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Toumaz sales fall as development continues Date: Tuesday 29 Mar 2011 LONDON (ShareCast) - Wireless technology group Toumaz saw revenues fall in the year to 31 December as it concentrated its activities on developing products that will deliver future sales. The firm, whose products include a ‘digital plaster’ used to monitor patients’ health, posted a pre-tax loss of £6.69m, against a deficit of £4.8m the previous year, on revenues that slipped to £2.25m from £3.96m. The fall in revenues was due to lower development income, a trend that will continue this year. Toumaz is now pinning its hopes on revenues generated from sales of its products. The company has already started delivering its ‘Xenif’ chip, which is used in PURE digital radios. Sales of the chip are expected to continue growing. The Telran radio chip, which is used in applications such as wireless radio monitoring and remote control devices, was launched in January. The Sensium digital plaster has been submitted for medical approval and will be launched later this year. Toumaz chief executive Chris Toumazou also pointed to a partnership with Quanta, a Taiwanese computer firm, to create a diabetes monitoring system that will connect to an ‘app’ for iPhones and other devices in the fast growing Chinese healthcare market. Toumaz is also collaborating with California Capital Equity, which is owned by entrepreneur Patrick Soon-Shiong, who owns a stake in the LA Lakers basketball team, to create a Sensium ‘sports monitoring device’ for basketball. Toumazou told ShareCast that the relationship with Soon-Shiong could also lead to the diabetes monitoring system being launched in the US.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201103290700157974D

Exillon Energy plc 28 March 2011 - Exillon Energy plc ("Exillon Energy", the "Company" or the "Group") (EXI.LN), a British listed independent oil producer with assets in two oil-rich regions of northern Russia, Timan-Pechora ("Exillon TP") and West Siberia ("Exillon WS"), is pleased to announce that appraisal well 5 (EWS I - 50P) successfully found oil on the northern extension of the East EWS I field. Appraisal well 5 (EWS I - 50Р) was designed to test a 5 sq km northern extension to the East EWS I field. The new appraisal contained pre drill estimates of 13.3 million barrels of possible reserves (Miller and Lents December 2010 reserves report). The well encountered the Jurassic P reservoir at 1858 m which is 2 meters higher than previously thought. Results of wire line logging combined with oil shows and sample analysis whilst drilling, have confirmed the presence of 13.9 m of gross oil pay within the Jurassic. The well was spudded on 9 March 2011 was drilled in 18 days on a northern part of the East EWS I field. Testing of the well will be completed by the end of April. The appraisal is the result of the continued application of 3D seismic combined with a thorough understanding of reservoir geology.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201103280705047115D

Exillon raises £94m Date: Tuesday 29 Mar 2011 LONDON (ShareCast) - Exillon Energy, the oil company with assets at Timan-Pechora (TP) in Northern Russia and West Siberia (WS) has raised £93.8m ($150m) from a share placing. It sold 23.44m new shares at 400p each, giving it $42m to fund infrastructure projects in WS like oil processing facilities, infield pipelines, equipment for gas utilisation and power generation. About $32.5m will be spent on drilling projects at TP. Cypcoserve, an associate of the principal shareholder, sold 20.31m shares at the same time, leaving it with a beneficial interest of 30.2% in Exillon.

http://sharecrazy.com/beta/Tips/5054/e-therapeutics-plc-initiate-coverage-with-a-recommendation-of-buy

29th March 2011 Analyst: Derren Nathan Email: derren.nathan@gecr.co.uk Tel: 0207 562 3371 Skywest Airlines* - Change in dividend policy. Overall picture bodes well for yield and growth. Reiterate Buy with a target price of 40p

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201103290700127813D

Charter beefs up compressors presence Date: Tuesday 29 Mar 2011 LONDON (ShareCast) - Engineering conglomerate Charter International has bought Dutch horizontal piston compressor designer Thomassen Compression Systems. Charter is paying €100m for the Dutch company which had gross assets of €58.4m and shareholders’ funds of €17.0m at the end of last year. In 2010 Thomassen had its best ever year, with revenue of €141.7m, up from €94.0m in 2009, while profit before tax soared to €20m from €11.3m in 2009. The acquisition is expected to be earnings enhancing in 2011 and the group sees significant revenue and cost synergies of at least €5m a year being achieved by 2014, with further synergy benefits expected from then on, as the company’s operations are combined with Charter’s Howden subsidiary. "This is a transformational deal for Howden. We have carefully considered the right acquisition for Howden and we are delighted to have secured Thomassen which will make Howden a leading presence in the supply of engineered compressors, in particular to the oil and gas and petrochemical industries,” said Michael Foster, chief executive of Charter. Aftermarket sales account for around one third of Thomassen's revenues and arise primarily from its installed base of over 2,500 compressor cylinders globally, of which slightly over one half are located in Europe, around one quarter in Asia and the remainder predominantly in South America and Africa. Thomassen’s order book has been on the wane in recent years, however. At the end of 2010 it stood at €133.1m, down from €167.5m at the end of 2009 and €207.9m at the end of 2008. Taking into account movements in the order book, Charter expects 2011 to represent the trough of Thomassen's revenue and profit cycle, following which a strong recovery is expected. - - - jh

Ian Meakins, Chief Executive commented on trading and outlook: "This was a good first half performance, driven principally by resilient RMI markets and the considerable attention that we have paid to improving customer service, protecting gross margins and controlling costs. Construction markets have now broadly stabilised in most of our geographies, particularly the new residential and RMI segments in the USA. The overall macro-economic environment in several regions continues to be fragile and pricing competition remains intense. The impact of recent VAT increases and government spending cuts leaves the outlook in the UK more uncertain. We continue to maintain our emphasis on protecting market share and gross margins while keeping a tight control on the cost base to maximise operating leverage. The Group expects to continue to grow in the second half of the year, though the comparatives will now be much more demanding. The reinstatement of the dividend reflects the strength of our balance sheet and our confidence in the future trading prospects of the Group."

Financial Highlights § Revenue increased by 5% on a like-for-like basis. § Gross margin was 0.2% higher than last year at 27.7% despite challenging conditions. § Trading profit of £275 million was 64% ahead of last year. § Good cash generation with adjusted net debt reduced by £262 million since 31 July 2010. § Dividend reinstated - interim dividend declared of 15 pence per share. Operating Highlights § Improved trading profit and operating leverage in all geographies. § Completed three small bolt-on acquisitions. § Completed the disposal of Italy after the end of the period.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201103290700127810D

Wolseley restarts dividends as markets stabilise Date: Tuesday 29 Mar 2011 LONDON (ShareCast) - Building and plumbing supplies giant Wolseley bounced back into profit and reinstated its dividend as its core markets in Europe and the US both stabilised. Profits for the half year to January came in at £195m, compared to a loss of £261m, with trading profits up 64% at £275m. Revenues rose by 5% to £6.6bn. The interim dividend is 15p. "Construction markets have now broadly stabilised in most of our geographies, particularly the new residential and RMI [Repairs, Maintenance and Improvement] segments in the USA. The overall macro-economic environment in several regions continues to be fragile and pricing competition remains intense," chief executive Ian Meakin said. He added Wolseley expects to continue to grow in the second half of the year, "though the comparatives will now be much more demanding", while the impact of recent VAT increases and government spending cuts leaves the outlook in the UK "more uncertain," he said. Like-for-like revenue growth was 5% and the rate continued to improve in the first half driven principally by the US, which generated 41% of group revenue. Higher prices boosted revenue by around 3%, principally due to rising commodity prices. Wolseley also raised the gross margin by 20 basis points to 27.7% as a result of a continued focus on improving customer and product mix.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201103290700117807D

Business opportunities picking up at Babcock Date: Tuesday 29 Mar 2011 LONDON (ShareCast) - Engineering support services company Babcock International is sitting on a strong order book and a growing bid pipeline, giving it confidence for the next financial year. Having seen a slowdown in the first half of the year in the number of new contracts coming up for tender this trend has reversed in the second half of the financial year. The pipeline of bids at pre-qualification questionnaire or invitation to tender stage currently stands at around £7bn, up from £6bn at the time of the company’s interim management statement in January 2011. Since the award of the five year, €200m British Forces Germany facilities management contract announced in February, Babcock has also been down-selected by the Ministry of Defence as the sole industry bidder for the 10 year, circa £300m Maritime Equipment Transformation (MET) programme. Cash generation throughout the financial year so far has been strong and has enabled the company to pay down debt. Net debt at the end of March is expected to be less than £750m, and the resulting net debt to earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) ratio is expected to be well below the 2.8 reported at the halfway stage (end-September) of the company’s financial year. Since the completion of the VT acquisition in July, the order book for the combined group has been stable at around £12 billion, reflecting a steady inflow of new contracts, rebids and contract extensions from the bid pipeline. The structural reorganisation of the VT Group has been completed, and the group is confident of achieving the merger benefits of £50m at the pre-tax level.

Cobham wins Eurofighter contract Date: Tuesday 29 Mar 2011 LONDON (ShareCast) - Defence firm Cobham has won a contract worth more than £18m to provide chaff and flare defensive aids systems for the Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jet Tranche 3A programme. The contract runs from mid-2012 to the end of 2014. As a Eurofighter supplier company, Cobham will be the system integrator for the chaff and flare equipment which is delivered to aircraft assembly facilities through Alenia Aeronautica, a Finmeccanica company. Chaff and flare defensive aids systems are used to deflect heat seeking missiles.

Graham Stewart, Chief Executive, commented: "2010 was an outstanding year for Faroe Petroleum. We built on the drilling success of 2009 with two further significant discoveries in Norway on Maria and Fogelberg. We will increase substantially our production following completion of the acquisition of 18% of the Blane oil field, and our finances are strong on the back of successful equity fund raisings." "We look to the future with confidence as we execute our very active drilling programme with seven wells scheduled for 2011 and 17 wells planned between now and the end of 2013."

Outlook * Seven well exploration & appraisal drilling programme scheduled for 2011: * Fully funded 17 well drilling programme in place targeting approximately 5 wells per year * Operator of Fulla and Clapton wells, scheduled for drilling in 2011 and 2012 respectively * Strong balance sheet provides a solid base for driving forward growth programme * Progressing the commercialisation of four discoveries * Further expansion of production portfolio to increase tax efficient cash generation

Financial * Rights Issue and Placing with combined net proceeds of £125.1m - to fund forward programme * Cash of £132.2m (31 December 2009 adjusted: £33.1m) * Turnover of £15.1m (31 December 2009: £7.0m) * Loss after tax of £20.4m (31 December 2009 adjusted*: £20.0m) * Approximately £75m of credit facilities as at 31 December 2010, comprising £20m borrowing base and NOK 500m Norwegian exploration facilities - looking to increase facility sizes * Norway tax receivable of £28.1m (31 December 2009: £12.6m), due in December 2011 * Carried forward UK tax losses £67.7m (2009: £56.3m) - no near-term Supplementary Corporation Tax rate impact * Adjusted loss after tax in 2009 excludes the post-tax gain on the disposal of Breagh of £13.1m

Highlights Activity * Continuing exploration success with two significant near-field discoveries in Halten Terrace, Norway o Maria (Faroe 30%) - which had a gross oil column of 210ft (64m) and gross recoverable volumes estimated at between 75 and 155 mmboe of oil and associated gas o Fogelberg (Faroe 15%) - estimated to be between 105 and 530 billion cubic feet (between 19 and 95 million barrels of oil equivalent) of recoverable gas and condensate * Farm-out of 50% of Fulla well, West of Shetlands - operated by Faroe, drilling scheduled for Q2 2011 * Increased equity in Clapton well, Norway - operated by Faroe, drilling scheduled for Q1 2012 * Award of 7 new licences: 4 operated UK, West of Shetlands; 3 non-operated in mid-Norway * Acquisition of 18% of Blane oil field in UK with effective date of 1 July 2010 - transaction scheduled for completion in Q2 2011 * 2010 average oil and gas production approximately 1,200 boepd (2009: 1,015 boepd) with December 2010 production, including Blane, approximately 2,800 boepd * Acquisition of 28% interest in undeveloped UK North Sea Perth oil field post year end * High impact Atlantic Margin wells: o Anne Marie, Faroe found a significant hydrocarbon column but did not encounter producible reservoir o Lagavulin, UK well still drilling, with results expected in coming weeks