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Richard Goodwin, the Managing Director of Goodwin, sold just over 5,000 shares in the company on Friday, the same day the engineering and steel castings firm reported strong growth in profits. The director traded in the shares at 1,330p a pop, earnings himself £67,404 and reducing his stake to 31,320 shares. The company, which in the 12 months to the end of April increased its pre-tax profits by 51% to £12.3m, chose to restrict its dividend to allow for greater investment.

Natalka financing update Polyus Gold International Limited (LSE - PGIL, OTC (US) - PLZLY, "PGIL", "Polyus Gold" or the "Company"), the largest gold producer in Russia, announces that it has entered into a finance agreement with VTB Bank for a total amount of up to 5 billion rubles (approximately USD 150 million). The facility will be utilised in the form of letters of credit issued by VTB Bank on the Company's request. Additionally, the agreement provides for deferred repayment of letters of credit, should that be requested by PGIL. The facility will be used to support the purchase of equipment for the Natalka project where the Company is on track to start commissioning a 10 million tonnes of ore per year processing plant in December 2013.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201207300700037729I

Latin’s Managing Director said, “We are encouraged by the advance of drilling at Mariela and by the addition of a second diamond drill rig onto the project. The appointment of SRK is also welcomed and we are looking forward to reporting assay results from the project in the near future.”

DRILLING ADVANCES AT MARIELA Highlights  Junefield has informed Latin of the completion of the first three drill holes of the planned 20 hole program at Mariela.  The drilling programme at Mariela is being managed by Hong Kong based Junefield Group (‘Junefield’) as per the Earn In Option Agreement (reported Nov 2011). The agreement allows Junefield to earn up to 70% of the Mariela Project by funding all activities to the completion of a Bankable Feasibility Study or to a total cost of US$35 million.  Junefield moved a second diamond rig onto the project after completion of first hole to 797 m depth.  Junefield appointed SRK consultants in July 2012 to oversee logging, sampling and analysis of drill core and to provide Latin with JORC compliant exploration results and resource estimates

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201207300700037693I

Credit Suisse has lowered its price target for diversified miner Anglo American from 2,500p to 2,200p after slashing its forecasts on the back of lower volumes within copper and iron ore. The broker said that Anglo is expected to lag peers on volume growth over the next two years (2-3% per annum in 2013/14); "we believe the market continues to underestimate the potential margin squeeze in 2013 and beyond." Earnings per share (EPS) estimates for 2012, 2013 and 2014 have been reduced by 7%, 3% and 13%, respectively

Publishing group Pearson was a heavy faller on Monday, extending its losses following its first-half results on Friday. Sentiment has been dampened today after Nomura reiterated its 'reduce' rating on the stock, saying that shares are 'richly priced'. The broker noted in a research report that group organic growth was just 0.6% in the first six months of the year, "unfeasibly low" given that the shares are trading at 14.4 times earnings. The broker has maintained its 1,200p target price on the stock.

FINANCIAL UPDATE There have been no material changes to the financial position of the Company during the period. National Grid has a strong balance sheet, underpinned by regulatory revenues, which is key to our ability to secure the required long-term funding for our businesses in both the UK and the US. Interest cover, gearing and other credit metrics remain within comfortable ranges to sustain appropriate credit ratings in the medium term. On 3 July, we completed the sale of our US New Hampshire electric and gas distribution businesses, Granite State Electric Company and Energy North Natural Gas Inc., to Liberty Energy Utilities (New Hampshire) Corp., a subsidiary of Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. The gross proceeds from the transaction totalled $309m, including working capital of $24m.

Steve Holliday, Chief Executive, said: "Our businesses have started the year well. In the UK, our focus has been on strengthening the resources, processes and organisational model needed to deliver future performance improvements. At the same time, we are working with Ofgem to secure appropriate long term financial frameworks for our regulated businesses. In the US, our team continues to focus on improving customer service and returns by securing the benefits of the new organisational model and through filing for new rate agreements in selected service areas. As a result, we are maintaining our positive outlook for 2012/13, reflecting the expected delivery of another year of solid operating and financial performance."

Statement for the period 1 April 2012 to 29 July 2012 HIGHLIGHTS · Solid operational and financial performance during the period · UK: Initial RIIO proposals received for Transmission and Gas Distribution businesses · US: Sale of New Hampshire distribution businesses completed

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201207300700087528I

Ladbrokes has fired the director in charge of its botched digital strategy as it heads towards its worse online results in almost a decade. The news that Richard Ames, product director, has left the firm will sink confidence in Britain’s second largest bookmaker, which is set to announce further costly delays to its beleaguered technology platform this week. The company has already issued a profit warning about its technology division. But Thursday’s half-year results will show delays have eaten even further into the £15m of profits expected from digital - which are less than half the £31m achieved in the same period last year, according to The Telegraph

Valuation: Growing demand for TriDef continues Our 2012 estimates are unchanged but we believe there is scope for upside. Visibility for 2013 and beyond is still very limited, with the result hinging on ongoing growth TriDef shipments and the success of Yabazam. Both represent sizeable market opportunities and positive progress on both fronts should drive continued very strong growth. The EV/Sales ratio of c 6x is clearly a growth rating, but this business is growing at 78% year-on-year and has plenty of headroom for operationally geared expansion. Better visibility on continued strong TriDef and Yabazam uptake is the key catalyst for upside, through pricing in continued strong sales and earnings growth. We will add forecasts for 2013 following publication of the interim results.

http://www.edisoninvestmentresearch.co.uk/researchreports/DDD300712update.pdf

The Financial Times´s David Schwartz has just bought shares in XP Power, a designer and manufacturer of power converters. These are devices that allow electronic equipment to operate efficiently. XP Power shares were in the 1,600-2,000p range during the first half of 2011; but investors ran for cover after the level of new orders began to slip in mid-year. The slowdown eventually caused lower profits in the first half of 2012. But the company’s order rate is now spiking higher. So Schwartz expects second-half results to be much higher than last year’s figures. Even better, XP Power is quite optimistic about its future. It recently launched 10 product lines. It brags about its strong design win record in the current year. The share of revenues derived from products manufactured internally is rising. These are more profitable than those manufactured externally. Its new factory in Vietnam has just come on stream, which will also help to increase margins. The dividend has just increased and now approaches 5%. “I was impressed by the 8% gain last Monday when first-half results were released. Recall that the FTSE 100 fell 118 points on the day. I expect substantial gains in the weeks ahead," he writes.

Catering group Compass had a barnstorming third quarter, underscoring its defensive credentials in turbulent times. There was even an acceleration in organic growth to please investors, with like-for-like sales rising 5.7 per cent compared with 5 per cent in the first half of the year. Analysts had been expecting a fall to about 4.8 per cent. America and emerging markets grew strongly, with several large new contracts starting up. Although no figures were released in Thursday’s trading update, Compass said its operating profit margin was slightly above the same period last year. The group’s balance sheet remains strong and the company’s buy-back continues. In the period, Compass bought back 40m shares with a value of £256m. Food price inflation is back with us but Questor is relatively unconcerned, the group has shown over the past few years that it can manage price spikes by changing its menus. The shares were last tipped as a buy on April 1 at 655p and, trading on a December 2012 earnings multiple of 15.6, falling to 14.3, the rating remains buy, says The Sunday Telegraph´s Questor team.

Alphavalue downgrades ARM Holdings from reduce to sell, target price raised from 463.2p to 464.6p.

Outlook summary We are mindful of the risks to the wider macroeconomic environment, particularly in Europe. However, we believe UBM is well aligned with the potential for global growth in terms of our geographic footprint, the markets we serve and the products and services we deliver. Given strong performance year to date, we now project: Events underlying full year growth will be in the region of 12% to 14%; on the other hand, Marketing Services underlying growth between 0% and 2%, reflecting declines in print faster than originally anticipated. Our other segments remain on track with our previously articulated expectations as we anticipate improving performance from our Data Services business through the year. While segmental guidance is in the aggregate trending positively, we are retaining our consolidated guidance to reflect the uncertain external environment.

Media group UBM (UBM) enjoyed growing demand for its events business, with forward bookings for its top 20 conferences rising by 12.7% in the six months ended 30th June. With strong results from emerging markets, especially China, the firm expects to see full year growth of between 12% and 14% from the division. The company's PR Newswire business also achieved growth, of 3.9% to 100.1 million pounds, with US markets remaining resilient and continued growth being seen in Asia and Latin America. UBM shares gained 45.5p to 652.5p.