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http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201112010700130962T

Shares in coal-fired power station operator Drax were being weighed down comments from Nomura on Wednesday, which downgraded the stock from neutral to reduce. “Although policy developments in the UK appear hostile to coal power stations, Drax will likely have a key role in the UK’s energy mix for many years to come as it is a comparatively efficient and flexible plant. However, it is not clear what that future will look like as Drax is considering a conversion project that could see biomass constituting around 50% of its fuel – or more if the support is right,” the broker said.

Hi thistle - the season for it gets earlier and earlier! Hope you have a good one. Heres a little more behind your broker post. UBS has raised its target price for industrial engineer Weir from 2,400p to 2,500p, saying that comments from US peer Halliburton have made it much more optimistic. At last week’s Reverse Energy Roadshow in Houston, Halliburton said that it expects the pressure pumping industry to raise capacity by 35% next year “and as industry #1 they are well placed to judge”, UBS said. Despite the stock trading at 13 times forward earnings, the broker says that given the momentum, “it does not dampen our enthusiasm”.

The deputy chairman of the board at Reckitt Benckiser has sold off millions of pounds worth of his stake in the firm. Peter Harf, who has occupied his position since 1999, sold 416,000 shares at 3,208.92p each for a total of £13,349,107. Towards the end of October the firm, which makes a number well-known products including Cillit Bang, Clearasil and Strepsils, announced that it expected slower growth in its pharmaceuticals division during the fourth quarter

Commenting on the interim results Chief Executive Officer, Conor Foley, said: "Against a background of very turbulent markets we continue to make steady progress in the implementation of our long term strategy. Unsettled conditions in the Euro area and the volatility in markets that accompanied it delivered a boost to top line activity but mandated an extremely focussed approach to risk and exposure. Our international operations are progressing as anticipated. Our IT platform and product suite is developing fast and on time with the recent release on an on-line CFD offering and a mobile telephony application. Their impact on top and bottom line revenue should be felt from early in 2012. We continue to have every confidence that our strategy to strengthen and broaden the Group's international reach, activities and infrastructure will bear fruit. We have continued to demonstrate strong growth in our international markets, most notably in Europe where the new offices we established last year have begun to make a meaningful impact in the performance of the Group. We are excited by our pipeline which includes not only new partners, both local and international, but also new technology in the form of our CFD and mobile offerings, and new jurisdictions such as Israel, where the Company has recently opened a small sales office which has already started to introduce clients."

nterim Results for the Six Months ended 30 September 2011 WorldSpreads Group plc ("WorldSpreads" or the "Group") today announces its interim results for the six months ended 30 September 2011. First Half Highlights: · Revenues from continuing operations: Up 11% to €8.28m (2010: €7.44m) · Revenues from European division: Up 22% to €3.08m (2010: €2.52m) · Loss before tax from continuing operations: €0.63m (2010: Loss €0.44m) · Basic Loss per Share from continuing operations: €0.012 per share (2010: €0.008) · Average trades per day from continuing operations: Up 22% to 9,612 (2010: 7,862) · Total active clients from continuing operations: Up 40% to 4,916 (2010: 3,507) · A strong balance sheet with net assets of €21m (2010: €23m)

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201111300700200147T

Caspian Holdings (CSH) entered into a sale and purchase agreement to acquire Iberian Resources Spain for the consideration of 1 million dollars (635,000 pounds). The target boasts 100% ownership of the La Parrilla Tungsten tailings deposit and an option to acquire the La Parrilla open pit Tungsten mine. The former is estimated to contain 2.5 million tonnes of tungsten, and the group has set the objective of moving the site into the production over the next 12-18 months. The shares jumped 0.0675p to 0.3p

Dividend The board is proposing a final dividend per share of 12.6p bringing the full year dividend per share to 17.7p, an increase of 6.0% on the prior year. This reflects the board's continuing confidence in the future prospects of the business, as well as the underlying cash generative nature of its activities. Paul Moody, Chief Executive commented: "Britvic has delivered a robust set of results, despite the particularly challenging economic backdrop in 2011. Our GB, France and International business units have each produced revenue and volume growth this year, leading to an increase in total group revenue of almost 15%. This performance reflects the strength of our brands and the quality of our innovation programme, as well as the continued focus on revenue management. We are particularly delighted with the progress that we have made with the internationalisation of Fruit Shoot. The announcement today of three major new agreements for this Britvic-owned brand in the United States gives us material additional territories, new distribution partners and, significantly, an agreement with PBV to begin production in the US; important steps towards realising our ambitions for Fruit Shoot. The political, financial and social environment in which we operate will remain challenging, but we are confident in our ability to compete strongly and to deliver another solid set of results for the year ahead, in line with our expectations."

Britvic plc Preliminary Results 30 November 2011 Britvic plc announces its preliminary results for the 52 weeks ended 2 October 2011(full year) (1) Financial highlights (52 week unless stated)(1): · Group revenue growth of 14.6%; Group ex-France +0.8%. GB, France and International all delivered positive volume and revenue growth, with Ireland constraining overall group growth · Group EBITA growth of 4.3%, adjusted EPS decline versus 53 weeks in 2010 of 8.2% · Group adjusted net debt to EBITDA ratio of 2.4x compared to 2.5x last year · Group bank syndicate successfully refinanced to deliver strong funding platform to 2016 · Full year dividend per share up 6.0% to 17.7p Three major new agreements for Fruit Shoot in US doubling coverage to six states: · Britvic product to be manufactured in the US for first time under new agreement with Pepsi Bottling Ventures, largest independent Pepsi bottler in the US, to manufacture and distribute in North and South Carolina. · Agreement with Gross & Jarson, third largest Pepsi bottler in the US, to distribute in Kentucky · Agreement to distribute Fruit Shoot in Florida & Georgia through Pepsi Beverages Company. PBC is the wholly-owned manufacturing, sales and distribution operating unit of PepsiCo. Pension funding contributions on GB pension scheme agreed: · Pension Funding Partnership (PFP) expected to be in place by end of 2011. Payments of: £10m in 2011, £12.5m in 2012 and £20m 2013-2017. Delivers net cash benefits versus guidance. If PFP not agreed, £20m extended to 2022. Payments subject to triennial valuation. Innovation: · Continued successful group wide innovation programme, including the launch of Teisseire Fruit Shoot in France, Mountain Dew Energy and Juicy Drench in Ireland; all of which are performing ahead of expectations.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201111300700200152T

Commenting on the acquisition, Colin Drummond, Chief Executive of Viridor said, "The UK's waste strategy demands ever increasing levels of recycling whilst the world has an increasing demand for raw materials including recyclate. Recycling is a fast growing part of Viridor's business and accounted for around 31% of the Company's profit contribution in the first half of financial year 2011/12. Community Waste's operations in Bedfordshire and Oxfordshire fit well with our existing operations and strategy in the south east, and also provide additional volumes for our international trading arm. The acquisition is expected to be earnings enhancing in its first full year."

Pennon Group expands its Waste Management business Pennon Group Plc announces that its subsidiary, Viridor Waste Management Limited, has acquired Community Waste Holding Limited and Community Waste Recycling Limited, a specialist materials recycling and paper trading business based in Milton Keynes, from Community Waste Holdings Foundation, Ms C Cutts and Ms G Cutts. The total consideration on a debt-free basis was £15.75m (comprising cash of £8.775m and Pennon Group Plc loan notes totalling £6.975m). The acquisition is in line with the Group's strategy of expanding its waste management activities, particularly in the recycling sector. The acquired business operates in the south east of England. It has a number of medium and long-term municipal contracts and a total current annual volume of 90,000 tonnes. Its main operations are: a Materials Recycling Facility (MRF) in Milton Keynes, Bedfordshire, processing co-mingled dry recyclables; an MRF in Enstone (northwest of Oxford) processing municipal and commercial recyclables; and a trading arm located in London.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201111300700180116T

Marston's (MARS) reported revenues of 682.2 million pounds for the year ended 1st October, up 4.8% year-on-year, with underlying pre-tax profit growth of 9.4% to 80.4 million pounds. The pub landlord attributed the performance to its ability to provide affordable products for customers, resulting in increased footfall, rather than through price rises. Additionally, during the period the firm opened 19 new-build managed pubs, with a further 25 scheduled for 2012. The shares rose 2.3p to 95.8p.

In-line with its strategy of expanding in fast growing markets, WPP (WPP) has agreed to acquire a majority stake in Chinese public relations company Impactasia, for an undisclosed amount. The target reported revenues of 23.5 million Hong Kong dollars (1.9 million pounds) for the year ended 31st December 2010, with gross assets of around 12.8 million HKD (1.1 million pounds). WPP shares climbed 19p to 668p

Sage (SGE) achieved pre-tax profit growth of 10.7% to 330.8 million pounds for the year ended 30th September on revenues of 1.33 billion pounds, up 4.4%. The business management software developer attributes this growth to its loyal customer base and technological innovation. However, the group noted concern over the weak macro-economic environment and will now look to focus on geographic areas with the most growth potential. The shares jumped 15.1p to 290.1p

Angus MacSween, CEO commented, "The market opportunities available to us continue to grow as more and more organisations take advantage of the benefits of outsourcing their infrastructure needs to a strong and trusted supplier such as iomart. We continue to expand our skills, product sets and infrastructure to deliver an increasing range of cloud services and expect to continue the growth we have recently enjoyed."

Half Yearly Results iomart Group plc (AIM:IOM), the cloud computing and managed hosting services company, is pleased to report its consolidated half yearly results for the period ended 30 September 2011. FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS · Revenue growth of 36% to £15.4m (H1 2011: £11.4m) · Adjusted EBITDA1 growth of 85% to £5.0m (H1 2011: £2.7m) · Profit before tax growth of 106% to £2.4m (H1 2011: £1.2m) · Basic earnings per share from operations increased by 112% to 2.23p (H1 2011: 1.05p) · Cashflow from operations of £4.1m (H1 2011: £3.1m) · Net cash at end of period of £3.5m (H1 2011: £5.3m) OPERATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS · Acquisition of Switch Media Group for maximum of £1.2m in April 2011 · Acquisition of EQSN Limited for maximum of £2.5m in November 2011 · Titan server estate migrated into Group datacentres eliminating third party datacentre costs · Continuing rationalisation programme for previously acquired businesses 1 Adjusted EBITDA means earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation charges, share based payment charges, acquisition related costs and non recurring acquisition integration costs

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201111290700159274S