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S&U (SUS) ORD PRICE: 728p MARKET VALUE: £85.4m TOUCH: 715-740p 12-MONTH HIGH: 793p LOW: 548p DIVIDEND YIELD: 5.9% PE RATIO: 8 NET ASSET VALUE: 467p NET DEBT: 34% Year to 31 Jan Turnover (£m) Pre-tax profit (£m) Earnings per share (p) Dividend per share (p) 2009 46.2 8.26 50.1 32.0 2010 45.8 9.00 55.2 34.0 2011 48.0 9.86 60.0 36.0 2012 51.9 12.2 76.1 41.0 2013* 55.1 13.5 86.1 43.0 % change +6 +11 +13 +5

S&U has a successful motor finance operation as well, called Advantage. Growth here has been impressive since its establishment in 1999 and it now generates a third of group revenue. That trend has continued into the current year, with revenue and collections both above budget and with gross receivables up 11 per cent year on year. Broker Arden Partners estimates that Advantage's sales will increase by more than 50 per cent between 2010 and 2014, with profits in that time expected to more than double to £7.5m. Meanwhile, customer numbers, currently at over 45,000, are growing at about 5,000 a year and demand remains strong - around 400 applications out of about 13,000 are approved each month.

True, rising unemployment and depressed economic conditions are hardly ideal. But, to an extent, that benefits S&U - it's having no trouble attracting new business as mainstream lenders become more wary. The group's trading update last month revealed that customer numbers at its core home credit operation - Loansathome4U - had risen 4 per cent year on year between 1 February and 23 May. Such strong credit demand, typically for loans of between £150 and £600, is also allowing S&U to be selective. The division received a further boost in February, too, after S&U bought the home credit business of Norton Financial Services, based in Rotherham.

S&U has been offering non-standard loans to those turned away by mainstream lenders since 1938 and its success has been built on tough lending criteria and the close rapport that it develops with its customers. Such a personalised approach is essential in this business - it's the best way to address repayment problems early on with flexible solutions such as reduced repayments. Such flexibility won't be found at the high-street banks and it's why S&U boasts both strong customer retention levels and relatively low levels of bad debt.

Clearly, there is room for substantial upside once the sale process hots up. In the meantime, the business is on a sound footing and the shares, rated on just six times broker Numis's forecast earnings, fail to reflect forecast earnings growth of 39 per cent this year But as always dyor gl...........

Of course, there are risks. Unlikely as it is, API could go unsold, or struggle to attract a decent price. Making a big chunk of group profits from the tobacco industry carries dangers, too, given the threat of a ban on branded cigarette packaging.

Bid prospects aren't the only reason to own API's shares, though. Improving margins meant this year's profit topped £5m and, because accumulated tax losses in the UK and US mean it currently pays hardly any tax. EPS almost doubled. As usual, supplying laminate packaging for upmarket cosmetics brands, cigarette packets and booze made most of the money - about £5.7m of operating profit in all. And increasing demand for security features on clothes tags and ID cards meant profit at the holographic division tripled to £1.6m. It was tougher at the lower-margin foils unit. Sales there were little changed both in Europe and the US and, while cost-cutting helped profits in the Americas, higher overheads and weak volumes halved income this side of the Atlantic.

API (API) ORD PRICE: 55.8p MARKET VALUE: £42.8m TOUCH: 55.5-56p 12-MONTH: 68.5p LOW: 27.8p DIVIDEND YIELD: nil PE RATIO: 6 NET ASSET VALUE: 28p NET DEBT: 17% Year to 31 Mar Turnover (£m) Pre-tax profit (£m) Earnings per share (p) Dividend per share (p) 2009 87.4 -0.25 -1.7 nil 2010 79.2 -0.34 3.4 nil 2011 100 2.86 3.5 nil 2012 114 5.06 6.7 nil 2013* 122 7.60 9.3 nil % change +7 +50 +39 -

That might reignite interest from Illinois Tool Works. It tried buying the heavily loss-making API in 2005 for about £70m, equivalent to roughly 100p a share today according to analysts, but Steel Partners wanted more. Moreover, API is thought to have grabbed the attention of potential suitors in Germany and the Middle East and could create a stir among foil makers in Asia, too.

API is only on the market because Steel Partners, the US activist fund and 32 per cent shareholder, has just listed on the New York Stock Exchange and its plans don't include API. They and Wynnefield Capital, with a near-30 per cent stake, demanded back in February that API seek a buyer. Mr Turner agreed to start looking once shipments for a lucrative five-year laminates contract had begun at the end of June. Understood to be with a tobacco major, it could generate £10m of sales this year and twice that the year after.

That API has made such progress has much to do with chief executive Andrew Turner. The business was haemorrhaging cash and was deep in debt when he took over in October 2007 yet, within four months, it had raised £8m, begun slashing costs, got the bank onside and switched its listing to the Alternative Investment Market (Aim). Now supplying the big tobacco companies, drinks giant Diageo and drugs major GlaxoSmithKline, API is profitable and has generated over £8m of cash from operations for two years' running. It should be debt-free in 2013 and, after weathering a period of high raw material costs, prices are falling and margins are bound to improve.

Like the Queen, API has been with us since the 1950s. However, unlike Her Majesty, the packaging material group's reign may soon be over. Under pressure from major shareholders, the business is effectively up for sale but, given that it’s now in the "healthiest group financial position for at least a decade," according to chairman Richard Wright, any buyer will be forced to pay a big premium.

The group had net bank debt of £35m at 31st May and depending upon the profile of land opportunities over the coming weeks, the board anticipates a modest level of gearing at the year end.

The average selling price on reserved houses since the beginning of February is £190.400, up 5% year-on-year. The rise is largely down to a combination of more up-market units being sold in the London market, and a greater proportion of private reservations. Operating margins continue to improve, and the group expects to produce an operating margin of at least 11% for the full year.

The increase in the private weekly sales rate is more marked at 19%, having been attained from an average of 210 sites, compared to 195 last year, the company said. The target Bellway set at the beginning of the financial year of achieving 5% volume growth is now secure, subject to build delivery, and the board is therefore confident that legal completions for the year ending July 31st 2012 should exceed those achieved last year by around 300 units. In addition, some 1,600 reservations have been taken for completion in 2012/13.

House builder Bellway said demand throughout the spring selling season has remained resilient with visitor levels and reservation rates running ahead of expectations. In the period covering February to May, inclusive, reservations (net of cancellations) have averaged 122 per week, up 9% on the corresponding period of last year.

Work on the contract is due to be completed in 2017.

The contract, worth up to $49.2m, requires Ultra to supply upgraded versions of its submarine transducers that are stocked by the US Navy to support fleet requirements for new and restored units. The hull-mounted transducers use sonar to detect and localise targets.

Ultra Electronics, the technology company with interests in defence, transport and energy, has been awarded an Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity contract by the US Navy.

"There is no doubt that there will continue to be pressure on consumer confidence for some time to come. However, we continue to innovate and to seek new commercial opportunities in order to counter the effects of the macro-economic climate in which we are operating," Martin said.