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N+1 Brewin raised its recommendation for Cookson (CKSN) from "hold" to "add", raising its target price to 770p from 500p. The advanced materials developer has disposed of its loss making US precious metals business and the broker now expects to see improved margins from the firm's two core divisions. Brewin noted that the shares trade near the bottom of the peer group on a current year earnings multiple of 9.4 times, which the broker feels is now unfair considering the group's improved debt position, as well as 60% of its profits coming from emerging markets. Shares in Cookson slipped by 1.32p to 703.18p

Northland Capital maintained its "buy" rating for Anite (AIE) with an increased target price of 140p, from 110p. The software and wireless network tester won a multi-year contract with travel agent Thomas Cook (TCG) to support its reservation system, and the broker now expects full year pre-tax profits to bet at the top end of forecasts. Northland noted that the firm has a substantial order backlog which will provide improved revenue visibility. The broker's earnings forecasts put the shares on a prospective multiple of 17.8 times for 2013. Anite shares edged up by 0.16p to 128.16p.

Peel Hunt has maintained its positive rating for engineering support services group Babcock after an in-line pre-close trading update this morning. "With an acceleration in organic growth to come as the pipeline continues to convert, the potential for increased merger synergies and deleverage continuing at pace, in our opinion Babcock should be re-rated further," said analyst Christopher Bamberry. Peel Hunt has reiterated a buy recommendation and 855p target price for the stock.

Mark Elliot, Chief Executive of Arena, the race course owner, has acquired over two million shares in the firm. The company announced that over 12m ordinary shares in the firm were allotted for submission onto the LSE, over 8.7m of which were allotted following vesting of awards granted pursuant to the Arena Leisure Long Term Incentive Plan. Following the vesting, under which Elliott acquired 2.5m shares, he also purchased one million shares at 40.75p and 1.05m shares at 39.50p for a total of £820,608.

Eros International's Agent Vinod records a successful opening weekend collection of US$9.5 million gross worldwide London, 27th March 2012: Eros International Plc ("Eros" or "the Group"), a leading global company in the Indian film entertainment industry, announces the successful opening of Saif Ali Khan's latest release Agent Vinod, grossing US$9.5 million worldwide. The film has grossed over US$8.0 million in India (Net collection: US$5.7) and US$1.5 million overseas. The film co-produced in association with Illuminati Films, was released across more than 2,500 screens worldwide on 23rd March, 2012.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201203271200021712A

26/03/2012 Shares in Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) jumped by 10.98p to 260.88p after it reported an increase in assets under management to 184.4 billion pounds as at 29th February 2012, from 173.0 billion pounds as at 31st December 2011. The group saw 1.4 billion pounds of net inflows, entirely due to investment in its equities funds, which it expects to add around 20 million pounds of annualised recurring fees. The investment manager also achieved market appreciation across the majority of its fund sectors., including an 8.2 billion pound in the equities division

Daniel Stewart reiterated its "buy" recommendation for 888 Holdings (888), with a 70p target, ahead of the online gambling company's full year results release on 27th March. The broker noted the firm's impressive turnaround in the third quarter, leading Daniel Stewart to upgrade its full year revenue forecast to 331 million dollars (208.3 million pounds). The broker will also be intrigued to hear if the rumours that Brian Mattingley will take over as the new permanent chief executive are true

N+1 Brewin maintained its "buy" stance on Telecom Plus (TEP) with a target price of 925p. The multi-utility business is introducing a range of new tariffs as well as multiservice sales, which the broker believes will increase its attractiveness to customers. Brewin pointed to a number of incentives to customers who buy four or more core services, such as 10% off energy in the first year. The broker also noted the firm's plan to provide fibre optic broadband, which could lead the way for a TV offering

Salamander Energy also gets some encouraging words from Tempus. The company is now focusing on just three projects in Thailand and Indonesia, with the Indonesian site estimated to be a major find, of over 600m barrels of oil. Losses have been reduced from $169.5m to $45.5m and the shares trade at 0.67% of net assets. At that ratio and with reasonable upside potential Tempus’s suggestion is buy

Tempus in the Times kicks off with engineering firm Kentz, which has made a strategic play to enter the liquefied natural gas market in Australia, thereby gaining access to the export markets of Asia. The company makes most of its money from oil and gas but also has significant interest in mining projects and is paying a tasty dividend of 12.3 cents. Shares are trading at around 10 times forward earnings, and the group is planning a strategic review that will address what to do with a a growing cash pile. Tempus likes the stock: hold for future growth.

Babcock International, the engineering support services company, continues to be one of the lucky companies benefitting from the financial crisis with full year expectations still on track. In its final update ahead of its full year results, the firm said the trading environment for the year had been positive and it hoped to build on its success in the coming year.

Bid pipeline Despite our substantial recent success in converting opportunities into orders, we have more than replenished our bid pipeline. The bid pipeline now stands at c £12 billion, including Dounreay, and has risen from £10 billion on 31 January 2012. This increase reflects the acceleration in activity in our markets and the strength of our positions in those markets. In particular, the increase is a combination of further new contract opportunities from the Defence Infrastructure Organisation, which are due to be awarded between 2013 and 2015, and longer-term opportunities arising in the nuclear new-build market which are now in bid and are expected to be awarded between 2015 and 2017. In addition to increases in both the order book and bid pipeline, the Group continues to track a number of significant opportunities which are expected to come to market over the next financial year. In support of these opportunities, discussions are ongoing with our major customers about their plans for future outsourcing programmes, particularly in the defence training and equipment support markets. Financial review Cash flow remains strong and as previously indicated, net debt at 31 March 2012 is expected to represent less than two times EBITDA. Synergy benefits arising from the combination with VT Group plc are now fully visible and are being realised in line with plan. Outlook The key markets in which the Group operates remain strong and we believe that the current economic climate will continue to create significant medium and long-term growth opportunities, both in the UK and overseas. In this environment we believe we are well placed to benefit from the scale of our operations, the breadth of our experience and our track record of delivering operational and financial efficiencies. The Group continues to benefit from excellent visibility of future revenue streams through its long-term contracts, strong order book and bid pipeline. The Board, therefore, is confident of achieving its expectations for this financial year and looks forward to building on this progress further in 2012/13.

Order book During the second half of this financial year the Group has been successful in securing preferred bidder status on a number of new long-term contracts and achieving extensions to existing contractual arrangements, totalling around £2 billion. Some of these, including London Fire Brigade Training and Sellafield Design Services Alliance, are now operational and have moved into the order book. The contract for the Dounreay Parent Body Organisation (PBO) will not become operational until early April 2012 and so is still included in the bid pipeline. As a result of these successes, after remaining stable at c £12 billion for the past 18 months, the order book has increased to c £12.5 billion, excluding the Dounreay PBO contract. In addition, we can today confirm the following new contract awards. The Marine and Technology division has signed a £350 million contract for the three and a half year Long Overhaul Period and Refuel (LOP(R)) for HMS Vengeance, the fourth of the Vanguard class submarines to undergo a refit at our specialist facilities at Devonport dockyard. This contract follows the successful completion of the LOP(R) for HMS Vigilant, the first to be completed under our Terms of Business Agreement with the Ministry of Defence (MoD). The Defence and Security division has signed a contract with the MoD under Project Phoenix, worth £135 million, for the period to August 2016. This contract will provide continuity of service and incremental replacement for over 14,000 vehicles (ranging from cars to coaches and articulated trucks) previously provided through the White Fleet contract. Babcock has already been announced as the MoD's service provider for Project Phoenix and we now estimate the overall Phoenix contract to be worth c £400 million over the next four and a half years.

Babcock International Group PLC (Babcock or the Group) Pre-close Trading Statement Babcock International Group PLC, the UK's leading engineering support services company, issues the following update on trading for the financial year ending 31 March 2012, before entering its close period. Babcock will announce full year results on 15 May 2012. Overview The Group's trading environment for the year has been positive and the financial performance for the 2011/12 full year remains consistent with the Board's expectations at the time of our Interim Management Statement on 31 January 2012. Throughout this year, our customers have faced ongoing financial and budgetary constraints and increasingly have looked to outsource their support requirements to achieve cost-savings and improved availability or efficiency. This has created opportunities for the Group through our distinctive, engineering based, long-term support model. During the period, the Group has strengthened the visibility of future revenues in the order book and has further increased both the bidding and tracking pipelines, with opportunities arising both in the UK and overseas, including the recent success in securing preferred bidder status for the upkeep of the Royal Australian Navy's Anzac class frigates.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201203270700181152A

Ian Meakins, Chief Executive, commented: "Wolseley has delivered another decent performance, despite challenging economic conditions in Europe, with like-for-like revenue growth of 5 per cent. The underlying gross margin was maintained and our ongoing focus on operational efficiency has delivered further improvements in the trading margin of the ongoing business to 5 per cent. Good cash flow has enabled us to continue to reduce net debt and to invest for future growth. We have completed a number of value-enhancing acquisitions in the US and Nordics and they are being integrated promptly. "Like-for-like growth trends for the Group since the end of the period have been slightly lower than the first half overall with the US a little better and Europe a little weaker. We will continue to pursue operating efficiencies and remain focused on improving customer service, gaining market share and protecting our gross margins. We will continue to invest selectively in the business where we can exploit growth opportunities and generate good returns. "An attractive and sustainable dividend is an important element of shareholder returns and we have raised the interim dividend to 20 pence per share, 33 per cent ahead of last year reflecting our confidence in the business."

Plumbers' merchant Wolseley, no longer drowning in a sea of debt, felt confident enough to ramp up its interim dividend by a third on the back of strong profits growth, though like-for-like sales growth has tapered off a tad in the last couple of months. Revenue in the six months to January 31st rose 3% to £6,841m from £6,629m a year earlier. Like-for-like (LFL) sales were up 5%.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201203270700191158A

Richard Kellett-Clarke, CEO of IDOX, said: "This acquisition further cements our strategy to deliver a broad range of electoral software solutions and managed services at a key time for local authorities. The Government's localism agenda will drive an increase in the number of local elections and changes in the way that elections are managed. "Opt2Vote has a strong track record in delivering efficiency gains with its managed print services and its e-Counting service is set for rollout in the forthcoming local elections in Scotland. The combined capabilities of Opt2Vote and Strand positions us as a key provider in the growing UK electoral market."