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888 confident after tough year Date: Thursday 31 Mar 2011 LONDON (ShareCast) - Pre-tax profits slumped by more than half at online gambling group 888 in 2010 amid difficult economic conditions, though this year has started well, it said. Pre-tax profits fell to $15.1m from $34.6m the previous year as revenues climbed to $262.1m from $246.7m. Bingo revenues were sharply higher, but poker and casino revenues fell back. “We have an exciting base on which to build in 2011, with a high proportion of sustainable locally regulated earnings and a well diversified business, product line and geographic revenue stream,” said chief executive Gigi Levy. “We expect that soon to come further improvements in our product offering will lead to increased success in driving players to our sites and retaining them going forward.” 888 said discussions with bookmaker Ladbrokes, which is considering make an offer for the company, are ongoing.

New markets Our test marketing activity in Italy and the development of a manufacturer warranty business within SFG in France have continued to make good progress with marketing take-up rates in line with our expectations. The 'new markets' segment is expected to report an operating loss reflecting our investment in marketing and additional country infrastructure costs. Financial position The business continues to be highly cash generative with net debt expected to be around £20m at the 31 March 2011 (FY10: £52.9m).

Summary and Outlook HomeServe has seen a good finish to the financial year and we expect to report another year of strong growth in profit in line with expectations. We continue to see good customer and policy numbers and an excellent performance on retention across all our businesses. United Kingdom In the UK we have continued to invest in our marketing activity with the campaigns delivering strong customer and policy growth. Customer numbers at the end of February 2011 were 3% higher than at the same period in 2010 and we are confident of achieving towards the top end of our 3-4% customer growth target for the full year. The UK retention rate has also remained high and we expect the full year rate to be at least 82.5% (FY10: 83.0%). UK policy numbers are expected to be around 6% higher than a year ago with both Plumbing & drains and water supply pipe policies and Gas and gas supply pipe policies growing during the year. USA Our US business is continuing to perform strongly. We expect to deliver customer growth of over 50% compared to a year ago with policy numbers increasing by over 70%. We continue to build momentum in the US with the acquisition of the 135,000 South Jersey Energy Service Plus (SJESP) policies on renewal and the additional 0.9m affinity partner households with SJESP and Millennium Energy announced earlier this month. We now have 21.3m affinity partner households with 17 partners in the US and discussions are ongoing with a number of other potential future partners. Domeo Domeo's new marketing campaigns introduced at the end of the first half of the year have continued to gain momentum during the final quarter of the year and we expect gross new policies for the full year to be around 0.5m (FY10: 0.5m). Total customer numbers are expected to be around 9% higher with policy numbers up around 12% compared to 31 March 2010. Spain In Spain, we have continued to achieve strong growth in both customer and policy numbers and will exceed our target of doubling the number of customers and policies during the year.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201103310700119661D

Strong year for Homeserve Date: Thursday 31 Mar 2011 LONDON (ShareCast) - Home emergency repairs outfit Homeserve expects strong growth in full-year profits, as predicted before, and is confident of hitting the top end of its customer growth target. “We continue to see good customer and policy numbers and an excellent performance on retention across all our businesses,” it said Thursday. Analysts are looking for a profit before tax and exceptional items of between £112m and £117.7m. The average is £116.2m. In Britain, customer numbers at the end of February were 3% higher than a year ago and the full-year figure should be nearer 4%, it says. The UK retention rate will be at least 82.5% and policy numbers will be up about 6%. The number of customers in America is expected to have risen 50% in the 12 months to 13 March, with policies up 70%. A “highly cash generative” business has more than halved net debt from £52.9m to about £20m. LW

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201103310700129697D

Warm front contract extension for Eaga Date: Thursday 31 Mar 2011 LONDON (ShareCast) - Energy efficiency firm Eaga has negotiated an extension of its contract with the Department of Energy and Climate Change to deliver the department’s Warm Front Scheme across England. The scheme will now run to 31 March 2013 on commercial terms in line with previous expectations. Total funding allocated to the Warm Front scheme across the period to March 2013 is in the region of £210m. The company is in the process of being acquired by support services giant Carillion for £306m in a deal that values each Eaga share at 120p per share.

Inmarsat to acquire Ship Equip International AS 31 March 2011: Inmarsat plc (LSE: ISAT.L), the world's leading provider of global mobile satellite communications services, today announces the acquisition of Ship Equip International A.S. ("Ship Equip") for a total consideration of USD 159.5 million. Based in Ålesund, Norway, Ship Equip is a leading provider of VSAT maritime communications services to the shipping, offshore oil & gas and fishing markets. James Parm, President and CEO of Stratos, commented: "We are delighted to welcome Ship Equip and their management team into the Inmarsat group. Ship Equip is ideally positioned to support the evolution of certain segments of the maritime market to higher speed services - especially those to be offered by Inmarsat's revolutionary Global XpressTM programme after its launch in 2013. Ship Equip is the perfect partner for Inmarsat, bringing a large installed base of maritime VSAT customers, who we expect to be in the forefront of the transition to Global Xpress services, and a management team with extensive knowledge of VSAT operations and customers, to help us ensure that Global Xpress is a compelling proposition for the maritime community. This acquisition demonstrates our clear determination to prepare the way for a fast and successful take up of Ka-band services via Inmarsat Global Xpress.'' Ship Equip's expertise in developing and deploying VSAT communications solutions to key verticals in the maritime market, coupled with its worldwide committed capacity arrangements and installed base of over 850 vessels (as at December 2010), have made it a leader in the evolving VSAT maritime communications market. In 2010 Ship Equip generated revenues of USD 56 million (NOK 312 million). "We are excited to be joining forces with Inmarsat, and we are convinced the combination will be the perfect platform for reaching the next level in satellite broadband maritime services," said Ivar Nesset, CEO of Ship Equip. "This transaction will enhance Ship Equip's standing as one of the largest providers of satellite broadband maritime communications solutions and provide an exciting long-term service proposition for our customers." Ship Equip is to be acquired by Inmarsat Solutions Limited and will operate as a separate subsidiary alongside the Stratos and Segovia businesses. Closing of the transaction is subject to certain regulatory approvals which are expected to be completed in a matter of weeks. Inmarsat expects to finance the transaction from current available liquidity.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201103310830019901D

Inmarsat buys Norwegian competitor By John Harrington Date: Thursday 31 Mar 2011 LONDON (ShareCast) - Satellite communications giant Inmarsat is fighting back against competition from ground-based satellite operators by buying its own player in the market, Norwegian maritime broadband supplier Ship Equip, for $159.5m. Ship Equip is a leading provider of very small aperture terminal (VSAT) maritime communications services to the shipping, offshore oil & gas and fishing markets. In 2010 it generated revenues of $56m and its system was installed on more than 850 vessels worldwide at the end of 2010. “Ship Equip is the perfect partner for Inmarsat, bringing a large installed base of maritime VSAT customers, who we expect to be in the forefront of the transition to Global Xpress services,” said James Parm, president and chief executive officer of Stratos, Inmarsat’s remote communications solutions subsidiary. Global Xpress, a new Inmarsat service announced in August 2010, is designed to support enterprise markets, particularly the company’s traditional core markets of maritime, energy, and government. The service has been facing increased competition from VSAT offerings since it was launched. “Communications providers who operate private networks using VSAT or hybrid systems also continue to target users of mobile satellite services,” the company warned on 7 March when it announced its ful year results. In a conference call following those results Inmarsat chief executive Andrew Sulkawaty said the company is “moving to replicate some of the features” of its VSAT competitors, a process that will be acclerated by the acquisition of Ship Equip. The management of Ship Equip will be staying on board to provide “extensive knowledge of VSAT operations and customers, to help us ensure that Global Xpress is a compelling proposition for the maritime community,” Parm said.

31st March 2011 Analyst: Derren Nathan Email: derren.nathan@gecr.co.uk Tel: 0207 562 3371 First Artist Corporation * - Further balance sheet strengthening and enhancement of investor base. Re-iterate Buy stance at 32p with a target price of 65p

For those interested. http://brokermandaniel.com/2011/03/31/cadogan-petroleum-alert-warning/

http://www.economy-news.co.uk/nuclear-power-future-28201103.html

http://www.economy-news.co.uk/nuclear-power-future-28201103.html

http://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/companies/news/26828/deltex-medical-jumps-50-percent-as-nice-recommends-cardioq-for-use-in-nhs-26828.html

http://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/companies/news/26830/oxford-advanced-surfaces-bretherton-looks-forward-to-a-year-of-opportunity-26830.html

SS - Howdy - no I didnt actually invest here - it was on my 'amber' watch list - you will be pleased with todays rise. Hope it goes well for you.

Tough conditions boost pork demand, says Hilton Foods By Rory Gallivan Date: Thursday 31 Mar 2011 LONDON (ShareCast) - Shoppers reacted to tough economic conditions last year by stocking up on pork rather than more expensive meats, the meatpacker Hilton Foods said as it posted a rise in sales and profits. Pre-tax profits for the year to 2 January were up by 10.7% from the previous 53 week period to £22.2m, said Hilton, whose customers include the supermarket giant Tesco and Dutch-based Ahold. Revenues were up by 4.6% to £864.2m. “Trading was strong, with good volume growth being achieved at all our facilities and across the range of territories in which Hilton operates,” said chief executive Robert Watson. “During 2010 we achieved further success with new product initiatives and maintained a continuing high level of investment in our modern state of the art facilities across Europe.” While volumes of meat packed were up by 9% on a comparable 52 week basis, revenues were up 6% due to an increased percentage of sales from central Europe and a higher percentage of sales of lower priced pork products. “We expect volume growth to continue but the pace of economic recovery will differ across the twelve countries in which the group's customers are located,” the company said. “We remain well placed to benefit from any improvements in economic conditions.”

Seymour Pierce analyst Dr Mike Mitchell reckons Fusion IP (LON:FIP) is significantly undervalued. “What is clear is that the current market valuation of Fusion (£14.4m) remains significantly below the NAV of £25.6m, and we believe the stock offers strong upside opportunities for investors wishing to gain exposure to a strong and growing portfolio,” Mitchell said. “Deal-flow will be the catalyst for re-rating: in anticipation of significant valuation upside opportunities as and when exits are delivered we retain our BUY recommendation.”

Prosperity Minerals Holdings (LON:PMHL) has an absurdly low valuation according to Daniel Stewart & Co’s Richard Nolan. The analyst said he understands that investors may have been jolted by the Chinese firm's move into real estate but large parts of the business are not being valued in the share price. “We can appreciate that the market may be looking for updates on real estate transactions, however this does not explain the current apathy for the share price,” Nolan said.