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Andrew Williams, Halma's Chief Executive, said: "The acquisition of SunTech continues our strategy of building strong positions in markets with resilient long-term growth drivers. Their blood pressure monitoring technology is a perfect complement to Riester's own clinical grade blood pressure monitoring devices and this acquisition allows the two companies to work together to further develop their markets and products." SunTech will join Halma's Health and Analysis sector within the Health Optics sub-sector which includes Riester, Keeler, Volk and Accutome.

A further consideration of up to $6.0m (£3.9m) will be paid if earnings for the year to December 2012 exceed a pre-determined target. SunTech's unaudited accounts, adjusted for non-recurring expenses, for the financial year ended December 31st 2011 show revenues of $23.0m (£14.8m) and an operating profit of $5.4m (£3.5m), while current trading remains good, the firm said.

Safety, health and sensor technology group Halma has acquired SunTech Medical Group, which supplies clinical grade non-invasive blood pressure monitoring products and technologies. The company was purchased for an initial consideration of $46m (£29.7m) for the share capital alongside $5.0m (£3.2m) for cash retained in the business. SunTech's working capital, excluding cash, is expected to be around $8.3m (£5.4m).

Positive Points: With the first quarter typically one of the least significant of the year and with the key summer season still ahead, management remains confident that the company is well prepared to capitalise on any improvement in conditions and deliver a solid full year result. The board noted that "we are making progress with our new programme of self-help initiatives, 'Creating the Leader', aimed at helping our customers have better, more sustainable homes and building a more valuable business for our shareholders." Management's 'Delivering Value' programme over the last four years helped adjusted pre-tax profit more than double, up from £357 million in 2007/08 to £807 million in 2011/12. The detailing of plans for the next five years are estimated to generate an additional £300 million on an annualised basis. Directors remain confident that tough economic times provide it with opportunity to gain market share. Management initiatives to reduce group costs are ongoing. Unlike UK rivals, the group enjoys geographical diversification, including Emerging Markets such as China, Poland and Russia. For B&Q China, losses reduced to £5 million (2011/12: £7 million reported loss) reflecting continued tight cost management in what is traditionally the weakest trading quarter of the financial year, impacted by Chinese New Year. The group should benefit from any recovery in housing markets such as the UK and Ireland.

Negative Points: Same store or like-for-like sales for its UK and Irish division declined by 6.9% on a constant currency basis. Same store sales in France declined from +4.2% in the fourth quarter to +0.7% in the first quarter. Potential moves into new markets – a target in the group’s next growth programme – pose risks. B&Q China sales declined by 6.8% to £67 million (-6.0% same store) reflecting one less store compared with the first quarter last year and a more challenging housing market than anticipated. Perceived growth markets such as China could be targeted by industry giants such as Home Depot of the US.

Financial Highlights: Total group sales declined by 3.6% to £2.63 billion, whilst same store sales on a constant currency basis fell by 4.8%. Profit fell by 8.6% to £160 million - 5.5% when adjusted for currency movements. The total dividend over the last financial year was increased by 25% compared to the prior year.

First quarter trading update: Kingfisher held up the weather as a reason for a damp and dreary update. Against strong comparatives, a 3.6% drop in total sales and 8.6% decline in profits reflected the perils of currency conversion, as well as the ongoing hurdles being provided by the Eurozone. In particular, trading in the UK and Ireland was anaemic, whilst the French contribution was weaker than in previous quarters. Set against this, management was hopeful that the worst was now over for the year as the first quarter is traditionally its weakest. The slowdown in sales had allowed time to focus on cost reduction and margin improvement, whilst the company's track record of delivering superior returns in tougher times should assist.

Kingfisher is a major home improvement retail business with operations across the UK, Ireland, Continental Europe and Asia. It operates over 950 stores in eight countries across Europe and Asia (including China). Its main retail brands are B&Q, Castorama, Brico Dépôt and Screwfix. Kingfisher also has a 50% joint venture business in Turkey with the Koç Group, and a 21% interest in, and strategic alliance with, Hornbach, Germany's leading large format DIY retailer. The group employs over 65,000 staff and is and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.

Positive Points: The group's SPLENDA Sucralose manufacturing facility in McIintosh, Alabama restarted ahead of schedule with orders now being fulfilled from this facility. The company is well positioned to benefit from the increasing focus by consumers and governments to healthier lifestyles which is driving food and beverage companies to develop healthier alternatives and increasing demand for ingredients in the health sector. In March, Tate & Lyle opened a new Commercial and Food Innovation Centre in Chicago. The centre will be the global headquarters for its Innovation and Commercial Development (ICD) group and will feature state-of-the-art laboratories, a demonstration kitchen, sensory testing, and analytical and pilot plant facilities. Tate & Lyle is a leading European food and industrial ingredients company. Following the disposal of Tate & Lyle's Sugar business in June 2010, the group is separated into two key divisions - Speciality Starches which accounted for 30% of group revenues, and Bulk Ingredients which makes up the remaining 70% of revenues. The Group's strategy is to become the leading global provider of Speciality Food Ingredients.

Negative Points: During the year, £45 million of cash costs were incurred by the group on business transformation projects taking the total expenditure to £61 million over the last two years. The total cost associated with the development of the new Commercial and Food Innovation Centre is expected to be £32 million, while restarting its manufacturing facility cost £12 million in capital expenditure and £1 million in operating expenses. Competition in the sucralose market is rife and this threat could erode margins and place pressure on profits. The group remains subject to volatility in the form of energy prices (Energy costs for the year were £171 million, broadly in line with the prior year), along with the normal economic cycle. The company noted that during the second half, deterioration in the macroeconomic environment in Europe led to weaker demand within some food ingredient categories. The group has exposure to volatile and high sugar prices and significant increases in the price of certain other raw materials. With approximately 80% of profits coming from the US, foreign exchange translation remains a risk.

Financial Highlights: Adjusted profit before tax in the year ended 31 March was £323 million, up 23% from £263 million the year before. The company said revenues for the year were £3.088 billion (2011: £2.72 billion), an increase of 14% year on year. At 31 March, group net debt stood at £476 million, £12 million higher than at the end of the prior year due to working capital requirements and business transformation investment. The Board is recommending a 5.3% increase in the final dividend to 17.8p (2011 – 16.9p) making a full year dividend of 24.9p (2011 – 23.7p) per share, a 5.1% increase on the prior year.

Full year results: Strong growth in speciality food ingredients helped boost Tate & Lyle's annual profits by 23%, in line with expectations, as it saw steady top-line growth across a number of its markets. The company, which makes most of its profit in the United States, benefited from a move by consumers towards healthier foods which saw its Speciality Food Ingredients sales increase by 10% to £887 million (2011 – £805 million) with sales volumes up by 4%. Within Bulk Ingredients, sales increased by 15% to £2.2 billion (2011 – £1.9 billion). The group re-opened a second plant in March to meet demand for its zero calorie SPLENDA, while high sugar prices benefited its competing bulk sweeteners as it gained from growth in emerging markets. Management commented that despite the current economic uncertainty and a step change in investments needed to transform the business, the group expects "to make progress during this financial year".

Tate & Lyle is a global provider of ingredients and solutions to the food, beverage and other industries. Tate aims to turn raw materials into distinctive, high quality ingredients. The group's range of leading branded food ingredients includes SPLENDA® Sucralose, PROMITOR™ Dietary Fiber and STA-LITE® Polydextrose. Tate & Lyle also produces branded industrial ingredients including Bio-PDO™, Ethylex® and Sta-Lok® paper starches; and staple ingredients such as high fructose corn syrup, ethanol, citric acid and basic starches. In addition to providing a wide range of ingredients its Innovation and Commercial Development Group supports customers by providing product development, technical advice and proprietary consumer insight studies. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index as of 20 June 2011.

The group which manufactures performance materials that are used in floors, yarns, fabric and plastics, said it will post its interim results for the six months to the end of May on 17 July.

Industrial fabric maker Low & Bonar said it expects first half sales and profit to be comfortably ahead of last year as solid trading continues. "This will be the fifth consecutive half year of profitable growth. Despite the weakness of the euro, the group expects full year results to be in line with expectations," the group said in a company update.

Treveria Group, a German retail-focused real estate investment company, turned to a loss for the year ended December 31st 2011 after gross rental income on managed properties fell from €124.3m to €95.1m year-on-year. Reported loss before tax came in at €14.7m (2010: profit €143m), while adjusted profit actually rose from €5.0m to €5.8m. The company reported a small decline in its portfolio value from €1.37bn to €1.33bn while net asset value per share fell from 54 cents to 48.8 cents. The company secured 233 new leases secured during 2011 generating annual rent of €15.3m, down from the 299 leases and €14.5m generated the previous year. The firm said its cost-cutting programme was progressing.

Surgical Innovations Group, which provides solutions for minimally invasive surgery, has signed a five-year extension to its distribution agreement with UK distributor Elemental Healthcare. The agreement is worth £5.0m over the period of the contract, which is based on minimum contracted volumes and provides Elemental with continued exclusive distribution rights to Surgical Innovation's entire product portfolio within the UK under the SI brand.

Transense Technologies, a sensors specialist, has been informed by one of the world's largest mining companies that its iTrack Tyre Temperature and Pressure Monitoring System for mining and off-the-road vehicles has successfully completed field trials and is now an approved product for deployment in the southern African region. The unnamed mining company will initially focus on fitting the iTrack system to its haul trucks while also considering fitment to its ancillary mine vehicles, more than doubling the potential number of vehicles requiring the system. The iTrack system alerts operators to track their vehicles in real-time and receive early warning of potential problems or hazards.

In that statement, the company said its revenues in the first 10 months of the financial year were 25% ahead of the corresponding period of the previous year. The market is expecting NCC's full year revenues to rise to £87.94m from £71.00m the year before.

"This is a very frustrating position to be in - we have invested considerable amounts of time and resource into the new system but have had to take the hard decision to revert to our old system as the new simply wasn't measuring up to our needs," said Rob Cotton, Group Chief Executive of NCC. "This decision has no bearing on our day to day trading; indeed we are on course to close the year today absolutely in line with our expectations, as stated in our IMS [interim management statement]," Cotton added.