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Most followed: IAG, Northcote Energy, RBS, Savannah Petroleum, Sirius Minerals, Toumaz

Published: 20:43 01 Aug 2014 AEST

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It's groundhog day for RBS (LON:RBS) which last week released half-year results and which today ... released half-year results.

Unsurprisingly, the numbers have changed not a jot in the intervening seven days, leaving the press to seize on the commentary surrounding the figures, including a caution about the effects of Scotland deciding to leave the union instigated by King James VI of Scotland.

The bank, 81% owned by the UK taxpayer, said a 'yes' vote in the referendum on September 18 this year could lead to an increase in costs and a material impact on the group.

Investors are taking a flyer on International Consolidated Airline Group (LON:IAG), the airlines group usually referred to as IAG.

The Wall Street Journal goes with the angle first taken by Proactive Investors, with its headline: "British Airways, Iberia to Trim Capacity Despite Robust Results".

Other broadsheets focus on the move back into profit and the fact that after cracking a lot of eggs, chief executive Willie Walsh is turning Iberia into a halfway decent (Spanish) omelette.

Meanwhile, one interesting fact to emerge from the coverage of the results: British Airways, which is owned by IAG, stopped flying over Ukraine's air space months before the MH17 airliner was shot down.

Away from the blue-chips, there has been plenty of interest in resource companies, as usual.

Investors in Northcote Energy (LON:NCT) and MX Oil have shown a keen interest in the partnership between the two to pursue opportunities in Mexico’s upstream oil and gas industry.

A ten-year tie up gives Northcote the right to participate with MX Oil (LON:MXO) in any of its projects in Mexico, with Northcote taking up to a 20% interest. It will apply to projects involving the drilling, exploration, development or production of oil and gas.

Savannah Petroleum (LON:SVP) - not to be confused with Savannah Resources - made a premium AIM debut with the newly listed shares changing hands for as much as 64.55p this morning.

New shares were issued at 56p, raising £29.3mln, as part of the float which had valued the Africa focused oil company at £73.5mln before trading began.

Sirius Minerals (LON:SXX) - not to be confused with Sirius Petroleum - has revised its planning application for its York Potash project after consultation with local authorities and the North York Moors National Park Authority.

The mineral transport system (MTS) will now be included as part of the planning application for the mine, while the materials handling facility will be submitted separately.

Away from the resource companies, Toumaz (LON:TMZ) has disappointed with its trading update, though seeing as it said it is trading in line with expectations this could be a case of expectations running too high.

Shares in the wireless semiconductor technology firm are up 61% so far this year so this is probably just a bit of profit taking.

"The group continues to make positive progress in its two key business areas," reported chief executive Anthony Sethill.

The company expects to see hospitals in several markets adopting the company's SensiumVital system, while in Consumer Audio, the company is benefiting from market growth in both digital radio and connected audio.

"Our next generation silicon projects will significantly enhance our proposition to customers. Both projects are progressing to plan," Sethill said.

On the traders' screens, mining firms Glencore and Rio Tinto are the most widely traded stocks, followed by supermarket Tesco.

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