Worthington Grp Share News (WRN)

Invista Real Estate generated profit before taxation, for the year ending 31 December 2009, was £10m (2008: loss £3.7m). Total revenue fell by 25% to £34.4m from £45.6m in 2008, the fall being heavily influenced by lower management fees as a result of lower average assets under management during the year and the absence of any performance fees in 2009. Closing assets under management fell to £5.3bn from £6.3bn. Last month, Invista received a bid approach from an unnamed group.Interim profits halved £3.8m from £7.6m at engineer Ricardo in the six months ended 31 December, though it suggests things may be stabilising."The group's performance in the first six months of the financial year is in line with our expectations, reflecting the subdued economic environment. We have seen signs of stabilisation and some recovery in key markets, with increased levels of order intake towards the end of the period and an improved pipeline, particularly from China and the US," it said.Worthington has noted the recent rise in the share price of the company and notes the recent purchase of shares by Regenesis Holdings Limited. The company continues to assess proposals as and when identified or received and also notes the recent press comment surrounding a potential neighbouring redevelopment project, one of whose options may seek to utilise part of the company's Keighley site, but it is not currently in discussions with any party in relation to any transaction. African agricultural group Agriterra lost $1.97m on turnover of $2.48m last year during the period. Cash balances at the period end remained healthy at $2.5m (2008: $8.5 million). In addition, the firm had 39,000 tonnes of maize in stock ready to be processed and sold."We see significant opportunities for growth in both our maize processing operations at the Chimoio and Tete facilities. They are both state of the art facilities that are producing high quality product which is being delivered across Mozambique and to the World Food Programme," it added.Mining company Archipelago Resources has raised £30.6m through a placing of 102m new ordinary shares at 30p each. The company said the placing was oversubscribed.The funds from the placing will be predominantly used to complete construction of the Toka Tindung gold project. European wind power investor Renewable Energy has completed the disposal of its 1 megawatt landfill gas asset, Bryn Posteg, in Wales for the previously announced price of £2.75m in cash.Cigarette vending machine maker Molins saw underlying operating profit, which excludes exceptional items, rise to £3.5m in 2009 from £3.0m in 2008, despite sales sliding to £83.8m from £91.5m. Published pre-tax profit slumped to £2.1m from £8.8m the year before.'Performance in Tobacco Machinery and Scientific Services was strong, although performance in Packaging Machinery was disappointing. Overall, we expect performance in 2010 to be similar to that of last year,' the company's chief executive Dick Hunter said.The final dividend has been maintained at 2.5p, making an unchanged full year dividend of 5.0p.