Member Info for jange

The company was founded by Canadian Willard Garfield Weston in 1935. Today ABF is a multinational food, ingredients and retail group with interests which span the globe. It employs over 100,000 personnel across more than 40 different countries. The group's retail subsidiary Primark, a discount clothing chain, trades from over 230 stores. Other brands include sugar processing in Europe, Africa and China (Silver Spoon), grocery products brands such as Kingsmill and Allinsons (bread), Twinings (tea), Ryvita (crackers) and animal feeds. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.

Positive Points: Ashmore reported net inflows within external debt, with the largest movements arising on the introduction of a new segregated mandate. The London based fund manager is a recognised leader in the management of emerging market debt. Group focus remains on long-term growth, in line with the company's strategy.

Negative Points: Overall, AuM dropped 3.3% in the quarter. Deterioration in the wider credit environment, or a sharp price correction in emerging market debt markets could lead to poor performance in investment portfolios. The group remains susceptible to short-term volatility due to global macroeconomic weakness.

Financial Highlights: Assets under management (AuM) fell 3.3% to $63.7 billion in the quarter ended 30 June 2012. Net outflows within an equities theme were seen reducing assets under management to $6.2 billion from $7.8 billion three months earlier. Performance fees for the year are estimated to reach £25 million.

Fourth quarter trading statement: Specialist fund manager Ashmore Group saw assets under management (AuM) decrease 3.3% in the quarter ended 30 June to US$63.7 billion. The drivers of this decrease were adverse investment performance of US$1.6 billion and net outflows of US$0.6 billion. Net outflows were experienced within the equities theme, spread across public and segregated mandates, and within its multi-strategy theme, predominantly from one of its Japanese retail fund products. This reduced assets under management in equities to $6.2 billion from $7.8 billion the previous quarter. On a positive note, net inflows were in evidence within external debt, with the largest movements arising on the introduction of a new segregated mandate. Performance fees for the year overall are estimated to be £25 billion, almost entirely earned in the first half and principally from investment performance for funds with an August 2011 year end, the fund house said. The Group will announce its results in respect of the financial year to 30th June 2012 on 11th September 2012. In the meantime, the market consensus signifies a strong hold for the time being.

Established in 1992 and headquartered in London, Ashmore Group PLC is a leading investment manager dedicated to emerging markets. The group focuses on a number of investment themes including external debt, local currency, special situations (incorporating distressed debt and private equity) corporate debt, real estate and equity. It manages US$58.9 billion (October 2011) in pooled funds, segregated accounts and structured products. The company joined the FTSE 100 in September 2011.

Hambledon Mining has said gold production for the quarter ended June 30th of 5,917 ounces was in line with management expectations, although this was held back slightly by the constraint in tailings disposal from the process plant during some remedial works. There were 'modest' amounts of ore extracted from the underground mine. Recovery levels are currently at 78-9%, short of the 81% aimed for by the company. Remedial works to modify the plant are on-going and are expected to be complete early on in the fourth quarter of this year. A total of 179,156 milled tonnes were produced during the period at a grade of 1.28g per tonne. Total recovered silver was 6,856 oz and the total recoved gold was 5,840 oz.

Landore Resources has said that the recently completed drilling campaign on the B4-7 deposit at the junior lake nickel project has significantly enhanced the volume of sulphide mineralisation along the 650 metres of strike length delineated to date. 81 diamond core holes and four re-entered holes have been completed. 26,521 tonnes of nickel equivalent at a 0.25% nickel cut-off were reported at the deposit. Looking forward the company is planning an in-house resource upgrade which it will then submit for an upgrade of the desposit, which it anticipates will occur in the fourth quarter of 2012. A drilling programme to extend the deposit to the west is planning for the same time, and pre-feasibility studies on both BW-7 and VW are planned for the following quarter.

Highland Gold Mining has completed its acquistion of Klen, which holds the mining and exploration rights to the Klen gold deposit and the adjacent Verkhne-Krichalskaya property located in the Chukotka autonomous region in north-eastern Russia. The company is planning to mine the deposit by open pit method and will employ conventional gravity and cyanidation processing technology. The expected production should range from 50,000 - 60,000 oz of gold per annum with 300,000 - 400,000 tonnes of ore being processed each year, having an average head grade of 5.14g per tonne.

House broker Peel Hunt was predictably upbeat and said the board's confidence that full year results would be better than previously expected was "underpinned by the Middle East performance and the annualised operational efficiency profit improvement of £5m through 2013 (£2.1m secured in 2011)." The broker has upgraded its 2012 profit before tax forecast by £1m to £26.5m. Market consensus prior to Thursday's trading statement was for profit before tax in 2012 of £25.75m.

The firm said: "A reduction in the level of capital deployed in our German business has been a particular area of focus, and is being addressed through the ongoing disposal of surplus equipment as part of our wider performance improvement plan for the business. "We have also deployed additional capital into the Middle East as the market outlook remains encouraging, and we believe the attractive returns available should enable the region to become an even more important contributor to the group's performance in the near term." Group debt at June 30th was £101m, a reduction of £5.0m over the six month period. Broker Northland Capital Partners described the statement as a "strong trading update". "The steady performance in Europe is reassuring considering the economic difficulties currently being experienced. The Middle East should continue to offer growth opportunities as the level of infrastructure spending increases across the region," the broker said.

Equipment rental firm Lavendon Group has performed ahead of its own expectations with revenue growth feeding through to improved profitability, margins and return on capital employed. Overall revenues grew by five per cent in the first half of 2012 compared with the same period of prior year. In the second quarter, group revenues increased by five per cent compared with 2011 on the same basis. Regionally, the UK contributed 48% of total group revenue, up one per cent first half. The Middle East saw the most growth, up 30% over the six months to contribute 15% of total revenue. Rental revenue fell two per cent in Germany, contributing a total of 21%, France grew 19% to contribute nine per cent and Belgium grew three per cent to contribute seven per cent of group revenue. Overall group revenue grew by six per cent in the first quarter and four per cent in the second.

Chamberlin, a specialist foundry and engineering group, has traded in line with expectations during the first three months of the financial year. The company also remains in a strong cash generative position. "The board's focus remains on increasing sales and improving Chamberlin's operational performance and we continue to make progress in these areas," the firm said at its annual general meeting.

Fuel cell technology manufacturer Ceramic Fuel Cells has delivered strong revenue growth of around 75% higher than the previous year at £4.3m after order books doubled to 639 products. The firm believes the sales outlook for the coming financial year is strong, particularly in Germany. To ensure income grows, the company has employed more aggressive sales pricing, reduced operating costs and is pursuing several options to raise additional working capital. A large furnace will shortly be brought into production in Germany which will increase capacity to 1,500 BlueGen units each year

Technology group Biome has seen significant positive developments in the patent litigation cases currently being heard against its joint venture company, Biotec. The claims, which are being made by Italian company Novamont, are for infringement of the French and Italian designations of a number of Novamont's patents by the products that are or have been manufactured and sold by Biotec. The court in the first instance has found in favour of Biotec and has revoked the Italian designations of Novamont's patents, with the exception of claim 12 (although this also was found not to be infringed) and EP '120. The news was described by the company as "very encouraging". A parallel case in Milan remains on going.

EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) margins should increase from 14% to 18%, while profits are said to be "in line". Net debt at the end of the year stood at £7.2m better than the £9.4m forecast. Peel Hunt reiterated its 'buy' rating and 65p target price for the stock on Thursday, "material upside" to the closing price of 31p the day before. "The balance sheet is far from stretched, the yield is substantial and well covered, and the management team has demonstrated a clear strategy and executed deals consistent with this," said analyst Malcolm Morgan.

Business information and events group Centaur Media rose strongly on Thursday after saying that trading in the last two months of the year has been in line with expectations. Centaur also announced that it has completed the acquisition of digital marketing information provider Econsultancy.com, first announced on June 22nd, for £12m. "FY12 has been a significant year of change for Centaur, culminating in the recently completed acquisition of Econsultancy," said Chief Executive Geoff Wilmot. "Our revenue mix has improved significantly, with a notable increase in the proportion of digital revenues. At the same time, we have delivered underlying revenue growth despite difficult trading conditions and have secured a significant improvement in margins," he said. Underlying revenues (continuing operations and adjusted for the impact of acquisitions) are expected to be 2% up year-on-year in the 12 months to June 30th, helped by strong underlying growth in Digital revenues, which now account for 30% of group sales, up from 26% last year. Events revenues have shown "good" growth with Marketing Week Live, its marketing event in London in June, reporting revenues up 23% on the previous year

Think we need another good investment soon......or this will drag down further.....

Inter-dealer broker ICAP said profits were down in the first quarter and trading volumes would remain subdued for at least the next few months. The firm said group revenue for the first quarter was 9% lower compared with the same quarter last year. Broking activity in the first quarter was thin as the ongoing Eurozone crisis, the Queen's Jubilee and regulatory uncertainty reduced trading volumes, it said. On ICAP's electronic foreign exchange and fixed income platforms total average daily volumes in the three months to the end of June were $712bn, a fall of 19% year-on-year. However, it added that there was strong growth in our post trade services division. "The sluggish global economy and Eurozone crisis are inevitably leading to reduced trading volumes despite some active days," said CHief Executive Michael Spencer. "The Federal Reserve's decision to extend Operation Twist and the lack of aggressive action to resolve the Eurozone crisis is not helping to normalise financial market activity in the near-term." This situation looks unlikely to change soon, with the firm warning the London Olympics, US elections, and regulatory uncertainty affecting some of ICAP's customers, would probably mean trading volumes remain subdued. ICAP currently expects pre-tax profits for the year to 31 March 2013 to be towards the middle of analysts' forecasts of £335m to £365m, compared to £354m last year it said.

Shionogi-ViiV Healthcare, a company in which pharmaceuticals leviathans GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer have stakes, has published test results which suggest its HIV treatment might be more effective than the Atripla drug jointly developed by Gilead Sciences and Bristol-Myers Squibb. Initial results from the phase III SINGLE (ING114467) study of dolutegravir in previously untreated adults with HIV-1 demonstrated the superiority of the dolutegravir-based regimen compared to the single tablet regimen Atripla, a fixed dose combination drug for the treatment of HIV. At 48 weeks, 88% of study participants on the dolutegravir regimen were virologically suppressed versus 81% of participants on the single tablet regimen Atripla. Differences in efficacy were primarily driven by a higher rate of discontinuation due to adverse events on the Atripla side of the study. The SINGLE double-blind double-dummy study was designed to demonstrate that the dolutegravir-based regimen was at least as good as Atripla, and the primary analysis met this criterion. Statistical superiority was concluded as part of a subsequent, pre-specified testing procedure. Shionogi-ViiV Healthcare is a joint venture between ViiV Healthcare (a global specialist HIV company established by GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer) and Shionogi & Co.