Member Info for jange

Interim Statement: Capital Shopping Centres stated that the retail environment in the UK remains tough and challenging, however the company added that it would reap benefits from its acquisition of the Trafford Centre last year. Importantly, it had opened 27 new stores during the period in review, with focus being channelled on securing the right retailers in the right places, paying the right rents, with the objective of achieving strong total returns. Nevertheless CSC had seen a 2% year-on-year reduction in footfall at its centres for the year to date. By comparison, UK national retail footfall as measured by Experian fell by 3% in the same period, the company added. Occupancy across CSC's portfolio stands at 94.35%, down 2.4% from the end of 2011, due to post Christmas tenant administrations and expiry of seasonal lettings.

A Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT), Capital Shopping Centres Group PLC (CSC) is a leading UK specialist developer, manager and owner of pre-eminent regional shopping centres. With a portfolio of 14 centres representing 16 million square feet of retail space and a valuation of £6.9 billion, CSC's assets attract well over 300 million customers a year. The group's assets comprise of five major out-of-town centres including four of the UK's top six - Trafford Centre, Manchester; Lakeside, Thurrock; Metrocentre, Gateshead; Braehead, Glasgow and The Mall at Cribbs Causeway, Bristol - and nine in-town centres including centres in prime destinations such as Cardiff, Manchester, Newcastle, Norwich and Nottingham. The group is currently (31Oct2011) a constituent in the UK's premier FTSE 100 index.

Positive Points: •Group assets under administration (AUA) grew when compared to the prior quarter. Accompanying management outlook comments forecast an ongoing improvement in the company's financial performance. •The group's international diversity continues to be expanded. During the period, management announced a US distribution agreement. Its European retail capability was enhanced with extended access to its range of SICAV funds - now available in 12 countries – while a distribution agreement in Sweden was also confirmed. •For its UK Retail platform, Asset Under Administration (AUA) grew by 26% to £12.6 billion. Its added 41 Independent Financial Advisors to its Wrap platform. SIPP customers grew by 24% year on year to 141,000 with AUA increasing to £17.5 billion. •Fee business AUA for its important Canadian business increased by 5% to £14.9 billion, driven by net inflows and positive market movements. •As of the full year 2011 results, Standard Life’s push to become a fee based business progressed - revenues from fee business rose by 8%, making up 77% of total income (2010: 75%). •As at 31 December 2011, management had delivered £79 million of efficiency savings, including £45m of savings during 2011. •Management continues to highlight a strong financial position. •Investment into group operations remains ongoing. •A progressive dividend policy continues to be pursued. The total dividend over the full year 2011 was increased by 6.2%.

Negative Points: •The tough economic backdrop continues to impede consumers' propensity to save. Long-term savings new business sales declined to £5.0 billion from the £5.8 billion achieved in the comparative period. For its International business, net inflows of £313 million were lower compared to Q1 2011 (£449 million) reflecting economic uncertainty and lower consumer sentiment. •The group's operations in Germany and Ireland may continue to be affected by the impact of economic uncertainty in Europe. Rival Aviva's recent retreat from some overseas markets raises concerns over the difficulty of penetrating international markets, in a profitable way. •The group has suffered an outflow of £1.8 billion in April from one low revenue yield mandate following a client's change in pension scheme strategy. •While management noted a "strong capital position", its capital cushion or IGD surplus stood at £3.1 billion, unchanged from the December 2011 year end. •Although relatively small, direct shareholder exposure to debt issued by governments and banks in Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain equated to £50 million as of the full year 2011 results. •Group investments are, in the near term, increasing costs. The insurer has previously courted criticism from investors over the level of investment made into its wrap platform. •Competition in the UK pensions and savings markets remains intense. •Foreign currency exchange rate changes may impact revenues and profitability. •The UK government's pending Retail Distribution Review provides a degree of regulatory uncertainty.

Financial Highlights: •Group assets under administration (AUA) rose to £206.8 billion from £198.4 billion as of 31st December 2011 and £194.5 billion as of 31st March 2011. •New business long-term savings sales decline to £5.0 billion from the £5.8 billion achieved in the comparative period. •Standard Life Investments third party assets under management (AUM) climbed to £76.1 billion from £71.8 billion as of 31 December 2011 and £68.4 billion as of 31st March 2011. •Financial (capital) cushion maintained, with an estimated IGD surplus of £3.1 billion compared to £3.1 billion as of 31st December 2011.

April 2012) First quarter update: Management summarised its performance as "resilient" during the period. Inflows into its long-term savings businesses and strong performance from Standard Life Investments helped to increase both its group assets under administration and Standard Life Investments third party assets to record levels. This drove growth in fee based revenues while management continued to focus on improving the efficiency of the business. The group's UK Corporate business expanded its product capability, while Standard Life Investments further extended its wholesale distribution in the US and Europe through new distribution agreements. However, still challenging conditions saw group new business long-term savings sales decline to £5.0 billion from the £5.8 billion achieved in the comparative period

Established in 1825, Standard Life is a major provider of long term savings and investments to around 6 million customers worldwide. Headquartered in Edinburgh, Standard Life has around 9,000 employees internationally. At the end of March 2012 the group had total assets under administration of over £206 billion.

Positive Points: •The company, which says it insures one in ten cars on Britain's roads, said there had been "no change in claims trends" compared with the final quarter of 2011. •Admiral is expected to report a pre-tax profit of £322 million for 2012, an increase of 8%, according to analyst estimates. •The group's international expansion continues to make good progress across both car insurance and price comparison notwithstanding the impact of the challenging economic environment. •The group confirmed that its financial position remained strong.

Negative Points: •The insurer operates in a highly competitive insurance space. A renewed outbreak of price competition in the UK motor insurance market could affect operating profit margins. •The performance of Admiral's international businesses is becoming increasingly important. Failure to penetrate the business model into overseas markets could impact on future growth and profitability. •Regulatory interference could have a negative influence on future business development. •The Group has exposure to foreign exchange risk through its expanding overseas operations. •The group is taking extensive action to mitigate the level of personal injury claims. Such claims are inherently volatile and therefore any deterioration may affect future performance.

Financial Highlights: •Group turnover rose 9% to £586 million, from 539 million in the prior year. •Group vehicle count increased 17% to £3.4 million from £2.9 million in the previous year. •International car insurance vehicle count increased 83% to 350,000 (Q1 2011: 190,000).

Interim statement: Admiral's performance during the first quarter has been in line with management expectations. Group turnover rose 9% to 586 million pounds from 539 million pounds in the prior year quarter. The number of vehicles insured rose 17% to 3.4 million from 2.9 million the year before, while the UK car insurance vehicle count increased 13% to 3.0 million from 2.7 million in the first quarter of 2011, in line with management projections. Management commented, "Admiral has made a good start to the year with performance in the first quarter as we had expected. Our business continues to grow and prosper and our expectations for the full year remain positive and unchanged."

Admiral was set up in 1993 as a direct writer of UK personal motor insurance. It has four brands (Admiral, Diamond, Bell and Elephant) and is now the third largest in the market with a leading position for business introduced on the internet. The group has also developed the market leading internet aggregator in the motor insurance space (Confused.com). Admiral floated on the London Stock Exchange on 23rd September 2004 and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 index.

Positive Points: •Whitbread's five year growth milestones were on track. It included the creation of 2,500 jobs in the UK last year as it expanded, with a further 10,000 expected over the next three years. •Costa continues to be consistent performer for the group. Costa now comprises of four divisions reflecting the increasing breadth and globalisation of the brand, in line with growth aspirations. Costa contributed Costa profits of £69.7 million, a rise year on year of 38%. •Within Premier Inn UK, Whitbread has nearly 58,000 rooms in its existing estate and committed pipeline, taking the company towards its 2016 milestone of 65,000 rooms. •Whitbread confirmed its intention to expand its restaurant estate. Twelve new sites were opened in the year, taking the total to 387, with the view to opening a further six new sites in 2012/13.

•Despite a strong trading performance, the group is not immune to a variable challenging consumer environment. •Further possible rises in the price of both coffee and food could provide potential cost pressures going forward. •A macro or geopolitical shock, could impact on the hotel industry. •Competition remains intense across the group's various business arenas.

Financial Highlights: •Profit before tax was up 11.3% to £320.1 million. •The company announced total revenue of £1.7 billion, up 11.2%. •Whitbread Hotels and Restaurants division saw underlying profits up 4.3% to £295.6 million. •A strong balance sheet was reported with year end net debt of £504.3 million. •The board has recommended a final dividend of 33.75p.

Full year results: Whitbread delivered an impressive set of results which saw the leisure group post a profit before tax of 320.1 million pounds, up 11.3% and total revenues up 11.2% to 1.7 billion pounds. Under the group's growth programme, Whitbread's Costa cafe chain created 175 new outlets in the UK and 157 overseas, helping it to drive total sales up 27.5% to £542 million. Like-for-like sales, at cafes that were open during the previous year, were up 5.5%, while underlying profits at the chain were up 38% to £69.7 million. Premier Inn made a resilient contribution which saw profits grow by 4% to £295.6 million. Premier Inn is in the midst of aggressive expansion plans to add 10,000 new rooms, after creating more than 4,000 rooms and 29 new hotels in the last year, bringing its total to more than 47,000. The group commented that it was "on track" to achieve its five year growth milestones, which include having 65,000 hotel rooms and 3,500 Costa stores worldwide by 2016. Whitbread created 2,500 jobs in the UK last year as it expanded, and forecasts another 10,000 over the next three years.

Whitbread Group PLC is a UK based hospitality company, managing several popular brands in hotels, restaurants and coffee houses, including Premier Inn, Table Table, Brewers Fayre, Taybarns, Beefeater and Costa Coffee. The company's headquarters are based in Dunstable, Bedfordshire. The company was founded as a brewery by Samuel Whitbread and Thomas Shewell in 1799 but, after a long history of brewing, the company decided in 2001 to sell all its breweries and brewing interests to Interbrew. Today the group employs over 40,000 people and serves 10 million customers every month in over 2,000 outlets across the UK. The Company is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.

Mecom Group has reported a 12% fall in advertising revenues, but said non-advertising revenues remained stable, as a result of a 1.2m strong subscriber base. Despite this, overall revenues during the first quarter of the year decreased by six per cent year-on-year and the company said it expects current declines in advertising markets to continue, but plans to offset this through cost reductions. Costs during the quarter were reduced by 5% - the company is planning to reduce its costs by €70m by 2014. The group also expects a modest reduction in EBITDA for ongoing operations in the full year after EBITDA in the first three months of 2012 was €3m below the comparable period in 2011. The sale of its Edda Media business is expected to boost earnings in the first half of the year.

Toys and games company Character Group has seen a fall in proft before tax for the six months ended February 29th after revenues dropped to £44.25m (2011: £58.10m). Pre-tax profit was £5.57m (2011: £6.64m), equal to earnings per share of 19.34p (2011: 20.28p). Despite this, the dividend was increased by 0.3p to 3.3p per share. The firm attributes the reduction both to the changing trading environment at retail and sales of the "Zhu Zhu Pets" returning to a more stable and sustainable level in the half year being reported. "There is no disguising the fact that the retail trade is, with few exceptions, finding it difficult to work its way through the current trading climate," the firm said, but added that it believes it can achieve a "very satisfactory result" both for this Christmas and the next financial year.

Cambria Automobiles, a franchised motor retailer, has posted a year-on-year fall in revenue for the six months ended February 29th, from £184,2m to £166.9m. Underlying pre-tax profit was £1.1m, compared to £2.6m in the same period the previous year, the expected result of weaker new car volume and profitability. New vehicle unit sales decreased 9.8% year-on-year to 3,502 from 3,882 in 2011. Net debt at the end of the period stood at £1.0m, while group assets were £19.7m. The firm described the performance as "relatively resilient against a difficult market backdrop". The company emphasised its confidence going into the second half of the year, saying it was well-equipped to deal with the short-term challenges.