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in Organics, the Canadian facilities are operating at good levels and the Amsterdam facility, which is the largest wet AD facility in Europe, is generating record levels of electricity. In UK Municipal, the actions taken to improve performance continue to benefit this business with margins from the operational contracts in the period in excess of 10%. For the full year the company expects the margins to be 9.0% to 10%. All other projects, either under construction or in the bidding process, are progressing to schedule. Shanks remains on track to deliver the targeted returns (12-15% post tax return on original invested capital) for the £100m investment programme and is also making progress with the second (£150m) phase of the programme, which it expects to achieve the same targeted returns. Peter Dilnot, Group Chief Executive of Shanks, said: "While market conditions continue to be challenging, particularly in our Solid Waste businesses, our Organics, UK Municipal and Hazardous Waste businesses are performing well.

Shanks Group, the waste management group, has said that while its Solid Waste business is suffering from challenging market conditions, the Organics, UK Municipal and Hazardous Waste divisions have performed well since April 1st. In Solid Waste, underlying market conditions have remained challenging, particularly in the Netherlands with volumes and prices continuing on a downward trend. Recyclate prices have also weakened slightly during the period, the firm said. The business has recently implemented a new management structure for the Netherlands and Belgium, which is more closely aligned with the core activities. The Solid Waste businesses in Netherlands and Belgium have been integrated, with the eight Dutch Solid Waste businesses consolidated into three regions. Work has also started on implementing a shared services model across the Benelux businesses. In the Netherlands Hazardous Waste business, volumes and prices have held up well compared with the prior year and the pipeline of future potential orders remains strong. The business will now operate as a standalone business unit, reflecting its contirubtion to profits.

Kitchen supplier Howden Joinery said half year profit rose following improved sales at its UK depots as expectations for the year as a whole remain unchanged. On a cautionary note, chief executive Matthew Ingle said the group is cautious about the outlook in what remain difficult market conditions and it will continue to respond to the prevailing conditions. The firm, which supplies kitchen, bathroom cabinet and joinery products, said UK depot revenue increased by 6.8% to £357.7m during the half year to 9 June 2012 and rose 5% on a same depot basis. Total pre-tax profit climbed to £25.4m from £23.5m while group revenue rose to £364.6m from £341.7m in 2011. Gross profit margin increased to 60.1% from 59.3% a year earlier while operating profit rose to £29.1m from £25.5m before. Howden, which resumed its dividend payments this March this year after a four-year break, has declared an interim payment of 0.3p per share.

Hull-based telecoms firm KCOM Group has continued to dial up the right numbers since the start of its new financial year on April 1st. The company is set to tell shareholders at its annual general meeting on Thursday that it is trading in line with expectations having made good progress against its longer term objectives, and expects its performance for the current financial year to reflect its focus on growth. As expected, the group's Employee Benefit Trust has completed the acquisition of 7.3m shares in the first quarter of the year for a cash consideration of £5.1 m. These will be used to satisfy the firm's obligations relating to certain share incentive plans that will vest on July 24th. The group reconfirmed its commitment to bumping up the divi by at least 10% for the current financial year.

Spanish oil group Repsol has reached an agreement with a Chilean consortium group of investors led by LarrainVial for the sale of subsidiary Repsol Butano Chile for approximately 540m dollars. The deal is expected to generate a net capital gain of more than $170m while reducing the group's debt by around $317m. "This transaction is part of the divestment of non-strategic assets included in Repsol's 2012-2016 Strategic Plan, which aims for up €4.5bn of divestment for the period. These divestments, which already amount to €1.85bn, together with other measures, aim to improve the financial structure of the group and to fund planned investments in exploration and production, the company's growth engine," Repsol explained in a press release. "The sale agreement for Repsol Butano Chile is the first divestment Repsol has carried out since the presentation of its new strategic plan. It is a new step in the divestment process of non-integrated downstream assets in Latin America, through which the company has raised nearly $1.75bn since 2007, including this operation which is expected to be completed on July 27 2012, subject to conditions common to this type of transactions."

"The trials of our new 'ways of working' are progressing well and the roll-out of free wi-fi across the whole of our estate is now more than 50% complete. We continue to focus on delivering excellent customer service and guest satisfaction to drive operational performance. Overall, the business transformation programme remains on track."

Pubs owner Mitchells and Butlers has posted minimal like-for-like sales growth following persistent wet weather and the negative impact of the European Football Championships. Like-for-like sales growth was 0.4% in the 14 weeks to July 14th and 1.9% for the 42 weeks of the year to date, although the firm was keen to emphasise that during this time there have been days of strong trading, including the five days over the Diamond Jubilee weekend which saw strong 4.0% like-for-like sales growth. LFL growth in the most recent nine weeks has seen growth 1.6%. Total sales for the Retained Estate were up 5.1% in the first 42 weeks, while total company sales, including the impact from major disposals last year, were up 2.6%. Bob Ivell, Executive Chairman, said: "Despite the continuing poor weather and challenging economic conditions, we are continuing to deliver a resilient operating performance. Our business transformation programme is progressing well and we are increasing the focus on guest service in all parts of the business. We remain on track to deliver full year results in line with market expectations.

Pearson will be reflecting the integration costs relating to Author Solutions in its 2012 accounts and expects the acquisition to enhance adjusted earnings per share and to generate a return on invested capital above Pearson's weighted average cost of capital from 2013, the first full year of ownership. Author Solutions will be integrated into Penguin's back office and technology infrastructure but will continue to be run as a separate business.

Penguin Books, the famous book publishing arm of Pearson Group, is to beef up its presence in the self-publishing market with the acquisition of Author Solutons. The Financial Times publisher is paying $116m in cash to prise Author Solutions away from Bertram Capital. Author Solutions claims to be the world's leading provider of professional self-publishing services, having given around 150,000 authors a route to market. "The acquisition gives Penguin a leading position in this fast-growing segment of the publishing industry and brings significant opportunity for the two companies to collaborate," the Pearson statement said. Penguin will gain access to Author Solutions' expertise in online marketing, consumer analytics, professional services and user-generated content while the US company will benefit from Penguin's design, editorial and sales skills, and its strong international presence. In 2011 Author Solutions generated revenues of around $100m, and has been growing at an average annual rate of 12% over the past three years. Its business is split broadly evenly across three key areas: publishing, marketing and distribution services, with revenues generated primarily from services to authors.

Gross margins and costs in the first quarter were in line with management expectations. Looking ahead, the group's planning assumptions now reflect continuing negative Retail (i.e. excluding the Autocentres business) LFL sales in the remainder of the first half, with second-half Retail LFLs likely to be flat to mid-single-digit negative. Previous guidance on Retail margins and costs and on Autocentres' profit growth is broadly unchanged. The group said it was confident it would enjoy "healthy underlying cash flows" while it implemented its turnaround plan. Dennis Millard, interim Executive Chairman, commented: "The consumer environment remains difficult and the unseasonal weather conditions this quarter had a direct impact on sales of cycles and outdoor leisure products. In this challenging economic environment the management team will be focused on maximising our trading performance and cash generation, prudent cost management and delivering the longer term strategy outlined to shareholders in May 2012." Millard gave the usual thanks for the service of now departed Chief Executive David Wild, but said the time was right for a change of leadership. Millard will revert to a non-executive role once a replacement for Wild has been found, though the group warned that the search could take a number of months.

Total revenue at Halfords in the 13 weeks to June 29th dropped by 5.2% year-on-year (y/y), while LFL sales tumbled 5.6% from a year earlier in the 13 weeks to June 29th. This comes despite the recently acquired Autocentres business (formerly Nationwide Autocentres) growing revenues by 14.5%, or by 9.2% on a LFL basis. The main consolation for long suffering shareholders is that after making a terrible start to the new financial year - LFL sales were down 12.4% in the first eight weeks of the period - LFL sales in the five weeks to June 29th were up 0.9% y/y. There was also some cheer on the Internet-side of the business, with online revenues up 13.0% from a year earlier. Revenue at the Halfords retail estate was down 7.8%, with LFL sales falling by 7.5%. The car maintenance business held up well, with LFL sales up 1.0% on a year earlier, but LFL sales in the car enhancement and leisure divisions both declined 10.5%.

Analysts at Investec said in a research note this morning: "FY13E looks set to be tough, and clearly a change of CEO adds an element of uncertainty to the business. However, the strategy is unchanged, cash generation remains strong, supporting our unchanged dividend forecast, and early feedback from the three 'laboratory' stores has been 'encouraging'." The broker maintained its 'buy' recommendation for the shares on Thursday, but was prompted to slash its target price by 27% (from 310p to 225p) on the back of the lower profit guidance.

investors of Halfords shrugged off some disappointing profit guidance on Thursday, as the market seemed to celebrate the abrupt departure of its Chief Executive Officer (CEO) David Wild. Non-executive Chairman Dennis Millard is now in charge of the shop while the struggling seller of bikes and car parts looks for Wild's replacement. The news comes as Halfords released its first-quarter trading statement, in which it revealed that full-year pre-tax profit will be in the range of £62m to £70m, compared with the current market consensus forecast of £75m. The firm also expects like-for-like (LFL) sales comparisons to be negative - or at best flat - for the remainder of the financial year.

As for Close Brothers, Peel Hunt anticipates that the group's banking division will have continued to enjoy the favourable market conditions it was enjoying back in May, when it gave its last update. "We were forecasting a loan book of c£4bn but it looks likely that this will be exceeded," the broker reckons.

Peel Hunt thinks Beazley's gross written premiums will be around 8% higher year-on-year at $991m, and predicts the combined ratio - which measures how well the insurer has taken on risk - will improve to 91% from 108% in the first half of last year. The broker's forecast is for earnings per share of 10.3p versus an interim loss per share last year of 1.7p. "Of main interest will be the rating outlook, particularly for Beazley's greater proportion of casualty business as we hear that rate increases seem to be lessening as we await the peak hurricane season," Peel Hunt said.

Positive Points: For the current financial year, management has raised earnings guidance. Sales growth in Asia continues to be reported. Management has previously set goals of adding $20 billion in new revenue and spending about $20 billion on acquisitions, from 2010 through to 2015, as it expands its offerings to business customers. IBM is the largest global supplier of information technology (hardware and software) to corporations and governments, so it is seen as a bellwether of technology spending trends.

Financial Highlights: Earnings per share excluding exceptional items of $3.51 were reported, ahead of the consensus analyst estimate of $3.43. Management now expects full year earnings per share - excluding exceptional items - of at least $15.10, versus at least $15.00 previously. Group revenue declined by 3% to $25.8 billion, below analyst forecasts.

Second quarter results: Following a near 6% decline in the share price over the last three months, the update broadly surprised to the upside. Earnings per share exceeded analyst estimates, whilst management raised its full-year earnings target. Management now expects full-year earnings per share - excluding exceptional items - of at least $15.10, versus at least $15.00 previously. A changed group focus from hardware to higher-margin services and software continues to be pursued, whilst an emphasis on reducing costs remains. On the downside, overall sales fell by 3%, with difficulties for the group's Europe, Middle East and African business generating a 9% decline. On balance, analyst opinion currently denotes a strong hold.

information technology company, International Business Machines Corporation (IBM), is recognised as the world's largest and most profitable computer company with over 407,000 employees worldwide and sales of greater than $100 billion (source Forbes). IBM designs, develops and manufactures computer systems, software, storage systems, microelectronics and consultancy. IBM Research also ranks as the world's largest information technology research organisation, with more than 3,000 scientists and engineers working from eight labs in six countries around the world.

Positive Points: Management remains confident that its programme of self-help initiatives, 'Creating the Leader', will see the company emerge as "a world class retailer at helping customers have better, more sustainable homes" Unlike UK rivals, the group enjoys geographical diversification, including Emerging Markets such as China, Poland and Russia. Additional marketing and promotional activity helped encourage customers to switch some of their activity to internal repairs and projects, partially offsetting the weather-related weakness, particularly in the UK, reported management. The retailer is seeking growth in countries including Poland and Russia to help offset declines in Britain. Sales in Poland rose 1.5% and revenue increased 48.5% in Russia. Kingfisher has a successful track record with dominant strategic positions in the UK and France.