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Panmure Gordon downgraded its recommendation for Personal Group Holdings (PGH), the provider of employee benefits and financial services, from "hold" to "sell" with a reduced target price of 240p, down from 265p. The broker notes the announcement that the well regarded chief executive Nigel Brtittle has left the company "with immediate effect" to pursue other opportunities. The apparent reluctance by the group to communicate any reasons for his departure has raised sufficient uncertainty to lead Panmure to cut its recommendation and lower its target price. Personal shares inched higher 2p to 271p.

While the company has given no formal indication of a trading update, last year there was an Interim Management Statement on 29 April, so keep an eye on announcements.

http://www.iii.co.uk/articles/15224/stock-watch-howden-joinery-group

Pearson buys US education group Date: Tuesday 26 Apr 2011 LONDON (ShareCast) - Financial Times publisher and education group Pearson has acquired Schoolnet, which provides tailored instruction for US school kids, for $230m (£140m). Pearson said it expects the acquisition to be broadly neutral to earnings per share in 2011, including integration costs, and to enhance Pearson's adjusted EPS and return on invested capital in 2012. Pearson says Schoolnet now serves more than 5m US school pupils. “Schoolnet's data-based solutions will complement Pearson products and services that help boost student achievement through diagnostic tools and tailored instruction,” Pearson said. “Schoolnet customers will benefit from Pearson's content and information technology.”

Marjorie Scardino, Pearson's chief executive, said: "Being able to offer a connective digital spine for learning has been Pearson's goal for years. Schoolnet has shared our passion, and together we can make that spine more flexible and powerful for schools, teachers and students." Based in New York City, Schoolnet was founded in 1998 by Jonathan D. Harber and Denis P. Doyle, who developed the Schoolnet instructional management suite to help school systems use data to boost learning. The Obama administration, through programs such as Race to the Top, supports the use of comprehensive data systems that improve college-readiness. As part of the administration's reform agenda, some $17 billion has been allocated to states and districts to support school improvement. Jonathan D. Harber, Schoolnet's chief executive, will stay on, along with his senior leadership team, and continue to serve as CEO of Schoolnet and as a senior executive at Pearson. "K-12 schools have begun a revolutionary transformation towards evidence-driven instruction to improve student achievement," Harber said. "Personalized learning for students and educators is key to advancing student progress and we are pleased to be joining the Pearson family in this pursuit." Will Ethridge, chief executive of Pearson North America, said: "We are excited to have Jonathan and the talented Schoolnet team join Pearson. We see an excellent fit between the capabilities of our two organizations, and we are looking forward to the opportunity to work together to improve learning and accelerate growth."

PEARSON TO ACQUIRE SCHOOLNET Brings together proven systems to personalize learning and improve teacher effectiveness Pearson, the world's leading learning company, is announcing today the acquisition of Schoolnet, a fast-growing and innovative education technology company that aligns assessment, curriculum and other services to help individualize instruction and improve teacher effectiveness. Schoolnet now serves more than 5 million US pre K-12 students through partnerships with districts and states, supporting about one-third of America's largest urban cities. Pearson will acquire Schoolnet for $230m in cash. The company expects the acquisition to be broadly neutral to earnings per share in 2011, including integration costs, and to enhance Pearson's adjusted EPS and return on invested capital in 2012. The agreement is subject to a Hart-Scott-Rodino review. Schoolnet's data-based solutions will complement Pearson products and services that help boost student achievement through diagnostic tools and tailored instruction. Schoolnet customers will benefit from Pearson's content and information technology such as PowerSchool for student information, AIMSweb for intervention, America's Choice for school improvement services, eCollege for online learning platforms and Family Education Network for parent and teacher education.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201104260700074277F

26th April 2011 Analyst: Dr. Michael Green Email:Michael.green@gecr.co.uk Tel: 0207 562 3371 The Niche Group* - Takes a stake in Turkey's second largest petroleum licence holder and ups holding in Oman Resources: Speculative Buy at 7.03p with a 9.5p target price

Commenting on the full year performance and on the outlook for the Group, Geoff Eaton, Chief Executive of Uniq plc, said: "This is a strong set of results and a credit to our management and employees who have focused so successfully on service and innovation in difficult circumstances. Having delivered the pension solution and with a positive outcome from the Desserts review, we are now well placed to develop the full potential of this business".

Uniq Plc, the UK chilled prepared food group, today announces preliminary results for the year ended 31 December 2010. Highlights Revenue up 6.8%* Trading profit before central costs up 88% Business performance recognised through customer awards Strong momentum continues in Food to Go Post-period update Balance sheet transformed on delivery of innovative pension solution in 2011 Successful admission to AIM Desserts review identifies profitable growth opportunity for defined markets

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201104260700104110F

Domino goes to work on egg market Date: Tuesday 26 Apr 2011 LONDON (ShareCast) - Printing technologies firm Domino Printing Sciences has formed a joint venture with a private company to develop and deploy proprietary food safety and traceability technologies for the US egg industry, with plans to expand globally. The joint venture is being formed with New Market Impressions (NMI), a company controlled by The Yucaipa Companies group. NMI has developed a proprietary marking and coding system that marks certified fresh dates and trace codes onto the shells of individual eggs, thereby enabling every egg to be identified and traced through its supply chain. Domino will pay $50m in cash for a 15% stake in the new company, and will be the sole supplier of both ink jet and laser coding equipment and fluids to the firm, and will also provide after market services to the business. Domino intends to grow its existing global egg marking and coding services, using this new company as a conduit. Domino expects the income from the trading activity with the new company to be earnings enhancing from 2012 with the potential for significant additional value from the equity shareholding in the medium term. “In partnering with NMI I believe Domino has a unique opportunity to deliver full compliance systems and as a result to increase significantly our market share of laser and ink jet coders. By taking an ownership stake in the new company we will be full partners with NMI in the development and deployment of systems globally,” said Nigel Bond, group managing director of Domino. “We anticipate large growth in the necessity to improve food and traceability around the world in the years ahead. This partnership offers food producers the highest quality and most cost effective system and support to comply with these requirements worldwide," said Mitchell Chait, president of NMI.

Demand conditions remain robust at SDL Date: Tuesday 26 Apr 2011 LONDON (ShareCast) - Translation software firm SDL said its performance for the first quarter of 2011 was in line with management expectations for both revenue and operating profit. The group, which provides patent translation software services for Ford, Canon and Dell, said demand conditions overall remain strong. "Whilst we continue to see varying demand conditions in different industry verticals and some level of economic uncertainty, overall demand conditions remain robust driven by our geographically diverse customer base and our differentiated, technology-led solutions," SDL said in a company statement. Last month the group announced that it would pay a maiden dividend to reflect its confidence in future trading.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201104260700093961F

Yes I like AKR too - good news flow of late. Very low volume here today - I thought there would be more interest - I suppose they are waiting for those standard protocols to be aceived

http://sharecrazy.com/beta/Tips/5178/buy-iomart-iom-at-86p

riddler - good luck - unfortunately I dont have spare funds just now - hope I get the chance soon to dabble here before it takes off and you reap your profits! Its defo on my 'want you' list.

Manuel Llobet, Chief Executive of Allergy Therapeutics, said: "We are very pleased to report that a clear path forward has been agreed. We are encouraged that the clinical hold on all three INDs will be lifted, allowing the development programmes for these important products for treatment of allergic rhinoconjunctivitis due to grass, trees and ragweed pollen to restart. It is also encouraging that we will receive comments and feedback on our proposed study protocols from the FDA prior to restarting the development programmes. The Company is now moving ahead to identify a development and commercial partner in the US." Peter Jensen, Chairman of Allergy Therapeutics, said: "We expect the commercialisation of Pollinex Quattro in the US and further afield to be transformational for the Company. Allergic rhinoconjunctivitis affects millions of people in the US, with an estimated 2.7 million receiving allergy vaccines annually. According to independent reports, the US market has the potential to be worth $1.5-$2.0 billion a year and the company is well placed to develop products for this exciting new market." Lawrence DuBuske MD, Clinical Professor of Medicine at George Washington University School of Medicine, Washington, DC, who was the principal investigator for the phase III study of the Company's Grass MATAMPL product, the largest ever allergy immunotherapy study undertaken, said: "The lifting of the clinical hold on all three INDs is good news and will allow specific injectable short course immunotherapy products to be developed using modern clinical trial methodology. With a course of just four injections administered ahead of the peak allergy season, compared to the current practice of up to 100 injections administered over 52 to 104 weeks, this new approach promises to transform the way allergy immunotherapy is practiced in the US. The very short course of therapy will increase patient compliance and provide important savings in healthcare costs."

Now who wants to be the US partner - orderly queue please ( hopefully)

FDA confirms Clinical Hold will be lifted on all three INDs for Pollinex Quattro products Allergy Therapeutics plc (AIM: AGY), the fully integrated specialty pharmaceutical company specialising in allergy vaccines, is pleased to announce that following its meeting with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on March 17, 2011, it has received official communication from the FDA stating that the clinical hold on the Investigational New Drug applications (INDs) for the three MATA-MPL© products will be lifted once the protocols have been agreed. As a part of the normal process, the FDA has asked the Company to submit its study protocols to the INDs for further discussions in order to provide review and feedback on the proposed studies.