Broker Upgrades and Downgrades & Key UK Corporate Snapshots 17 June 2016

UK Broker Upgrades / Downgrades

US Broker Upgrades / Downgrades

Key UK Corporate Snapshots Today

Amerisur Resources Plc (AMER.L)  Announced, in its operations update, that the electrical logs obtained in the Jaguarete-1 exploration well in Paraguay, has been interpreted while the initial analysis indicates the presence of oil saturations within low porosity sandstones of the Lima and Santa Elena formations. The company has now commenced a technical programme, which was presented to and approved by the relevant authorities in Paraguay, to study the results of the well for determining the likeliness of the poor reservoir quality to be a regional characteristic or more locally associated with the basement uplift observed in drilling. Meanwhile, in Colombia, the seismic inversion processing has been completed, confirming a strong development of the N sand within the Platanillo contract area. The company is currently designing an appraisal and development plan for the reservoir which has already been proven and tested in two Platanillo wells. The company separately announced that it has signed a modification of the farm out agreement with Canacol Energy Colombia SA, a subsidiary of Canacol Energy Ltd. of Canada. The modification increases the farm in participation of Canacol from 20% to 40% working interest in the exploration area of the Coati contract. The consideration for the farm is $10.75 million, out of which $6.95 million is outstanding in favour of Platino Energy, wholly owned subsidiary of the company.

Aurum Mining Plc (AUR.L)  Announced that it has raised £100,000 through a convertible loan (the Loan). The Loan is unsecured, accrues no interest and is not repayable. The Loan will be converted at the price at which equity is next issued. If it is so converted, the loan providers are also entitled to a warrant for every share they receive. Each warrant would be exercisable at 2p per share. The Loan will be used to provide on-going working capital for the company. There was no significant change in the company’s trading in the second half of the year ended 31 March 2016. Results for the year are expected to be announced in the second half of August.

Beximco Pharmaceuticals Ltd (BXP.L)  Announced that it has commenced the export of pharmaceuticals to Kuwait. This marks the first time a Bangladeshi pharmaceutical company has launched pharmaceutical products in any Gulf member country under the Gulf Cooperation Council.

Billing Services Group Limited (BILL.L)  Announced that further to its press release made on May 4, 2016, the first payment of $520,000 was made today.

BP Plc (BP..L)  Announced the allotment and issue of 134,455,057 ordinary shares of $0.25 each (‘shares’) to shareholders who elected to receive ordinary shares (ISIN number GB0007980591) under the Scrip Dividend Programme as an alternative for the first quarter interim dividend for 2016, payable on 17 June 2016. Following the issue of the above shares, the number of ordinary shares in issue will be 20,397,588,746 of which 1,615,755,544 are held as treasury shares leaving a balance of 18,781,833,202 ordinary shares with voting rights.

CDialogues Plc (CDOG.L)  Announced that the Group has received a notice of termination from Numbase Limited in respect of the four contracts from which CDialogues generates all of its current revenues. The notice of termination indicates that Numbase wishes to terminate the contracts under which the Group provides mobile marketing and campaign services to Alfa in Lebanon, Touch in Lebanon, Zain in Kuwait and VIVA in Kuwait. CDialogues is in discussion with Numbase in respect of the notice of termination, in order to seek alternative outcomes. The four contracts in question have different termination provisions, but should Numbase proceed with the termination, then the Board believes that the four contracts would have been terminated by the end of September 2016, at the latest. The Board has determined that it is appropriate to conduct a review of CDialogues’ business and assets.

CentralNic Group Plc (CNIC.L)  Announced that it has contracted with UK Creative Ideas Limited the rights holder for the new Top-Level Domain. ART, to be its exclusive registry service provider. .ART will be introduced in a staged launch over the next twelve months, providing the art community and the $68 billion art market with its own exclusive designation on the Internet. With the online art market growing 24% over the past year, .ART domain names will make it easier for consumers and search engines to distinguish art-related websites.

Coal of Africa Limited (CZA.L)  Announced, in its update on its recommended Offer for Universal Coal plc, announced on 26 November 2015, that it wishes to advise that it has extended the Offer Period of the offer, such that the closing date is now 15 July 2016. As announced on 31 May 2016, the company has entered into two subscription agreements with Hengshun Zhongsheng Group Co., Ltd and Summer Trees PTE. Ltd pursuant to which the New Subscribers will subscribe for 229,885,058 and 114,942,529 the company Shares respectively at a price of $0.0435 per the company share, for total proceeds of $15 million. These two subscription agreements together with the previously announced M&G Subscription Agreement and HEI Subscription Agreement amount to $23.0 million and will be used to finance the cash payable under the Offer.

Cogenpower Plc (CGP.L)  Announced, in its final year results for the year ended 31 December 2015, that revenue stood at €6.50 million, compared to €5.80 million in the same period last year. Operating loss stood at €0.50 million, compared to a profit of €0.05 million. Loss after tax was €1.31 million, compared to €1.04 million. Basic and diluted loss per share stood at 3.3c, compared to 2.6c.

EG Solutions Plc (EGS.L)  Announced the appointment of George Rolls to the board as a Non-Executive Director, with immediate effect.

FinnAust Mining Plc (FAM.L)  Announced that it has appointed KeyPointE Pty Ltd (‘KeyPointE’) and QuedTech Pty Ltd (‘QuedTech’) to complete the next phase of metallurgical test work at the Company’s Pituffik Titanium Project in Greenland (‘Pituffik’). Both groups have a good understanding of the mineral sands industry and are industry experts. Following this, KeyPointE and QuedTech will look to finalise the processing flowsheet, which will form the basis for plant design and optimisation, and will advise on processing routes in order to optimise concentrate production rates and operating efficiencies.

HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA.L)  Announced a resolution to a 14-year shareholder class action based on events that took place prior to HSBC’s acquisition of Household International Inc. in 2003. The case was filed in 2002, and a jury ruled for the plaintiffs in a 2009 trial. In May 2015, the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit reversed a partial final judgment against Household International Inc., the predecessor entity to HSBC Finance, and remanded the case for a new trial on loss causation and damages. The settlement is subject to court approval and is expected to result in a pretax charge to HSBC Finance of approximately $585 million, including legal fees and expenses, in the second quarter of 2016.

Imperial Innovations Group Plc (IVO.L)  Announced that Cell Medica and Baylor College of Medicine have partnered to create next generation cellular immunotherapy products for the treatment of cancer. This new collaboration is expected to generate a significant number of new products for Cell Medica’s cellular immunotherapy pipeline. The collaboration will build upon the recent clinical success of advanced chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) to enable human immune cells to recognise and kill cancer cells expressing tumour associated antigens.

JD Sports Fashion Plc (JD..L)  Announced, in its trading statement, that the company witnessed further improvement in sales from the UEFA Euro 2016 Tournament in the recent weeks. As a result of which, it is well positioned to deliver a robust performance in the first half of the current year. Despite strong comparatives for the remainder of the year, it expects to deliver performance as per the market expectations driven by its strong start in the current year.

Kodal Minerals Plc (KOD.L)  Announced, in its final results for the year ended 31 December 2016, that its operating loss stood at £0.4 million, compared to loss of £3.9 million. Net loss after tax was £0.4 million compared to loss after tax of £3.9 million. The company’s diluted loss per share was 0.04p, compared to loss per share 0.51p.

Lansdowne Oil & Gas Plc (LOGP.L)  Announced, in its preliminary results for the year ended 31 December 2015, that operating loss stood at £16.00 million, compared to £1.30 million. Loss after tax was £15.07 million, compared to £1.32 million. Basic and diluted loss per share stood at 10.2p, compared to 0.9p. Also, it indicated that it has placed 210,000,000 new ordinary shares with new and existing investors at a placing price of 1p per share, to raise £2.1 million before costs. The proceeds of the Placing are to be used to meet the company’s share of amounts currently payable to Transocean by Providence Resources and to fund the Company’s on-going working capital requirements until mid-2017.

LMS Capital Plc (LMS.L)  Announced the appointment of Rod Birkett to the Board as an independent Non-Executive Director, effective 16 June 2016.

Oracle Coalfields Plc (ORCP.L)  Announced that the coal price based on the mine feasibility study, has been determined by the Thar Coal and Energy Board (TCEB), Government of Sindh, at an average price of $60.23/tonne for an annual production of 4.0 million tonnes per annum. Mine capital costs (including financing costs) reduced from $879 million, as included in the original coal price petition, to $673 million, as determined by the regulator. 70:30 debt to equity financing structure is permitted.

Tesco Plc (TSCO.L)  Announced the sale of its Dobbies Garden Centres business to an investor group led by Midlothian Capital Partners and Hattington Capital. The sale represents the entire share capital of Dobbies Garden Centres Ltd. Tesco will receive £217 million in cash, which will be used for general corporate purposes.

TP Group Plc (TPG.L)  Announced that Martin Blomley will step down from the Group Board with immediate effect. Martin will remain a key member of the management team and continue in his role as Corporate Development Director.

UBM Plc (UBM.L)  Announced that it has completed the sale of its PR Newswire business to Cision, a business controlled by GTCR Canyon Holdings (Cayman) L.P. The total cash consideration of the sale is £490 million, after adjusting the transaction expenses, debt-like items, tax and a £10 million contribution to the company’s pension scheme. The company also announced that it will pay a special dividend of 55.3p per share on 8 July 2016 to shareholders on the register at 24 June 2016, costing the company approximately £245 million.

Wood Group (John) Plc (WG..L)  Announced that it has acquired the trade and assists of the fabrication and manufacturing business of Aberdeen based Enterprise Engineering Service Limited (EESL). The current employees of EESL’s Aberdeen based fabrication business will transfer to the company, while remaining at their existing 4,000sq m fabrication facility located on Craigshaw Road, Aberdeen

UK Broker Upgrades / Downgrades

US Broker Upgrades / Downgrades

Key UK Corporate Snapshots Today

Amerisur Resources Plc (AMER.L)  Announced, in its operations update, that the electrical logs obtained in the Jaguarete-1 exploration well in Paraguay, has been interpreted while the initial analysis indicates the presence of oil saturations within low porosity sandstones of the Lima and Santa Elena formations. The company has now commenced a technical programme, which was presented to and approved by the relevant authorities in Paraguay, to study the results of the well for determining the likeliness of the poor reservoir quality to be a regional characteristic or more locally associated with the basement uplift observed in drilling. Meanwhile, in Colombia, the seismic inversion processing has been completed, confirming a strong development of the N sand within the Platanillo contract area. The company is currently designing an appraisal and development plan for the reservoir which has already been proven and tested in two Platanillo wells. The company separately announced that it has signed a modification of the farm out agreement with Canacol Energy Colombia SA, a subsidiary of Canacol Energy Ltd. of Canada. The modification increases the farm in participation of Canacol from 20% to 40% working interest in the exploration area of the Coati contract. The consideration for the farm is $10.75 million, out of which $6.95 million is outstanding in favour of Platino Energy, wholly owned subsidiary of the company.

Aurum Mining Plc (AUR.L)  Announced that it has raised £100,000 through a convertible loan (the Loan). The Loan is unsecured, accrues no interest and is not repayable. The Loan will be converted at the price at which equity is next issued. If it is so converted, the loan providers are also entitled to a warrant for every share they receive. Each warrant would be exercisable at 2p per share. The Loan will be used to provide on-going working capital for the company. There was no significant change in the company’s trading in the second half of the year ended 31 March 2016. Results for the year are expected to be announced in the second half of August.

Beximco Pharmaceuticals Ltd (BXP.L)  Announced that it has commenced the export of pharmaceuticals to Kuwait. This marks the first time a Bangladeshi pharmaceutical company has launched pharmaceutical products in any Gulf member country under the Gulf Cooperation Council.

Billing Services Group Limited (BILL.L)  Announced that further to its press release made on May 4, 2016, the first payment of $520,000 was made today.

BP Plc (BP..L)  Announced the allotment and issue of 134,455,057 ordinary shares of $0.25 each (‘shares’) to shareholders who elected to receive ordinary shares (ISIN number GB0007980591) under the Scrip Dividend Programme as an alternative for the first quarter interim dividend for 2016, payable on 17 June 2016. Following the issue of the above shares, the number of ordinary shares in issue will be 20,397,588,746 of which 1,615,755,544 are held as treasury shares leaving a balance of 18,781,833,202 ordinary shares with voting rights.

CDialogues Plc (CDOG.L)  Announced that the Group has received a notice of termination from Numbase Limited in respect of the four contracts from which CDialogues generates all of its current revenues. The notice of termination indicates that Numbase wishes to terminate the contracts under which the Group provides mobile marketing and campaign services to Alfa in Lebanon, Touch in Lebanon, Zain in Kuwait and VIVA in Kuwait. CDialogues is in discussion with Numbase in respect of the notice of termination, in order to seek alternative outcomes. The four contracts in question have different termination provisions, but should Numbase proceed with the termination, then the Board believes that the four contracts would have been terminated by the end of September 2016, at the latest. The Board has determined that it is appropriate to conduct a review of CDialogues’ business and assets.

CentralNic Group Plc (CNIC.L)  Announced that it has contracted with UK Creative Ideas Limited the rights holder for the new Top-Level Domain. ART, to be its exclusive registry service provider. .ART will be introduced in a staged launch over the next twelve months, providing the art community and the $68 billion art market with its own exclusive designation on the Internet. With the online art market growing 24% over the past year, .ART domain names will make it easier for consumers and search engines to distinguish art-related websites.

Coal of Africa Limited (CZA.L)  Announced, in its update on its recommended Offer for Universal Coal plc, announced on 26 November 2015, that it wishes to advise that it has extended the Offer Period of the offer, such that the closing date is now 15 July 2016. As announced on 31 May 2016, the company has entered into two subscription agreements with Hengshun Zhongsheng Group Co., Ltd and Summer Trees PTE. Ltd pursuant to which the New Subscribers will subscribe for 229,885,058 and 114,942,529 the company Shares respectively at a price of $0.0435 per the company share, for total proceeds of $15 million. These two subscription agreements together with the previously announced M&G Subscription Agreement and HEI Subscription Agreement amount to $23.0 million and will be used to finance the cash payable under the Offer.

Cogenpower Plc (CGP.L)  Announced, in its final year results for the year ended 31 December 2015, that revenue stood at €6.50 million, compared to €5.80 million in the same period last year. Operating loss stood at €0.50 million, compared to a profit of €0.05 million. Loss after tax was €1.31 million, compared to €1.04 million. Basic and diluted loss per share stood at 3.3c, compared to 2.6c.

EG Solutions Plc (EGS.L)  Announced the appointment of George Rolls to the board as a Non-Executive Director, with immediate effect.

FinnAust Mining Plc (FAM.L)  Announced that it has appointed KeyPointE Pty Ltd (‘KeyPointE’) and QuedTech Pty Ltd (‘QuedTech’) to complete the next phase of metallurgical test work at the Company’s Pituffik Titanium Project in Greenland (‘Pituffik’). Both groups have a good understanding of the mineral sands industry and are industry experts. Following this, KeyPointE and QuedTech will look to finalise the processing flowsheet, which will form the basis for plant design and optimisation, and will advise on processing routes in order to optimise concentrate production rates and operating efficiencies.

HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA.L)  Announced a resolution to a 14-year shareholder class action based on events that took place prior to HSBC’s acquisition of Household International Inc. in 2003. The case was filed in 2002, and a jury ruled for the plaintiffs in a 2009 trial. In May 2015, the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit reversed a partial final judgment against Household International Inc., the predecessor entity to HSBC Finance, and remanded the case for a new trial on loss causation and damages. The settlement is subject to court approval and is expected to result in a pretax charge to HSBC Finance of approximately $585 million, including legal fees and expenses, in the second quarter of 2016.

Imperial Innovations Group Plc (IVO.L)  Announced that Cell Medica and Baylor College of Medicine have partnered to create next generation cellular immunotherapy products for the treatment of cancer. This new collaboration is expected to generate a significant number of new products for Cell Medica’s cellular immunotherapy pipeline. The collaboration will build upon the recent clinical success of advanced chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) to enable human immune cells to recognise and kill cancer cells expressing tumour associated antigens.

JD Sports Fashion Plc (JD..L)  Announced, in its trading statement, that the company witnessed further improvement in sales from the UEFA Euro 2016 Tournament in the recent weeks. As a result of which, it is well positioned to deliver a robust performance in the first half of the current year. Despite strong comparatives for the remainder of the year, it expects to deliver performance as per the market expectations driven by its strong start in the current year.

Kodal Minerals Plc (KOD.L)  Announced, in its final results for the year ended 31 December 2016, that its operating loss stood at £0.4 million, compared to loss of £3.9 million. Net loss after tax was £0.4 million compared to loss after tax of £3.9 million. The company’s diluted loss per share was 0.04p, compared to loss per share 0.51p.

Lansdowne Oil & Gas Plc (LOGP.L)  Announced, in its preliminary results for the year ended 31 December 2015, that operating loss stood at £16.00 million, compared to £1.30 million. Loss after tax was £15.07 million, compared to £1.32 million. Basic and diluted loss per share stood at 10.2p, compared to 0.9p. Also, it indicated that it has placed 210,000,000 new ordinary shares with new and existing investors at a placing price of 1p per share, to raise £2.1 million before costs. The proceeds of the Placing are to be used to meet the company’s share of amounts currently payable to Transocean by Providence Resources and to fund the Company’s on-going working capital requirements until mid-2017.

LMS Capital Plc (LMS.L)  Announced the appointment of Rod Birkett to the Board as an independent Non-Executive Director, effective 16 June 2016.

Oracle Coalfields Plc (ORCP.L)  Announced that the coal price based on the mine feasibility study, has been determined by the Thar Coal and Energy Board (TCEB), Government of Sindh, at an average price of $60.23/tonne for an annual production of 4.0 million tonnes per annum. Mine capital costs (including financing costs) reduced from $879 million, as included in the original coal price petition, to $673 million, as determined by the regulator. 70:30 debt to equity financing structure is permitted.

Tesco Plc (TSCO.L)  Announced the sale of its Dobbies Garden Centres business to an investor group led by Midlothian Capital Partners and Hattington Capital. The sale represents the entire share capital of Dobbies Garden Centres Ltd. Tesco will receive £217 million in cash, which will be used for general corporate purposes.

TP Group Plc (TPG.L)  Announced that Martin Blomley will step down from the Group Board with immediate effect. Martin will remain a key member of the management team and continue in his role as Corporate Development Director.

UBM Plc (UBM.L)  Announced that it has completed the sale of its PR Newswire business to Cision, a business controlled by GTCR Canyon Holdings (Cayman) L.P. The total cash consideration of the sale is £490 million, after adjusting the transaction expenses, debt-like items, tax and a £10 million contribution to the company’s pension scheme. The company also announced that it will pay a special dividend of 55.3p per share on 8 July 2016 to shareholders on the register at 24 June 2016, costing the company approximately £245 million.

Wood Group (John) Plc (WG..L)  Announced that it has acquired the trade and assists of the fabrication and manufacturing business of Aberdeen based Enterprise Engineering Service Limited (EESL). The current employees of EESL’s Aberdeen based fabrication business will transfer to the company, while remaining at their existing 4,000sq m fabrication facility located on Craigshaw Road, Aberdeen