The Morning news update with Tullow Oil, Xaar, Hays and STV

FTSE 100

Melrose (MRO) – Headline profit before tax up by 10% in the six months to June, dividend increased by 0.05p per share to 2.8p per share.

Tullow Oil (TLW) – The Etom-1 well in Block 13T onshore Kenya encountered approximately 10 metres of net oil pay, extending the proven oil basin significantly northwards.

FTSE 250

Xaar (XAR) – adjusted pre-tax profits down from £22.3 million to £16.1 million in the six months to June, interim dividend up by 20% at 3p per share.

Hays (HAS) – pre-tax profits up by 12% at £132.3 million in the year to June, dividend up by 5% at 2.63p per share.

Playtech (PTC) – Adjusted Profit up by 44.8% to €96.8 million in the six months to June, dividend up by 1.1 cents to 8.9 cents per share.

Small caps

Vmoto (VMT) – achieved normalised net profit after tax for the six month period ended to June of $704,569, after adjusting for non-cash share based expenses of $493,809, compared to a loss of $553,785 for the six month period ended 30th June 2013.

Kromek (KMK) – loss before tax increases to £4.3 million in the year to April, up from £1.66 million.

STV (STVG) – pre-tax profits up by 35% at £8.4 million in the six months to June, interim dividend doubled to 2p per share.

Molins (MLIN) – Underlying profit before tax of £0.6 million in the six months to June, down from £1.5 million. Dividend maintained at 2.5p per share.

Amara Mining (AMA) – posts a loss of $3.9 million for the six months to June.