WH Ireland this morning maintained an “underperform” stance on Severfield-Rowen (LON:SFR) after the structural steelwork fabricator revealed interim figures in line with expectations. Revenue fell by 36.7% to £126.7m with pre-tax profit coming in at £8.2m and the half-year dividend maintained at 5.0p. Severfield’s management cast a cautions view on the company’s outlook and WHI said it was concerned that volume/margin pressure in the market could intensify further over the next 6-12 months.

Fox-Davies Capital urged a “hold” for mining group Antofagasta (LON:ANTO), which posted a half-year attributable profit of $451.2m and declared an interim dividend of $0.04/share. These figures compare with $235.7m and $0.037 in the first half of 2009. FDC said the result was well below its expectations due to much lower sales than expected from Los Pelambres, where adverse weather conditions meant that a shipment of copper concentrate scheduled for the end of June was held over and was shipped in July. In addition, guidance for Los Pelambres and El Tesoro were modestly downgraded together with an increase in forecast costs. Nevertheless, HBM said it was upbeat on Antofagasta’s expansion plans at Los Pelambres and Esperanza.

Astaire Securities described as “disappointing” half year results from Vislink Plc (LON:VLK) which saw revenues slump by 25.5% to £34.2m while adjusted operating profits saw a £5.0m negative swing to a loss of £2.2m. Vislink, which develops communications technologies, moved from net cash at FY09 (£0.6m) to debt of £3.4m – against new facilities of up to £12.3m. Nevertheless, Astaire said the company remained an “interesting turnaround situation” as it emerges from considerable reorganisation. Elsewhere, Astaire was upbeat on news yesterday from Europa Oil & Gas (LON:EOG), which said that progress had been made in quantifying the reserves potential at its Voitinel discovery in Romania. It is likely to benefit from an appraisal well in early 2011. Europa also updated on the initial mapping of the Berenx structure in France; which confirms potential of gas reserves in excess of 1 trillion cubic feet. The company has also identified potential for a significant increase in reserves at its West Firsby Field in the UK.

Evolution Securities said that yesterday’s news from Bowleven (LON:BLVN) on flow rates from the IE appraisal well were, on the whole, encouraging and did not justify the share price drop…

Unlock the rest of this article with a 14 day trial

Unlock with Email
Unlock with Google

Already have an account?
Login here