up 35% on the prior year, while gross profit was $6.9m, also up 35%. Cambria has four main investments: the Leopard Rock Hotel; solvent importer and distributor Millchem; printing outfit Celsys; and payment and outsourcing firm Payserv. All of the main businesses appear to be doing well. Cambria says the share price is currently at a 70% discount to tangible asset value, and adds: "Were this position to continue the board may review strategic alternatives for one or more of its investments to unlock (and/or make more apparent) some of the value built-up within its underlying investments. If this review were undertaken it may include, but would not be limited to, a potential sale of certain assets.

"The group is now poised to benefit from the efforts expended and investment made in the Vostochny Makarovskoye field which should start contributing to revenues and cash flow imminently. This lays a foundation for sustainable production and cash flow which provides a strong platform for future growth. A key priority for the group now is to secure opportunities to grow the group's asset base by selective value-accretive acquisition."

On the Karpenskiy licence area average production during the period was 932 bopd (H1 2011: 1,147 bopd) with some weather and market related disruption during March and April 2012. Production during July and August averaged 1,300 bopd. The Yuzhno Romanovskaya-1 exploration well in the Urozhainoye 2 licence area was plugged and abandoned and the costs associated with the prospect written off. In a statement Volga Gas said: "During July and August 2012, production averaged 1,966 boepd with strong performance from the Uzen oil field offset by intermittent gas production at Dobrinskoye while the gas plant upgrade was reaching its final stages. The group anticipates that when the plant recommences full time operation by the end of September, oil, gas and condensate production capacity will remain stable at rates of between 2,700 and 2,800 bopd for the remainder of 2012. "For the second half of 2012, the group's capital expenditure is expected to be between $5.0m and $7.0m. The key projects include further stages of the gas plant upgrade, the sidetrack of well #26 on Dobrinskoye and a shallow exploration well on the pre-Caspian licence area.

Shares Volga Gas, the oil and gas exploration and production group operating in the Volga Region of Russia, rose on the promise of significantly higher production when it puts the Vostochny Makarovskoye (VM) field into full-time production. Three of the wells on the field are ready to begin full-time production imminently, which is expected to build up production to over 3,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. This is expected to further increase towards 6,000 boepd in 2013. The news has help cushion the firm's half year results, which showed a decline in revenues to $13.3m from $14.0m the same period the previous year and delivered a net loss of $5.6m (2011 H1: profit of $3.0m) after exploration write-offs of $7.4m. The cost of sales rose from $6.6m to $7.1m year-on-year, while general and admin expenses were also higher at $3.4m compared to $2.9m in the first half of 2011. Group production averaged 2,406 boepd, an improvement on the 2,092 averaged during the same period in 2011. Regionally, continued production was seen on the Dobrinskoye field, averaging 3.5m cubic feet per day of gas (H1 2011: 3.8 mcf/d) and 327 barrels per day of condensate (H1 2011: 313 bcpd). A successful sidetrack on shut-in well 22 was recently completed and will be put on production shortly.

After reviewing key news-flow across the industry in the prior month as well as the latest market data for Spain and Japan cigarettes, Swedish and US smokeless, and US cigars, analysts at Nomura have up-dated their forecasts for the companies within this sector where appropriate. In greater detail, its fiscal year 2012 earnings per share estimates for British American Tobacco (BAT) (+0.2%) and Philip Morris (+2.2%) have been raised to reflect better Japanese industry volume estimates. At BAT this increase was offset somewhat by updated Brazilian volumes to reflect the lost share to illegal trade post the May tax driven price increases. More significantly, Nomura raised its price targets on all the tobacco names it covers as a result of its updated WACC (weighted average cost of capital) estimates. These are meant to reflect its new assumptions around the risk free rate and equity risk premium. Nomura explains that it has also updated its cost of debt estimates where appropriate. Its new target prices are: BAT 3500p (+3.5%), PMI USD 80.50 (+3.0%), Imperial 2230p (+1.5%) and Swedish Match SEK 285 (+3.5%). Lastly, and in the case of BAT, it adds that it remains its top-pick given that its 2013 core price-earnings multiple (PE) (excluding associates' normalised gearing) of 12.7x compares favourably to its peer average of 13.5x, where it sees superior top and bottom line fundamentals (share gains, innovation pipeline, cost saves) driving further upside from here.

Advanced Computer Software Group has reported separate deals by two of its directors, more or less balancing each other out. The deals were made on Monday, when the healthcare and business management software provider said it expects revenues to have climbed by a fifth in the six months to the end of August. Chief Executive Officer Vinodka Murria purchased 500,000 at 62.00p each for a total of £310,000 on Monday, the same day Chairman Michael Jackson sold 500,000 at 61.86p, pocketing a total of £309,300. In a trading update ahead of its interim results, the company said half-year revenues will come in "no less" than £56.7m, 20% ahead of the £47.3m reported at the same stage last year. Of that growth 10% is organic sales, a further 10% has been achieved through acquisitions. Adjusted earnings before interest tax depreciation and amortisation (EDITDA) rose 10% to £13.2m, of which 8% was organic growth. The adjusted EBITDA margin is expected at 23% following the purchase of Fabric Technologies for £4.6m in April. Murria said: "We expect to deliver excellent organic revenue growth of 10% for the half year and are continuing to see good growth opportunities for our products and services in both the public and private sectors, despite the current economic environment."

House-building and construction firm Galliford Try saw profits soar last year, paving the way for its full-year dividend pay-out to almost double. Group revenue in the year ended June 30th rose 17% to £1,504m from £1,284m the year before. 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. "Against a background of challenging and uncertain economic conditions I am very pleased to report that we have exceeded the objectives of our three year transformational housebuilding plan, delivering a substantial increase in profits and return on capital. In addition, we have maintained a high quality construction order book," said Greg Fitzgerald, the firm's Chief Executive. "We have a strong balance sheet and a disciplined growth strategy with a clear focus on improving margins that positions us well to deliver further profitable growth in the new financial year and beyond," he added.