Member Info for jange

Vislink, a global technology business, has welcomed a new Group Finance Director in the form of Ian Davies, who will join the board on Augst 9th 2012. He joins the firm from Victoria, where he was Group Finance Director since 2007. He will replace James Trumper, who is leaving the company after twelve years.

Solid State, an AIM-listed supplier of technical equipment, has said that while sales for the full year ended March 31st are expected to be in line with market expectations, pre-tax profits are actually expected to be ahead of expectations due to the sales mix being weighted towards higher margin products in the last two months of the financial year. The pre-tax profit for the year is now expected to be in the region of £1.6m. Order intake remains strong with the order book at £10.5m. The comapny said it intends to continue its progressive dividend policy and will be recommending a final dividend in its preliminary announcement.

Sarantel, the maker of high-performance globakl positioning satellite (GPS) antennas for mobile phones and other devices, has posted first half revenues of £0.9m (2011: £1m) with a net cash balance at March 31st of £0.2m and said it received a further £165,000 tax credit during April. Production revenues increased by nine per cent during the first-half, with significant growth in the military market. However, development revenues in the first-half decreased as the group completed several large military development projects at the end of the financial year 2011. An order announced in February is expected to have a material impact on second half revenues.

Hasgrove, a digital and communication services group, has posted a 2.4% rise in revenue to £22.8m, and a pre-tax loss of £3.0m, (2011: profit of £1.1m) following a "challenging year" and the impact of a goodwill impairment charge of £2.7m. The company admitted it was a "very disappointing year" and blamed a combination of delayed client spending and overruns on two significant business solutions projects, which resulted in changes to the way the group operates. Basic loss per share was 12.9p (2010: earnings per share 2.6p) and the proposed dividend doubled to 1p per share. Net debt was reduced from £6.7m to £1.5m, helped by the sale of the public affairs and strategic communications division, Interel, for €9.5m. "More than 25% of the group's expected profits for 2012 have been generated in the first quarter, substantially more than in previous years," the firm said.

ZOO Digital Group, a film software firm, has traded in line with expectations during the second half of the financial year, and expects to report turnover of $11.2m (2011: $13.8m) for the year ended March 31st. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for the half improved to $1.0m, compared to a loss of $0.4m the previous half. An adjusted operating loss in the previous half of $0.9m turned to a profit of $0.2m this year. Full year EBITDA is set to be $0.6m with an operating loss of $0.8m.

Peel Hunt retail analyst John Stevenson observed that the "international run rate has slowed to +63% in Q4 [fourth quarter] vs +85% cons[ensus] (£12m miss in absolute terms) against strong comparatives." Stevenson is sticking with his "buy" recommendation, saying "while we do not believe there is cause for concern, we expect a negative share price reaction given the stock's rating."

ASOS, which has started new web sites in Italy, Spain and Australia concluded, "We remain committed to our global expansion plans and approach the new financial year with confidence." The Aim-listed firm said retail gross margin is significantly ahead year on year. "We understand this improvement is somewhere in the region of 400bps [four percentage points], resulting in FY [full year]Retail gross margin up c.290bps. For the full year, stock management is tight, with a resulting working capital outflow and cash balances are strong," Investec noted.

Chief Executive Officer Nick Robertson said he was pleased with the group's fourth quarter performance for both its UK and International businesses against particularly strong year on year comparatives. Profit before tax and exceptional items for the full year to March 31st 2012 is expected to be in line with expectations, he added. The company intends to change its fiscal year end to August 31st, which means its next set of results - due to be announced by the end of October - will be for a five-month period. Investec noted the top-line miss and also the group's confidence it would hit full year profit expectations, and said it would not be making any change to its full year earnings forecasts as a result. It is sticking with its "hold" recommendation but said its 1250p target price is under review.

Retail sales in the quarter increased 34% year on year, UK sales rose 4% and International enjoyed a 63% surge. International sales now represent 62% of total sales. Broker Panmure Gordon had predicted a 52.5% increase in retail sales, with the UK up 9.6% year-on-year and International sales up 93.5%, so it is clear that overseas sales did not match up to high expectations

Fast growing online fashion retailer ASOS did not grow fast enough for the City's tastes in the final quarter of its financial year. Group revenue increased to £127.1m in the three months ended 31 March 2012 compared to £96m the same period a year earlier. That figure was well below the £138.4m expected buy the market.

Investment summary • World leader in network pharmacology • Patent-protected technology • New discovery hub opened • Promising Phase I and Phase II drugs pipeline • Strong institutional backing • Plenty of cash • Pharma majors desperate for new drugs........

e-Therapeutics has a first-mover advantage in this exciting new field of science. Its patent-protected technology has already delivered promising results in preclinical studies. New product candidates look set to accelerate this year now that the Oxford discovery hub is officially up and running. And with its four leading drug candidates entering clinical trials in 2012, e-Therapeutics could be poised for significant gains.

Fully funded with strategic options e-Therapeutics is a rarity in the biotech sector in that it has enough cash to support all of its prioritised development and discovery programmes. In March last year, the company raised £16.6 million (net of expenses) at 26p a share from six large investors. The CEO was “stunned” by the institutional backing e-Therapeutics received. The company had only been expecting to raise around £4-5 million but the money poured in. The CEO went on to say “something unexpected was happening - everybody we approached was saying yes.” A good chunk of the extra money came from its leading shareholder, Invesco, which owns a 48% stake in the company.

Top of the list is its cancer drug ETS2101. The way this compound was discovered clearly demonstrates how network pharmacology could really revolutionise drug development. Using its own computer-based models, e- Therapeutics screened a database detailing interactions between about 15 million compounds and 2.6 million proteins to look for potential cancer drugs. The analysis eventually led them to the drug ETS2101. The drug had previously been developed to treat severe brain injuries. While it was shown to be safe, it failed its Phase III trials due to a lack of effectiveness. But in a remarkable twist, e-Therapeutics discovered this compound shows “potent anti-cancer activity” across skin, breast and colon cancer in pre-clinical studies. The beginning of Phase I trials is now imminent with interim results expected before the end of the year. The trial includes patients with different types of tumors in order to gage the response across a broad range of cancers. e-Therapeutics also has a drug to fight C.difficile, which is a bacteria that can cause infection in the gut. It most commonly occurs in hospital patients who have taken a course of antibiotics and can be life-threatening in some situations. Phase I trials are due to commence in the second quarter or third quarter of 2012. The third drug, ETS6103, is an anti-depressant. Phase IIb trials are set to kick-off in the third quarter. And finally, ETX1153a, which attacks the ‘superbug’ MRSA, will enter trials in the fourth quarter. All of these drugs have the potential to be a blockbuster if they make it onto the market..........

Growing pipeline Research is all well and good, but to make big money you need to get drugs tested, approved and commercialised. And on this front, e-Therapeutics has reached an important stage. The company expects 2012 to be “the year of delivery”. Four of its drugs are set to begin clinical trials this year alone.

The Prime Minister described e-Therapeutics as “a fascinating and innovative business in my constituency. Their use of pioneering science has the potential to deliver great results and I very much hope that their treatments are successful.” While the company’s head office is currently in Newcastle, it no longer makes sense to be based there. So it will soon be relocating to Oxford, a global hotspot for scientific talent.

2012 is shaping up to be a very busy year for e-Therapeutics. In February the company was visited by none other than David Cameron. He was the guest of honour at the opening of its new drug discovery hub at Long Hanborough near Oxford.

The 2012 figures exclude Betaland, the business which was disposed of in April. There have been no material developments in the litigation with Boss Media. Court and arbitration cases are proceeding in accordance with local procedure.

"Trading in 2012 has started encouragingly, despite some unusually high casino winners across both B2C and B2B along with a softness in the B2C sports margin percentage through punter-friendly results. The Latin American business continues to grow with sports wagers 165% higher than the same period last year," Chief Executive Kenneth Alexander said. So far in 2012 the group has seen a 57% increase in daily average revenues to €160,000 from €102,000 in the corresponding period of 2011. B2B revenues are running at €56,100 a day. The board is very encouraged by the new B2B venture and believes that it will help underpin the group's dividend policy.

The company has announced a final dividend of 11 cents per share, 10% higher than the final dividend for 2010 and ahead of market expectations. The firm also unveiled plans to pay a quarterly dividend beginning in February 2013. The group aims to pay around not less than 75% of its net operating cash flow to shareholders by way of dividends. Furthermore, the executive bonus plans are only triggered by dividend payments, thus aligning the interest of executives with shareholders. The dividend news cheered shareholders, as did an update on current trading, covering a 113 day period to April 22nd.