The money lender has reported another strong performance. While he is pleased, chairman Anthony Coombs won’t shrug off his cautious approach to running and growing the business particularly in the current economy.

Shares in S&U soared after the home and car credit specialist said this morning that it had traded well over the Christmas period and that its financial results will “significantly exceed expectations”.

Economists are split over the survival chances of the euro, but are united in their view that the continued uncertainty will lead to further instability on the markets.

In an interview with Proactive Investors, following this morning's interim results, chairman Anthony Coombs revealed that the firm had been looking for acquisition possibilities in the last six months and that the search was continuing.

MoneySwap promises to be a very interesting new addition to London’s AIM market as it pursues an ambitious growth strategy to establish an online peer-to-peer currency exchange.

UK asset managers as a group have had a particularly rough rise this year, heavily underperforming the wider market.  Analysts at Citi have been looking closely at prospects for the sector and reckon there are good investment cases to be made across the players, citing Man Group and Ashmore  as their top picks in a falling market, and Jupiter in particular, for a rebound.

Through the development of its online currency exchange platform MoneySwap aims to become ‘the future of foreign exchange’.

Proposals by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy to introduce a “financial transactions tax” across Europe to curb aggressive speculative activity has surprised and dismayed many, with analysts expecting the UK to stay well clear of a move that is effectively “a tax on the country to fund the failing euro experiment”. 

Evolution Group’s announcement this morning of a takeover approach has triggered speculation among analysts over the mystery potential bidder likely take-out price, with broker Peel Hunt coming up some interesting views.

The consumer credit group S&U’s Home Credit division has the potential to double shareholder value over the next three years, according to Collins Stewart.

In an interview with Proactive Investors, Anthony Coombs, chief executive of S & U, the niche money-lender, described the company as recession resistant and said he was pleased with how the firm was progressing.

The LSE's tie-up with TMX creates a powerhouse in the natural resources and emerging markets sectors and has received a guarded welcome in the Square Mile. It will be interesting to see whether this transatlantic tie-up sparks another wave of consolidation in the sector. 

The home credit and motor finance specialist reported another set of solid interims, and chairman Anthony Coombs told Proactive Investors it is still very interested in taking part in industry consolidation - eyeing a business in the portfolio of struggling sub-prime lender Cattles, which may be sold off soon.

We talk to Steven Poulton, the chief executive of Altus Strategies, about his business, the heavyweight team he has recruited and the outlook for the gold price.

Speak to Anthony Coombs, Chairman of S & U PLC for more than five minutes and you will quickly realise there is no paradox about the company’s performance during the recent credit crunch

Insurance giant Prudential has stolen the headlines this week, after their decision to buy AIA, the Asian life business of US insurer AIG, has attracted a mixed response from shareholders.

The proposed merger of Trading Emissions (AIM: TRE) and Leaf Clean Energy (AIM: LEAF) has fallen through following a vote at Trading Emissions’ shareholder meeting earlier today

Despite apparently flagging IPO appetite among certain businesses, this morning has seen three privately owned companies announce their intention to float in London.

Experian currently trades on a hefty forward earnings for 2010 of 15.8x, which is up from around 7x a year ago. The group yields around 2% and very little growth is expected in 2010.

Given such capital support and increasingly higher quality business coming through via brokers (the management estimates that at least half of its competition has been decimated by the recession) the company is confident of upside ahead.

Zimbabwe-focused LonZim PLC (AIM: LZM) said significant milestones have been passed to stimulate economic recovery in the country, and it is currently reviewing a number of potential further investments.

Home credit and motor finance specialist S & U PLC (LSE: SUS) reported solid first half results, with pretax profit up 8 percent at 5.02 million, noting that current trading remains encouraging.

Given this dire state of financial landscape in 2009 it makes for a pleasant change to see that not all sub-prime lenders are on their skinless knees.