Member Info for jange

Despite the generally positive - albeit volatile - trend seen in developed world markets in the second half of 2012, and an associated pick-up in fund inflows, funds under Management ("FuM") at emerging markets specialist City of London Investment Group actually fell in the half year ended November 30th, to 3.9bn dollars (2.4bn pounds). However, by the end of the calendar year - December 31st - FuM had recovered slightly, to £2.5bn. Furthermore, the company explained that the Group has also had to deal with a very large redemption from a single client that took the management of its emerging market exposure in-house, having been a client of ours for nearly five years. The decision was based on a change in the client's strategic objectives. In that same vein, David Cardale, Chairman, anticipated that global investors will re-commit to their core emerging and frontier investment markets. To back up his statement he highlighted how the MXEF - the Morgan Stanley Emerging Markets index - has risen by 7% since the end of the company's reporting period.

"I am delighted to be named as Chairman Designate of the company. I look forward to working with Mike during the transition, and thereafter as Chairman, for the next phase of the evolution of Resolution Limited," Williamson said. Meanwhile, outgoing Chairman Biggs commented: "I am pleased that my colleagues have nominated Sir Malcolm Williamson to succeed me as Chairman of Resolution Limited later this year. Sir Malcolm's experience as a chairman, as well as his understanding of the group's operations, its people and its regulatory and governance framework, will equip him well to lead the company in the future."

Life insurance giant Resolution has appointed the Chairman of the Friends Life Group, Sir Malcolm Williamson, as its Chairman Designate, following its 'simplified governance' shake-up announced in August of last year. The company said on Monday that Williamson, who will succeed Mike Biggs when he steps down as Resolution Chairman later this year, brings "considerable experience and knowledge" to the role, having previously held the Chief Executive position at banking group Standard Chartered and financial services firm Visa International. He will take up his new role when the boards of Resolution and Friends Life Group are unified at the end of March, though the management structure changes are still subject to shareholder approval.

The non-Executive Chairman of Stobart Group, the UK-based support services firm, has announced his plans to retire with immediate effect. Rodney Baker-Bates, who has held the role since September 2007, will remain on the board until March. Deputy Chief Executive Avril Palmer-Baunack, who took up the role following the group's acquisition of Autologic last year, has now been appointed as Executive Chairman will immediate effect. Andrew Tinkler the Chief Executive Officer said: "Rodney has been an outstanding Chairman through a period of significant change and development for the group. As a highly experienced public company Chairman he has served with great steadiness and distinction. "To meet the challenges and opportunities within our strategy the board now believes it is appropriate that Stobart is headed by an Executive Chairman. In the relatively short time that she has been with the group, Avril has demonstrated to the board that she is the right person to carry out this demanding role. "We look forward to supporting her leadership and I personally look forward to continuing to work with Avril to deliver the inherent value of our business."

FTSE 100-listed Pearson generates approximately 60% of its sales in the US. On this last point it may be worth noting that one of the main risks identified by Investec pertains to US state financing. Pearson expects the tough market conditions and structural industry change to continue into 2013. Lastly, Investec points out that the stock is trading at a premium valuation of 13.5 times estimated 2013 calendar year price-to-earnings. In reaction to all of the above the broker has lowered its price target to 1,190p from 1,240p. Analysts at Liberum, on the other hand, highlighted the fact that this is the first time, in a long time, that the company has downgraded guidance for its fiscal year, even if it may seem like a small difference.

Digital and subscription-based revenues were described as having continued to grow well at both the FT and Mergermarket. However, it stated that the FT Group's full-year profits would be significantly lower than in 2011, reflecting the absence of a contribution from FTSE International following its disposal and further actions to accelerate the shift from print to digital. PenguinThe group stated that Penguin benefited from a good fourth-quarter publishing performance and traded in line with expectations in its key selling season. Following Pearson and Bertelsmann's announcement of their plans to combine Penguin with Random House, the two companies are seeking clearance for the proposed merger from appropriate regulatory authorities around the world. Completion of the process is expected to "prompt significant restructuring" as the group demerges Penguin from Pearson and integrates it with Random House.

Geographical business performanceThe group's North American education business is expected to report "modest revenue growth" at constant exchange rates. The international education business should report "double digit sales growth" and the professional business is forecast to report operating profits significantly lower than in 2011. However, the group stated that it had faced a "dramatic fall in demand with changes to the apprenticeships programme" - as a result of new government legislation - leading to the conclusion that its Pearson in Practise UK adult training business no longer had a sustainable model. The cost of closure and impairments are expected to be approximately £120m. Financial Times GroupThe Financial Times Group is expected to report "good revenue" growth for the full year, in spite of a slow fourth quarter caused by weaker advertising sales.

Learning company Pearson anticipates good revenue growth in 2012 in spite of the 120m pound cost of closing the group's UK adult training business, Pearson in Practice. That comes even after weakness in the key fourth-quarter selling season for higher education, consumer publishing and corporate advertising, as well as the ongoing structural changes in the industry. For the year as a whole, the group stated that it expects to report an operating profit in EBITA (earnings before interest, taxes and amortisation) terms of approximately £935m (Investec: £951m; Pearson: 84.9) and adjusted earnings of approximately 84p per share (Investec: 84.5), broadly in line with the year before at constant exchange rates. Last year the company reported annual operating profits of £942m. The total interest charge to adjusted earnings is forecast by the group to be approximately £50m including a £12m pensions finance credit and Pearson's effective tax rate is expected to be around the low-end of its guidance of 24-26%.

Bullabulling Gold forecasts further staff appointments and drilling to commence in the current quarter, according to a quarterly activity report for the three months ended December 31st. The mining company unveiled details of its pre-feasibility study for the Bullabulling Gold Project in which it anticipated a base case production of 1.95m ounces over the next decade. The company stated that some 650,000 ounces had been produced in the first three years at a cash cost of $884 per ounce and a capital payback had been achieved in the third year of operations. In the current quarter, the group stated that further staff appointments to the feasibility study and mine development team were expected to be made. This follows the appointment of Mark Braghieri to the position of General Manager of Development. The company furher stated that some 13.5m ordinary shares had been issued to Resolute Mining for tenement acquisition and the group had a cash position of $4.1m as of December 31st.

With regard to any potential impact on Meggitt's share price, Morris added: "It is possible that Meggitt, as supplier of the B787 BCU, will be affected by some negative sentiment in the short-term." A 787 battery incident occurred on the ground in Boston on January 7th and a separate incident occurred in-flight in Japan on January 16th.

"The battery failures resulted in the release of flammable electrolytes, heat damage and smoke on two 787 airplanes. The root cause of these failures is under investigation. These conditions, if not corrected, could result in damage to critical systems and structures and the potential for fire in the electrical compartment," the statement continued. In spite of probing questions, neither the FAA nor other aviation regulators have squarely pointed the finger of blame on lithium ion batteries or their chargers and other possibilities remain with regard to the cause of the aircraft problems. Jefferies: Potential short-term effect on Meggitt share priceSandy Morris, an equity analyst at broker Jefferies weighed in on the subject on Monday pointing out that "it would be premature and quite possibly mistaken to identify lithium-ion battery technology as the villain of the piece".

Aerospace components engineer Meggitt is the ultimate owner of a company which provided battery charger units for Boeing's now grounded Dreamliner air fleet. In 2011, FTSE 100-listed Meggitt acquired Pacific Scientific, which also included the purchase of a company called Securaplane Technologies. Securaplane Tehnologies' website currently states: "Securaplane has pioneered lithium battery technology on commercial fixed and rotor wing applications, producing the charger for the lithium main ship batteries on the Boeing 787 and the aircraft's wireless emergency lighting system." The lithium-ion batteries used in Boeing's Dreamliners have come under intense public scrutiny in recent days after America's Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued an emergency directive which grounded all Boeing 787s operated by American airlines until the aerospace company could prove the batteries were safe. "Before further flight, operators of US-registered Boeing 787 aircraft must demonstrate to the Federal Aviation Administration that the batteries are safe," the administration stated.

Robinson, the manufacturer of plastic and paperboard packaging, expects its revenue to decline by one per cent over 2012, the company has announced in a pre-close trading statement ahead of its release of final results for the year due out in March. The company stated that it was expecting revenues of £21.2m for the year, in line with expectations but nevertheless representing a 1.0% decline year-on-year. Plastic resin costs were on average around 9.0% lower than in the previous year and underlying volumes were approximately 2.0% higher than in 2011. The company stated that new business gained in the year had been slower to come on-stream than anticipated due to delays within its new customer operations but it said that they were all now in production and should provide a full-year benefit to 2013. The group further stated that the board anticipated that the final results for 2012 would show some improved profitability, in line with expectations.

The company is looking at value-adding acquisitions to facilitate its objectives.

"He has played an important role in the delivery of Vision 2015 to date, and in the re-focusing of the division on packaging solutions and authentication and identity solutions so as to leverage our capabilities better. We wish him every success in his future endeavours." Vision 2015 seeks to deliver profitable growth in existing and future markets and technologies. The objective is to gain revenue increases and double-digit adjusted earnings per share rises at constant exchange. The FTSE 250 company said it was on track to delivering its targeted balanced growth in 2012 and continues to make progress towards the company's strategy Vision 2015.

Plastic and fibre group Filtrona announced Monday the resignation of its Managing Director of the Coated and Security Products division. Tony Edwards will step down to pursue opportunities outside the company. He will remain with the group until end of June and his successor will be announced in coming months. Colin Day, Chief Executive, said: "On behalf of the board and the group management committee, I would like to thank Tony for his dedication and commitment to Filtrona during his 23 year career with the company, of which 10 was as managing director of the Coated and Security Products division.

Jay Shah, Co-head of Business Origination at Pension Insurance Corporation, said: "We are proud to have been able to help the trustee secure the pensions of future retirees, a structure which has worked extremely well for other clients. We believe that by locking into pricing for 2014 today, the trustee and Vesuvius have been forward thinking and proactive in managing its pension plan risk."

The insurance policy covers up to £30m of liabilities, with the future premium payments to be met from the existing assets of the UK Plan. Chris O'Shea, Chief Financial Officer of Vesuvius, said: "De-risking the UK plan in this way, by removing the inflation, longevity and interest rate risks for the insured liabilities, will reduce still further the level of volatility to which Vesuvius is exposed in future pension funding costs through its sponsorship of the UK Plan. "This latest buy-in agreement, which results in around two-thirds of the UK Plan being covered by buy-in agreements with PIC, represents a further demonstration of the company's intention to work with its advisor, premier, and the trustee to de-risk the UK Plan in a managed way."

Metal flow engineering company Vesuvius has extended its pensioner buy-in arrangement with Pension Insurance Corporation (PIC). In an announcement issued by the company on Monday morning, the company stated that the trustee of the Cookson Group Pension Plan, which is the responsibility of Vesuvius, had signed a further pension insurance buy-in arrangement with Pension Insurance Corporation. Under the latest agreement, UK Plan members who retire in each of the next three years will have their pensions insured on agreed terms. The transaction follows an earlier agreement signed in July 2012, of a pension insurance buy-in agreement with PIC covering the existing UK Plan pensioner liabilities which then represented some 60% of the total UK Plan liabilities. Under the latest agreement, the first tranche covering members retiring between July 2012 and December 2013, will be insured in 2014 based on December 2012 market rates.

Record: JP Morgan shifts its target price from 43p to 44p and maintains an overweight rating.