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Broadband revenue was broadly flat year on year at £1,242m (2011: £1,247m) reflecting the increasing ARPU throughout the year offsetting the reduction in the total base in the second and third quarters of the year. EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) was £299m, compared to £228m the previous year. Meanwhile, the EBITDA margin hit its target of 20% "significant ahead of schedule". Cost of sales fell from £877m to £803m and is set to remain flat in 2013.

Telecoms giant Talk Talk posted a pre-tax profit significantly ahead of the previous year, sending the share price soaring in earling trading. Profit before tax for the year was £127m, compared to £57m the previous year, while revenue for the year came in at £1,687m, in line with forecasts and down 4.0% compared to £1,765m the previous year, principally driven by the continued reduction in the non-broadband customer base.

At the end of the half year, 62% of the firm's portfolio was located in London and the South East, compared to 53% in 2009. The dividend was slightly increased year-on-year from 0.53p to 0.55p.

"The major market indices indicate that UK national house prices have remained broadly flat over the last six months and liquidity and transaction volumes remain low. Over the last three years, Grainger has rebalanced its UK residential portfolio to focus on geographic locations where economic activity is more robust and this continues to show benefits."

Robin Broadhurst, Chairman of Grainger, said: "Grainger's residential UK portfolio valuation has risen 2.8% and sales on vacancy are being achieved at 5.7% above September 2011 vacant possession values. This demonstrates our ability to outperform the wider housing market as a result of our portfolio's strategic geographical weighting and the application of our specialist expertise and skills.

The residential UK portfolios, assisted by the strong London and South East weighting, showed a market valuation uplift of 2.8%, with UK Residential increasing by 3.1% and Retirement Solutions by 1.6%. Values in the German portfolio increased by 0.4% over the half year period. The company has continued to hack away at group net debt, which was reduced by £42m to £1,412m (September 30th 2011: £1,454m). The group expects to replicate this sort of level of debt reduction in the second half of the year.

Triple net asset value - a calculation based on the notion that any taxes due in connection with the sale of a property will reduce net asset value (NAV) accordingly - increased to 161p per share from 153p per share at the end of September. Gross NAV per share rose 3.4% to 224p from 216p six months earlier.

Operating profit before valuation movements and non-recurring items rose 7.9% to £64.1m from £59.4m the year before. Group revenue rose from £133.8m last year to £144.1m, while net rental income increased by 16.4% to £31.8m, while fee income rose 61.2% to £5.0m.

A turn-around in the fair value of derivatives hit pre-tax profit at Grainger, the asset and property management focused on the residential sector. Profit before tax slumped to £15.2m in the year to March 31st from £65.2m, with much of the reduction due to an £8.8m decline in the fair value of the group's derivatives portfolio; the previous year, the group had marked up the value of its derivatives portfolio by £22.9m.

He added though that he expected "improving performances" in 2012.

Wayne Edmunds, the Chief Executive said: "it is disappointing that our profitability was reduced by additional costs arising from our nuclear projects in China and a handful of contracts within Invensys Rail."

Operating profit for the year was £209m down 20% on 2010, following £60m of additional contract costs. Those extra costs relate to nuclear projects in China, where expenses ran out of control - new management teams have been brought in to prevent this happening again. Underlying earnings per share fell 32% to 13.4p, while the final dividend per share (DPS) will be 2.75p (2011: 2.5p); bringing total DPS for the year up to 4.4p per share an increase of 10% on the previous yea

Rail, power and appliance conglomerate Invensys has seen its order book grow but has taken a hit on cost overruns at its Chinese nuclear projects. Revenue for the 12 months to the end of March was £2.539bn (2011: £2.486bn), up 2% on the prior year or 3% at constant exchange rates. The main driver was a series of rail and power plant contracts although the Invensys Controls unit, which makes things like thermostats, contracted.

The Generics business, however, continues to see pricing pressures and revenue has been further affected by actions the company is taking in response to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warning letter it received in February for its Eatontown facility, which is causing a slow-down in sales, but a stronger second half is expected. The full year adjusted earnings before interest and tax margin is set to be in the mid single-digits.

Divisionally, the firm's injectables business has performed "extremely well" this year, driving strong demand for its products in the US. Overall, the group expects that the global business will achieve revenue growth of more than 35% in 2012, with an adjusted operating margin in the high teens.

"We continue to expect gross margin and adjusted operating margin in 2012 to be broadly in line with 2011, reflecting the increases that we anticipated in wages and research and development expense and the impact of consolidating Promopharm, our recent acquisition in Morocco. The benefit of operating leverage will mean margins are stronger in the second half of the year."

A slower-than-expected start in Sudan and the effect of reorganisation in Iraq has been partially offset by a good performance from its businesses in Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and Libya, as well as higher tender sales. In a statement the company said: "We reiterate our guidance of around 20% Branded revenue growth for the full year and expect around 45% of revenue to be delivered in the first half.

The group announced 28% growth in its branded business during the first four months of the year, along with 12%organic revenue growth. "Excellent" growth has been seen in two of the company's largest markets, Algeria and Egypt, which have benefited from increased local production and greater manufacturing capacity, respectively.

Things appear to be proceeding to plan at Hikma Pharmaceuticals as it has reiterated its revenue growth guidance for 2012, despite a few setbacks in its generic drugs business. "We are making good progress towards delivering our targets for this year and surpassing the important milestone of $1bn in revenue," said Said Darwazah, Chief Executive Officer of Hikma

Net debt at the end of the financial year stood at £206.2m, barely changed from £207.4m the year before.