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Drilling Update - Shallow Infill Drilling at Piaui Provides Further Encouragement of Potential SERABI GOLD plc ("Serabi" or "the Company") Drilling Update Shallow Infill Drilling at Piaui Provides Further Encouragement of Potential Serabi Gold plc (AIM:SRB, TSX:SBI and SBI.WT), the Brazilian focused gold exploration Company, is pleased to announce encouraging preliminary analytical results from a shallow infill drilling programme on the Piaui Prospect located at its 100% owned Jardim do Ouro project in the Tapajos region. As previously announced, the Company has been experiencing delays in receiving assay results from the independent laboratory used by the Company, and the preliminary analytical results set out below from infill and extension drilling at the Piaui Prospect have been returned from the Company's own on-site analytical laboratory at the Palito mine (see footnote - Preliminary Assay Results). Shallow infill drilling commenced in October on the promising Piaui propect and 2,600 metres of a shallow diamond drilling programme across 23 drill holes has been recently completed (PDD0495-PDD0501, PDD0503-PDD0517). All samples have also been submitted to ALS Chemex of Vancouver and results of this final analysis will be released in due course.

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Shares in instrumentation and electronics supplier Elektron took a tumble last Thursday following a profts warning, and have continued falling since, prompting company chairman Keith Daley to whip out his cheque-book and snap up some cut-price shares. Daley, who has been a shareholder in Elektron since 1996, topped up his holding with a purchase of 300,000 shares at 21.25p each, putting a £63,750 dent in his bank balance. Daley owns 8.54m Elektron shares, representing just over 8% of the issued ordinary share capital of the company.

Following their attendance at a set of recent company presentations, analysts at Nomura were writing today that, “Overall, we came back from the trip thinking Standard Chartered´s (STAN) target of double-digit revenue growth for 2011 and beyond is achievable.” More specifically, they cite the bank´s chief financial officer as having said that STAN is on the cusp of a remarkable few years. Likewise, the presentations drew attention to the existence of significant growth opportunities not just in markets such as China and India, where the outlook for growth “stands out”, but also in Hong Kong and Singapore. Nomura has decided to reiterate its buy recommendation on shares of Standard Chartered at the same time that it has slightly raised its forecasts.

Peel Hunt downgrades from buy to hold, target cut from 75p to 25p.

Peel Hunt raises target from 220p to 240p, hold recommendation unchanged.

Seymour Pierce reiterates buy recommendation and 300p target.

Prime Markets confirms buy recommendation and 263p target.

Both UBS and Credit Suisse have cut their target prices for FTSE 250 insurance firm Amlin following the group’s third quarter update last week.

Europe-focused media group Mecom announced yesterday that it is in discussions to sell its Norwegian division Edda Media. The Times' Tempus column says that if it can be sold for £175m, it looks like a "compelling deal" as it would be disposing of a business that is worth more than the Mecom's total market cap (before yesterday's 16% jump), but which only accounts for a fifth of annual revenues. "The balance sheet is already strong and a sale of the Norwegian assets would bring borrowings down further. Yesterday’s statement makes it clear there is more than one potential buyer, most likely three, which should augur well for whatever price finally emerges," Tempus says. The column notes that shares are still recovering from the aftermath of a profit warning last month and while now is not the time to pile into media stocks, "Mecom's strengths eventually should become more obvious."

Primary Health Properties, the real estate investment trust which builds and manages doctors' surgeries and pharmacies, has been marked out as a buy by the Telegraph's Questor column. "The shares are trading on a high earnings multiple for good reason – the visibility of revenues. In the current year it is 18.2, falling to 17.2 in the year to December 2012….The view remains the same, buy for the yield," the column said.

"Mitie's halfway report is significantly more cheerful than other updates from its rivals," writes the Tempus column in the Times. The column notes that Mitie reported organic growth of 5.1% in the first half, surpassing estimates of 4.3% from house-broker UBS. "Its strategy is to offer an ever wider range of services to the same clients, in particular in energy management, where the group claims to be able to save them about half their total spending." However, while Tempus believes that the firm will continue to be one of the best performers in the outsourcing sector, the shares are trading on almost 11 times' prospective earnings. As such, the stock is given a hold rating.

mannan - hello there back

Commenting on the results, Christophe Evain, CEO, said: "We are pleased to announce another solid set of results which is evidence of the strength of our investment portfolio and fund management franchise. Given the uncertain economic outlook we remain focused on preserving our strong performance track record. As the majority of traditional lenders continue to retrench from the credit market, we also see considerable opportunities emerging to acquire debt at attractive discounts in a distressed market, to provide finance to existing buyouts to restructure their overgeared balance sheet and to offer reliable financing solutions for new transactions, thereby delivering high returns to our institutional investors. The progress made on fundraising in a difficult environment is also a testament to our fund management franchise."

Intermediate Capital Group PLC ("ICG") announces its First Half results for the six months ended 30 September 2011. Operational Highlights * ¢‚¬1.1bn first closing of ICG Europe Fund V, including ¢‚¬500m co-investment from ICG, with good momentum towards our ¢‚¬2bn target * £242m final close on Longbow UK Real Estate Debt Investments II, including £50m commitment from ICG * Resilient investment portfolio Financial Highlights * Group profit before tax(1) of £108.8m compared to £105.1m in the first half of last year (H1 11) * £100.6m uplift to reserves following adoption of fair value accounting for our equity investments * Fund Management Company profit of £17.1m compared to £16.9m in H1 11 * Investment Company profit(1) of £91.7m compared to £88.2m in H1 11 * Strong balance sheet with unutilised debt facilities of approximately £615m * Interim dividend of 6 pence per share, unchanged from last year

http://www.halifaxmarketwatch.co.uk/rns.cgi?username=&ac=&action=news&rns=1&view=full&story_id=5153007

http://www.halifaxmarketwatch.co.uk/rns.cgi?username=&ac=&action=news&rns=1&view=full&story_id=5153008

Capital Shopping Centres: Seymour Pierce maintains reduce stance and 324p target.

Krystalle Tobin, Chief Financial Officer, Hiscox Bermuda, said: "We are delighted the New York Department of Financial Services has granted Hiscox Bermuda with Certified Reinsurer status. Reducing collateral requirements improves the reinsurance market for local insurers looking for more capacity and choice. With the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) recently passing the credit for reinsurance model law changes, we are optimistic that other states will move to implement similar reduced collateral requirements."

Hiscox secures lower collateral requirement from New York regulator Hamilton, Bermuda (22 November, 2011) - Hiscox Insurance Company (Bermuda) Limited ("Hiscox Bermuda"), a subsidiary of the international specialist insurer Hiscox Ltd (LSE:HSX), has announced it has been awarded Certified Reinsurer status by the New York Department of Financial Services. Hiscox Bermuda's secure financial strength rating means it is now permitted to post collateral of 20% of loss reserves rather than 100%, as was previously required. New York is one of a number of US states to follow Florida's lead by reducing collateral requirements for non-US reinsurers that are highly rated and financially sound, with the intention of increasing available reinsurance capacity for US cedants. Hiscox Bermuda was permitted by the Florida insurance regulator to reduce its collateral requirements in October 2010.