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ACQUISITION OF FUDGE HAIR CARE BRAND PZ Cussons Plc, a leading consumer products group in Europe, Asia and Africa, announces the exchange of contracts for the acquisition through its beauty division of the Fudge hair care brand from Australian-based Sabre Group. The brand and associated inventory are being acquired for a consideration of £25.5m in cash with completion expected by the end of January following the satisfaction of certain regulatory obligations. Established in 1991, Fudge is a leading premium hair care brand, sold predominantly through salon distribution in the UK, Australia and New Zealand. It is best known for its styling range including the iconic 'Hair Shaper' product. Fudge will join the portfolio of brands within PZ Cussons Beauty, the group's recently formed beauty division, which currently comprises St Tropez, Sanctuary and Charles Worthington. Revenue for the year ended 30 June 2011 was £15.7m. Approximately 50% of Fudge sales are currently in the UK and Europe and 50% in Australia and New Zealand.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201201050700050084V

The Times’s Tempus column takes a look at FTSE 100 new entrant CRH, an Irish constructions materials firm with global reach. Yesterday it released its biannual round up of acquisitions, with the €407m split rouhgly equally between Europe and the US. With a model that depends on buying relatively small local suppliers to the building trade the number of purchases can be dizzying, over 20 in the last six months alone. Tempus makes the point that as a new FTSE 100 entrant CRH will be more heavily studied by analysts who may not be terribly impressed by its 17 times earnings value and a margin below 5%. Tempus says, leave well alone for now.

Randy Bartley, President and CEO of Coastal Energy, commented: "The recent results from both drilling and production testing have exceeded our expectations. The B-10 well has confirmed that the M100 and M500 sands extend into the previously untested central area of the field while the B-12 well encountered thicker than expected sands on the highest structural position drilled thus far in the northern part of the field. We are excited to find Middle Miocene pay for the first time. This, along with the M75 zone discovered with the B-09 well, provide additional targets for future exploration within the field area. "We are pleased with the initial testing results from our first horizontal well and we are currently planning two additional horizontal development wells at Bua Ban North B based on these successful results. Following the completion of the three most recent wells and the additional drilling at Bua Ban North, the rig will be moved to Bua Ban South to begin exploration of this highly prospective asset."

Coastal Energy Announces Initial Production Testing Results of Bua Ban North A Wells, Drilling Results at Bua Ban North B & Operations Update Coastal Energy Company (the "Company" or "Coastal Energy") (TSX: CEN, AIM: CEO), an independent exploration and production company with assets in Thailand, announces the successful production testing results from the first two Bua Ban North A wells and the results of the Bua Ban North B-10 and B-12. Offshore

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201201050700140201V

JOHN MENZIES PLC today issues a pre-close trading update ahead of its Preliminary Results announcement on 6 March 2012. Following the Interim Management Statement which was released on 15 November 2011, the Group has continued to make positive progress with both divisions as anticipated. As a result, the Group remains on track to deliver pre-tax profit growth for the full year in excess of 20%.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=20120105070000P7051

Numis downgrades Next from buy to add, target price 3200p.

Natural resource estimator Rock Solid Images (RSI) has been awarded a 1.1 million dollar project contract to re-process and integrate seismic and well data by a South-East Asian oil company. The project will begin immediately and will take approximately four months to complete. The shares surged 0.625p to 1.75p.

As expected, mobile marketing and digital entertainment company InternetQ (INTQ) reported it has successfully executed "important" contracts and won new business with organisations in all areas of operations. These developments have allowed it to tap into a number of pan-Asia growth opportunities. The firm added in the past six months it had increased connectivity by 125% to 124 mobile network operators, and coverage by 71% to 1.2 billion subscribers. InternetQ shares added 21p to close at 177p.

Software services company Tikit Group (TIK) commented on trading for the year ended 31st December 2011, ahead of the release of final results in March, stating trading remained strong throughout the second half of 2011, and that figures would be in line with market expectations. Tikit added it had finished the year well, securing a healthy pipeline of implementation work, and alongside the group's focus on recurring revenue, this would provide the board with confidence for 2012. Tikit Group shares inched 4p higher to 291.5p

Coverage Building materials supplier CRH (CRH) invested 0.4 billion euros (0.33 billion pounds) in acquisition and development activity over the second half of 2011, bringing the full year total to 0.6 billion euros (0.5 billion pounds). Activities included 7 European acquisitions and 15 in the Americas, largely in the materials division. The purchases have increased the firm's aggregate reserves by around 254 million tonnes. Meanwhile, the group's 26% owned Chinese associate Yatai Building Materials completed the construction of a cement mill capable of processing 1.5 million tonnes per annum. CRH shares fell 20p to 1,285p.

Commenting on these developments, Myles Lee, CRH Chief Executive, said: "The bolt-on transactions announced today are very much in keeping with the Group's strategy to acquire businesses which add value to our existing operations or which expand our footprint in developed markets where we see opportunities for further growth. Meanwhile we continued to grow our activities in developing economies by investing through our 26% associate in northeastern China and through a strategic bolt-on acquisition in Ukraine."

CRH ANNOUNCES SECOND-HALF 2011 DEVELOPMENT SPEND OF €0.4 BILLION BRINGING TOTAL 2011 DEVELOPMENT SPEND TO €0.6 BILLION CRH plc, the international building materials group, today announces 23 acquisition and investment initiatives totalling approximately €0.4 billion undertaken during the second-half of 2011 as part of its continuing programme of development activity. The development initiatives in this Update include: · Europe Materials: 3 acquisitions, 1 investment - €195 million A significant investment in cement grinding capacity in Belgium complementing existing activities in the Benelux; strategic add-on in Ukraine for recently commissioned state-of-the-art cement plant; readymixed concrete bolt-on acquisitions in Finland and continued development by associate Yatai Building Materials in northeastern China. · Europe Products & Distribution: 4 acquisitions - €28 million Further build-out of Sanitary, Heating and Plumbing distribution activities expanding to 20 the total number of branches in this segment in Belgium. · Americas Materials: 9 acquisitions - €112 million (US$157 million) Active second-half bolt-on programme, adding approximately 0.25 billion tonnes of aggregates reserves, improving existing market positions and bringing total 2011 investment by this Division to approximately US$0.3 billion. · Americas Products & Distribution: 6 acquisitions - €72 million (US$101 million) Addition of 24 Distribution branches in four transactions in the second half of 2011; in particular the acquisition in December of United Products expanded our existing positions in the Northern Plains states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota, South Dakota and Nebraska.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201201040700109422U

Shore Capital maintained its "buy" recommendation for London & Stamford Property (LSP) approving of the disposal of the company's "Triangle" portfolio for 265 million pounds. The broker notes that it represents a profit of 21.3% on the amount the group originally paid and the funds will strengthen the property investor's war chest, which Shore estimates stands at around 1 billion pounds. The broker also notes the possibility of a special dividend issue if a suitable investment opportunity cannot be found. The shares dropped 1.3p to 107.7p.

Amec (AMEC) retained its "buy" rating from Seymour Pierce, with a 1,250p target price. The broker says that the oil consultancy underperformed the market by 15% in 2011, and now trades at a significant discount to its peers. The company has an order book of 3.3 billion pounds, and Seymour Pierce notes that it has won several significant new contracts with BP and GDF Suez. Additionally, with development in new hydrocarbon extraction methods such as shale gas fracking the broker sees opportunity for further new business. AMEC shares inched up 1p to 934p.

Singer Capital has called Volex (VLX) one of its top "buy" recommendations, with a target price of 340p. While the power cord manufacturer has shows strong sales growth, the broker is more intrigued by its goal to raise its gross margin from 19% to 25%. Singer believes that this is achievable and expects the group to participate in acquisition activity as the market looks to consolidate. The broker also points out a strong balance sheet with net debt of just 12 million dollars (7.7 million pounds) as at September 2011. Volex shares unravelled 8.25p to 250.25p

RPC (RPC) is one of Panmure Gordon's top picks for 2012, with a target price of 462p. The broker says that 2011 was a transformational year for the packaging company, with the fruition of its reorganisation strategy and the acquisition of plastic and cardboard packaging group Superfos. Despite difficult conditions in a number of markets, Panmure notes that that the firm has seen increased volumes in areas such as coffee capsules, and expects the acquisition to offer cross-selling opportunities. The broker forecasts earning per share growth of 25.8% in 2012 to 37.6p, climbing to 42p in 2013, putting RPC on a prospective multiple of 9.7 times, falling to 8.7 times. The shares gained 5.7p to 366p