The volatility in the company’s base markets has forced a cost reduction measure that will save £1m in the current year and £3m on-going annually. At 53p on 26/05/09 we rated the company a SELL to the 45p level due to the dangers of a cash raise. The company has confirmed that a cash raise is underway in the form of a placing and open offer. Although the group has confirmed it has a progressive dividend policy it is not paying an interim dividend.

The pension fund deficit has increased to £7.6m (£6.9m). With a £3m loan payment due in October we guess a minimum cash raise of £3m is inevitable but much greater is probable, leading to additional dilution in excess of 27% - thus we reduce our target price to 35p.

Cello Group (CLL, 33.5p, £19.61m) Trading update for the 6 months ending June 2009 reports that pharmaceutical research and consultancy has performed well but other areas, such as market research, business intelligence and HR research and training units have experienced weakness. Costs saving measures, costing £0.4m in H1, are expected to lead to an impact on their carrying values in the balance sheet as well. Overall gross profits are expected to fall by 10% year on year with a squeeze on operating margins and unhelpful FOREX movements as well. Underlying pre-tax forecasts are for £6.1m with 6.9p EPS to December 2009, putting the group on 4.8x prospective PER. HOLD.

Qonnectis (QTI, 0.3p, £1.18m) The company has confirmed it is still in discussion regarding funding, but that failure to secure such funding would lead to the group being unable to continue trading. We last said SELL at 0.245p on 31/03/09 and repeat the recommendation, based on on-going losses and the unknown dilution from any cash raise.

Trakm8 Holdings (TRAK, 6p, £1.10m) Final results to March 2009 saw revenues of £3.68m (£4.66m) and a pre-tax loss of £0.41m (loss £0.96m) though that is after reorganisation costs of £0.058m and covers a mover from substantial losses in H1 to a loss of just £0.05m in H2. The group is set to move into profit following the contracts successes during the year, such as with energy giant E.ON, and the appointment of South African based Smartsurv. Still a SPECULATIVE BUY.

Bglobal (GGBL, 10.5p, £7.78m) has secured a substantial new source of meter asset funding from Barclays Asset & Sales Finance. The group now has an additional £15m available to provide lease financing for the purchase of its innovative smart meter services that include the data collection and reporting systems. We repeat our SPECULATIVE BUY recommendation, last made on 30/04/09 at 13.5p as this move secures Bglobal’s ability to finance growth.

Fiberweb (FWEB, 69.75p, £85.40m) Trading update for the 6 months ending June 2009 is reassuringly in-line with expectations. H1 has seen continued volume declines offset partially with margin improvement. The H1 benefitted from FOREX translation and lower raw material prices, though the recent rise in oil prices looks certain to damage margins in the second half. Fairly rated and still a HOLD as last recommended on 26/06/09 at the same price.

Worldspreads (WSPR, 70p, £27.55m) The company has confirmed it has received an approach for its Irish Division from certain members of its management. While the group can give no assurances that this may proceed, it does give us reason to move from a Buy to a Hold recommendation. Firstly forecasts have been drifting back from 13p towards 11p – thus our 85p price target so adjusted becomes 72p – and secondly that any management trying to buy out a subsidiary is surely not ensuring it is running as well as it should. HOLD.

Morse (MOR, 17p, £22.08m) In a trading update for the year ending June 2009 the group has updated that it had net cash, excluding customer specific financing, of £12m. The company states that revenue and adjusted EBIT will be at the upper end of the expectations. Numbers around pre-tax profits of £3.4m with EPS of 1.95p are followed by June 2010 forecasts of £7.4m with 4.24p – putting the group on a PER about to go historic of 8.7x and a 2010 PER of 4x – giving plenty of upside, BUY with an initial price target of 25p.

Universe Group (UNG, 2.375p, £2.72m) Trading update for the half year to June 2009 from this retail and loyalty systems group does highlight a move into an operating profits for the period, a distinct improvement on the losses reported last year. However, the economic downturn is forcing major capital projects to be delayed or deferred leading to sales down 10% - a trend that is expected to continue for the year. The expectations are thus being lowered but the group still expects an operating profit ahead of the £0.5m reported to December 2008. Assuming operating profits of £0.75m and financing costs of at least £0.35m gives a best pre-tax profit of £0.4m, pre-reorganisation costs, with 0.25p EPS, putting the group on a 9.5x prospective PER – too high – SELL down to 1.75p.

Zotefoams (ZTF, 55p, £21.06m) Trading statement for the half year to June 2009 has highlighted sales volumes down 20% against H2 2008. Cost cutting measures were implemented during H1 with first benefits expected in H2. Trading is in-line with expectations, following a currency benefit for its Polyolefin foams with stable raw materials and better than expected performance in the high performance polymers. Forecasts of £2.4m pre-tax profits with 4.6p EPS to December 2009, the shares are sitting on a prospective PER of 12x – high enough given the dangers of rising raw material prices and faltering demand from the aerospace division, SELL to the 46p level.

Cybit Holdings (CYH, 33.5p, £9.20m) Final results to March from this telematics business saw revenues of £25.48m (£19.67m), pre-tax profits of £2.14m ( £1.70m) with EPS of 7.06p (4.65p), net cash of £2.02m (£2.43m) and a £14.1m (£12.1m) NAV. The group has applied to cancel its share premium account so it may join the dividend lists in the future.

During the year the group succeeded in signing a 3 year exclusive agreement with Ford to provide aftermarket solutions in the UK, as well as contracts with Homeserve, Stannah Lifts, Northern Ireland Electricity & The Highways Agency. We had been buyers of the group – but the dangers that the lease financing gets harder to find and the return to a normal tax rate, against 10% or so this year as the group utilises established tax losses from acquisitions, encourages us to move from a Buy to a HOLD.

The block, which was awarded to Antrim on a 100 percent working interest basis, is in the company's core area around the Fyne field in the central North Sea. As announced in November 2008, Antrim was previously awarded five blocks in the 25th Round, three of which are in the Fyne area.

Block 21/24b is approximately 10 kilometers northeast of the Fyne Field, and immediately adjacent to the Teal and South Teal fields to the east, the Clapham and Guillemot Northwest fields to the south and the Pict Field to the west. These fields all produce from either the Eocene Tay or the Upper Jurassic Fulmar Sandstones, and Block 21/24b is viewed to have potential in both of these formations.

Block 21/24b will add approximately 36,000 acres to Antrim's asset portfolio in the area.

Previously, Batten helmed Bannerman Resources (ASX: BMN,TSX: BAN).  At Bannerman, he developed a sizeable uranium resource in Namibia and steered the company to a listing on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX).

Under his guidance the market capitalisation of Bannerman increased significantly.  The Bannerman share price increased from approximately 7 cents after the 3:1 share split to over $4 at one stage.  Batten was also instrumental in the development of another ASX listed uranium company, Berkeley Resources (ASX: BKY).

White Canyon's Daneros Mine has recently received its Permit to Mine from the Bureau of Land Management and the State of Utah on 27 May 2009. Mine operations and decline development have commenced.

The next milestone would appear to be an agreement for treatment of ore produced from Daneros.

In a recent interview, Batten said his plan over the next 12 months was to grow the company through a combination of expansion through exploration of the current assets, new regional exploration of conceptual targets within the current tenement holdings, "and the pursuit and purchase of additional opportunities."

The move will strengthen Cryo-Save’s position in Spain and create an additional channel to market in Portugal.

In Spain and Portugal, the laboratories of Labco will be used as a point of contact and sale for potential Cryo-Save customers.  France-headquartered Labco, with around 1,000 laboratories in Spain and Portugal, will train medical staff to collect the cord blood and on Cryo-Save's logistics procedures.

Cryo-Save will pay a fee for the samples successfully stored. The first samples collected via the Labco laboratories are expected to be received by Cryo-Save in October 2009.

In a trading update, the outdoor 5-a-side soccer centres in the UK said its rollout programme continues to plan with the Coventry centre added in the half year ended 30 June 2009, Liverpool and Reading under construction and the Portsmouth centre about to commence construction.

The company raised £11 million from existing shareholders in the first half to accelerate the opening programme and provide financial flexibility.

It said the pipeline of sites continues to strengthen and it remains confident that a minimum of six centres will be added during 2010, two of which, Eltham and Gillette Corner in London, will begin construction in the third quarter of 2009. The money from the placing together with internally generated cash and the existing five year committed bank facility will fully fund the rollout of at least six centres each year from 2010.

The company’s core football product has remained resilient. Bar spend is showing early signs of improvement following the decline in the second half of 2008. Other ancillary income - children's birthday parties and corporate events - continues to be slightly impacted by the downturn.

“Our new centres have continued to experience a slower rate of initial growth than in previous years resulting in maturity in both sales and profitability taking a few months longer to achieve,” the group said.
Several brokers issued notes in the wake of the trading statement, pleased with the progress the company is making and saying they remain buyers of the stock.

Brewin Dolphin said it remains a long-term supporter of the Goals story, maintaining its ‘Add’ stance and leaving its target price unchanged at 225 pence. “Having followed Goals closely since its IPO in 2004, we are of the firm belief that the management team has got the business model pretty well refined,” the broker said.

KBC Peel Hunt reiterated its ‘buy’ recommendation and 230 pence target price, as trading and openings are on course for its expectations, confirming the strength and potential of the company concept.
With the benefit of the £11 million placing, earnings growth should accelerate to 20 percent in 2010 from the 16 percent it is forecasting for the current year and “we expect further share price progress.”


Another buyer of the stock is Altium Securities which kept its 220p target, saying: “We feel this statement should provide confidence that Goals’ strategy remains on track. We are not changing forecasts or target price today.”

Joining in the chorus of praise, Numis Securities said Goals Soccer has delivered a pre-close update which is in line with Numis’ and market expectations. It is retaining its forecasts and its ‘buy’ stance and has put a 276p target on the stock.  “Goals Soccer is an attractive business with strong growth prospects,” Numis added.

Rumours of an impending bid were further stoked after fellow platinum junior Sylvania Resources (AIM & ASX: SLV) announced that it would be acquired by Finland’s Rukki for €268 million.

In fact, Jubilee Platinum is the predator, not the prey.   This morning it announced an all-share offer for fellow AIM and JSE listed platinum company, Braemore Resources (AIM: BRR).

Jubilee is offering one new share for every 15.818 shares in Braemore Resources.    The combined group will have a varied range of projects in Southern African and Australia, including Jubilee’s Tjate Project which sits on the Eastern Limb of South Africa’s famous Bushveld Complex.  Jubilee has already defined a SAMREC compliant resource of 25 million ounces 6 PGE (Platinum Group Elements) + Gold and has targeted a resource of 70 million ounces.  

Braemore Resources jewel is an exclusive right to the Conroast Technology - a unique smelting technique that can process PGM’s and base metals that contains high levels of chrome, which is a major issue for most smelters in South Africa who apply a penalty to concentrates containing it.

“The merger of the two companies will provide the Tjate Project with add-on smelting and refining capability by now targeting the production of a high quality refined PGM product with considerable increase in value, thereby further enhancing the NPV of the project,” Jubilee stated. “The merger of Braemore and Jubilee will create an enlarged entity that will be an emerging platinum producer in South Africa with an exposure to the whole spectrum of activities within the PGM-industry and therefore demonstrate total capability to handle all aspects pertaining to exploration, mining, dump re-treatment, processing and metal sales.”

Braemore shareholders will hold approximately 30% of the combined company.

Jubilee Platinum has also agreed to fund the operating costs of Braemore whilst the acquisition is completed and to settle ‘some’ of its liabilities.

Jubilee's house broker Finncap said: "The offer values Braemore at 3.29 pence per share or approximately £26 million, which is a discount of 32 per cent to last night’s close. But we believe this is fair value as it reflects the significant project execution risk in building a 10MW ConRoast smelter to commercial scale, costing in the region of $100m."

Companies that are added to the index may encounter increased demand for the company's shares, as some institutional investors may re-weight their portfolio to align with the index constituent companies.

Managing Director Geoff Davis, said the  Company’s inclusion in the S&P/ASX 200 index was a major achievement.  "We believe the Company, with its world class asset in the Philippines, will continue to deliver positive results for many years to benefit not only shareholders but also for the many communities in which it operates.”

Earlier this week, the junior gold producer announced a revised JORC compliant resource statement for the mine, based on ongoing infill and exploration drilling of the vein system to both boost the confidence of the resource and extend the system along strike and at depth, ahead of the completion of a Phase I expansion to increase production to 60,000 ounces of gold per annum, and a further ramp up to 100,000 ounces of gold per annum from a Phase II development. 

“The outlook for the group remains positive, and although highly competitive, the market for our telematics solutions remains strong. In the commercial sector, our financial strength and successful track record is helping us to win new business and ensure a competitive edge over smaller competitors in our market,” CybIT said in a statement.

It continues to review opportunities for acquisitive growth on an ongoing basis and anticipates that there will be further opportunities to accelerate growth in the future, it added.

It has made its first drawdown on the funds.  Bglobal is confident it has now cleared a significant hurdle to the acceleration of its business.

Driving forward its smart meter installation programme in volume had until now been hampered by the global financial crisis and the subsequent closure of debt finance markets.

It also announced a placing of 2,688,287 ordinary shares at 41 pence to raise £1 million net of expenses to pay for part of the acquisition.

The portfolio includes the surface disinfectant product 'TriGene Advance', used in the animal healthcare market. The Medichem portfolio will continue to be distributed by Medichem International (Marketing) Ltd.

Tristel believes that the acquisition is highly complementary to its existing product portfolio which is based on its proprietary chlorine dioxide technology and solely focused on the human healthcare market.

The upfront payment of £1 million will be followed by cash payments over five years depending on the annual sales generated from the Medichem product portfolio.

The Medichem product portfolio generated sales in the year to December 31 2008 of £2.06 million. Tristel expects the acquisition to be earnings enhancing in its financial year commencing July 1 2009, although the transfer of production to its Newmarket   manufacturing facility will be phased in gradually over the first half of the financial year.

Tristel established its manufacturing facility in 2007 to enable it to take over from Medichem the production of its chlorine dioxide products.

In a trading update ahead of results for the first half to June 27 2009, the group said it continues to have a high-quality order book, which, at the half year, is expected to be broadly in line with the £12.8 billion as at December 31 2008.  

The cash position remains strong with average net cash in excess of £200 million for the first six months of 2009.  
Performance in the Building sector has exceeded last year, with the UK steady and the US strong. In spite of a more competitive environment for securing new work, there have been good performances from Balfour Beatty Construction US and Heery with major new contracts in North Carolina, Texas and California. The integration of RT Dooley, a family-owned construction firm based in North Carolina acquired in February 2009 for US$40 million, is proceeding well.

In the Engineering sector, performance in UK civil engineering has been strong and Balfour Beatty has made good progress on road projects including the M74, A3, A421 and A46.  Following financial close, work started in May on the construction contract to add 40 lane miles of additional capacity to the M25.  
In the US, it secured the five-year contract to support the delivery of National Grid’s US electricity transmission capital investment programme in New England.  Performance in Dubai and Hong Kong has been in line with expectations.

In Rail, as expected, reduced volumes in some parts of the UK market have impacted the start of the year, with Germany also down on last year.

Good progress has been made in other parts of the business including in Italy on the Bologne to Florence high-speed line and in Malaysia with the signing of a rail electrification and power supply project.

The financial terms are confidential. Australian News services cited Palmer as saying that the the purchase price was less than the A$2 billion replacement cost of the refinery.

BHP Billiton will write-down the carrying value of Yabulu by an estimated US$500 million and a further estimated US$175 million of unrecoverable tax benefits. These write-downs will be reported as exceptional items in the results for the full-year ended June 30 2009.

The company expects the sale to be finalised by July 31 2009.

BHP Billiton Stainless Steel Materials president, Jimmy Wilson, said: “The Premier of Queensland played a pivotal role in ensuring the change in ownership was feasible for both parties to this transaction, in affirming that the continued operation of the refinery was important to Queensland and that there would be no change in licensing or other arrangements from that currently prevailing.”

The initial batch of  310 ElectraGen H2 units will be installed by ACME ahead of the deployment of the natural gas fueled fuel cell systems, due to commence in 2010.

As previously announced, significant advancements in its proprietary technologies will allow IdaTech to produce more robust and significantly more cost effective integrated fuel cell systems by 2010. The first of these products to be launched will be the natural gas fuelled system for deployment in early 2010 under the ACME contract, 9,690 systems in all, taking the number of generator units sold to ACME to the agreed number of 10,000. 

IdaTech and ACME signed a fuel cell generator supply agreement in 2008.

IdaTech CEO Hal Koyama said: “Passing this (the tests) and securing the purchase order for the first 310  ElectraGen H2 validates the robustness of the product and ACME's commitment to the program.  Our system integration skills and real world field experience, gained from the 150 systems we have already deployed (elsewhere), have proved invaluable to ensuring the success of the ElectraGen H2.”

The Shanghai Comprehensive Index advanced 1.73 percent to 3063.25. The SME Comprehensive Index added 1.02 percent to 4399.04. The Hang Seng Index declined 1.09 percent to 18178.05. The Hang Seng Growth Enterprises Index advanced 0.45 percent to 577.78. The Hang Seng China Enterprise Index added 0.08 percent to 10971.89. 

Taiwan's TAIEX Index added 1.35 percent to 6667.53.  

PetroChina (SH:601857; HK:0857), the country’s biggest oil producer, gained 3.29 percent on Shanghai trading but lost 0.35 percent on Hong Kong trading. China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. (SH:600028; HK:0386), Asia’s largest oil refiner, advanced 3.90 percent on Shanghai but slid 0.68 percent on Hong Kong.

China Shenhua Energy Co. (SH:601088,HK:1088), the nation’s largest coal producer, climbed 4.33 percent on Shanghai but retreated 0.7 percent on Hong Kong.

Zijin Mining Group Co. (SH:601899; HK:2899), China’s largest gold producer, surged 7.36 percent on Shanghai but dropped 1.14 percent on Hong Kong.  

Anti-H1N1-flu shares surged again after seven students in Beijing’s Nanhu Zhongyuan Primary School were confirmed as infected with the virus last night. Beijing Tiantan Biological Products Corp. (SH:600161) and Guilin Layn Natural Ingredients Co. (SZ:002166) surged to the 10 percent trading cap. Zhejiang Conba Pharmaceutical Co. (SH:600572) advanced 3.94 percent.  

Greater China Technology Group (HK:8032), a traditional Chinese medicine vendor, surged 40.68 percent after announcing the acquisition of two thirds stakes in coolpoint Group, a producer of  air-conditioning water-heater.