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Alliance Pharma, a speciality pharmaceutical company, has said trading during the six months ended June 30th has been in line with management's expectations, with turnover of around £22m. The Hydromol produce continues to perform well, with growth of 28% over the first half of 2011. The firm said it is continuing to explore a number of acquisition opportunities, some of which are at a very advanced stage. The temporary suspension of the ImmuCyst product is expected to end in late 2013.

Gresham Computing has unveiled Australia and New Zealand Banking Group as its partner in a previously announced significant contract win. Under the deal Gresham will for a third time partner the bank, providing cash and information management solutions for corporate clients in an effort to increase visibility, control and efficiency in these areas. The bank said it believes the deal is the start of a long-term partnership for the two companies.

Pharmaceutical firm Sinclair IS Pharma saw a big jump in revenues in the last year driven by international sales. In a trading statement the firm said it expected revenue for the year to the end of June to have grown by 56% to reach £51.3m Like-for-like revenue growth was expected to be 11.3% for the year, it said. Chief Executive Chris Spooner put the strong performance down to a combination of strong growth from international operations, in particular Asia, and more modest like-for-like growth in Europe. "We have continued to improve the growth prospects of our product portfolio by acquisition, and brand extension," he said. "This combined with multiple product launches in Asia, mean that we are well positioned to deliver further growth in the coming year." International operations saw like-for-like growth of 36% for the full year, including growth in Asia of 155% as a result of multiple product launches. The firm said it expected international growth to continue in2013 with several new launches in Asia.

Things have not been all-rosy in North America, where the company has been making a big marketing push for its Tikit-owned software. Sales in the first half of the year were slower than expected, but the group is expecting stronger sales in the second half in the USA on the basis of a "good pipeline of opportunities". Cash generation by the group in the first half was described as "excellent" and the net cash at June 30th was significantly higher than a year earlier, even after taking into account higher dividends paid to shareholders and the purchase of shares for the employee benefit trust. As per usual, profit generation is expected to be second-half weighted.

Things appear to be mostly tickety-boo at Tikit, the provider of software solutions to the legal and accountancy professions, though sales in North America have not grown as fast as hoped. Once all the numbers have been totted up, total revenues in the first half of 2012 are likely to be similar to revenues in the corresponding period of 2011 but, importantly, will comprise a larger proportion of products developed in-house, which offer the company a higher margin. Tikit-owned software sales of Template Management System and Partner for Windows PMS solutions, have been particularly successful, the group said, as have those of Autonomy's iManage document management solution. "These sales provide Tikit with a healthy order book of services based revenue for the second half," the pre-close period trading update revealed.

Good start this morning,need to stabalize in the 8s now........

Held up well today.....markets are rubbish at moment gl all.....

Building products distributor SIG is another company which, like M&S, will not have appreciated Britain's miserable run of weather, and the decline in the value of the euro will not have done it any favours either. "Volatility is set to remain a feature of SIG due to the relatively diverse product and geographic base of the group?s operations," reckons Northland Capital Partners. "We expect the first half of 2012 to be a relatively weak period of sales recovery in continental markets but with little momentum. The leaner and fitter structure can at least offer a better operational gearing on any revenue growth. SIG's management is implementing a logical strategy of cash conservation (net debt down to £120m at end December 2011) and improved cost structures across all operations," the broker adds.

"Whilst the UK is up against a fairly stiff comp [comparative figures] (+15.1%), we note industry data which show UK online clothing sales growth of 1.0% in April rising to 8% in May. In addition, ASOS's re-pricing activity (begun in the second week of March) should provide a boost," Panmure Gordon said.

The old is Marks & Spencer (M&S), a stalwart of the UK High Street for as long as anyone can remember. The company will give a first quarter (April - June) trading update at its annual general meeting, and performance is expected to be soggy, as befits one of the wettest three month periods Britain has seen since records began. UBS thinks general merchandise like-for-like (LFL) sales could be down by as much as 7% from a year earlier. Performance in the food division may be a bit cheerier on the back of demand over the long Diamond Jubilee week-end.

Sector peer BAE Systems was also in demand today on reports that it could be close to securing a £7.1bn contract with the US Air Force, according to the Sunday Telegraph.

It added that its development pipeline of new projects at MuCell Extrusion is growing well, although revenue from existing licensees is anticipated to be below the same period last year. "We expect good progress in conversion of additional signed MEL licences over the coming years as a consequence of the investments we are making in this business," Zotefoams said. "We remain confident about the long-term prospects of the business," the group concluded

Zotefoams, a foam products maker, said it experienced good revenue growth in the first half of 2012, with sales up roughly 10 per cent from the same period last year. The group, which makes foam products used by the marine, military, sports, packaging, transport, healthcare, toys and building markets, added that it is trading in line with company expectations for the full year. Zotefoams said it remains mindful of the potential impact of economic conditions and movements in currency rates however with a strong order book, it continues to expect 2012 to be yet another year of progress. Its Azote polyolefin foam business grew in all major markets with substantial growth in Asia alongside a robust performance in both the UK and North America. Sales at its high-performance polymer foams business is significantly ahead of the same period last year, driven by growth in aviation applications from North America, it said.

Shares in Aurum Mining rose almost 5% after the firm announced it had received approval to exercise an option to acquire five tungsten permits in Salamanca Province. The cost of acquiring the permits will be €140,000, which the company will fund out of its existing cash pile. Aurum is currently incorporating a Spanish subsidiary to hold the permits and as soon as the entity is incorporated it said it would proceed with the formal acquisition process.

Andes Energia said it was on track to complete the demerger of its electricity business into a new entity, Andina. All shareholders and warrantholders resolutions had been passed and a court hearing to confirm the reduction of capital is to be held on 11 July, the firm said. The is the last step required to complete the demerger

A proposed dividend of 0.75p per share was approved on July 4th (2011: 1.47p). Cash at the period end was £25.3m compared with debt of £7.6m at the same date the previous year.

"Following the Strategic Review in September 2011 and the resulting actions, RM is trading profitably and has a strong balance sheet, with cash at the highest level since September 2007. Over the past 6 months, the focus of the group has evolved from operational restructuring to reinvigorating innovation to develop exciting new offerings for the education sector. "While the board anticipates group revenue will continue to decline for some period due to the phased conclusion of the BSF programme and the continued pressure on hardware and IT infrastructure, in the medium term, RM's new offerings potentially provide an exciting channel for distribution of digital content and applications, built on the group's leading position in the UK education sector. "The education sector remains challenging with continued budgetary pressure and uncertainty due to government policy changes, an environment that the board anticipates will continue for the foreseeable future."

Educational software supplier RM returned to a profit during the half year ended May 31st after being strenghted by a period of review and restructuring. Profit for the six months was £0.6m compared with a loss of £1.8m the same period the previous year, on revenues of £124.7m (2011 H1: £133.0m), boosted by a decrease in operating expenses and sales costs as well as a period of reorganisation which saw it sell a number of business units and ditch 17% of its workers. In a statement the company warned that due to the seasonality of RM's business, interim results are not a good indicator of full year performance. However it was keen to emphasise that operational delivery will be a major focus area for the second half, with 2012 being the most significant year in terms of new school openings under the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme.

Margins in the second half of fiscal 2012 are expected to be similar to those seen in the first half. Helped by sales being at least double what they were in the first half of the year, losses in the second half are expected to be lower than in the six months to the end of December 2011. The doubling of sales volumes has upped the working capital requirements and as a result net debt has increased, though is still below $80m. The group's funding headroom at the end of June was estimated at $44m or more. "Looking forward, we are comfortable with market consensus for sales levels in FY 2013 [fiscal 2013],2 revealed PureCircle's Chief Executive Officer, Magomet Malsagov. Market consensus is for sales of £52.1m and a profit before tax of £2.77m in fiscal 2013. "Our guidance for high levels of sales remains mid-to-long term based and until then there will continue to be some volatility in our results," Malsagov admitted.

PureCircle, which makes sweeteners based on the stevia herb, left a sour taste in investors' mouths on Monday as it admitted sales in the second half of its financial year had been below expectations. Sales in the six months to the end of June are expected to be around $30m, which would push full year sales up to not less than $45m. The group said the disappointing sales number is partly due to the delay in a number of projects now slated for launch in the current financial year, and partly due to the end of the legacy "Take or Pay" volumes and lower sales of co-products, which reflects PureCircle's decision to slow down Reb A production in 2011 to prevent stocks building up too quickly. The fiscal year just ended was the first year since the beginning of the company's sales history that its sales have not included any contractually pre-committed or "Take or Pay" volumes. The group estimates that almost $40m, or around 85% of sales this year, are represented by customer orders and contracts that did not exist three years ago. "This provides a good indication of the diversification of our customer base that has been achieved since FY 2009 [fiscal 2009]," the group statement claimed.