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http://www.halifaxmarketwatch.co.uk/rns.cgi?username=&ac=&action=news&rns=1&view=full&story_id=4550362

UBS slashes its target price on Standard Chartered to 1,600p from 1,830p, yet keeps its "buy" rating on the stock. "The funding challenges afflicting Eurozone banks described in Here we go again, 16 September 2011 (a UBS note) are likely driving inflows into what is widely viewed as a safe haven bank," UBS says.

Interim Management Statement Maidenhead, UK - SDL plc, the leader in Global Information Management solutions, today publishes its Interim Management Statement for the period from 1 July 2011 to 28 September 2011, as required by the Disclosure and Transparency Rules. Revenue and operating profit performance for the third quarter of 2011 was in line with management expectations, with solid progress towards the operational and strategic priorities set for the year. We continue to view the economic outlook with caution; nonetheless, demand across the group has remained robust, driven by SDL's core characteristics of geographic and client diversity.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201109290700281436P

Shore Capital downgrades RM from buy to hold

Shanks confident for full year Date: Thursday 29 Sep 2011 LONDON (ShareCast) - Waste management firm Shanks said trading for the six months ending 30 September 2011 has been in line with company expectations and it remains on track for the full year. Underlying market conditions have been as anticipated, with stable recyclate prices and cost savings offsetting ongoing pricing pressures in the Netherlands, Shanks said in a company statement. The group, which has also operations in the UK, Belgium and Canada, said it continues to benefit from the relatively strong euro. Shanks, which has the capacity to treat over 1m tonnes of organic waste each year, said the strong underlying growth of the business has continued. Chairman Adrian Auer said he was pleased with the group's six months performance. "Market conditions remain in line with our previous expectations and we continue to make good progress in implementing our strategy of delivering sustainable alternatives to landfill and mass burn incineration." "Whilst the board is mindful of the continuing uncertain macro-economic environment, we remain on track to achieve expectations for the full year," he added. Shanks said the search for new CEO is progressing well.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201109290700271410P

In the spring Babcock International emerged from talks with the Ministry of Defence, one of its biggest customers, with a memorandum of understanding which suggested that, in the light of budget cuts, it was going to have to renegotiate much of that work, and presumably at lower prices. The latest trading statement, at the close of the first half, again reassured that there has been no change to the financial performance of its bigger contracts “or the level of savings we are able to deliver to our customers”. The shares have bounced back by a pound or so from their low in August and now sell on about 11 times this year’s earnings. A strong hold for that assured work flow, says the Times.

The banking software firm Misys yesterday said demand from fast growing markets for its newer offerings was strong. This demand is helping offset the impact of the pressures on the financial markets, and revenue in the company's first quarter was up 4%. However, the share price slump means that Misys now trades on multiples of 11 times forward earnings for next year, falling to under 9 times on the estimates for the year after that. Buy, the Independent says.

Stagecoach has hit back at Labour after it was singled out as the sort of "predator" business that Ed Miliband attacked in his party conference speech on Tuesday. Maria Eagle, the Shadow Transport Secretary, is understood to have claimed the bus company was a "bad business", taking unjustified rewards of the kind Mr Miliband had criticised, according to the Times.

Commenting on performance for the period, Xavier Rolet, Chief Executive, said: "We have had a good five months. Following strong first quarter results, the business has continued to perform well and we saw increases in trading volumes across our cash equities, derivatives and fixed income businesses. Our post trade operations have also performed particularly well and we saw another significant new win for our world-beating MillenniumIT technology. "Our diversification strategy is delivering. We remain absolutely focused on growth opportunities, driving innovation, strong cost control, working with our customers and delivering results. We expect the Group to report good first half results."

PRE-CLOSE PERIOD UPDATE FOR the five months ended 31 August 2011 Highlights: · Strong performance from increasingly diversified Group · Growth being driven from a range of business operations · Capital raised on our markets up 35 per cent to £22.9 billion (FY 2011: £17.0 billion); increase in number of new issues - up 19 per cent to 92 (FY 2011: 77) · Average daily UK equity volumes up 12 per cent and Italian average daily volumes up five per cent; trading on Turquoise's lit equity platform increased 67 per cent · Increase in fixed income trading - up 11 per cent in MTS cash and eight per cent increase in MTS money markets; derivatives trading up 11 per cent · Clearing volumes up five per cent; net treasury income remained strong · Notable developments in the period included the launch of FTSE 100 Futures on our new Turquoise Derivatives platform, a key technology contract signed with the Oslo Bors and the launch of Sponsored Access

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201109290700271411P

ICAP sticking with forecasts despite bumper August Date: Thursday 29 Sep 2011 LONDON (ShareCast) - Inter-dealer broker ICAP said revenue in the first half of its financial year was marginally ahead of the corresponding period of last year, giving it no cause to amend full-year expectations outlined at the time of his Annual General Meeting in July. Market traders might as well buckle up and prepare for a bumpy ride for the rest of the year if Michael Spencer, ICAP's group chief executive, is correct, as he predicts the recent high levels of volatility in financial markets will continue for the rest of the year. While, to paraphrase an alleged trader who recently created a furore on a BBC news programme, Spencer is unlikely to go to bed each night dreaming of a recession, high volatility is normally good for ICAP's business, or, as Spencer put it: "We remain confident that the diversity of our products and services will continue to assist our customers around the world to do business and reduce risk in these uncertain times." In the six months to the end of September the group has seen "solid" volumes in its core voice broking business, with August seeing a marked increase in activity. On the electronic broking side, in the five months to the end of August, total average daily volumes on the EBS foreign exchange and BrokerTec fixed income platforms reached $884.6bn, an increase of 18% year-on-year. On August 4th, $407bn was traded on EBS, the third-highest volume day in its history. In fixed income products, total average daily volumes on the BrokerTec platform were $711.5bn, an increase of 20% year-on-year, and average daily foreign exchange volumes on EBS increased 12%, to $173.1bn. European repo (loan repurchase) volumes reached $309.7bn, up 22% year-on-year. US Treasury electronic broking volumes increased 5% year-on-year, to $145.6bn and US repo volumes were $256.2bn, up 27%. Performance in ICAP's post-trade risk and information businesses was strong across all the businesses, the company said.

Group CEO comments: Commenting on ICAP's first half and the outlook, Michael Spencer, Group Chief Executive of ICAP, said: "The first six months of the year has seen ICAP continue to focus on organic growth, increasing the number of asset classes our post trade business supports and developing our electronic and hybrid initiatives. We have also seen higher volumes on our pure electronic platforms, with for example $407bn traded on EBS, our FX platform, on 4 August, the third-highest volume day in its history. "Due to continuing political and economic uncertainty, we expect the recent high levels of volatility in financial markets to continue for the rest of the year. We remain confident that the diversity of our products and services will continue to assist our customers around the world to do business and reduce risk in these uncertain times. "Finally I want to thank Mark Yallop, our Group Chief Operating Officer, who leaves us tomorrow, for his huge contribution to ICAP's success during the last six years. In Mark Price, our new Group Chief Operating Officer, we have an outstanding replacement with substantial operational and risk management experience in financial markets."

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201109290700371695P

RM slumps after profit warning Date: Thursday 29 Sep 2011 LONDON (ShareCast) - Educational software supplier RM has warned that full year results will fall short of expectations after the usually strong seasonal uplift in the second half failed to materialise. RM said that in previous years, about 60% of revenues were generated in the second half of the year. “However, whilst the group has experienced some seasonal increase in the current year, this has been lower than the historic trend,” the company said. “As a result, for the 12 months to 30 September 2011, the board anticipates operating results below current analyst forecasts.” It added that it will incur charges related to a strategic and operation review of the company. Among the changes the company is making is a 13% reduction to its headcount from levels in July. At 9.20am, shares in RM were down by 31.75p at 69p.

From next week Ryanair's new prepaid MasterCard will become the only free payment method when booking flights with the airline - and the Daily Mail can reveal the terms and conditions of the card. Currently, passengers can dodge the GBP6 Ryanair each way administration fee by using any prepaid MasterCard. However, the airline will change the rules so that only bookings made with its own brand MasterCard prepaid card will enable passengers to dodge the fees. For every transaction and withdrawal abroad, card holders will be charged a whopping 5.75% foreign transaction fee, the paper reports.

The pizza delivery firm Domino's group like-for-like sales grew by 3.9%, including Ireland, but by 4.1% in the UK over the 13 weeks to 25 September. Overall, we believe the only spanner in the works is its lofty forward earnings multiple of 23. But with a proven track record in a downturn, roaring sales and an expansion in Germany under way, we are buyers, says the Independent.

CareTech, the care home operator, was hit by a messy corporate governance row over capitalising the cost of its M&A team, which is not generally the done thing, and the fallout from the collapse of the larger Southern Cross. At the current price, the shares trade on about 4.4 times earnings for the year about to close, which suggests that management might be looking at a bargain. But the company’s history does not encourage much confidence, writes the Times.