Member Info for jange

Negative Points: IMI is exposed to specific risk in relation to the US consumer, as both the beverage dispenser and merchandising systems businesses are dependent on US consumer spending and continued investment. Currency movements hold a high degree of risk given that 90% of IMI's sales originate outside the UK. Potential costs pressures emanating from rising metal/raw material prices could impact going forward.

IMI acquired two companies in its Severe Service division, Remosa and InterAtiva for a total consideration of £107 million. The balance sheet remains strong, said management

Interim statement: IMI declared it has had a positive start to 2012 that saw revenues in the three months to end of March up 8%. The engineering group had witnessed good growth in both its Severe Service and Merchandising businesses with the rest of the Group trading at similar levels to last year. Overall, IMI expects results in the first six months of the year to be in line with expectations and, based on current market conditions, it remains optimistic that the Group will make further progress in 2012.

Engineering group IMI Plc can trace its roots back to 1862. Today, the company operates through five divisions. 1) Severe Services - designs, manufactures, supplies and services control valves and associated equipment for power generation plants, and oil and gas producers 2) Fluid Power - designs, manufactures and supplies motion and fluid control systems, principally pneumatic devices, for original equipment manufacturers in commercial vehicles, life science, rail and other industries 3) Indoor Climate - designs, manufactures and supplies indoor climate control systems 4) Beverage Dispense - designs, manufactures and supplies still and carbonated beverage dispenser systems, and associated merchandising equipment for brand owners and retailers 5) Merchandising Systems - designs, manufactures and supplies point-of-purchase display systems for brand owners and retailers. IMI's shares are listed on the London Stock Exchange and it is a member of the FTSE100 Index.

Positive Points: For its Wireless business, service revenues totalled $15.4 billion, up 7.7% year over year. Retail service revenues grew by 8.9% year over year, to $14.9 billion, an increase of 1.1% over Q4 2011 and the highest growth rate in three years. Data revenues were $6.6 billion, up $1.1 billion or 21.1% year over year, and now represent 42.9% of all service revenues. Retail post paid Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) grew at 3.6% compared to Q1 2011, to $55.43. Verizon has benefited from demand for Apple's iPhone, after gaining access to the top-selling device back in 2011, putting an end to AT&T's exclusivity for the handset. The company said that it had sold 3.2 million iPhones in the quarter. Broadband connections totalled 8.8 million at the end of Q1 2012, a 3.3% year-over-year increase. The net increase of 104,000 broadband connections from Q4 2011 was the highest quarterly net-add total since Q2 2009

Negative Points: For its fixed or Wireline business, Q1 2012 operating revenues were $9.9 billion, a decline of 2.0% compared with Q1 2011. Wireline operating income margin was 1.6%, compared with 2.8% in Q1 2011. Verizon's Wireline business is highly exposed to domestic GDP growth and employment as well as to global economic growth. Although the use of smartphones and other wireless devices has flourished, there are now fewer new customers to sign, leaving carriers to entice customers from their rivals. That may incur higher subsidy costs. The company faces fierce competition, in particular from AT&T. Revenue pressure may be seen if they engage in aggressive price wars.

The company generated 59 US cents in diluted earnings per share (EPS), compared with 51 cents per share in 1Q 2011 - a 15.7% increase. $6.0 billion in cash flow from operating activities, up $922 million compared with 1Q 2011. Quarterly revenue growth of 4.6% year-over-year was reported.

First quarter results: The group's results materialised at the higher end of analyst forecasts. At the group's Wireless division, retail service revenues rose by 8.9% year-over-year, the highest growth rate in three years - data revenues rose by 21.1% aided by increasing use of smartphones. For its fixed or Wireline business, a concentration on broadband services continued to be made. Management continued to highlight strong cashflow. Management also noted that it "remained confident in the group's ability to take advantage of growth opportunities and was focused on driving operating efficiencies." Furthermore, the group is "on track with its plans and expects to continue to deliver strong results."

Verizon Communications is one of the world's leading providers of communications services. Verizon companies rank as the largest providers of landline and wireless communications in the US, serving over 30 million wireless customers. Verizon is also the largest directory publisher in the world. The company operates in over 30 countries in the Americas, Europe, Asia and the Pacific, through four segments: domestic telecom, domestic wireless, International and Information Services. It is also the largest cellular phone provider in the U.S. through its 56% owned joint venture with Vodafone.

Despite concerns that William Hill had been slow to fully adopt an online business, significant progress has been made. A 33% jump in year over year net revenue growth was enjoyed. Gaming net revenue grew 19%. Casino net revenue was up 26%, comprised of 37% growth in Playtech Casino and 16% in Vegas Casino games. Bingo net revenue was up 7%. Mobile continues to increase in importance as penetration of smartphones and handheld devices grows. The group's Sportsbook app was launched in the Apple App Store in February and has consistently ranked in the top five free sports apps, having been downloaded around 190,000 times in the quarter. 30% of customers were brand new to William Hill. Bingo was launched as a mobile site during the period. The government recently announced an additional reduction of one percentage point to the corporation tax rate in 2012, on top of the 1% previously announced. As a result, the group has revised its effective tax rate guidance for 2012 from 20% to 17%. Accompanying management comments noted that "With positive underlying trends at this relatively early stage in the year, the Board remains confident in its expectations for the full year." Good cash generation continues to reduce group net debt. Net debt for covenant purposes stood at £355 million at the end of the period (£416 million as at 27 December 2011). Innovation continues to be used. In the UK, William Hill is trialling second-generation Storm gaming machines, new self-service betting terminals and high-definition video walls in shops. The roll-out of Storm Plus to an additional 500 shops is now underway.

Operating costs for its online business, although in line with management expectations, rose by 29%, with marketing investment totalling 26% of net revenue for the quarter. Over the counter amounts wagered at its Retail business declined by 2%. However, this was distorted by bad weather in February, with 8% fewer horseracing fixtures in Q1 than in the equivalent period last year. Net revenue for its Telephone business declined by 4%. Amounts wagered fell by 22% following the cessation of certain high staking client activity. The group's relationship with Playtech, its online joint venture gaming partner, remains under review, after William Hill was forced to deal with staff walkouts at the company's Israeli base last year. Competition, particularly in the online arena, remains intense. The UK government announced in March that Machine Games Duty will be levied at a rate of 20% of gaming machine gross profit from 1 February 2013. At this point, it will replace Amusement Machine Licence Duty and VAT, which is currently levied on machines revenue. This change in the tax regime would have cost William Hill an additional £13 million based on 2011 performance.

Group net revenue rose by 12% year over year. Group operating profit increased by 19%. Online net revenue rose by 33%. Retail net revenue grew by 5%. Net debt for covenant purposes stood at £355 million at the end of the period (£416 million as at 27 December 2011

First quarter update: Management summarised performance over the period as 'strong'. This was driven by excellent margin performance at its Retail business, together with continued strong growth from William Hill Online. The Retail business saw a 2% increase in amounts wagered and an 8% jump in operating profit, with performance benefitting from gross win growth from both over the counter and gaming machine bets. For William Hill Online, a 33% year over year hike in net revenue was enjoyed. Sportsbook net revenue rose by 58% compared to Q1 2011, with amounts wagered up 31% and the gross win margin above the expected average at 8.8% (Q1 2011: 7.3%). Strong momentum in mobile betting continued, with amounts wagered up more than 370% in the quarter. Bets placed via mobile devices accounted for around 19% of total Sportsbook turnover in Q1.

William Hill is a leading UK bookmaker. It provides gaming and betting services across multiple channels: online, on the high street, on the phone and on the move. It has been listed on the London Stock Exchange (WMH.L) since 2002 and employs over 15,000 people in the UK, Gibraltar, Israel and Bulgaria.

global advertising group WPP (WPP) given its recent developing / emerging markets acquisition spree, and that it is in pole position for mega media events such as the U.S. Presidential Election, The Olympics and Euro 2012. The only real fundamental question mark that needs to be answered in the forthcoming trading statement is how much fall out the group is experiencing as a result of the EU Sovereign Debt Crisis, even though as we are seeing, there is an ongoing attempt to diversify away from this zone geographically speaking.

Associated British Foods (ABF), the Ikea of the clothing sector offers up its interim results this week. There should be little to fear as the owner of High Street star Primark said at the end of February that it expected this week’s results would be in line with expectations, with revenue growth served up across all divisions. However, it was revealed that due to a mild autumn Primark had a slow start in the group’s financial year. Nevertheless, the expectation is for a 2% like for like sales growth over 2010 / 2011.

AstraZeneca (AZN), GlaxoSmithkline (GSK) and Shire (SHP). AstraZeneca (AZN) has been most in focus - in the wars after it abandoned work on its anti-depressant treatment TC-5214, the formulation patent protecting its Seroquel XR product was deemed invalid by the High Court in the UK and a U.S. court dismissed AstraZeneca's lawsuit against the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) which sought to delay the marketing approval of generic copies of the quetiapine drug. Rather surprisingly all these slings and arrows have been absorbed rather well by the share price, suggesting that unless there are no fresh nasties revealed in the Q1 update we may have seen the worst in the near term, particularly as Astra said it intends to make $4.5bn worth of share buybacks this year Associated British Foods (ABF

SkyePharma, a drug development firm, has received a payment of $10m (£6.2m) from Pacira Pharmaceuticals following the launch of its EXPAREL product in the US. The group is also entitled to another payment of up to $52m (£32.5m) and three per cent of net sales of the product in the US and six other countries. EXPAREL is a postsurgical analgesia product.

Specialist currency manager Record has posted assets under management equivalents of $30.9bn (£19.3bn) at March 31st, up from $25.4bn (£16.4bn) at December 31st. The firm said it expects pre-tax profits for the year ended March 31st to be £6.5m. Fee rates for the final quarter remained broadly unchanged from the previous three months.

Miniature table-top war games firm Games Workshop said trading in the four months to the beginning of April has been broadly in line with the board's expectations.