Member Info for jange

The performance of the Energy and Medical division has been held back by delays to the next generation MRI systems being developed by Siemens and, specifically in relation to the group's Crown business, on-going market weakness in the transport infrastructure sector. The firm was keen to emphasise that the Siemens programme is progressing, albeit slower than anticipated and Crown is awaiting final confirmation of a new £200k contract for CCTV infrastructure on the M4/M5 Managed Motorway programme. In response to market weakness, Avingtrans has taken measures at Crown to manage costs to an absolute minimum. Beyond these, the flow of work for the division from other key customers has been "satisfactory" and new project wins are in line with forecasts. "Although market conditions continue to be challenging, buoyed by positive trends in the Aerospace sector, we remain confident overall in continuing to perform in line with market expectations," the firm said in a statement.

Avingtrans, a manufacturer of critical components and associated services to the medical, energy, industrial and global aerospace sectors, has reported that group sales for the year ended May 31st are expected to be 20 per cent ahead of the previous year, in line with market expectations, following growth in all divisions. The company highlighted the overall improved performance in its Aerospace division. It is continuing to invest in the recently formed Sigma Composites business. While sales at Sigma Composites have been lower than expected, Avingtrans still reckons that the unit will contribute strongly to the Aerospace division in the future. The company is in final negotiations with the European Union to participate in its "Clean Sky" programme to develop new technology for more environmentally sustainable aircraft, rotorcraft and propulsion systems. The Industrial business experienced a solid year with strong results in Germany and the US. Recently, Jena Tec's automation division, Moss Group, received orders worth around £0.6m.

"The board is delighted to join AIM which marks a significant step for Kada Technology, enabling us to capitalise on the considerable opportunities that exist in our key markets," said He Xuebom, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Kada. "In particular, the board has identified a significant opportunity for growth in the Media Platform Business and expects this to assist in the group's future growth. The market for Kada Technology's products and services is growing at a considerable rate domestically, and the group has innovative technology coupled with a well established business to capitalise on this growth," the CEO added.

Kada's Media Platform Business is based on a technology which enables wireless multimedia dissemination and monitoring with applications that can be deployed via a 3G network. For example, Kada has designed a Wireless Taxi Media solution which is a small display terminal, mounted on a taxi's front passenger headrest that disseminates multimedia information and advertising programmes for passengers. Kada Technology's growth strategy is to roll out its wireless media operations, invest in research and development capacity and projects, and to increase the number of authorised distributorships for electronic components. In addition, it plans to broaden the product lines that the group distributes for existing customers, while expanding the group's geographical market reach in the People's Republic of China and internationally.

Founded in 2004, Kada Technology employs more than 130 people and has headquarters in Shenzhen as well as offices in Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Zhuzhou and Mianyang in China; it also has offices outside China in Kuala Lumpur and Malaysia. The group's Distributorship Division distributes and trades a multitude of electronic components, predominantly Integrated Circuits, most of which are sourced locally. Many of the group's electronic components are used in the manufacture of consumer electronics, Internet terminals and routers as well as communication devices and media players. The group's Solutions Business involves the design, development and sale of solutions packages for electronic devices, such as netbooks, and hand-held tablet devices).

The final dividend has been announced at 5 cents per share

The Czech Republic saw just 18 sales in the course of the year and is described as "struggling", with rising planning and legal costs pushing the operation there into a loss. In both Ireland and Prague Abbey is being forced to rent some of its properties to generate cash flow. In its outlook statement, Abbey says it expects: "significant growth in turnover in the UK" but this is "unlikely to be matched by a similar increase in profits as margins are traded to secure some sales growth."

The property developer Abbey has reported profits up for the 12 months to the end of April but is warning margins will remain under pressure. Profits before tax for the full year were €12.1m against €11.5m in the previous year. After a tax charge of €3.2m the group made a profit of €8.9m reflecting earnings per share of 39.94 cents. Abbey's operating profits during the year were €9.1m against profits of €9.4m in the previous year. The result includes an impairment charge of €1.3m related to the difficult Irish market. The housebuilding business (turnover €57.8m) is doing reasonably well in the UK, completing 255 sales out of a group total of 310. The problems for the firm are in Ireland and the Czech Republic. In Ireland, Abbey says it has managed to clear a lot of its inventory, amidst the devastation wrought by the property bubble collapsing. Land and work in progress now represent less than €5.4m.

Peter Sedgwick, Chairman of 3i Infrastructure, said: "The assets in the portfolio continue to perform well operationally and financially, although market headwinds continue to weigh on the performance of the 3i India Infrastructure Fund." By July 9th, the company had cash balances of £144.2m, after deducting £26.2m for the payment of the final dividend. At the end of the group's previous financial year (March 31st 2012), cash balances stood at £173.4m.

Jersey-incorporated, closed-ended infrastructure investment company 3i saw European portfolio income drop in the first quarter while it continues to be affected by negative foreign exchange movements in India. European portfolio income, which includes dividends and interest receivable from portfolio assets, totalled £12.2m in the three months to June 30th, well below the £19.8m reported in the same period the year before. 3i owns around 9% of Osprey, the owner of AWG, which operates the water and waste water company Anglian Water. AWG was forced to cut its dividend after being affected by increased spending as a result of the drought that hit parts of the UK in recent months. Meanwhile, the company's holding in the 3i Indian Infrastructure Fund has been hit my a 28% three-month decline in the share price of Adani Power Limited (now the only quoted element of the portfolio) and foreign exchange fluctuations - the sterling has appreciated by 6% against the rupee since the start of April resulting in foreign exchange losses as the company's rupee exposure is unhedged. The Indian fund agreed to acquire a minority stake in a portfolio of road build-operate-transfer companies of Supreme Infrastructure India in January. On July 3rd, $35.9m was invested by the fund, $7.5m of which was invested by 3i Infrastructure through its share.

These steps include a shake-up of the senior management team, with Kate Bostock, the Executive Director of General Merchandise, leaving M&S "by mutual consent", on 1st October 2012. John Dixon, Executive Director for Food, will take over as Executive Director of GM from Bostock. Belinda Earl, formerly the Chief Executive Officer of Debenhams, will join the company on September 1st as Style Director, reporting to Dixon. Steve Rowe, currently Director of Retail, will take on Dixon's current role of Executive Director of Food and will join the M&S board on October 1st. The clothing market continued to be driven by promotions throughout the quarter, especially in womenswear, in part due to the miserable weather. While the clothing market was soggy, the company said its key departments of kitchens, bedrooms and bathrooms delivered a positive performance. Other sales continue to be affected by M&S's decision to withdraw from technology as well as weak demand for big ticket items. The new store concept is still being rolled out, with the project on schedule and within budget. "While we expect the short term trading outlook to continue to be challenging, we are making strong progress against our goal of becoming an international, multi-channel retailer," the group said.

Like-for-like (LFL) sales took a tumble at High Street giant Marks and Spencer in Britain's soggy Spring season, though the food business held up well, and full year guidance remains unchanged. Group sales in the 13 weeks to June 30th were down 0.7% on the corresponding period of the previous year. Total UK sales were down 0.9% year-on-year with food sales up 2.9% and general merchandise (GM) sales down 5.1%. LFL sales in the UK were down 2.8%, with food sales up 0.6% and GM sales down 6.8%. International sales were up 0.9% on the April-June quarter of 2011. What the group calls multi-channel sales - such as Internet shopping - saw a 14.9% uplift in sales. "General Merchandise underperformed in a difficult trading season. We are confident we are taking the necessary steps to address this," said Marc Bolland, the Chief Executive of Marks & Spencer (M&S).

The group said it had net cash of over £20m at 30 June 2012 and net debt of £70m.

"Our strong financial performance in the period means the group is cash positive at financial year end and, subject to economic conditions, we are well placed to deliver further margin improvement and growth in the new financial year." Its performance in construction continued to be resilient in difficult markets with an order book stable at £1.6bn, in line with expectations. Galliford, which has won contracts such as the £80m Kingskerswell Bypass contract, the £347m Gateshead Regeneration Programme and the £180m scheme to upgrade and extend the Liverpool Waste Water Treatment Works, said 82% of projected revenue for the new financial year secured compared to 80% last year.

Galliford Try, the housebuilding and construction group, said since its last update the housing market has been stable and it expects full year results to be in line with market expectations. At its housebuilding division, completions including joint ventures, soared 40% to a record 3,039 units while average private sales price rose 10% to £250,000. Galliford also saw an 11% increase in housing sales carried forward at £273m. Chief executive Greg Fitzgerald said he was pleased the group had exceeded objectives for its three-year transformational housebuilding plan. He said: "Against a background of challenging economic conditions, we have maintained a high quality construction order book and benefited from a number of contract wins."

However, the firm said that strong revenue growth in the three months to the end of June would help mitigate the impact of the tax hike. It said total revenue for its 54 wholly-owned stores was £16.9m, up 10% on the previous year. Like-for-like revenue per available foot was £20.45 for the quarter, an increase of 10%. Total revenues from its 12 partnership stores was up 36% to £1.9m. "We are encouraged by the continuing strong performance of this business," said Chief Executive James Gibson. "This growth is being driven by our London, South East and large metropolitan focus, coupled with the continued investment we are making in our store operations, market leading brand and online platform."

Big Yellow Group said its focus on London and the South East had helped it grow revenues ahead of expectations in the first quarter. But with the introduction of VAT on self storage from October set to weigh on profits, the firm said that it was considering legal action to stop it. "HM Treasury is pressing ahead with plans to introduce VAT and we expect the implementation to be confirmed following approval of the Finance Bill in Parliament later this month," Big Yellow said. "We have received a legal opinion from a leading tax counsel that there may be grounds to challenge the decision, and we are currently considering our legal options." Any appeal to tax commissioners cannot take place until after the VAT hike comes in.

Online fashion firm ASOS posted a 31 per cent rise in first quarter retail sales after a strong performance from the US, Australia and resilient trading in the UK. The group said it continues to trade in line with expectations and remains positive about its outlook. Retail sales rose to £137m in the three months to June 30. UK retail sales for the three months increased 8% and International sales jumped 49%. Chief Executive Officer Nick Robertson commented: "Our UK performance was particularly encouraging given the current climate." Growth at its International business was underpinned by a strong performance in the US, up 83%. Sales at the rest of world category bounced 61%, with most of its growth from Australia. International sales now represent 65% of the total up from 57% last year, it said. ASOS said it continues to trade in line with expectations and retail gross margin is in line with guidance.

Smiths News said it expects profits this year to be at the top end of market expectations after it was boosted by acquisitions. Total group revenues for the 44 weeks to 7 July increased 3.3% year-on-year, lifted by contributions from recent purchases Dawson Books and The Consortium, a supplier of educational products. Smiths News revenues declined by 4.1% on a like for like basis, with increasing cover price supporting newspaper performance and largely offsetting volume declines. Revenues at the Norfolk-based book supplier Bertram increased 32.5%, including Dawson Books, and by 4.3% on a like-for-like basis. Both UK wholesale and international were trading marginally above last year with library services continuing to trade well above last year, the firm said. The Consortium has traded in line with management expectations with revenues for the 11 weeks post acquisition 7.2% above last year, it added.

Revenues are on the rise at Dechra Pharmaceuticals although the veterinary healthcare company is still experiencing supply issues in the US. Group revenue for the year ended June 30th was around 9.3% ahead of the prior year. On a like-for-like basis, which excludes the acquisition of Eurovet Animal Health in May of this year, revenue was 7.5% ahead. The European division saw revenue grow 16.9% in the full year although on a like-for-like basis this rise falls to 9%. In the US revenues gained an impressive 24.7% over 2010/2011 but Dechra says: "the overall ... performance was again impacted by continued supply issues with our ophthalmic and otic range." The firm suggests that when it publishes its final full year numbers in September the results will be "in line with expectations"