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In spite of the negative market reaction to Standard Chartered's first-quarter update on Wednesday morning, Investec has maintained its positive view on the bank saying that it sees a 'very clear buying opportunity'. "Ahead of today's 'no numbers' Q1 interim management statement, the market had developed cold feet - consensus expectations anticipate a slight miss against FY12 guidance of double-digit revenue and earnings per share growth whereas, in our view, all evidence suggests that STAN remains comfortably on track," the broker said. "We see a very clear buying opportunity," says Investec, which has kept its 1,800p target price unchanged.

Barclays Capital upgrades Morgan Crucible from equal weight to overweight, target price raised from 245p to 360p.

Credit Suisse upgrades InterContinental Hotels from neutral to outperform, target price raised from 1521p to 1692p.

Numis upgrades CSR from hold to buy, target price unchanged at 290p.

UBS upgrades CSR from neutral to buy, target price raised from 290p to 310p.

Bill Burns, Chief Executive Officer, commented: "The first quarter's results represent a strong start to 2012 for Spirent. The pace of innovation in new technologies remains high and we have maintained our investment in product development to support future growth. We are pleased to have completed the acquisition of Mu Dynamics, Inc. Our strategy has positioned us well to achieve further progress during the remainder of the year."

Operational Spirent's innovative test solutions focused on addressing the needs of our customers: · Spirent TestCenter™ used in massive industry test (1,536 ports of 10G Ethernet) of Juniper Networks QFabric™ data center network fabric; · Leading independent test lab PCTEST chose Spirent to expand its LTE and multimode LTE/CDMA mobile device testing capabilities; · Capability of Spirent Landslide enhanced to test performance of Wi-Fi offload gateways, which handle offloading of user data from 3G/4G/LTE cellular networks to Wi-Fi networks; · Spirent TestCenter won prestigious Test of Time award, based on votes from readers of Test & Measurement World Magazine; · New Spirent CS8 R&D test system for LTE devices selected by multiple top-tier mobile device manufacturers in Europe, North America and Asia; · Spirent Avalanche used in industry test to evaluate Crossbeam network security platform performance, with emulation of more than a million simultaneous mobile subscribers.

INTERIM MANAGEMENT STATEMENT (UNAUDITED) London, UK - 2 May 2012: Spirent Communications plc ("Spirent", the "Company" or the "Group") (LSE: SPT), a leading communications technology company, announces the following unaudited Interim Management Statement covering the period from 1 January to 1 May 2012. All figures relating to trading are for the period 1 January to 1 April 2012. We are pleased to report that trading performance for the period is ahead of the Board's expectations. Highlights - First quarter 2012 Financial · Performance Analysis revenue grew 16% to $107.3 million (first quarter 2011: $92.8 million), as the strong demand continued for our wireless, data center, high speed Ethernet and positioning test solutions. This generated operating profit for Performance Analysis of $27.8 million, an increase of 25% over $22.2 million recorded for the first quarter of 2011. · Group revenue up 5% to $129.4 million (first quarter 2011: $122.8 million), as a result of the anticipated weaker demand in Service Assurance and Systems. · Operating profit increased 9% to $27.8 million (first quarter 2011: $25.5 million) before charging $0.6 million of share-based payment and acquired intangible asset amortisation (first quarter 2011: $0.6 million plus acquisition expenses of $1.2 million). Reported operating profit up 15% to $27.2 million. · Adjusted basic earnings per share rose by 15% to 3.03 cents per share (first quarter 2011: 2.63 cents) before charging share-based payment, acquired intangible asset amortisation, and in 2011 acquisition expenses, net of tax. · Free cash generation of $34.2 million (first quarter 2011: $13.8 million). Closing cash of $269.9 million at 1 April 2012 (31 December 2011: $236.5 million). · Acquisition of Mu Dynamics, Inc. for a cash consideration of $40.0 million completed on 23 April 2012.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201205020700125316C

Outlook Whilst market conditions remain challenging, Communisis' pipeline of new business opportunities is strong and further new business wins are anticipated through the second and third quarters of the year. The Board is increasingly of the view that the breadth and depth of the Group's MSP service capabilities, combined with its operational scale, is differentiating Communisis in the market and actively contributing to its success in capturing new business.

Interim Management Statement Communisis plc (LSE: CMS), the leading marketing services provider ("MSP"), issues its Interim Management Statement for the first quarter ended 31 March 2012. Trading performance The Group's overall performance during the period has been encouraging and management's expectations for Group results for the half year remain unchanged. Expansion of IDC capability Communisis has expanded the services of its Intelligence Driven Communications segment by completing two acquisitions since the end of the first quarter. Each is aligned with the Group's strategic objectives to build breadth and depth into the range of data and creative services offered to its customers and to achieve a double digit operating margin on sales (excluding pass-through) over the medium term. Both acquisitions bring to Communisis specific capabilities and opportunities for revenue synergies. Kieon Limited ("Kieon") was acquired for cash consideration of approximately £0.7m. Of the total consideration, about £0.5m will be paid in instalments over the next three months with the balance being deferred and payable over the next two years. Kieon is a UK-based specialist software production agency, with an offshore development facility in Bangalore India, that currently generates annual revenues in the region of £0.9m. The addition of Kieon to the Group widens and deepens Communisis' creative services capabilities to include the building of websites and mobile and other digital applications. The trade and certain assets of Yomego Limited ("Yomego") were acquired for cash consideration of £0.38m paid on completion. Yomego is a specialist social media agency that advises on the role of social media as an integral part of broader on-line and off-line marketing campaigns, measures its effectiveness and provides insights into brand reputation and sentiment across social media sources. Yomego's current annual revenues are in the region of £0.7m. Technology The installation in Liverpool of two T400 high speed colour digital presses is progressing well and on schedule. The first commenced live production in February and the second is due to be fully operational in June. This technology cements Communisis' already strong position as a leader in the emerging market for transpromotional communications: the placing of personalised and targeted marketing messages on transactional documents such as bills and statements

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201205020700135332C

The boards of Omega and Canopius have reached an agreement on the terms of a recommended cash offer at 67p, valuing Omega at approximately £163.9m (including share capital to be issued). This is a 30.9% premium to the average closing price of 51.2p during the month to 23 March 2012, when Canopius expressed its interest in possibly making a bid, and a premium of 10.7% to the closing price immediately prior to the offer (25 April 2012). Canopius has received irrevocable undertakings to vote in favour of the acquisition from shareholders representing approximately 48.9% of the existing share capital of Omega. Omega Insurance Holdings is domiciled in Bermuda and listed on the London Stock Exchange. It is an international insurer/reinsurer with a focus on short-tail, property-oriented classes.

2nd May 2012 Analyst: Steven Moore Email:steven.moore@gecr.co.uk Tel: 0207 562 3370 Sanderson Group - Positive Half-Year Trading Update. Reiterate ‘Buy’ at 40.5p, Target Price 55p

Avon Rubber, which counts farmers and the military among its customers, said both its Dairy and its Protection and Defence divisions saw top line growth in the first half of the group's financial year. Revenue in the six months to March 31st rose 3% to £49.6m from £48.0m at the half-way point last year. The Protection & Defence unit's revenue rose to £33.2m from £32.7m the year before, while revenues for the Dairy business were up 7% at £16.4m from £15.4m last year. Group profit before tax edged up to £4.6m from £4.4m, while fully diluted earnings per share were up 8% at 10.8p from 10p at the interim stage last year. Net debt decreased from £11.8m at the 2011 year end to £9.8m at March 31st 2012. This has been driven by a 126% conversion of operating profit to operating cash inflow, offset by capital expenditure of £3.6m (2011: £2.1m) as the group's investment in Project Fusion - its new development programme - continues and the establishment of its Dairy sales and distribution facility in China was completed. "We are accelerating investment in Project Fusion's new products and technologies which will support an expanded product range. We also expect to continue to deliver further operational efficiencies," revealed Peter Slabbert, Avon's Chief Executive.

Tracey Taylor, Group Finance Director of Hargreaves Lansdown, has ditched 8,700 shares in the firm just two weeks after the company unveiled record results for the first quarter of 2012. Taylor, a member of the Hargreaves board since 2008, sold the shares for 520p each, alongside a familiy member who traded in 2,300 share at the same price. Taylor's stake in the firm now stands at 745,641 ordinary shares, which represents 0.16% of the issued share capital.

Outlook and guidance Cape has made a solid start to 2012 with continued double digit revenue growth following the strong revenue growth in the second half of 2011. The Board is confident the Group is well positioned for the remainder of the year and the Group's order intake continues to support this with the order book slightly ahead of year end levels. Guidance remains unchanged from that notified with the preliminary results and Cape expects to announce interim results for the six months ending 30 June 2012 on Thursday 30 August 2012. Cape is holding its annual general meeting at 10.30 am on 16 May in London, UK.

Interim Management Statement Cape plc, the international provider of essential, non-mechanical support services principally to the energy and mineral resources sectors, today provides its Interim Management Statement for the year to date. Trading The Group is pleased to confirm that overall trading has been in line with the Board's expectations, with revenues for the three months ended 31 March 2012 some 16% higher than the comparable period last year, including a contribution from acquisitions of 3% and a positive currency effect of 3%. On a constant currency organic basis, revenues increased by 10%. Regional/segmental activity levels were as anticipated with double digit revenue growth in our three largest regions. Operating margins have remained in line with last year except for the anticipated reduction in the Gulf/Middle East Region. Financial position There have been no significant changes to the financial position of the Group since the publication of the preliminary results on 6 March 2012.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201205010700123829C

Joe Grimmond, Non-Executive Chairman of Coral, commented: "As previously announced, we have been anticipating this decline in demand for media products for some time and have taken steps to mitigate the impact of this decline on the Company. The acquisition of Interpack was a key step in reducing the Company's exposure to media products. We have been delighted with the contribution that Interpack has had on the overall group to date and look forward to developing this part of the business going forward."