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GALLIFORD TRY APPOINTED PREFERRED BIDDER ON £347 MILLION GATESHEAD REGENERATION PROGRAMME Galliford Try plc, the housebuilding and construction group, announces that it has, in joint venture with affordable housing provider Home Group, been appointed preferred bidder on the £347 million Gateshead regeneration programme, one of the UK's largest residential regeneration programmes. The consortium, Evolution Gateshead, will form a regeneration partnership with Gateshead Council to build 2,400 homes for affordable tenures and private sale together with community facilities across 19 sites in Gateshead. All homes will achieve Level 4 of the Code for Sustainable Homes and will exceed Homes & Communities Agency space standards. Work is due to start following financial close later this year with the development programme phased to complete by 2026.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201104130700077981E

Torotrak jumps after £8m agreement Date: Wednesday 13 Apr 2011 LONDON (ShareCast) - Vehicle transmission group Torotrak saw shares climb 17% after signing an £8m licensing and engineering agreement with US-based peer and shareholder Allison Transmission. “This supports the immediate start of a production intent design as part of Allison's multi stage programme, supported by Torotrak, developing the technology to the intended end position where the transmission is production ready,” the company said. The firm will also receive per unit royalties based on a percentage of the manufacturer value of each transmission produced. Allison has now paid Torotrak £17.6m in licence and engineering fees over the last three years. Allison is Torotrak’s largest shareholder with a 9% stake.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201104130700078007E

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201104130700067660E

Scapa's profits to beat expectations Date: Wednesday 13 Apr 2011 LONDON (ShareCast) - Adhesive tape manufacturer Scapa said that operating profits for the year ended 31 March are significantly ahead of the previous year and ahead of current market expectations. Shares rose by over a tenth on Wednesday. “Consistent with the momentum highlighted at the time of our interim announcement the group's financial performance continues to improve,” the statement said. Scapa remains debt-free with net cash growing to £18.6m at year-end, from £11.4m previously.

Smiths News delivers higher profits Date: Wednesday 13 Apr 2011 LONDON (ShareCast) - Cost-cutting helped newspaper and book wholesaler Smiths News post a rise in profits in the half year to 28 February despite falling revenues. Pre-tax profits were up by 22.2% from the same period a year ago to £18.7m even as revenues slipped by 5.2% to £872.3m. The interim dividend is lifted to 7.8p from 7.2p. An efficiency drive at Smiths’ news distribution business secured £11m of savings in the first half, with an additional £9m expected by the year end. “As a result we have increased our three-year efficiency target from £20m to £30m,” the company said. At the book division Bertrams, action on costs is helping to offset volume declines, the company said. “Despite a number of challenges across the group's markets, we have delivered a solid financial performance, increasing our confidence in achieving the full year consensus and underpinning our commitment to a progressive dividend policy,” chief executive Mark Cashmore said. "The corporate development strategy is progressing well and we have identified clear acquisition targets in our preferred sectors.” RG

Mark Cashmore, Group Chief Executive commented: "Our operational progress over the last six months has been pleasing. Despite a number of challenges across the Group's markets, we have delivered a solid financial performance, increasing our confidence in achieving the full year consensus and underpinning our commitment to a progressive dividend policy. "The corporate development strategy is progressing well and we have identified clear acquisition targets in our preferred sectors. I look forward to being able to update the market further later in the year."

Operating highlights: · Outstanding performance in the delivery of operational efficiencies o £11m generated in H1, on track to deliver £20m for the full year o 3 year efficiency target of £20m increased to £30m · Regional Press gains continue to gather momentum o £7m of new contract wins secured o Largest UK distributor of Regional Press · Continued growth in International book sales up 28% in H1 o US sales up by 50% with France, Germany and Scandinavia up 25% · Diversification plans progressing well o £70m of funds available to underpin growth aspirations o Preferred sectors now identified with activity accelerating over the coming months

Smiths News PLC (or "the Group"), the UK's leading wholesaler of newspapers and magazines and a leading wholesaler of books, is pleased to announce its interim results for the six months ended 28 February 2011. Financial highlights: · Revenue of £872.3m, down 5.2% (2010: £919.8m) · Underlying(1) profit before tax of £19.2m, up 11.0% (2010: £17.3m) · Profit before tax £18.7m, up 22.2% (2010: £15.3m) · Underlying earnings per share(2) of 7.8p, up 8.3% (2010: 7.2p) · Interim dividend of 2.6p, up 8.3% (2010: 2.4p) · Positive free cash flow(3) of £2.5m, (2010: £4.1m)

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201104130700077994E

Cadogan in Ukraine partnership with ENI Date: Wednesday 13 Apr 2011 LONDON (ShareCast) - Oil and gas explorer Cadogan Petroleum has reached an agreement with ENI for the Italian oil major to acquire interests in two of Cadogan’s eastern Ukrainian licences. Eni will initially acquire a 30% interest in the Pokrovskoe licence, with the option to acquire a further 30% interest in the future. Eni will also acquire a 60% interest in the Zagoryanska licence. "The announcement of this major transaction signifies a turning point for Cadogan,” said chairman Simon Duffy. “With Eni as a strategic partner, the company can more rapidly develop the potential in these licences and can embark on other significant oil & gas opportunities that are present in Ukraine.”

Revenue to fall short at Zoo Digital Date: Wednesday 13 Apr 2011 LONDON (ShareCast) - Shares of film software firm Zoo Digital tanked 17% after it warned full year revenue would be slightly below company expectations. EBITDA and operating profit are expected to be in line its previous views of around $2.2m and $1.3m respectively. However revenues for the year are expected to be $14m, below the figure for the previous year. Chief executive Stuart Green said he was pleased with the group's bottom line performance despite revenue falling slightly short of expectations. "The short term slowdown in revenues from a major customer is now reversing and I am encouraged to see activity levels in line with our previous expectations. We are also currently working with a number of new customers and prospects to apply our proprietary software to a broader range of authored content, addressing substantial additional markets." The cash balance at 31 March 31 was $0.6m.

Stuart Green, Chief Executive of ZOO, commented: "I am pleased with the Group's bottom line performance despite revenue falling slightly short of expectations. The short term slowdown in revenues from a major customer is now reversing and I am encouraged to see activity levels in line with our previous expectations. We are also currently working with a number of new customers and prospects to apply our proprietary software to a broader range of authored content, addressing substantial additional markets. We believe this will lead to further diversification of our client base and therefore we continue to view the future with great confidence."

Trading Update ZOO, the provider of creative media repurposing software and related services, is issuing a trading update for its year to 31st March 2011 ahead of the announcement of the preliminary results in June. Profitability for the year is expected to be in line with market expectations with EBITDA (excluding exchange differences) of circa $2.2 million and operating profit of circa $1.3 million. The year end cash balance was $0.6 million which, in addition to the bank overdraft facility of $0.8m, gives sufficient working capital for the foreseeable future. Margins have benefited from a change in sales mix where certain non-core outsourced services are now being invoiced to the client directly by a third party rather than by ZOO. This change, combined with the short-term slowdown of orders during organisational changes within a major customer, has led to revenues for the year in the region of $14 million, below the figure for the prior year. Demand from the division most affected by the reorganisation within our major client is now increasing and we expect further revenue recovery going forward.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201104130700088025E

Alterian warns on profit after review Date: Wednesday 13 Apr 2011 LONDON (ShareCast) - Marketing software provider Alterian now believes that the outturn for the financial year ended 31 March 2011 will be materially lower than that implied by the announcement of 4 April 2011. At the start of the month the group announced that it expected revenue for the year to 31 March 2011 to be around 10% below market expectations, which were then in the range of £42-44m, and that this would have a material effect on profits for that year. However following an initial review, the board now expects a further shortfall arising from both revenue and routine operating costs in comparison with market expectations. Alterian said it would release a fuller statement 18 April 2011.

Fresnillo silver production slips Date: Wednesday 13 Apr 2011 LONDON (ShareCast) - Precious metals prices have been soaring recently but Mexican miner Fresnillo’s silver production slipped slightly in the quarter to 31 March. The company produced 10.1m ounces of silver during the three-month period, a decrease of 2.2% from the first quarter of 2010. The company’s main silver producing mine suffered a slight decline in ore grades. However, expanded capacity at its Soledad-Dipolos mine helped lift gold production by 13.3% to 96,407 ounces. Gold prices have recently been hitting record highs near $1,500 an ounce, while silver hit a 31-year high just below $42 an ounce, with concerns such as the turmoil in the Arab world and the Japan earthquake prompting safe haven buying. Fresnillo’s chief executive Jaime Lomelin said the company is on track to produce 44m ounces of silver over 2011.

Jaime Lomelín, Chief Executive Officer, said: "We are delighted with our operational achievements over the quarter. Saucito was successfully commissioned and commercial production has begun; the expansion at Soledad-Dipolos was successfully concluded which has contributed to the Company's gold production; and we continued to work on optimising the Fresnillo, Herradura and Cienéga mines which will stabilise production and reduce costs. The next step in our gold growth strategy is to develop the Noche Buena gold mine where construction commenced in March. As we continue to improve our operational, safety and environmental performance, we are on track to achieve our target of producing 44 million ounces of silver, including Silverstream, in 2011.”

Production Report for the three months ended 31 March 2011 Overview · Record gold production for a 1st quarter, up 13.3% to 96,407 ounces compared to 1Q 2010. · Quarterly attributable silver production of 10.1 million ounces, including the Silverstream, decreased by 2.2% when compared to 1Q 2010. · Saucito commissioned on 21st February with first commercial production on 1st April. · Soledad-Dipolos expansion to produce 130,000 total gold ounces per year concluded over the quarter · The sinking of the San Carlos shaft at the Fresnillo mine is expected to be concluded by 2H 2011. · The expansion of Ciénega's milling capacity from 755,000 to 930,000 tonnes per year will be concluded in 2Q 2011 and the sinking of the shaft to become operational in 2H 2011.