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Commenting on the half year results, Keith Ludeman, Chief Executive of Go-Ahead, said: "While we remain cautious on the outlook for the economy, we are confident with the underlying strengths of our business. Like-for-like passenger numbers increased by 1.7% to well over one billion per annum. Our bus operating profit is at record levels and is a strong indication of people leaving their cars at home and taking the bus. Whilst rail remains difficult to predict, we now expect our full year operating profit across our rail and bus businesses to be higher than we previously anticipated and around the same as achieved last year (FY'10: £101.0m)." "Looking ahead, the political and economic fundamentals of public transport remain strong. We are now firmly focused on bus and rail, with a strong cash position to support organic and acquisitive growth in the UK and North America while maintaining our dividend."

Highlights · Financial results ahead of expectations · Record half-year bus operating profit · Record number of passengers carried in the year · Lowest level of debt for five years

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201102180700074572B

http://www.iii.co.uk/articles/14325/starlight-melrose

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201102170700113732B

Increased holding by Credit Agricole Cheuvreux International Ltd 5.72%

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201102170853463952B

Results for the full-year ended 31st January 2011 at Eg Solutions (EGS) were in line with market expectations, the back office optimisation software company announced, as trading in the second half of the year continued the momentum reported at the time of the half year results in September. Revenue and pre-tax profit are expected to be approximately 5.1 million pounds and 0.3 million pounds, respectively, which compares with 4.2 million pounds and 0.1 million pounds a year earlier. The group said the growth in revenue reflected contract wins from both new and existing customers. EG shares fell 1.5p to 86p.

In spite of the tough prevailing economic conditions, Lo-Q (LOQ), the provider of virtual queuing systems for theme parks and major attractions, posted increased pre-tax profits for the year ended 31st October 2010, bolstered by better weather. The company reported that pre-tax profits jumped by 18.4% to 2.32 million pounds on revenue 15.9% greater at 20.3 million pounds. Looking ahead, the group said it was operationally well positioned to deliver another "strong performance" this year. Shares in Lo-Q advanced 18p to 142p

Shares in @UK* (ATUK) soared 3.25p to 19.25p after the provider of e-procurement and e-commerce software announced that, in terms of the amount of procurement spend analysed, its cloud based spend analysis service, SpendInsight, achieved growth of 290% in the year to 31st December 2010. Commenting on this, the group said the growth was achieved due to investment made into fully automating the process using Artificial Intelligence and providing the service via the Cloud.

Despite challenging trading conditions, WS Atkins (ATK) is confident for the full year as the engineering consultant continued to perform well and trade in line with its expectations for the period from 1st October to date. Following the acquisition of The PBSJ Corporation in October, the group added that the results for the first four months of ownership was in line with its expectations and integration was progressing well. WS Atkins shares climbed 9.5p to 696p.

Industrial materials group Morgan Crucible (MGCR) posted increased pre-tax profits for the year ended 2nd January 2011, boosted by cost cuts and a strong performance at its ceramics division, and raised its final dividend. The company, which provides carbon technology services for the aerospace and space exploration industries, saw pre-tax profits jump from 31.4 million pounds to 67.7 million pounds on revenue 7.9% greater at 1,017 million pounds. The final dividend will be increased by 11.1% to 5.0p, giving a full year dividend of 7.7p. The shares advanced 22.5p to 299p.

BHP Billiton (BLT), the world's biggest miner by market value, has more than doubled its share buy-back scheme to 10 billion dollars (6.2 billion pounds) after it reported record first-half profits on the back of boom prices for iron ore, coal and copper. BHP's pre-tax profits rose from 8.88 billion dollars (5.49 billion pounds) last time to 14.1 billion dollars (8.7 billion pounds) in the half year to December. Revenues increased from 22.2 billion dollars (13.7 billion pounds) to 32.4 billion dollars (20.02 billion pounds). The strong operating result follows a tough few months for the Anglo-Australian miner, which has faced pressure to hand back more cash to shareholders after it failed to complete two large transactions. Shares in BHP fell 36p to 2,464p.

Arbuthnot retained its "strong buy" recommendation and 85p target price for technology consultant Sagentia Group (SAG). Commenting on the group ahead of finals at the end of the month, the broker said the business's cash position provides a "strong" underpinning to the share price and means the firm is well positioned to participate in M&A. Moreover, with trading momentum remaining strong, Arbuthnot is hopeful that the upgrade trend achieved last year by the new management team will continue. The shares fell 4.5p to 72.5p.

Ahead of full-year results next week, Panmure Gordon re-iterated its "buy" rating for Devro (DVO), the food industry casings producer, with a 275p target price. The broker expects the company will report a 10% increase in revenues to 243.2 million pounds for the 12-months, and a 47% jump in pre-tax profits to 36.8 million pounds. This, it added, equates to an earnings per share of 16.5p. That said, Panmure believes the business remains well positioned to deliver growth from conversions and expansion into new markets, and expects ongoing investment in capacity and efficiency to underpin steady operating profit margin expansion. Shares in Devro rose 2.3p to 233.8p.

Singer Capital Markets maintained its "buy" recommendation for Hogg Robinson Group (HRG), the corporate travel service group, with a 65p target price. Commenting on the group's recently released interim management statement, the broker said it confirmed its bullish assumptions that the business has been trading well in the second half, and financial year forecasts are likely to be exceeded. Singer, which upgraded its rating earlier this week, added that it remained comfortable with its new position and sees potential for the group to exceed its increased forecasts. Hogg Robinson shares climbed 2.88p to 47.38p.

Outlook As we go into 2011, most of our markets are stable or improving and we are building on the actions taken in 2010 to strengthen the business further. Overall, we expect a gradual recovery and a continued improvement in performance. Ø Elsevier: Going into 2011, the budget environment remains constrained in many markets but with variations by geography and customer. The customer by customer subscription renewal process for 2011 is well progressed. Good demand growth for electronic tools is continuing. Another year of modest growth is expected. Ø LexisNexis Risk Solutions: Good growth is expected to continue in insurance with high transactional activity and increasing sales of data and analytics. A strong pipeline of product initiatives continues across the Risk Solutions businesses. Ø LexisNexis Legal & Professional: While law firms, corporations and governments remain cautious in their spending, new sales are higher and the environment is more stable. Revenue recovery is expected to be gradual, with the adjusted operating margin broadly flat in 2011. Ø Reed Exhibitions: The outlook is encouraging, with momentum building in annual shows and significant launch activity continuing. 2011 will see the net cycling out of biennial shows, particularly impacting the first half. Ø Reed Business Information: Data services and online marketing solutions are seeing continued good growth. Portfolio changes and improving markets are also expected to benefit 2011.

Commenting on the results, Anthony Habgood, Chairman of Reed Elsevier, said: "Considerable progress has been made during the year resulting in improvements in trading performance with underlying sales returning to positive organic growth. Reported profits are also strongly ahead with the bulk of our major restructuring programmes now behind us. Management has put in place business unit teams to sharpen the focus on value creation and operational execution. I am confident that the good progress which is being made on individual business priorities will deliver further improvements." Reed Elsevier's Chief Executive Officer, Erik Engstrom, commented: "The year has seen improved trading performance, with 2% organic revenue growth against a 6% decline last year. Increased spend on product development and sales & marketing was largely offset by cost efficiency gains.

Improved trading performance and good business progress Ø Revenue growth of 2% underlying against 6% decline in 2009 Ø Adjusted operating margin 0.2% pts lower at 25.7% Ø Good progress on business unit specific priorities - New content and information solutions launched - Increased product development and sales & marketing - Focus on cost efficiency and process innovation - Portfolio actions taken Ø Strong cash generation Prospects encouraging; recovery will be gradual

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201102170700103800B