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Cobham to Supply Boeing with On-Board Inert Gas Generating System Equipment for US Air Force KC-46 Tanker Programme DAVENPORT, Iowa - Cobham has been selected by Boeing to provide On-Board Inert Gas Generating System (OBIGGS) equipment for use on the US Air Force's new KC-46A Tanker Aircraft. The OBIGGS fulfils a critical aircraft safety system role by displacing fuel tank vapours with inert nitrogen gas, reducing the risk of explosion. Cobham will provide the Air Separation Modules, ozone filter and sensor sub-system for the OBIGGS. The Engineering Manufacturing Development (EMD) phase started January 2012 with low-rate and full-rate production through 2028. The US Air Force plans to initially acquire 179 KC-46A tanker aircraft from Boeing, each of which will carry Cobham-supplied OBIGGS equipment. Work will take place at Cobham Life Support's centre of excellence in Davenport, Iowa.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201208020700191349J

Following Gallagher Holdings' recent acquisition of ordinary shares in Abbey (ABBY) - which increased its stake in the residential property construction company to 51.6% - Gallagher has made an unconditional mandatory 530p offer for the remaining shares in the company. The board of Ireland-based Abbey said it was considering the terms of the offer - the price representing a premium of 12% to the pre-announcement share price - and in the mean time recommends that shareholders 'take no action'. Abbey shares surged 57p to 525p.

Rightmove (RMV) reported pre-tax profits of 38.9 million pounds for the six months ended 30th June, up 35.3% on 2011's comparable period, with revenues rising 23% to 57.9 million pounds. The property website saw traffic on its site rise over 30%, driven by access from mobile phones which rose 100%. Additionally, revenues from advertisers rose 20%, on average, with more property developers and estate agents purchasing multiple products. The shares soared by 153p to 1,645p.

Commenting on these results, the Chairman of Standard Chartered PLC, Sir John Peace, said: "Standard Chartered has performed strongly during the first six months of 2012. Set against a macro-economic environment that is increasingly challenged, we have continued to deliver consistent good returns. We have a firm grip on the business, with the ability to turn adversity to our advantage, and we will keep investing as we see long-term opportunities for growth. We continue to support our customers and clients, deepening our long-term relationships with them. We remain confident in our ability to grow our business and deliver sustained value for our shareholders."

Significant highlights · Record first half profit for the tenth successive year with consistent strategy delivering consistent performance. · Strong broad-based and diverse performance spread across products and geographies. · A highly liquid and a well diversified balance sheet with continued momentum and limited exposure to problem asset classes. · The Group continues to be well capitalised to meet evolving regulatory requirements whilst leveraging the growth opportunities in our markets. · Overall strength of the franchise and balance sheet acknowledged by virtue of being the only major international bank to be upgraded by all three ratings agencies since the onset of the financial crisis.

Standard Chartered PLC - Highlights For the six months ended 30 June 2012 Reported results · Profit before taxation of $3,948 million, up 9 per cent from $3,636 million in H1 2011 (H2 2011: $3,139 million) · Profit attributable to ordinary shareholders1 of $2,806 million, up 12 per cent from $2,516 million in H1 2011 (H2 2011: $2,232 million) · Operating income of $9,511 million, up 9 per cent from $8,764 million in H1 2011 (H2 2011: $8,873 million) · Loans and advances to customers up 4 per cent to $279 billion from $269 billion in H2 2011 and customer deposits up 2 per cent to $360 billion from $352 billion in H2 2011 Performance metrics2 · Interim dividend per share increased 10 per cent to 27.23 cents per share · Normalised earnings per share up 11 per cent at 116.6 cents from 105.2 cents in H1 2011 (H2 2011: 92.8 cents) · Normalised return on ordinary shareholders' equity of 13.8 per cent (H1 2011: 13.0 per cent, H2 2011: 11.3 per cent) Capital and liquidity metrics · Tangible net asset value per share increased 4 per cent to 1,413.7 cents (H1 2011: 1,354.6 cents, H2 2011: 1,355.6 cents) · Core Tier 1 capital ratio at 11.6 per cent (H1 2011: 11.9 per cent, H2 2011: 11.8 per cent) · Total capital ratio at 16.9 per cent (H1 2011: 17.9 per cent, H2 2011: 17.6 per cent) · Advances-to-deposits ratio of 77.6 per cent (H1 2011: 78.1 per cent, H2 2011: 76.4 per cent) · Liquid asset ratio of 27.9 per cent (H1 2011: 26.5 per cent, H2 2011: 27.5 per cent)

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201208010700030099J

Shares in Next (NXT) jumped by 208p to 3,427p after it reported a 4.5% rise in sales, year-on-year, for the 26 weeks ended 28th July, almost entirely due to 13.3% growth in online sales. As a result, the fashion retailer upgraded its full-year pre-tax profit target, from between 560 and 610 million pounds to between 575 and 620 million pounds. The group also reiterated its commitment to repurchase around 200 million pounds worth of shares during the year, noting that it has already bought back 3.9 million shares for 112 million pounds.

Panmure Gordon reiterated its "buy" recommendation for Hutchison China Meditech (HCM) with a 600p target price. The pharmaceutical company reported 25% revenue growth in its first half to 102.9 million dollars (65.7 million pounds), slightly ahead of the broker's forecast of 101.8 million dollars (65.0 million pounds). Panmure added that the group's prescription business grew by 30%, despite price cuts imposed by the Chinese government. The shares grew by 15p to 395p.

Shore Capital retained its "buy" stance on Unilever (ULVR) stating that the consumer goods company continued to outperform, driven by strong trading in emerging markets. The broker also noted that the group was able to offset some weakness in Europe through cost savings. Shore added that the shares trade on a relatively high prospective earnings multiple of 18.9 times for 2012, which could lead to reduced investor interest in the short term, but maintained that the firm's market leading position in emerging markets will drive long term growth. Unilever shares inched up by 19p to 2,310p.

Valuation: Margin expansion not priced in As discussed earlier, we do not believe the 20% P/E discount at which Allocate trades versus most peers is warranted given the company’s track record and growth prospects. On a fundamental basis, the current rating appears to be pricing in moderating growth and no further margin expansion beyond our forecast period. Given the platform that management is building to support growth, and management’s goal of reaching EBIT margins of 20% in the medium term (vs 16.4% in 2012, 17.5% EBITDA margin) we feel that this is a pessimistic scenario

http://www.edisoninvestmentresearch.co.uk/researchreports/AllocateUpdate010812.pdf

Valuation is supported by China Healthcare alone Placing China Healthcare on a similar rating to its domestically quoted Chinese peers gives a market cap of over £200m, meaning that MediPharma, Consumer Products, and the cash pile (over $25m) are essentially in for free. A sum-of-theparts valuation (based on conservative assumptions) suggests that a market cap of £250m could be justified, especially if elements of the R&D pipeline are partnered

http://www.edisoninvestmentresearch.co.uk/researchreports/HutchisonChinaMeditech010812QV.pdf

Analysts at Nomura have today issued positive comments on the guidance offered yesterday by Drax Group; in particular, as regards its biomass conversion details.

Analysts at Credit Suisse have today raised their target price on Weir to 1850p from 1750p before, while keeping their overweight rating unchanged. That for three reasons: Firstly, the company´s estimated 2013 earnings per share (EPS) forecasts have declined 17% year-to-date better reflecting pressure pumping weakness with management now actioning self-help initiatives (cutting capex, 25% reduction in SPM operating costs by year end) to offset upstream oil & gas headwinds. Secondly, as visibility improves and estimated 2013 consensus forecasts become more realistic the stock should start to re-rate towards its peer group earnings multiple from its current discount (especially as EPS growth returns in 2014). Thirdly, a full 58% of the group´s earnings before interest, taxes and amortizations is generated from a combination of Power & Industrial and Minerals with both posting a book-to-bill greater than 1 in the first half of 2012. Lastly, Credit Suisse points out that: “Weir is trading at 11.3 times Credit Suisse´s 2012 estimated earnings representing a 4% sector discount. Historically it has traded at a 10-15% premium. While a lack of earnings momentum will prevent this premium being regained for now we see the spread as overly discounting pressure pumping headwinds.”

OUTLOOK The half year results show the company on track to deliver the incremental improvement in profitability for the year, as described in March. During the second half of 2012 we will continue to build our foundations for renewed growth and to pursue achievement of our four objectives for the year.

Ken Lever, Chief Executive, commented: "The results for the first half show encouraging progress. Behind these results there has been a considerable amount of activity building the foundations for renewed growth, and we can point to the first signs of the impact this has started to have. We have also continued to address the challenge of repositioning Xchanging in the business processing marketplace. We expect progress to continue as we move through the second half."

Operational Highlights · Some benefits from previous cost savings invested in business development · Incremental flow of contract wins · Insurance Services delivered good performance · New global (re)insurance and accounting settlements service (Project Sorrento) progresses towards pilot launch in Q4 · Financial Services and Corporate maintained cost savings from 2011 · 2011 new Procurement contracts in implementation phase · Technology transformation underway; insurance software product, Xuber, launch due Q4 · Improved South East Asia performance · Official inauguration of new centre at Shimoga, India