Stephan Bernstein, CEO of GreenRoc, details the PFS results for the new graphite processing plant. Watch the video here.
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Informa writes down value of Datamonitor by almost 40%: Informa has written down the value of Datamonitor by almost 40%, eight years after the business media group acquired the market intelligence company for £500 million.
True, at 13 times forecast 2015 earnings Informa's shares are rated at a discount to their historic average. But with the deterioration in the business intelligence division ongoing and forecasts that earnings will head south in coming years (although consensus forecasts are still of modest growth), there's plenty of potential for the shares to head lower but as always dyor..................
Informa is also highly exposed to currency movements. It receives roughly 45 per cent of its revenues and incurs 35 per cent of its costs in US dollars or currencies pegged to the dollar. That means a one cent movement in the dollar-to-pound exchange rate alters revenue by about £3.2m and adjusted operating profit by £1.4m. Informa has made some gains of course. For instance, it disposed of its struggling corporate training business for $150m last year. Its shift towards holding larger events with higher margins – which contributed 60 per cent of divisional revenues last year, from 40 per cent in 2012 – looks promising. And its stake in Baiwen, which organises the largest annual beauty trade fair in mainland China, improves its exposure to high-growth Asian markets. These efforts drove a 14 per cent rise in operating profits at its events division last year to £95.5m.
Clearly a turnaround won't be easy. If Informa cuts its less desirable or lower-margin products, revenues will fall and it will have less scope to cut costs. Informa can hardly afford a growth slowdown. The group as a whole only managed to inch organic sales up by 0.6 per cent in the first four months. Meanwhile, last year operating profits, adjusted for restructuring and one-off costs, rose only 1.5 per cent. The troubles may well continue, with N+1 Singer expecting pre-tax profit declines both this year and next (see table). There are issues at the group's two other stronger divisions as well. Although its academic publishing business has made a strong start to the year with organic sales up 3.2 per cent, that's a slowdown from the end of last year when it benefited from a high volume of orders from online retailers. And its global events segment, which grew organic sales by 3.5 per cent this year, is faced with lacklustre conference markets in Continental Europe and Russia. Moreover, last year's IPEX print and publishing exhibition was "significantly smaller" than in 2010, reflecting structural changes in the print industry. Management is another concern. Informa is yet to appoint a new finance chief, following Alan Walker's departure in December. And new chief executive Stephen Carter is still learning the business. Investec says he's "unlikely to be a radical catalyst".
Like many media companies, Informa (INF) has been hit by the one-two punch of tough end markets and technological change. The publishing, events and business intelligence group's prolonged weakness, together with its ongoing management reshuffle, slow growth and operational challenges, leave it in a precarious position that we expect will lead to continued downward pressure on its share price. The root of Informa's problems is its business intelligence division, which provides companies with news, research and information databases and contributes about a third of the company's sales and operating profits. Organic sales there dipped 5.6 per cent in the first four months of this year, following 3.9 and 4.4 per cent declines in 2013 and 2012, respectively. Moreover, divisional operating profits – excluding restructuring and other one-off costs – fell 12.8 per cent to £109m last year. Those declines reflect belt-tightening across its major markets, including financial services and pharmaceuticals. Informa also notes that it needs to "better understand" its market positioning and the capabilities of its products and platforms. Investors should be concerned at the segment's rapid contraction. In a tough data market, Informa will probably have to invest in its products just to stabilise the division, let alone grow it. Given these challenges, broker N+1 Singer forecasts a 5.3 per cent divisional sales decline this year, and a 4 per cent fall in 2015. Similarly, broker Investec believes "further, more aggressive surgery may be required".
Informa: Deutsche Bank shifts target price from 600p to 620p and leaves its buy recommendation unaltered. Citigroup takes target price from 520p to 550p reiterating a buy rating.
"We look forward to working closely with our trade association partners." He said Brazil is among the largest food producers and exporters in the world, forecast to account for 40% of growth in the industry through to 2030. Brazil's agriculture sector's full value chain represents close to 20% of the country's gross domestic product. The 2010/11 crop grew 8.2% year-on-year, including a 3.2% increase in planted area and a 4.2% increase in productivity. The market value of the crop was estimated at more than $100bn. Rigby said Agrishow is in line with Informa's deep roots in the agricultural and food industries through publications, conferences and exhibitions.
Events group Informa has been awarded a 30-year licence to run agriculture fair Agrishow in Brazil, including this year's show in April. Agrishow is the largest agricultural exhibition in Latin America, attracting about 800 exhibitors and more than 150,000 visitors. This year's event will mark the 20th edition of the show. "I am delighted that Informa has been awarded the contract to manage Latin America's largest agricultural trade show, Agrishow," Chief Executive Peter Rigby said.
Informa: HSBC takes price target from 415p to 440p, while downgrading to hold.
Informa: Investec raises target price from 410p to 495p and keeps a hold recommendation.
Informa: Peel Hunt downgrades to hold with a target price of 475p.
Informa: Goldman Sachs raises target price from 504p to 530p and reiterates a buy rating.
Informa (INF) Share price: 455p ■ Investment bank Nomura reckons it's one of private equity's chief targets for 2013 ■ Events side re-structured; cash flow strong
Informa: Nomura raises target price from 530p to 545p and maintains its buy recommendation. Barclays moves target price from 480p to 490p, while keeping an overweight rating.
Informa: Morgan Stanley raises target price from 415p to 485p and upgrades to overweight.
Informa Group: Credit Suisse reduces target price from 480p to 440p, outperform rating maintained.
Informa: Jefferies keeps buy rating and 474p target.
Recent press reports suggest a bid is on the way for this undervalued company...6--6.50 would be a good knockout offer.. Quester seems to tip this very regularly and following the recent results, the shares are a stong buy.
Against this backdrop, management continues to manage costs tightly, ensuring any bottom line impact is limited. Consequently, we continue to expect healthy profit growth across PCI in 2012. Q4 trends should also be helped by the early impact of new product launches, notably within Informa Healthcare. We are particularly excited by the development of our Chinese medical product, which will offer exclusive access to valuable local medical records data. One positive impact of the tough market environment is that price expectations for assets, even high quality digital subscription businesses, have eased. We are well placed, both strategically and financially, to capitalise on this trend through selective bolt-on acquisitions. While these are likely to continue to be relatively small-scale, the pipeline is healthy, as illustrated by the recent successful acquisitions of Primal Pictures and Zephyr Associates.
Peter Rigby, Chief Executive said: "We continue to actively manage our portfolio to improve the underlying quality of group earnings, with recent bolt-on acquisitions such as Zephyr bolstering our digital subscription base further and MMPI in Canada expanding our portfolio of large-scale B2B exhibitions. Equally, we have a history of disposing of assets or exiting lower quality revenue streams where the structural growth profile is weak and this remains a key focus, with management continually re-assessing the potential future returns from our asset base. The quality of our content and brands puts us in a strong position even in what remains a lacklustre macro environment, whilst our bias to subscription revenues affords Informa great visibility and cashflow strength. In combination with an experienced management team, resolutely focused on cost efficiency, this is enabling us to deliver healthy profit growth despite the tough backdrop and we remain confident of meeting our expectations for the full year."
Interim Management Statement Informa plc ("Informa" or the "Group") is releasing an interim management statement providing an update on the performance and financial position of the Group since the half year ended 30 June 2012 based on the results for the nine months ended 30 September 2012 with comments reflecting trading up until the date of this release. Highlights Full year expectations remain unchanged Quality of group earnings continues to improve through pro-active portfolio optimisation Highly attractive cash dynamics - on track for 100% full year cash conversion Group nine month organic revenue growth of -2% Academic Information trading in line, resilient business model Profit growth on track at PCI, despite ongoing market weakness and product rationalisation Large events growing strongly, smaller conferences and corporate training still muted
http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=20121016071600T8638
Tempus writes that Informa, a trade and publication events group, delivered more disappointment yesterday. It reports that the company stuck to its guns for an improvement for the full-year, although to achieve full year progress it will have to have a good fourth quarter. This won’t be easy, given the market for smaller conferences remains weak and its trade magazine and data businesses both underperformed. The key question remains whether the stock has hit the bottom. Tempus concludes: "Although Informa trades at a modest ten times 2012 profits, investors may wish to see how the final quarter goes before making up their minds."
The company put the weakness in corporate training down to a lack of corporate confidence, particularly in the US, where the Presidential election was further discouraging companies from committing to new projects in the short-term. It also noted that a recent strengthening of Sterling against the US Dollar and the Euro was unhelpful to its reported financial results as most of its earnings were made overseas. However, Informa said the current environment meant it could pick up high quality assets relatively cheaply. "We are well placed, both strategically and financially, to capitalise on this trend through selective bolt-on acquisitions," the firm said. "While these are likely to continue to be relatively small-scale, the pipeline is healthy."
Specialist business publisher and events organiser Informa said revenue was down across the first nine months of the year but it was trading in line with expectations. In a trading update the firm said nine month organic revenue was down 2% on the previous year due to the effects of the tough trading environment. However, the company said the visibility and resilience of its cashflow remained strong and it was on track to report another year of 100% cash conversion. This should leave Informa's leverage ratio well within its target range of 2.0 to 2.5x net debt to EBITDA, even after recent bolt-on activity, the firm said. The company said total revenue in its Academic Information business was up 5.5% over there period, with like-for-like revenue up 2.2%. Professional and Commercial Information was hit by tough trading and asset sales, with revenues dropping 4.7%. Its Events and Training arm was down 2.6% after nine months, with small conferences in Europe hit hardest.