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Shares of InterContinental Hotels (IHG) were taken down a peg on Thursday after US peer Marriott scaled back its international revenue per available room (RevPAR) guidance; nevertheless, Investec has stayed positive on the British hotels firm, keeps its 'buy' rating and 1,700p target price. "Sceptics of the global hotels recovery had a field day following the Marriott Q2 results on 11 July. In our view, they are wrong. Marriott is forecasting group RevPAR growth of 6-8% in 2012. This alone places our FY12E estimates for IHG (47% exposed to the US) under severe upside pressure," the broker said.

Sean Riddell, Chief Executive of EMIS Group, said: "So far 2012 has been another busy year for EMIS Group. We have accelerated the roll-out to GPs of EMIS Web, our transformational healthcare system, whilst RX Systems continues to grow its market share. The outlook for the remainder of the financial year is encouraging and we continue to be positive about the Group's prospects. "We are delighted to be an integral part of what the Department of Health recently described in its new IT Strategy (The Power of Information) as ''the solid foundations [the Department of Health] have to build upon … providing one of the most successfully and universally computerised primary care systems in the world and national information flows that are the envy of many [other] developed countries'."

CONT EMIS Group plc ("EMIS Group" or "the Group"), the UK's leading supplier of clinical software and related services to GPs and a major software supplier to high street pharmacists, announces a trading update for the six months ended 30 June 2012. The Group intends to issue its half year results on 31 August 2012. Trading for the half year was slightly ahead of expectations. EMIS Group continues to benefit from significant and growing revenue visibility. During the first half, the roll-out of EMIS Web accelerated as expected and, at the period end, there were 747 live EMIS Web GP practices with 121 installed in June 2012. There were also 1385 unfulfilled orders for EMIS Web GP and 2753 GP practices in the Familiarisation Service. The Group also put in place the majority of the people and processes necessary to support the accelerating roll-out of EMIS Web GP with a capacity of up to circa 200 EMIS Web practices per month by September 2012. The senior management team of EMIS, the Group's clinical software arm, was augmented, including the appointments of a new Chief Operating Officer and a Chief Technology Officer. In addition, significant further development resource was added to address future opportunities within the Group's marketplace. The Group announced today the forthcoming retirement of its CFO, Phillip Woodrow. Phillip will be succeeded by Peter Southby. Peter will join the Group from ENER-G plc where he is the Group Finance Director and was formerly Group Finance Director of Augean plc. Peter will join the Group no later than mid-November 2012 and there will be an appropriate hand over period. The Group's UK market share remains strong with 36.0%* of high street pharmacies and 52.2%* of GP practices.

EMIS Group plc ("EMIS Group" or "the Group"), the UK's leading supplier of clinical software and related services to GPs and a major software supplier to high street pharmacists, announces a trading update for the six months ended 30 June 2012. The Group intends to issue its half year results on 31 August 2012. Trading for the half year was slightly ahead of expectations. EMIS Group continues to benefit from significant and growing revenue visibility. During the first half, the roll-out of EMIS Web accelerated as expected and, at the period end, there were 747 live EMIS Web GP practices with 121 installed in June 2012. There were also 1385 unfulfilled orders for EMIS Web GP and 2753 GP practices in the Familiarisation Service. The Group also put in place the majority of the people and processes necessary to support the accelerating roll-out of EMIS Web GP with a capacity of up to circa 200 EMIS Web practices per month by September 2012. The senior management team of EMIS, the Group's clinical software arm, was augmented, including the appointments of a new Chief Operating Officer and a Chief Technology Officer. In addition, significant further development resource was added to address future opportunities within the Group's marketplace. The Group announced today the forthcoming retirement of its CFO, Phillip Woodrow. Phillip will be succeeded by Peter Southby. Peter will join the Group from ENER-G plc where he is the Group Finance Director and was formerly Group Finance Director of Augean plc. Peter will join the Group no later than mid-November 2012 and there will be an appropriate hand over period. The Group's UK market share remains strong with 36.0%* of high street pharmacies and 52.2%* of GP practices.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201207130700035769H

Trading performance in the year to date has been strong, delivering substantial growth in subscriptions at WANdisco (WAND) according to the board of the recently listed software services company. In the three months to June in particular, orders reached a record level of 1.84 million dollars, representing a 43% increase year-on-year. The Yorkshire based firm unveiled new customers for the period including Ricoh and Pitney Bowes, as well as its first product sales in China with Huawei. WANdisco shares closed 5p ahead at 220.5p.

Investec Securities retained its "buy" stance on Devro (DVO) with a 345p target price. The broker expects the sausage casings manufacturer to report first half pre-tax profit growth of 5% to 20 million pounds and believes the firm's primary focus will be the installation of new capacity to support future growth. Investec noted growing demand for the group's products in emerging markets, while adding that its Select brand is selling at a premium in mature markets. Devro shares lost 5.2p to 309.5p.

Merrill Lynch downgrades Britvic from buy to underperform, target price cut from 370p to 230p.

Financial position The cash outflow before funding in the year-to-date was lower than last year with the benefit of higher profit, a lower working capital outflow and lower capital expenditure. The improved working capital outflow reflected lower commodity costs and the sale of high value European sugar inventories since the half year. Capital expenditure for Primark was in line with last year and, as projects within the food businesses complete, the overall level of capital expenditure was lower. Net debt at 23 June 2012 was below £1.4bn, lower than the third quarter last year having reduced by more than £200m since the half year. Further reduction is expected by the year end. Trading outlook The group remains on track to deliver substantial growth in both adjusted operating profit and adjusted earnings per share for the full year.

Interim management statement Associated British Foods plc today issues its third quarter management statement, in accordance with the requirements of the UK Listing Authority's Disclosure and Transparency rules. The figures stated below relate to the 40 weeks ended 23 June 2012. Highlights · Group revenue year to date up 11% · AB Sugar substantially ahead · Primark sales growth of 16% year to date at constant exchange rates · Group trading outlook for the full year in line with expectations Trading performance Group revenue from continuing operations for the 40 weeks to 23 June 2012 was 11% ahead of the same period last year and in line with the growth reported at the half year. As a result of some strengthening of sterling, year-to-date revenue was 12% ahead of last year on a constant currency basis. The translation of third quarter revenues was mostly affected by a weakening of the euro and a 50% devaluation of the Malawian kwacha in May.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201207120700034192H

Nomura upgrades Old Mutual from neutral to buy, target price raised from 150p to 202p.

The Tempus column in The Times has taken a look at recruitment firm Hays, which surprised many yesterday in a fourth-quarter trading statement by revealing that net fees, and therefore activity from the UK public sector, are ticking up again after three years of decline. However, the paper warns that this isn't an early sign of some sort of public-sector jobs boom. This tick-up was only modest compared to the decline over the last few years and the group still saw a steady decline in the rate of growth in work won at all three geographical divisions across the second half. "As a result, across the group a growth rate of 10% in the third quarter declined to 2% in the fourth and, as the company exited its financial year, growth was non-existent," Tempus said.

The Questor team in The Telegraph has recommended to hold luxury brand group Burberry, after the firm's latest slowdown in sales growth hit the shares hard yesterday. The paper says that to justify its rating - shares are trading at 16.9 times current-year earnings - Burberry must continue to grow which will be a challenge with strong prior-year comparisons. The column says that China is key to this growth and the amount of new floor space there should keep sales rising for some time. "Questor thinks the shares, which yield 2.4%, are still a hold and not a buy, because of near-term headwinds, though the evolving business model bodes well for continued long-term growth."

BrainJuicer Group Sell 11-Jul-12 £48,975.00 John Kearon 15,000 @ 326.50p

Carclo Sell 12-Jul-12 £107,215.00 Christopher Graham Ross 25,000 @ 428.86p

Ian Williamson, the Chief Executive of Carclo, a plastics business, has offloaded 230,000 shares, around a third of his total stake in the company. Williamson, who is set to retire after 18 years in the role, will pocket just short of a cool million from the transaction, which saw him sell the shares for 428.86p a pop. The shares, which were held in his personal pension plan, were sold to satisfy investor demand and to facilitate Williamson's retirement. He said he has no further plans to sell his current holding.

Summary · The boards of Dentsu Inc. ("Dentsu") and Aegis Group plc ("Aegis") are pleased to announce that they have reached agreement on the terms of a recommended cash offer pursuant to which Dentsu will acquire the entire issued and to be issued ordinary share capital of Aegis. The Offer is to be effected by means of a scheme of arrangement under Part 26 of the Companies Act. · Under the terms of the Offer, Aegis Shareholders will be entitled to receive 240 pence in cash for each Aegis Share held. · The Offer represents a premium of approximately: Ø 48.0 per cent. to the Closing Price per Aegis Share of 162.2 pence on 11 July 2012 (being the last Business Day prior to the date of this announcement); and Ø 45.0 per cent. to the average Closing Price per Aegis Share of 165.5 pence over the three month period to 11 July 2012 (being the last Business Day prior to the date of this announcement). · The Offer values the entire issued and to be issued ordinary share capital of Aegis at approximately £3,164 million.

CONT Our Enterprise Solutions business continues to progress in line with our plans, helped in part by the strength of the order backlog at the start of the current fiscal year. During the period we were pleased to secure a win at one of the new Brazilian shipyards to use AVEVA NET and AVEVA MARS. We have also entered into a services partnership agreement with a global IT services firm which will help put in place the necessary additional service personnel to support AVEVA NET implementations on a truly global scale. Regionally, we have seen continued strength in EMEA, whilst Latin America and North America continue to perform in line with plan. In Asia Pacific, the China business is fully operational and the other areas continue to perform well. In May 2012, we completed the acquisition of Bocad and the integration is progressing satisfactorily. The Group continues to be cash generative and has a strong balance sheet.

Interim Management Statement AVEVA Group plc ('AVEVA'; stock code: AVV), one of the world's leading providers of engineering data and design IT systems, today releases its Interim Management Statement for the period from 1 April to date. During the first quarter we have seen no change in our demand environment. The Oil & Gas sector has remained particularly strong, driven by generally high levels of activity as well as the growing complexity and scale of projects worldwide. In Power the market has continued to show steady growth and, as anticipated, demand in Marine has remained subdued, but supported by offshore Oil & Gas projects in addition to naval shipbuilding. In Engineering & Design Systems, demand from the engineering contractors is helping to drive continued growth. Whilst the majority of rental contracts renew in the second half of the fiscal year, we have seen no change in customer preference for the rental model during the period. In June we announced a major new product at the ACHEMA conference in Frankfurt, Germany. This highly differentiated new solution represents one of the most significant R&D investments in AVEVA's long history and will be the most comprehensive and efficient plant design platform available. It is scheduled to ship at the end of this calendar year and we look forward to providing more details with respect to functionality and pricing to our customers at the time of the AVEVA World Summit in October.