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Negative Points: The insurer said it was too early to assess the impact of the adverse weather conditions experienced in the fourth quarter of 2013 and first quarter of 2014, however the group has set aside a preliminary estimate figure in a range of £70 to £90 million. A further £20 million in weather – related claims was experienced in its Commercial division. The UK motor and home markets remain highly competitive with significant premium deflation experienced across the insurance industry. Profits will suffer if claims are higher than expected. Over 85% of Direct Line's Gross Written Premium comes from the UK so its fortunes are closely tied to those of the British economy. Insurance is a risk business and as such it is exposed to factors outside its control such as the weather. The group is exposed to underwriting and pricing risk. Regulators are investigating the motor insurance market after a probe by consumer watchdogs concluded that ineffective competition was inflating drivers' insurance costs. The group highlighted that together with other industry participants, it has submitted its responses to the Competition Commission's review of practices. As a key part of their business, insurance companies invest the premiums they receive, and investment returns contribute to profit. Whilst we believe the group has a conservative investment strategy any investment losses would reduce profits. All investments can fall in value as well as rise, and any losses would reduce profits. A large shift in the bond market prompted by an increase in central bank interest rates, for example, would affect the value of these investments

Financial Highlights: Direct Line reported an overall operating profit from ongoing operations of £526.5 million for 2013, up 14.2% from £461.2 million in 2012. The group's Motor division contributed £347.7 million to operating profits, an increase of 32.8%. Gross written premiums fell 4.1% to £3.82 billion year-on-year, a reflection of a competitive market. Restructuring and one-off costs of £140.5 million were recorded. The board has proposed a 5.0% increase in the final dividend to 8.4 pence per share, and second special interim dividend of 4.0 pence per share taking total dividends for 2013 to 20.6 pence per share.

Full year results: Direct Line Insurance Group reported a rise in full year profits for the year ended 31 December 2013. A 14.2% improvement in operating profits was largely a result of a greater contribution from its Motor division which benefited from a continued high level of a release of its reserves (to counter a fall in car insurance premiums) and fewer claims in it Home insurance segment. "This was despite significant claims in the fourth quarter from major weather events for the year as a whole". Commercial and International divisions both improved profit on an underlying basis. Direct Line estimated that the cost of the adverse weather conditions experienced in the fourth quarter of 2013 and continued into the first quarter of 2014 may total £90 million. In a statement the company said: "With elevated ground water levels, the potential for future claims is increased in the event of further storms". Based on the combined estimates of analysts that cover the company

About Gasol plc Gasol plc is an AIM listed energy development company focusing on gas constrained nations. Power stations in West Africa currently operate predominantly on liquid fuels such as diesel, light crude and jet fuel, but many of these plants are also capable of using gas. Gasol will initially supply these customers with gas from regasified Liquefied Natural Gas ("LNG"), which can provide significant cost savings in the order of 20 to 30 per cent. This involves the delivery of LNG to leased Floating Storage and Regasification Facilities which will be positioned in Cotonou harbour, Benin and will supply the regasified LNG into the West African Gas Pipeline. The West African Gas Pipeline is a 678km gas pipeline involving an investment of over US$1 billion, built to transport gas from Nigeria to Benin, Togo and Ghana which has been operational since March 2011, but today operates at significantly less than full capacity . Once there is sufficient regional demand for gas, Gasol aims to develop captive gas reserves in offshore Nigeria and will supply this gas through the West African Gas Pipeline. This pipeline gas will be cheaper and therefore displace the LNG derived gas, resulting in further savings for customers. As part of a consortium called Electrogas Malta, Gasol has also been awarded a LNG-to-power project by Malta's state power utility Enemalta, as the country aims to lower its energy costs. Electrogas Malta is a consortium made up of Gasol, SOCAR Trading SA, GEM Holdings Ltd and Siemens Project Ventures, the equity financial arm of Siemens Financial Services. Gasol's shares have been listed on London Stock Exchange's AIM since 2005 with the ticker code "GAS". Further information on the Company is available at www.gasolplc.com. BMO Capital Markets Limited ("BMO Capital Markets"), which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, is acting exclusively for Gasol and no-one else in connection with the Acquisition. BMO Capital Markets will not regard any other person as its client in relation to the Acquisition and will not be responsible to anyone other than Gasol for providing the protections afforded to its clients, nor for providing advice in relation to the Acquisition, the contents of this announcement or any transaction, arrangement or other matter referred to herein. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange END

Pre-emption of the acquisition of Energie de Côte Wed, 19th Feb 2014 07:00 RNS Number : 3790A Gasol plc 19 February 2014 19 February 2014 Gasol plc ("Gasol" or the "Company") Pre-emption of the acquisition of Energie de Côte d'Ivoire S.A. Gasol announces that, further to the conditional Sale and Purchase Agreement ("SPA") it entered into with GDF SUEZ E&P International S.A. (the "Seller") to acquire a 12 per cent non-operating interest in Block CI-27 through the acquisition of 100% of the issued share capital of Energie de Côte d'Ivoire S.A. ("Enerci"), it has been informed on 18 February 2014 that the Seller has received exercising notices in relation to the existing CI-27 Block partners' pre-emption rights. The relevant condition in the SPA cannot therefore be satisfied and, accordingly, the acquisition will not proceed. It is envisaged that the Company's shares will be restored to trading on AIM at 7.30 a.m. on 19 February 2014. On 23 December 2013 Gasol announced it had entered into a conditional SPA with the Seller to acquire its interest in Block CI-27 in the Cote d'Ivoire. In support of the acquisition Gasol entered into a financing facility provided by Deutsche Bank (as announced on 10 January 2014). On signing the financing facility agreement and in accordance with the terms of the SPA, Gasol paid the Seller a deposit of US$2,000,000. Following the exercise of pre-emption by the existing partners the Seller will, in accordance with the terms of the SPA, return the deposit within five business days. In addition to the return of the deposit and in accordance with the SPA, the Seller is required to pay Gasol a break fee of US$2,000,000. Such fee is payable upon completion of the transfer to the pre-empting parties. Alan Buxton, Gasol's Chief Operating Officer, said: "We are obviously disappointed to have been pre-empted on this acquisition but nonetheless feel encouraged that in pursuit of our strategy to develop gas markets in West Africa we were able to identify, assess and bid successfully on what is clearly an attractive asset. We secured financing in a difficult market and ultimately the fact that all existing partners pre-empted demonstrated we had clearly identified a good transaction. We will continue to evaluate opportunities in West Africa, and the Cote d'Ivoire in particular, in an ongoing pursuit of our strategy"

19/02/2014 7:30am RESTORATION OF TRADING ON AIM GASOL PLC The trading on AIM for the under-mentioned securities was temporarily suspended. The suspension is lifted from 19/02/2014 7:30am, an announcement having been made. Ordinary Shares of 0.5p each, fully paid (B826T93)(GB00B826T938) If you have any queries relating to the above, please contact the company's nominated adviser on 020 7886 2500. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

Omega has an exclusive licensing agreement with the Burnet Institute in Australia to commercially manufacture its prototype, which tests levels of the CD4 protein in the blood of HIV-infected patients to assess how far the virus has progressed. Omega has developed a manufacturing site in Alva, Scotland, that can make more than seven million of the Visitect devices per year. The product is now available for full in-country field evaluations and the first of those are due to begin next month in Kenya and Mozambique

Bilfinger Berger Global Infrastructure has completed the acquisition of interests in three projects from Assura Group for 9m pounds. The company is buying the equity and subordinated debt interests in Liverpool & Sefton Clinics, North London Estates Partnerships and Mersey Care Mental Health Hospital. The Liverpool & Sefton Clinic project is a UK concession to develop, fund, build, operate and manage primary healthcare facilities in Liverpool and Sefton. The North London Estates Partnership project is a UK concession to develop, fund, build, operate and manage primary healthcare facilities around Barnet, Enfield and Haringey. The Mersey Care Mental Health project involves transforming the former Walton Hospital site in Liverpool into a new, 85 bed, mental health in-patient facility. "The acquisitions are accretive and allow us to increase our stakes in these high quality PPP projects at attractive pricing levels," said Co-Chief Executive Frank Schramm.

Scientific Digital Imaging (SDI) has acquired Opus Instruments, the manufacturer of the Osiris camera, which has so far been used mainly in the analysis of artworks. The group, which has agreed to pay up to £1.325m for Opus, said it believes that the Osiris cameras will enhance SDI's current product offering and intends to explore further applications for the technology beyond its current use. The initial consideration for Opus is set to be in the region of £1m, with deferred payments of up to £0.3m, depending on the revenue generated as a result of the sale of Osiris cameras. In the 12 months ended April 30th 2013, Opus generated sales of £0.29m and post-tax profit of £0.09m. The acquisition is expected to be earnings enhancing for the full year beginning May 1st 2014. Chairman Ken Ford said: "This is an exciting acquisition for SDI and we plan to explore further applications for the infrared imaging system beyond art restoration. "We believe that the Osiris camera unit will complement SDI's existing portfolio of high specification and performance Atik and Artemis cameras."

Pre-tax profit rose to £613,984 from £174,732 last time on revenue of £4.7m, up from £4.06m a year ago. IPPlus said difficult trading conditions were likely to continue throughout 2014, but added: "Nevertheless the board looks forward to reporting further progress.

Telecoms group IPPlus hailed progress in its call centre business but launched a review of its document storage arm after difficult trading. IPPlus said its Ansaback contact centre operation lifted first-half revenue by 37% in the six months to December 31st despite increasing staff to help it secure bigger contracts. The group's call centre software business, CallScripter, had a harder-than-expected first half due to delays in securing larger deals. Its IP3 Telecom telephony services business boosted revenue by 18% against a year ago, with new business contracts exceeding management hopes. But the company's Ancora Solutions document storage and disposal arm faced difficulties with revenues falling from last year's record six-month sales and returning to more modest 2011 levels, prompting IPPlus to review it. "Trading remains tough with private sector companies reluctant to move and invest in new buildings and plant. In view of its poor performance, the directors are considering the options to develop and review this division," the group said.............

Gleeson, which specialises in urban regeneration and land development, raised its interim dividend by 120 per cent to 1.1p for the first half as revenue and profit surged. Revenue jumped 32% to £34.4m in the six months through December as sales of homes rose 56% to 258 units and the gross margin improved to 25.9% to 24.2%. Operating profit grew 112% to £2.6m and pre-tax profit was up 107% to £2.7m. The company experienced increasing demand for homes in line with the rest of the market. Government schemes such as Help to Buy have helped spur the UK housing sector and boost prices. Gleeson said 44% of completions benefitted from the scheme during the first half. The average selling price for the units sold in the period increased to £120,000 from £115,000 the previous year. In the Strategic Land division, revenue fell to £1.5m from £7m in 2012 following two land sales with a combined acreage of four acres, down from the prior year's three land sales with a combined acreage of 13 acres. The group's net cash balance at the end of the period was £7.7m, reflecting a net cash outflow of £2.3m. Looking ahead, the company expects improvements in the group's trading performance in the current year and beyond

"We are disappointed by the performance of the HZL project during the final quarter of 2013, however management has reacted quickly to address the issues. Numerous cost reduction exercises have been implemented in order to ensure the business can sustain the lower gross profit and exceptional legal charges. "Nonetheless, I am confident that the business has solid fundamentals to ensure its future profitability once these adverse factors have been resolved................

Union strikes continue to affect the group's operations for Impala Platinum Holdings and Lonmin. The contract for the sinking of a new shaft for Kazchrome was also delayed with talks ongoing. The project includes the sinking of the Skipovaya vertical shaft to access a chromite ore-body at the Donskoy mine and ore processing plant in the Aktujbinsk region, Kazakhstan. Progress at the group's other projects, including the Kibali Goldmine project, Lonmin's Saffy, Hossy and Karee 3 projects, and Afplats' Leeuwkop project was broadly in-line with management's expectations. Full-year operating expenses were reduced to about £17m from £23.7m. Operating income for the year is expected to include a £1.6m gain from foreign exchange movements and £0.9m profit on the sale of plant, property and equipment. At the end of the period the group had gross cash of £4.1m, drawn overdraft of £3m and £2.9m of interest bearing term debt. The order book stood at about £350m, up from £344.1m at the end of June. Chief Executive, Alon Davidov, said: "The group has endured an extremely difficult trading period in South Africa and the labour concerns remain for the current year.

Shares in Shaft Sinkers Holdings tumbled after the company said full-year profits and revenues would be lower due to reduced workload and a weakening South African rand. The deteriorating value of the rand against sterling affected revenues by some 11%, according to the shaft sinking and underground construction group's trading update on Monday. The group's profitability will be "materially below expectations" for the year through December 2013. Profit before tax is expected to be between £2.5m and £3m. Profits were also hurt by operational difficulties, which resulted in reduced billings to clients. Gross margin is anticipated to have decreased to between 9% to 10% from 11.7% in 2012. The company operations were negatively affected by poor sinking progress at the Hindustan Zinc project, which resulted in higher than expected costs and lower revenues. The group experienced a "disappointing" performance at the Impala 17 and Styldrift projects in South Africa.

Shares in AIM-listed exploration company GoldStone plunged 15 per cent on Tuesday morning after the group said results from the drilling programme on the Baraboye and Ibel prospects did not justify an immediate follow-up programme. GoldStone, which partnered Randgold Resources on the project, said the company would consequently focus its exploration activities on the Gangara and Bandafassi prospects where it would identify additional drill targets. These prospects cover an area where Randgold, through its recently completed work programme, identified a previously unknown extension of the MTZ structure, which controlled the formation of Randgold's 3m ounce Massawa gold deposit to the north-east. GoldStone's Exploration Director, Hendrik Schloemann, said: "Exploration is ongoing and we are expecting Randgold's experience in this geological environment to firm up additional drill targets along the newly identified extension of the MTZ structure at Gangara and Bandafassi."

Positive Points: The Chief Executive reported "improving demand from retailers." The group noted that "growth of 2.1% in like-for-like net rental income demonstrated continued tenant demand for our properties and the success of asset management initiatives." The redevelopment of Monument Mall in Newcastle is now complete and 83% of the anticipated rental income from the £20 million scheme has been secured. Work is on schedule to complete construction of Les Terrasses du Port, Marseille, which will open in May. At Abbotsinch Retail Park, Paisley, works have begun on the extension, which is 87% pre-let. The board previously commented that "we are making good progress implementing our multichannel strategy. In October (2013) we successfully launched our loyalty app in Highcross, Leicester and The Oracle, Reading. The app enables customers to receive exclusive offers tailored to their preferences, and allows us to gain greater insight into the way our consumers shop." The final dividend was increased by 8% to 10.8 pence. This makes a total dividend for the year of 19.1 pence per share (2012: 17.7 pence). The group offers a degree of geographical diversity. Hammerson has previously been subject to speculative takeover rumour.

Negative Points: Management noted that "In France the economic picture is less clear cut." Hammerson has now completed the sale of its office properties, a move that reduces its diversity. British retailers still face challenging conditions as government austerity measures, rising prices and stagnant wage growth force shoppers to assess spending. At 31 December 2013, group net debt was £2.3 billion (£2.2 billion as of 30 June 2013). Over the year net debt increased by £216 million, principally a result of development expenditure, dividends and the impact of exchange movements. The group's shopping centres face stiff competition from the impact of internet shopping.

Financial Highlights: Net Asset Value (NAV) per share up by 5.7% to £5.73. Net rental income from continuing operations rose by 2.1% to £282.8 million. Adjusted Earnings Per Share (EPS) increased by 10.5% to 23.1 pence. Final dividend raised by 8% to 10.8 pence. Total dividend for the year of 19.1 pence per share (2012: 17.7 pence).

Full year results: In a year which saw Hammerson rebalancing its property portfolio to focus exclusively on the retail sector, completing the sale of its remaining office properties, the Chief Executive reported "improving demand from retailers." The share price rose by over 1.5% in early stockmarket trading. The Chief Executive also noted that "we have reported a good set of results in a year when we saw the beginning of economic and consumer recovery in the UK. In France the economic picture is less clear cut, although personal debt levels remain low, providing the opportunity for a rebound in consumer spending when growth returns. Hammerson is creating the right product to meet (retailers') future requirements, which provides the conditions for selected growth in rental values." Group net rental income from continuing operations rose by 2.1% to £282.8 million, whilst Net Asset Value (NAV) per share increased by 5.7% to £5.73. Overall occupancy for the group's portfolio remained above management's target at 97.7% as of 31 December 2013 (97.1%: 30 September 2013). Furthermore, management looked to express confidence in the outlook with an 8% increase in the final dividend payment. In all, with the UK economy showing signs of recovery and Hammerson enjoying a degree of geographical diversity through its French business,