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Specialist chemicals maker Yule Catto reported an improved profit performance while sales slipped after a strong performance in Europe and North America and a tough trading environment in Asian nitrile markets. Pre-tax profit rose to £56m for the six months ended 30 June 2012 from £52.4m the year before. Sales for the period fell to £603.3m from £664.3m. Yule Catto said it was a solid performance despite challenging macroeconomic conditions and tough trading environment in Asian nitrile markets "Assuming there is no further deterioration in the global economy, the Board's expectations remain unchanged from the June trading update, for full year underlying profit before tax ahead of 2011 pro-forma of £96m," it said in a company statement. Yule Catto said £9m of synergies from PolymerLatex were made in the first half and it is on track to deliver £25m of total synergies by March 2013. Commenting on the results, Chief Executive Adrian Whitfield added: "We have delivered a solid set of results in a challenging environment driven by a strong performance in Europe and North America, which accounted for 84% of our profits."

Raven Russia, the Russia-focused property company, is benefiting from an improving economy, particularly around Moscow and Rostov, and an under-supply of the kind of warehousing facilities which are its speciality. In the six months to June 30th pre-tax profits came in at $29.6m, down on the prior year's number of $86.4m but this may give a misleading impression because underlying earnings before tax for the period were $14.3m against a loss of $5.9m in 2011. This equates to diluted, underlying, earnings per share of 2.35 cents (30th June 2011: loss of 0.5 cents). The group's net asset value, or NAV, increased from $669m at the year's end to $685m by the end of June; property companies tend to be far more concerned about NAV than the bottom line. The latest portfolio valuation is $1,417m, representing a fully let portfolio yield of 11.7%. Raven Russia's Chief Executive, Glyn Hirsch, said: "The market in which we operate continues to improve. The Russian economy is growing and our tenants are doing well. There is a structural under-supply of logistics warehousing and combined with fragmented competition and limited development finance, this means that the supply/demand dynamics are in the landlord's favour." Raven Russia is a recent entrant to the FTSE 250 and so far this year the stock has gained 33.7%.

Defence contractor Chemring has issued a profits warning, saying a computer glitch and production delays are likely to wipe 15m sterling off full year earnings as it considers a takeover offer from private equity giant Carlyle. A so-called Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system is one of the culprits, with errors having recently been discovered during an installation at Chemring's Florida subsidiary. The group has also been hit by "several months" of delays in the production of an anti-personnel obstacle breaching system. Chemring, which specialises in countermeasures against things like improvised explosive devices (IED), also reports its order book, at £910m, is 9% lower than at the same point of 2011. The company blames the length of time it has taken for European countries to sign on the dotted line and the early start to Ramadan in the Middle East. In common with most other defence companies, Chemring is also suffering from a failure of American politicians to agree the defence budget for 2013. Perhaps the brightest news from Chemring is that its counter-IED division has reported revenues up 119% between May 1st and the end of August. Munitions, on the other hand, has seen a fall over the period of 45% to £39m. On August 17th Chemring said it had received a "highly preliminary expression of interest" from Carlyle leading to a 33% rise in the share price. In the trading update the firm offered no further guidance on the status of the offer.

Danish wind-turbine maker Vestas has confirmed that it is holding conversations with Japanese firm Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in order to seal a 'strategic alliance', Bloomberg reports. The talks follow speculation of a possible takeover of Vestas as renewable energy companies in Japan are enjoying a booming market following the Fukushima disaster. Vestas said that it will issue an announcement if the talks culminate into an agreement. Shares of Vestas climbed more than 17% in Copenhagen on Tuesday morning. Spanish rival Gamesa was also appearing to benefit from the news, gaining 4% early on.

In North America, operating profit fell from £0.21m to £0.17m, while tonnes sold totalled 5,500, up 200 tonnes. The decrease in profits was blamed on power outages, low priced offshore competition and a lack of demand for horticultural products. In total, agricultural sales were 12% ahead of 2011 mainly due to the additional silage stretchwrap sales, while horticultural sales were over 20% down due to poor demand from the growers. "Margins suffered due to low price competition particularly from the Far East where polymer prices were significantly lower throughout most of the period. The second half performance will be impacted by the severe drought in mid western USA but we should see improved demand from the horticulture and western Canada grain markets," the group said.

"As always, the second half is difficult to call at this stage, as in this manufacturing-come-service industry the order visibility is never very long-term. We are, however, as well-placed as we were at this time last year, and we are confident that the business is capable of delivering a similar result." "The second half looks challenging as our suppliers increase raw material prices and demand remains uncertain. However, with over 70% of the group sales in more resilient sectors, actions to improve the business and progress with new products, the group should deliver acceptable results." Total energy costs in the period increased by more than 10% per tonne, with the UK cost per tonne remaining significantly higher than Europe. Regionally, in the UK and Ireland, operating profit rose from £5.5m to £6.2m, despite a decrease in volumes sold, from 108,900 tonnes to 102,900 tonnes due to poor demand from the industrial and construction sectors. The construction industry continues to have a difficult time and sales of building film and packaging to the sector were down 10%. Volume sales of shrink film were steady despite poor weather conditions for the UK soft drinks industry but demand from the converter sector was subdued, while sales of silage stretchwrap were in line with 2011 and current weather conditions should ensure that demand continues into the second half. In Europe, operating profit dropped from £9.3m to £8.4m (€10.7m to €10.2m) on the back of a reduced volume of sales from 42,800 to 40,700. Sales volumes for the three sites in Europe fell 5% due to lower volumes from the industrial and construction sectors and weather conditions reducing volumes in animal feed and salt. Silage products grew by over 40%, while low opening stocks combined with good growing conditions in the main markets contributed to growth in the firm's standard products.

Manufacturing firm British Polythene Industries (BPI) delivered first-half results that were in line with expectations and broadly similar to the corresponding period in 2011, despite a seven per cent decline in sales. This drop in revenue, from £293.0m to £273.1m, was the result of a five per cent reduction in overall volume, an unfavourable translation of European sales into sterling and contractual price reductions for certain products in response to lower input costs for polymer during the second quarter. Despite this, operating profit decreased by just one per cent to £14.8m from £15.0m in the same period the previous year. Pre-tax profit was lower at £13.3m compared to £15.1m, partly as a result of unfavourable currency translation. Diluted earnings per share before net restructuring were 32.38p (2011: 33.86p) The company is undergoing a restructuring process, which includes reducing its borrowings, to overcome these and other trading difficulties, and as a reflection of this progress, has decided to increase the interim dividend by five per cent, or 0.2p, to 4.2p. Chairman Cameron McLatchie said: "We had previously indicated that our expectations for the half-year results, at the operating level, were for a performance broadly similar to the corresponding period in 2011 and we are pleased to report that this has been achieved.

The Radio division generated operating profit with the GB Radio division of £6.9m (2011: £5.8m), an increase of 18% year-on-year. In Ireland, the advertising revenue market remained very difficult, the firm said, and is estimated to have been down by as much as 10% in the first half. However, a strong audience delivery in the key urban areas led to a "very significant outperformance" by its stations which, on a like-for-like basis, increased revenues by 4.0%. Operating profit at its Irish radio stations increased by 10% in local currency which, after adjusting for foreign exchange, was pared back to a 5.0% improvement in operating profit to £3.1m (2011: £3.0m). John McCann, Group Chief Executive, said: "The group has posted a resilient performance for the first half of 2012, growing both revenues and pre-tax profits in a choppy market. It has also seen the business undergo some exciting operational developments, including a new Network Affiliate Agreement with ITV; talkSport securing innovative broadcasting agreements with both the Barclays Premier League and the Football Association; and the acquisition of Simply Zesty, Ireland's leading social media agency. "The emphasis on adding value right across UTV's media assets, coupled with disciplined balance sheet improvement, provides a strong platform for future growth."

Northern Irish broadcaster UTV Media posted what it termed a 'resilient' set of first-half results, pushed higher by earnings in the Radio division. During the six-month period, revenue rose from £59.1m to £61.55 while pre-tax profits were up by 3.0% to £11.2m (2011: £10.9m). Basic earnings per share fell from 9.34p to 7.07p. Profits were affected by a reduction in both the Television and New Media divisional operating profits. Over the period net debt was reduced by £13.1m over the 12 months to June to £50.0m. The interim dividend was increased from 1.50p to 1.75p. Earlier this year the company acquired Simply Zesty, which boosted turnover in the New Media division by £0.6m. Within New Media, Internet revenue slipped due to competitive pricing while revenue at its web development business, Tibus, was maintained. Overall new media operating profit was £0.6m (2011: £0.9m). Within Television, operating profits were reduced to £2.1m (2011: £3.1m) after net advertising revenue was down by 3.0%, an underperformance of the ITV1 network, which was flat. Within this, television advertising revenue from London was on a par with the ITV1 network while revenue from Ireland was down by 8.0%. Total television revenue was down by 2.0% to £16.9m (2011: £17.2m)

Transense Technologies, which provides sensor systems for the transportation and industrial markets, has reported that its trading division, Translogik, has received an initial order for its iTrack Tyre Temperature and Pressure Monitoring Systems for mining and off-the-road vehicles from its Indonesian distributor, AutoRFID Solutions. The system will be installed as part of a pilot scheme on three of the 168 vehicles at the ADARO mine in Indonesia, one of AutoRFID's clients. Graham Storey, Chief Executive Officer of Transense, said it is "very encouraging that our success in South Africa has triggered this order in what is a new territory for us".

Property-firm Development Securities has completed a deal to grab the so-called 'Chrome Portfolio' from NAMA - the body tasked with flogging the assets of the state owned Irish banks. The £103m deal, in which Development Securities is a minority partner with Pears Group, will see the two firms acquire several central London properties, worth around £65m. The remainder of the portfolio includes several neighbourhood retail schemes "anchored" by Tesco convenience stores. Development Securities is becoming a regular customer for NAMA having already picked up the Wick Lane Wharf development in Hackney Wick in April.

in 2012/13. Cairn's interest in block 9/11 is 6%, however the company has an 80% operated interest in block 9/11c to the south into which Mariner may extend. Cairn now holds interests in 27 offshore licences in the UK and Norway. During the year-to-date, six wells have so far been drilled on this acreage and of these two were successful, three were unsuccessful and one was temporarily suspended before reaching its planned target. Over the next 16 months, Cairn is expecting to participate in seven firm and eight contingent North Sea exploration and appraisal wells. In Greenland Cairn has confirmed that the necessary geological elements for success are present across the basins. While no commercial quantities of hydrocarbons were found during 2010/11, a very considerable body of data has been gathered for future evaluation, which is what oil companies usually say when they have spent a heap of money drilling wells that are commercial duds. The Mediterranean is one of Cairn's key areas of focus and the firm is currently in the early stages of carrying out frontier exploration in the Valencia Basin offshore Spain where there is "significant" potential for hydrocarbons.

Cair's farm-in agreement coincided with the announcement of its interim results, which revealed sharply reduced pre-tax losses and a post-tax profit. Pre-tax loss for the half year ended June 30th declined significantly from $141.3m to $50.0m, with current and deferred tax credits resulting in a profit after tax of $37m, down from $642.8m last year when the group trousered $784.1m in profits from the Cairn India Limited (CIL) operations it has now sold off. Cash and equivalents at the end of the period totalled $932.8m compared to $573.9m at the same date the previous year, despite the return of around $3.5bn to shareholders following the sale of the CIL stake. Chief Executive Simon Thomson said: "With a strong balance sheet and the foundations for sustainable revenue generation in the coming years principally set, management attention and operational effort is focused on building a series of material exploration positions in prospective and fiscally attractive areas in order to offer investors exposure to capital growth potential through future transformational exploration." Regionally, the Kraken oil sands in the North Sea are, according to Cairn, "very high quality reservoirs" and recent tests at the 5Z well confirm the mobility and high deliverability potential of this heavy oil. Further appraisal drilling is now required to define better the field size. Mariner, one of the largest undeveloped fields in the UK North Sea, is a heavy oil field with what Cairn called "high well deliverability" and the operator (Statoil) is working towards Project Sanction i

Oil and gas explorer Cairn Energy is to acquire a half-share in the Foum Draa block in Morocco, diluting the stakes of San Leon Energy, Serica Energy, Longreach Oil and Gas Ventures. Cairn will pay its equity interest share of past costs and the first $60m towards the costs of an exploration well, which will be drilled in the fourth quarter of 2013 at the earliest. Two key prospects on the block have been identified. The block is located offshore southern Morocco in water depths of 500-2,000 metres and covers an area of around 5,000 square kilometres. Cairn now becomes the biggest stake-holder in the block, with San Leon holding 14.17%, Serica 8.33% and Longreach 2.5%. ONYHM, Morocco's National Bureau of Petroleum and Mines, continues to hold a 25% interest. "San Leon committed itself to carrying out extensive work offshore Morocco over the past two and a half years and this farm-in agreement concludes the farm-out of our two offshore blocks," said Oisin Fanning, Executive Chairman of San Leon. Meanwhile, Tony Craven Walker, Serica's Chairman and interim Chief Executive, welcomed Cairn to the consortium, noting that the Scottish company's deep water drilling expertise should speed up the drilling programme. "The transaction with Cairn is the third successful farm-out by Serica since the start of the year," the Serica boss noted.

John Laing Infrastructure Fund, the listed investment firm specialising in public private partnerships, has reported net asset value (NAV) growth and a dividend in line with expectations. In the six months to the end of June, NAV, including the proceeds of a £31m share placing, stood at £475.7m, up 7.7% on the prior year. The interim dividend has been announced at 3p per share while the portfolio value has increased 4.5% on an underlying basis to £449.4m. Over the last six months JLIF bought six new assets, including three social housing projects in Camden and the North East Fire and Rescue project. The company now says it is "reviewing its credit facilities with a view to increasing these over the coming months..." According to today's update it has in excess of £350m in assets available to buy over the next three years from the company which originally spun it out, private firm John Laing PLC. Paul Lester, JLIF's Chairman said of the results: "At a time when global financial markets continue to experience turbulence and volatility, JLIF continues to offer a stable and steady yielding investment. There continues to be a buoyant secondary market for infrastructure assets and we are confident of further acquisition opportunities."

HICL Infrastructure is to spend 10m pounds to take bigger holdings in four public/private partnership projects. The acquisition of further stakes in Romford Hospital, Fife Schools, Exeter Crown Courts and Stoke Mandeville Hospital will all come from subsidiaries of French firm Sodexo SA. The deal takes HICL's total interests in these projects to 66.67% on Romford Hospital, 44.4% on Fife Schools and 100% on both Exeter Crown Courts and Stoke Mandeville Hospital.

United Drug, a provider of services to healthcare manufacturers and pharmaceutical retailers, has agreed to acquire the entire issued share capital of Synopia, which provides market access services to pharmaceutical and biotech manufacturers in the US market. The purchase, which will be made for a total consideration of up to $12m, is being made to enable to the firm to broaden its range of services to clients in its Sales, Marketing & Medical division. $3.2m of the consideration is payable in cash on completion, with an additional amount of up to $8.8m payable after three years on achievement of agreed profit targets. United Drug also announced plans to acquire the entire issued share capital of Drug Safety Alliance for a total consideration of up to $28m. The firm, which employs 94 people, provides safety and risk management services supporting pharmaceutical, biotech, medical device, animal and consumer health organisations. The business will also form part of United's Sales, Marketing & Medical division and is being purchased to allow United to offer clients an integrated call centre and case processing pharmacovigilance service. $21m of the consideration is payable in cash on completion with an additional amount of up to $7m payable after three years based on achievement of agreed profit targets. Both acquisitions will be financed from United Drug's internal resources and existing debt facilities and is expected to be immediately accretive to earning

Simulation and training provider Pennant International lept in morning trading after it increased its full-year forecasts. Without providing any figures the company said that its directors have carried out a review of current trading. "This has shown improved performance in all operating divisions and as a result the directors consider that revenues and profits for 2012 are likely to exceed current market expectations."

peel hunt....... The same broker is also expecting Irish bookie Paddy Power to serve up impressive results on Wednesday. Australia and the online business are once again likely to be the main drivers, the broker thinks, and given the recently reported experience of Ladbrokes there may even be signs of recovery in the bookie's home market of Ireland. "The cash pile is growing and there is likely to be an increasing interest in what the group intends to do with this," Peel Hunt suggests.

Peel Hunt thinks online gaming firm 888's interim results will show growth over the first half of 2011 but the second half of the year is likely to be more challenging, "given the investment in newly regulated markets and the potential disruption of the Olympics."