Broker Upgrades and Downgrades & Key UK Corporate Snapshots 09 November 2015

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AFH Financial Group Plc (AFHP.L) Announced, in its trading update, that it expects the results for the twelve months ended 31 October 2015 to be above market expectations, following a strong second half performance, with a year on year increase in turnover expected to be up over 30%. Cash balances of £3.0 million, 11 acquisitions successfully integrated into the company over the past 12 months and Funds Under Management approaching £2.0 billion. Final results for the year ended 31 October 2015 expected to be announced in February 2016.

Aggreko Plc (AGK.L) Announced, in its trading update for the quarter ended 30 September 2015, that underlying revenue for the third quarter was 7% behind last year with reported revenue down 6%. All growth rates set out below are on an underlying basis. Rental Solutions revenue was down 1% on last year. The on-going weakness in the oil and gas and mining sectors, has been largely offset by continued growth in other sectors, such as petrochemical and refining. Power Solutions revenue was 11% lower than the same period last year. Within this, industrial was 12% higher, including the successfully executed European Games. Utility revenue in Power Solutions was 21% lower than last year, driven by the previously announced price reduction on our contract extension in Bangladesh and the off-hiring of our contract in Panama; excluding the impact of these, revenue was down 12%. Order intake year to date is 561MW (2014: 697MW); last year’s comparative included 170MW of summer peak shaving work in Saudi Arabia and Oman. Also, it recently announced the appointment of Nicolas Fournier as Managing Director, Power Solutions. Additionally, the company continues to expect that the underlying revenue trend in the second half of the year will be similar to that in the first half, reflecting the on-going challenging market conditions. Overall, its guidance for profit before tax for the full year to be between £250 million and £270 million at average exchange rates remains unchanged.

Bank of Georgia Holdings Plc (BGEO.L) Announced that it has successfully priced the initial public offering of the ordinary shares of its healthcare subsidiary, Georgia Healthcare Group Plc, following its announcement on 26 October 2015. The offering price has been set at 170.0p per share wherein 38,681,820 shares will be offered equating to an offering size of approximately £66.0 million. The proceeds will be used to renovate and develop its recently acquired Deka and Sunstone referral hospitals in Tbilisi, adding nearly 500 beds to existing hospital capacity. It will also finance its current expansion plans, mainly the roll-out of its planned ambulatory network with approximately 30 ambulatory clinics which is expected to be launched within 2-3 years. The company also expects to reduce the current levels of debt through the use of new funds.

BHP Billiton Plc (BLT.L) Announced an update providing further information on the incident at the Samarco Mineração S.A iron ore operation in Minas Gerais, Brazil on Thursday, 5 November 2015. Each of the company and Vale holds a 50% interest in Samarco. The Samarco operations include a three tiered tailings dam complex. Within this complex, the Fundão dam failed and the downstream Santarém dam has been affected. This resulted in a significant release of mine tailings, flooding the community of Bento Rodrigues and impacting other communities downstream. The third dam in the complex, the Germano dam, is being monitored by Samarco. At this time, there is no confirmation of the causes of the tailings release. The company’s Chief Executive Officer, Andrew Mackenzie, will go to Brazil this week to understand first-hand the human, environmental and operational impacts of the incident. Meanwhile, The company has offered its full support to help the immediate rescue efforts and to assist with the investigation. The company’s immediate priority is the welfare of the Samarco workforce and the local communities.

British Empire Trust Plc (BTEM.L) Announced, in its annual financial report for the year ended 30 September 2015, that investment income rose to £20.9 million from £20.0 million recorded in the previous year. Loss after tax stood at £66.7 million compared to a profit of £49.2 million. The directors have proposed the payment of a final dividend of 9.7p per Ordinary share.

Capital & Counties Properties Plc (CAPC.L) Announced that after the successful transition of shows from the former Earls Court Exhibition Centres and a major refurbishment programme, it confirms that it is conducting a strategic review which may or may not lead to a sale of its Venues business.

Dignity Plc (DTY.L) Announced, in its trading update for the third quarter of 2015, that company’s revenue is expected to be £227.0 million, compared to £196.4 million in the preceding period. Average incomes remain robust and in the year to date total revenues are almost 16% higher than last year. Costs continue to be in line with the Board’s expectations, allowing for the higher volumes. Underlying operating profits increased 22% to £78.1 million (2014: £64.0 million) in the year to date. The number of deaths in the third quarter of the year was flat at 129,000 (2014: 129,000), compared to the 13% increase in deaths in the first six months of the year. In addition to the Laurel acquisition, the Group has acquired a total of 12 funeral locations for consideration of £10.9 million, bringing its total investment in the year to £49.2 million. The Group is also pleased to confirm that its planning application for a crematorium in Derby has been successful. This location should start operating in 2017. Given the continued high number of deaths relative to 2014, the Group expects to outperform current market expectations in the full year 2015. However, there remains a strong possibility that the number of deaths in 2016 may in turn be significantly lower and therefore the Group’s expectations for 2016 and beyond remain unchanged.

Elementis Plc (ELM.L) Announced that the effective date of Mr Waterman’s appointment as Group CEO and an executive director of the company will be on 08 February 2016.

Falanx Group Limited (FLX.L) Announced, in its unaudited interim results for the six months ended 30 September 2015, that revenue stood at £0.79 million, compared to £0.97 million in the same period last year. Operating loss stood at £1.30 million, compared to a loss of £0.71 million. Loss after tax was £1.31 million, compared to a loss of £0.71 million. Diluted loss per share from continuing and total operations stood at 1.95p, compared to a loss of 1.41p.

Goals Soccer Centres Plc (GOAL.L) Announced, in its trading update, that as previously reported at the interim results on 9 September 2015, trading in the UK business over the summer holiday period had been challenging. Whilst the company has made progress since 9 September, delivering week-on-week sales improvements, the speed of this recovery has not been at the level anticipated. In view of this, the Board now anticipates that profit before tax for the current financial year will be in the range of £8.2 million to £8.6 million, predicated on the absence of adverse weather conditions.

Grafenia Plc (GRA.L) Announced, in its unaudited interim results for the period ended 30 September 2015, that revenue stood at £5.28 million, compared to £5.47 million in the same period last year. Operating loss stood at £0.10 million, compared to £0.17 million. Loss after tax was £0.15 million, compared to £0.23 million. Loss per share from continuing operations stood at 0.32p, compared to 0.48p. The Directors are declaring an interim dividend of 0.25p per share (2014: 0.50p).

Hiscox Limited (HSX.L) Announced, in its interim management statement for the first nine months of the year to 30 September 2015, that gross written premiums grew by 12.9% to £1,536.9 million (2014: £1,361.3 million) driven by a strong performance in insurance lines particularly in Hiscox USA and Hiscox London Market. The group has also benefited from good risk selection and a lack of storms, floods and hurricanes. The rating environment remains mixed. In its retail businesses in the UK and US, rates are broadly flat. In Europe the company is seeing single-digit increases in both personal and commercial lines. The investment return to 30 September 2015 was +0.7% (+0.9% annualised). Volatility in investment markets picked up sharply during the third quarter. Additionally, the company announced the current estimates for Syndicate 33 and Syndicate 6104’s 2013 and 2014 accounts. Syndicate 33 2013 current estimates as a percentage of capacity are 5% to 15%, Syndicate 33 2014 current estimates as a percentage of capacity are 0% to 10%. 6104 2013 current estimates as a percentage of capacity are 37.5% to 47.5% (previous: 35.0% to 45.0%). 6104 2014 current estimates as a percentage of capacity are 25% to 35% (previous: 20.0% to 30.0%).

Inmarsat Plc (ISAT.L) Confirmed that Singapore Airlines is to deploy its GX Aviation high-speed connectivity service for passengers on-board its long-haul fleet. The services are procured by the airline from Inmarsat’s partner SITAONAIR and will be powered by Honeywell’s JetWave satellite communications hardware. The first installation is scheduled for the second half of 2016, starting with Singapore Airlines’ Boeing B777-300ER aircraft, which will be followed by its Airbus A380-800s and A350-900s.

InterContinental Hotels Group Plc (IHG.L) Following recent market speculation, the company announced that it is not considering a potential sale or merger of the company.

John Laing Infrastructure Fund (JLIF.L) Announced, in its quarterly update statement for the period 1 July 2015 to 6 November 2015, that actual growth in Portfolio value for the year to date of 6% to £876.6 million on a rebased value of £827.1 million, dividend of 3.375 pence per share paid in October 2015 in respect of the six month period to June 2015, Net Asset Value (“NAV”) of £887.2 million as at 30 September 2015, including £25.1 million allocated to dividend paid in October 2015 and NAV per share, as at 30 September 2015, of 105.9 pence ex-div, due to underlying growth over the period.

JQW Plc (JQW.L) Announced, in its trading update, that the company continues to work closely with the local Administration of Industry and Commerce in order to satisfy them that the company’s controls and procedures meet their requirements so that the suspension of operations can be lifted. The company’s operations will only be able to restart once the AIC gives its go-ahead. The Board is reviewing the financial impact of the suspension on the company however it no longer considers that profit for the full year will be of a similar magnitude to last year.

MediaZest Plc (MDZ.L) Announced, in its interim results for the six months ended 30 September 2015, that revenues rose to £1.61 million from £1.58 million recorded in the same period year ago. Loss after tax narrowed to £0.06 million from £0.2 million.

Merlin Entertainments Plc (MERL.L) Announced the appointment of Yun (Rachel) Chiang to the Board as a Non-Executive Director, with effect from 01 January 2016.

Mortice Limited (MORT.L) Announced that it has, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Tenon Facility Management Singapore Pte. Ltd, acquired 51% of the issued and paid-up capital of Frontline Security Pte. Ltd, for a maximum consideration of SGD 4.03 million (approximately £1.89 million), in cash. In addition, Tenon Singapore has an option to acquire an additional 25% of the issued and paid-up capital of Frontline Security within the next three years. The acquisition is expected to be immediately earnings enhancing. Tenon Singapore has paid SGD1.28 million (approximately £0.60 million) to Mr Joe Singh (the Vendor) as the initial consideration for the acquisition. Subject to Frontline Security’s adjusted EBITDA for the year ending 31 December 2015, Tenon Singapore may pay additional consideration of up to SGD2.75 million (approximately £1.29 million) to the Vendor within 30 days of the date on which the audited financial statements for Frontline Security in respect of the financial year ending 31 December 2015 become available.

National Grid Plc (NG..L) Announced that it has filed a request to update its electricity distribution rates for the first time since 2009. The company is requesting an approximate $143 million per annum increase in electricity delivery revenue to cover increased operating costs and investments made in its electric delivery network.

Patagonia Gold Plc (PGD.L) Announced that it has signed a letter of intent with Trilogy Mining Corporation (Trilogy) for an earn-in agreement to acquire up to 100% of the latter’s gold projects in Uruguay. The Company is targeting finalisation of the Earn-In Agreement by the end of December 2015. Under the proposed terms of the Earn-In Agreement, Patagonia Gold would earn a 51% interest in the Projects in the event that it funds expenditures of $1.5 million into the Projects in the 18 month period following the signing of the Earn-In Agreement (“Phase I Option Period”). In the event that the Company exercises its Phase I Option in full, acquiring a 51% interest in the Projects, it will have the right to acquire a further 29% (the “Phase II Option”) to increase its holding to 80% of the Projects by funding an additional $2 million of expenditure into the Projects during the subsequent 2 year period following such exercise (“Phase II Option Period”). No cash payments will be made to Trilogy upon completion of the Phase I Option Period and the Phase II Option Period and all funds provided by Patagonia Gold will be invested directly into exploration activities on the Projects.

Range Resources Limited (RRL.L) Announced that the second development well of the 22 well programme, the GY 180SE well spudded on 4 November 2015 and is drilling ahead to a total depth of 2,000 ft. (not 1,820 ft. as previously planned). It is expected to take approximately 21 days to reach target depth. The drilling services are being provided by Range Resources Drilling Services Limited (RRDSL), a wholly owned subsidiary of LandOcean Energy Services Co., Ltd. The well is being drilled using rig 2. The company is also pleased to advise that the vessel carrying the three new rigs (with drilling capabilities of 2,000 m, 1,500 m, and 1,000 m) has been docked at the port in Trinidad. The arrangements are being made to offload the rigs from the vessel. The rigs are expected to be available for drilling during Q1 2016, subject to a number of conditions, including customs clearance, various government and regulatory approvals and availability of suitable drilling staff to operate the rigs.

Red24 Plc (REDT.L) Announced, in its half year results for six months ended 30 September 2015, that revenues fell to £2.9 million from £3.3 million posted in the same period preceding year. The company’s profit before tax stood at £0.346 million, compared to a profit of £0.487 million reported in the previous year. The basic earnings per share stood at 0.55p compared to earnings of 0.81p reported in the previous year. The company further stated that the board has declared an interim dividend of 0.25p per share which will be paid on 25 February 2016 to those shareholders on the register at 29 January 2016.

Redcentric Plc (RCN.L) Announced, in its half year results for six months ended 30 September 2015, that revenues rose to £54.0 million from £46.8 million posted in the same period preceding year. The company’s profit before tax stood at £1.4 million, compared to a profit of £3.8 million reported in the previous year. The basic earnings per share stood at 0.76p compared to earnings of 2.28p reported in the previous year. The company further stated that the board has declared an interim dividend of 1.5p per share, which will be paid to shareholders in February 2016.

Serco Group Plc (SRP.L) Announced that it has today reached agreement with the Australian Government to amend the terms of its contract to provide in-service support to the fleet of Armidale Class Patrol Boats (ACPB). The ACPB contract was subject to an Onerous Contract Provision (OCP) charged at the end of 2014 of £136.0 million, reflecting anticipated future losses through to 2022, together with a further charge of £66.0 million relating principally to the impairment of receivables. The provisions against the ACPB contract represented approximately 30% of the Group’s OCPs charged at the end of 2014 and ACPB was the single largest OCP. The Group utilised £16.0 million of the ACPB provision in the first half of 2015.

Sterling Energy Plc (SEY.L) Announced, in its interim management statement that Production, net to the Company (including Royalty barrels) from the Chinguetti field, averaged 303 barrels of oil per day (‘bopd’) (Q3 2014: 463 bopd). The company reported adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation and exploration expense (‘EBITDAX’) loss for the group of $2.1 million (Q3 2014: $1.2 million earnings). Loss after tax stood at $1.6 million (Q3 2014: $373k). Cash (zero debt) as at 30 September 2015 was $101.3 million, including JV partner funds of $1.5 million.

Strategic Minerals Plc (SML.L) Announced, in its update for the three months to September 2015, that the company completed the £1 million capital raising announced on 8 June 2015 following shareholder approval at the Annual General Meeting (“AGM”) in July. Also, it obtained the government of New Zealand’s approval for the transfer of the mining license for the Tatu coal mine project and continued to progress plans for the development of the mine and potential funding sources. Targeting by end of December to complete Tatu bulk sample and to have further progressed the completion of the acquisition of the remaining 49% of the project. Additionally, the company visited the existing Wanbao coal mine and the site identified for future operations, meeting with the owners of the mine, the local authorities and consultants likely to operate the future mine. Sales revenue of domestic product at Cobre rebounded in September and October after falling through the months of May and June, due to transport and logistical issues, with some recovery through July and August. Despite significant falls in global iron ore prices, mine gate prices have held, reflecting the servicing of local markets. At the end of the September 2015 quarter, the company had $1,347,240 in cash compared to $1,090,240 as at the end of June 2015. This also reflects the receipt of $792,632 in July from the second tranche of the June equity fundraising.

Zoo Digital Group Plc (ZOO.L) Announced, in its half year results for six months ended 30 September 2015, that revenues fell to $6.6 million from $6.9 million posted in the same period preceding year. The company’s loss before tax stood at $0.006 million, compared to a loss of $0.638 million reported in the previous year. The basic earnings per share stood at 0.88c compared to loss of 1.75c reported in the previous year. The company’s cash and cash equivalents stood at $0.441 million (2014: $0.270 million).