Fox-Davies Capital this morning retained a “buy” rating at Hambledon Mining (LON:HMB) but said the company should have beaten production expectations for the three months to September. Hambledon’s latest quarterly production figures, released yesterday, saw 195.42kt of ore processed, grading 1.25g/t gold and producing 6,577oz of gold and 11,623oz of silver. FDC described it as “not a good quarter” and that gold production “should have exceeded 7,000oz”. Nevertheless, with planned maintenance now complete, the broker said the company had made good progress at its crusher facility and in the development of an underground mine at its flagship project in East Kazakhstan. Elsewhere, FDC also retained a “buy” advisory for Rockhopper Exploration (LON:RKH) despite the oil and gas group telling investors that it was likely to need more cash to fund extra test work on its Sea Lion discovery. The company raised concerns that resource figures could fall by 30% if it didn’t carry out more analysis in the North Falkland basin. The broker insisted that the reduction would be more a reflection of the lack of sufficient data rather than a physical downgrade and pointed to news that the company had identified additional exploration targets which provided prospective upside.

Westhouse Securities reacted to the Rockhopper news by saying the significant adverse impact on Rockhopper’s shares this morning had been overdone. Assuming a more conservative resource estimate of 170mbbl for Sea Lion, the broker reduced its target price to 495p but retained a “buy” recommendation. Westhouse also insisted that there was significant upside associated with Sea Lion, which would be unlocked following additional work, including additional 3D seismic and drilling in 2011.

Evolution Securities agreed with other brokers and said that while Rockhopper shares were likely to come under pressure it “would see excessive falls as buying opportunities”. Meanwhile, Evo remained “neutral” on property company Capital & Regional (LON:CAL) , which this morning reported that its portfolio valuations had continued to rise, albeit at a slower pace than earlier in the year, which is in-line with expectations. The broker noted that while Capital’s shares trade at a 38% discount to its FY10E NAV, they do not provide a dividend yield to compensate for an uncertain retail…

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