Member Info for jange

The closure of small local hospitals and the transfer of patients to better funded larger units often attracts the ire of local residents (and the local press) but O'Brien argued that it was a good thing because it enables the National Health Service (NHS) to invest in technology which, over the long run, saves the country money on the "prevention is better than cure" rule. "The UK is the largest market in Europe [for hemodynamic monitoring] and was an early adopter of the technology, but it is not a story you often hear on the news. In contrast, a place like Germany, which has a lot of smaller hospitals, is a late adopter, and so is missing out," O'Brien maintained.

Revenue from disposables accounts for 70% of the group's total revenues and rose 36% year-on-year to £5.02m. The number of monitors installed during the period was 364, down from 524 additions the year before, but taking the installed base up to 2,189 units. The UK remains LiDCO's major market, largely because the country invests so much money in medical equipment. It is able to do this, Chief Executive Officer Terry O'Brien informed Sharecast, because of the policy of successive governments to consolidate health facilities, thus putting bigger budgets at their disposal.

"Covidien order the same number of monitors from us every year, but depending on when they place that order, it could show up in this year's accounts or next year's, and we can't control that," Clifford said. Having said that, the two parties are moving to a quarterly order schedule which should minimise this "concertina" effect. "The important thing to focus on is our disposable sales," Clifford claimed. "We work on the razor model: sell the razor blade, make the money on selling the blades."

Finance director Paul Clifford explained to Sharecast that because the company's financial year was out of phase with the fiscal year of Covidien, its US distributor, LiDCO's annual revenue could be affected by timing issues which get ironed out over a longer period. Sales to Covidien clocked in at £1.8m, down from £2.4m the year before.

Revenue grew to £7.1m from £6.2m the year before. The market had been expecting a profit before tax of £0.23m on revenue of £7.43m, which may account for the shares shedding a halfpenny to 18p in the wake of the results.

LiDCO, the blood movement monitoring company, announced its maiden post-tax profit although phasing issues with a major customer meant the numbers were not as impressive as the market had been expecting. The company made a loss of £45,000 before tax in the year to January 31st, versus a loss of £490,000 the year before. Once the tax man had chipped in with a sub of £60,000, however, the company's bottom line moved into the red, albeit by just £15,000. The previous year it had made a post-tax loss of £390,000.

Tempus is warmer on pub company Greene King, which has been boosted by increases in like-for-like (LFL) sales, particularly in food. The Hungry Horse budget offering is the fastest growing unit, while the Chief Exec Rooney Anand is interested in growing the property portfolio, although perhaps not in acquiring Mitchells and Butlers. Any company delivering LFL increases deserves some credit, Greene King is a "strong hold".

Tempus in the Times thinks Witan Pacific Investment Trust has acted ruthlessly in sacking one of its fund managers, Nomura. New mandates have been given to the US firm Matthews International and to the Hong Kong-based Marshall Wace GaveKal, with Aberdeen Asset Management retained. The net effect will be "ballsier" bets says Tempus, with more maneuverability in the face of an equities slump and less exposure to Japan. But Witan Pacific still trades at an 18% discount to net assets. This is not a buy, and Tempus warns investors to keep an eye out for further falls.

Questor in the Telegraph likes biotech firm BTG which has had positive results in tests for what could the first non-surgical treatment for varicose veins. With interests in anti-venom agents for the treatment of viper bites, the firm has an interesting portfolio and merits a hold from Questor for future growth.

Transfered all my riig in to my sipp pension a couple of weeks ago.......Thats how much confidence i have in riig good luck all....

We seem to be waiting for news on everything at the moment.........Guys i cant sleep thinking about all this....

However, it stressed that, as a result of this delay, revenues for the 12 months ending 30 September 2013 are expected to reflect the full benefit of the contract fulfilment in that year. Manroy's shares fell 10% in early trading on Monday following the announcement.

"The delay in timing of awarding the contract...means it is now unlikely that deliveries and, therefore, sales from this export order will be realised in the current financial year ending 30 September 2012." The firm said that revenue for the year ending 30 September 2012 was now expected to be in the region of £7.5m against market forecasts of £11.3m

But today the company said a substantial order for heavy machine guns from an existing customer, a large part of which was forecasted to be fulfilled during the current financial year, had not yet been confirmed. "The board believes it will receive confirmation of this key HMG export order, which is expected to generate approximately £8m in revenue, within this financial year," Manroy said in a statement.

At the time of its annual results in February the group said several large orders had been delayed and were expected to be received during the second half of this financial year. One of those, a $10.4m order from the US Department of Defense was announced last week.

Shares in machine gun maker Manroy plummeted on Monday after the company said it had failed to confirm an eight million pound contract. The delay in securing the deal will mean its 2012 figures would take a hit, the firm said.

Despite the lower profits, caused by more expensive banking facilities, the market was encouraged by the top line growth, the EBITDA performance and the fact that it has got new banking facilities in place, albeit at a price. The shares rose 4p to 105p in the first hour of trading.

Most of our larger competitors will have to respond to this change either by increasing prices or reducing margins to help them absorb the VAT. This will have a beneficial effect on Lok'n'Store's pricing and volumes," predicted company Chairman, Simon Thomas. The interim dividend has been tripled to 1p from 0.33p last year.

"The integration of the Saracen document storage business is progressing and contributing to our profitability. We have a clear plan and some near term drivers to continue this momentum into the future, including our joint venture in Maidenhead with Lidl that will open in 2013," said Andrew Jacobs, Chief Executive Officer of Lok'n'Store. Jacobs reiterated that the group is looking forward to the proposed closing of the value added tax (VAT) loophole regarding off-site self-storage, as flagged in the Chancellor of the Exchequer's Budget, as Lok'n'Store has always charged VAT on its services.

Diluted earnings per share fell to 1.13p from 1.53p at the interim stage last year. Many investors, however, regard the company as glorified property play and are more concerned with the net asset value (NAV) per share; the adjusted NAV per share stood at 230p at the end of January, up a penny on a year earlier. Net debt rose to £25,4m from £21.9m the year before, and the loan-to-value (LTV) ratio climbed to 31.9% from 27.0% at the end of January 2011.