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International Airlines Group (IAG) announced that traffic rose by 7.7 per cent in August to 5.21m passengers, compared with 4.84m one year earlier. The airline group's traffic measured in Revenue Passenger Kilometres rose 5.0% while capacity measured in Available Seat Kilometres was up 5.6%. "Underlying market conditions remain unchanged from guidance given at Quarter Two results. Trading conditions at our London hub remain firm. Performance at Madrid continues to be impacted by weak economic conditions, with short haul traffic particularly affected," IAG explained in a statement. In regards to strategic developments, the filing added that Iberia's new low-cost airline Iberia Express has carried more than one million passengers in its first five months of operations. The performance statistics released by IAG comprises of British Airways (including bmi Mainline, excluding bmibaby) and Iberia (including Iberia Express).

Headline profit before tax rose 19% (22% in CC terms) to £46.5m from £39.0m the previous year, while statutory profit before tax rose 33% to £54.4m from £40.8m a year earlier. Investment analysts following the stock had pencilled in a figure of £44.6m for adjusted profit before tax. Growth in volumes was the primary driver for the bull and pig semen provider. Porcine volumes were up 7% and bovine volumes up 8%. Growth was particularly strong in Asia, Latin America and the porcine business in North America, the company said. The full-year dividend has been increased by 10% to 14.6p from 13.3p the previous year, in line with market expectations. The group conceded that market conditions remained generally favourable for Genus and its customers in the year just ended, but noted they became more challenging towards the end of the reporting period, largely because of increased feed costs in North America caused by drought conditions and by weakening global commodity dairy prices. These conditions are likely to have an impact on a number of Genus's customers in the year ahead, which may lead to some slowing in demand.

FTSE 250 precious metals miner African Barrick Gold (ABG) has announced that it has formed a 'Transaction Committee' as it prepares for a potential offer from China's largest gold producer, China National Gold Group. As announced on August 16th, Barrick Gold, the US holding company of ABG, is in talks with China Gold about the possibility of selling its 73.9% stake in the London-listed miner. The Transaction Committee is made up of three independent non-executive directors (Michael Kenyon, Derek Pannell and David Hodgson), meanwhile ABG has appointed JP Morgan Cazenove and RBC Capital Markets as financial advisers "in order to ensure that ABG is appropriately prepared and that the interests of all shareholders are represented should this situation progress," the company said. Should China Gold buy up more than 30% of the voting interest in ABG, it would then be required to make an offer for the whole of ABG's issued ordinary share capital, ABG said last month. However, once again ABG assured investors that "there can be no certainty that any offer for ABG will be forthcoming."

Sunbelt's EBITDA soared to $183.6m (£116.9m) from $134.6m (£82.9m) a year earlier. Sunbelt's rental revenue grew 17% to $384m (2011: $328m), including a 13% increase in fleet on rent and a 4% improvement in yield. In the UK, A-Plant's first quarter rental revenue grew by 6% to £45m (2011: £42m) including 7% growth in average fleet on rent offset by a small yield decline. A-Plant's total revenue rose to £39.7m from £46.1m the year before, with EBITDA climbing to £14.4m from £12.6m. For the year as a whole Ashtead continues to anticipate spending £450m on new equipment with net capital expendutre payments of £400m after £100m of disposal proceeds. This rate of investment will hold the fleet size at around the size reached at the end of the quarter for the remainder of the year. Net debt at the end of July was £988m, up from £848m, but the ratio of net debt to EBITDA fell to 2.4 times from 2.8 times a year earlier.

Underlying earnings per share (EPS) soared 82% to 7.7p from 4.3p the year before, while statutory EPS hardened 8% to 4.5p from 4.2p. Revenue rose 21% (CC: +18%) to £325.0m from £268.6m in the same quarter of 2011. "The markets in which we operate have performed as anticipated with gently improving conditions in the US and a more challenging outlook in the UK. We do not anticipate any significant changes to this environment in the short term," revealed Ashtead's Chief Executive, Geoff Drabble. "Against this back-drop our continued market share gains are again reflected in our strong growth in fleet on rent and improving margins demonstrate our operational efficiency. Given the momentum established in the business, we now anticipate a full year result materially ahead of our previous expectations," Drabble said. Ashtead is making a habit of raising profits guidance, having done so as recently as June 21st. The group's acquisition of Sunbelt in the USA is paying off in spades, with first quarter revenue surging to $432.1m (£275.3m) from $361.1m (£222.5m) the year before.

High-flying plant hire firm Ashtead has raised profits guidance again as its new financial year got off to a strong start. Underlying profit before tax in the quarter ended July 31st rose 82%, or 76% on a constant currency (CC) basis, to £61.4m from £33.8m the year before. Statutory profit before tax was up 5%, or 2% in CC terms, to £34.9m from £33.1m a year earlier; the statutory profit figure includes exceptional financing costs of £18m (of which £13m were cash costs) related to the redemption of senior secured notes, and also includes a non-cash charge of £7m relating to the revaluation of the fair value of early repayment options in the company's long-term debt. Underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) jumped 38%, or 34% on a CC basis, to £129.3m from £93.9m in the corresponding three-month period of 2011, with group EBITDA margins pushing on to 40% from 35% a year earlier

Software group Micro Focus has released details of its 82 million pound cash return to shareholders. The firm said the 50p per share return would be made through an issue of B Shares and/or C shares, which would enable shareholders to elect to receive the proceeds as either income or capital, or any combination of the two. The first option for shareholders is for every existing ordinary share held at 6.00pm on 25 October 2012, 50p will be returned to them through the issue of one B share, which will then be redeemed by the company. The second choice for shareholders is to take one C share for every share they hold, on which a dividend of 50p will be paid or which will be purchased by Numis at 50p per share under an offer to be made by them. The share scheme needs shareholder approval, which will be sought at a company general meeting to be held at 1.30 p.m. on 26 September 2012. Micro Focus also announced a share consolidation, meaning shareholders would receive 10 new ordinary shares in substitution for every 11 existing ordinary shares. It said this was necessary to maintain (subject to market fluctuations) the market price for existing ordinary shares at approximately the same level as prevailed immediately prior to the implementation of the new share scheme.

Spanish bank Banco Popular has announced that it is studying a potential takeover of Banco Mare Nostrum though no type of agreement has been reached yet. The announcement follows several reports by news agencies that speculate on potential merger and acquisition activity in the financial sector. Following a merger with Banco Pastor, Banco Popular said that it aims to remain independent and a leader throughout the consolidation process of the Spanish financial sector.

Panmure Gordon said the "reassuring" trading update is unlikely to spark a rush by brokers to change full-year earnings estimates. It said the write-down in the value of the pubs estate was larger than it expected, and the new valuation implies a net asset value per share of less than 70p. Panmure Gordon's target price for the stock is 67p. "Self-help measures should lead to double-digit earnings growth, which combined with a c4% yield, makes Spirit an attractive investment proposition in our view," Panmure Gordon said.

"Our Managed estate performance remains significantly ahead of the market and we continue to implement measures in our Leased estate to improve performance. Whilst the consumer environment remains tough, we continue to perform in line with expectations and are making good progress towards realising the full potential of our business," said Mike Tye, citing Coffer Peach Business Tracker as the basis for his out-performance comment. Broker Peel Hunt, which is bullish on the stock, said the fourth quarter was broadly in line with expectations. "Given the weather, Olympics and tough comparable benchmarks, this represented a solid performance," Peel Hunt's Nick Batram suggested. Although the Leased estate's performance made for grim reading, the fourth quarter 5.4% LFL decline in net income was a sharp improvement on the 8.0% decline in the third quarter, Batram noted. "The attraction of Spirit remains the upside potential from a programme of self-help, following the period of underinvestment when it was part of Punch. In a relatively short period of time, good progress has already been made within the Managed division, but the real benefits are still to come through," Batram reckons. "The Leased estate is more challenging - the last shackles of Punch's involvement were only thrown off in March and the negative hit from rent rebasing is also clouding the issue. However, with a proven management team and a clear strategy we believe that Spirit will ultimately deliver," Batram asserted. The broker has an 82p target price for the stock.

"Our Managed pubs division delivered another quarter of solid growth, notwithstanding volatile trading conditions and the adverse impact of both the wet summer and the Olympics," the company's statement said. Things were not so peachy in the Leased estate, where LFL net income was down 5.4% on the final quarter of the corresponding quarter of 2011. For the full 52-week period, the Leased estate's LFL net income was down 4.9% on the previous year. The company said the Leased estate continued to be affected by current year rent rebasing. Sorting out the performance of this division is the company's prime focus at the moment. Meanwhile, after calling in independent experts to look at the valuation of the group's pub estate, Spirit Pub Company is changing its accounting policy to move to an open market valuation basis in the interests of giving greater transparency on the underlying value of property assets than the previous method based on historic cost. The result of this change will be a downward revision of half a billion quid on the valuation of the estate to a book value of around £1.3bn. The adjustment will be reflected as a non-cash item on the income statement when the group announces its full-year results next month.

Pubs group Spirit's hard hit leased estate continued to offset a strong performance from the managed pubs division in the final quarter of the financial year. In the 12 weeks to August 18th, like-for-like (LFL) year-on-year sales growth in the Managed estate was 4.1%, dragging down the growth rate for the full year to 4.8%. LFL growth in the first 40 weeks of the group's financial year had been 5.0%, down from 5.6% at the half-year stage. The performance was better than the 2.0% LFL sales growth Panmure Gordon had been expecting. The Managed pubs division saw LFL food sales in the fourth quarter grow 4.5% from a year earlier, giving a full-year growth rate of 6.4%, down from a growth rate of 7.1% at the 40-weeks stage. Drink sales were up 3.3% from a year earlier in the final quarter on a LFL basis, which meant LFL sales for the 52-week period were up 3.8%, a slight decline from the 3.9% growth seen in the first three quarters of the financial year.

Security outsourcing group G4S has finally completed the disposal of its Polish businesses, first announced towards the end of April. Polish security firm Konsalnet Holding is buying the operations for a cash consideration of PLN 43m, which at exchange rates prevailing at the beginning of September was about £8.11m. Back when the announcement was first made, the sterling equivalent for the consideration was £8.47m.

Restaurant group Prezzo is expected by Panmure Gordon to announce a circa 7% increase in half-year profit before tax to £7.8m. "Trading is likely to have been mixed over the last few months reflecting the impact of Euro 2012, the Olympics and the wettest summer since 1912. Nevertheless the group has an attractive growth plan which underpins earnings growth and we expect it to open at least 20 restaurants a year for the foreseeable future," Panmure Gordon said.

House builder Berkeley Group has its annual general meeting (AGM) on Wednesday, and although things have gone quiet of late in terms of shareholders grumbling about excessive executive remuneration, broker Northland Capital Partners thinks there may be some questions asked about the long-term incentive plan (LTIP) agreed at last year's AGM. "Whilst the rewards to shareholders are clear with the £13 per share capital return by September 2021, there have been negative comments on the maximum potential LTIP that would confer £280m worth of shares to the directors at the current share price on completion of the £1.7bn capital return and full compliance with the LTIP terms. More importantly, the group has achieved further sales success during the summer with several new sites and phases on existing sites being marketed. These achievements should be a feature of the trading statement expected with the AGM," Northland said.

The Nigerian Petroleum Development Company owns the majority 55% stake in OML 40, an onshore project within the Niger Delta, with independently certified gross recoverable proved plus probable (2P) reserves of 71.5m barrels, 3P (2P + possible) reserves of 117m barrels in the Opuama and Gbetiokun Fields, and mean contingent resources of a further 16.7m barrels in the Abiala and Ugbo Fields. All fields contain light "sweet" oil. In addition, there is an "exciting identified exploration portfolio" of gross prospective resources of 356m barrels of oil based on 3D (three-dimensional) seismic data within the 498 square kilometres of OML 40. Former Addax Petroleum men Les Blair and George Maxwell are Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, respectively, for Eland. Canadian-listed exploration and production company Addax, which also had assets in Nigeria, was bought by Chinese firm Sinopec for £4.4bn in 2009. "I look forward to updating shareholders and the market as we progress our work programme which is designed to rapidly monetise this asset for the benefit of both our shareholders, the communities within the licence area and all other stakeholders," Blair said.

Eland Oil and Gas, an energy firm based in Aberdeen but focused on West Africa, is keen to get cracking on an oil mining lease it has purchased in the Niger delta after making its debut on AIM. The group, which raised £118m (£106.8m net) through a placing of shares at 100p a throw, started trading on AIM on Monday September 3rd with an implied stock market valuation (based on the placing price) of around £134.9m, making it the largest flotation on AIM in more than three years. The shares placed represent around seven-eighths of the total issued ordinary share capital of Eland Oil and Gas. Eland has also secured a facility of $22m with Standard Chartered Bank and equity option agreements with two key investors of £10m each. In April the group, through a joint venture established with a Nigerian partner, agreed to buy a 45% stake in the OML 40 licence owned by Royal Dutch Shell, Total and Nigerian Agip in a $154m deal. The cash Eland is sitting on will initially go to pay for the economic interest in OML 40, with the remainder earmarked for re-commissioning existing infrastructure on the lease and restarting production. Production from existing wells will be restarted at an expected initial gross rate of at least 2,500 barrels of oil per day (bopd) by the end of February 2013. Production will increase through development, appraisal and exploration drilling to reach a target gross production of 50,000 bopd within four years, the company said.

Canada and Ireland-focused oil and gas group Enegi Oil says that field studies on areas of interest within the Clare Basin in Southern Ireland have been 'extremely encouraging' and indicated higher-than-expected prospectively. Further testing is ongoing. The firm also announced that it has appointed Derek Cochrane, currently a non-executive director, as Chief Operating Officer with immediate effect. "The appointment has the added benefit of strengthening the operational experience of Enegi as the company concludes its plans with respect to the PAP#1 ST#3 well and its Newfoundland regional development play," the company said.

UK-listed but US-focused healthcare software provider Craneware is benefiting from the cost pressures on American hospitals. The company, which provides monitoring and automated revenue systems, has reported revenues of $41.1m in the 12 months to the end of June, a rise of 8% on the prior year. Adjusted profits before tax came in at $10.8m, a 16% gain on the previous year, while the total dividend for the year has been announced at 10.5p per share, versus 8.8p in 2011. Craneware's Chief Executive, Keith Neilson, said of the results: "Added pressures on US hospitals have led to an increased sales and opportunity pipeline for our products as we move into the current financial year. "In this turbulent, demanding environment, hospitals need financial accuracy, visibility and shared accountability to survive. Fiscal and regulatory drivers are expected to increase in the year ahead as they push for greater transparency and accuracy, and although this creates a challenging ever-evolving marketplace, it ultimately increases the opportunities for Craneware's solutions."

Health-care software firm Avia has been given a vote of confidence by sector peer Advanced Computer Software Group (ACS), which is lending Avia £350,000 over three years at zero interest. ACS will have the option to convert the loan into a 29.9% stake in Avia, and has also been given the right to nominate a non-executive director to the Avia board. The funds will alleviate the working capital constraints Avia is currently experiencing.