Member Info for jange

Positive Points: •The group highlighted that UK markets showed some signs of improvement. •The company's geographical footprint continues to be expanded. •Along with an increased order book, Serco highlighted 92% revenue visibility for 2012, 80% for 2013 and 70% for 2014. •Serco previously reaffirmed its guidance to achieve a long-term goal of £5 billion revenue by the end of 2012 (£4.64 billion for 2011), although it subsequently said that this was assuming US and UK headwinds remained manageable. •Serco continues to pursue a progressive dividend policy. The total dividend payment for 2011 grew by 14.3%.

Negative Points: •The company noted that "the US federal outsourcing industry still faces uncertainties and short-term pressure." In the US, organic revenues declined by 6%. Budget delays and the upcoming presidential election are expected to drag on much of its potential workload until 2013, management highlighted. •Government austerity measures continue to pose a threat. •With the majority of Serco's revenues exposed to the public sector, the company carries a degree of political risk. •Serco operates in a highly competitive market

Serco's full year results continued to progress. Pre-tax profits grew 11.4% to £238.3 million on an order book of £17.9 billion (31Dec2011) compared to £16.6 billion at the end of 2010. With the group’s core UK and US markets overshadowed by actual and potential government spending cuts, management highlighted its growing international diversity. 44% of total group revenues were generated outside the UK, Serco's highest ever international mix, with AMEAA (Africa, Middle East, Asia, and Australasia) regions reporting organic growth of 37% compared to the +3.5% seen across the company as a whole.

Serco was founded in 1929 as a United Kingdom division of the Radio Corporation of America and initially provided services to the cinema industry. It changed its name to Serco in 1987 and has been a London Stock Exchange listed company since 1988. Today, Serco has grown to become one of the world's leading service and outsourcing companies. The group operates in Europe, the Middle East, Asia Pacific and North America. High profile contracts include London's cycle hire scheme and the Dubai metro.

Positive Points: •Full year operating profit of €485 million (+116%) before exceptional items exceeded analyst forecasts. •Following the merger of BA and Iberia, cost savings are currently running ahead of management targets. Furthermore, management hopes that the merger will allow it to catch Lufthansa Franco-Dutch airline Air France-KLM, which have reaped merger and acquisition synergies. •The acquisition of BMI will potentially allow the airline to expand its operations at its home base of Heathrow. BMI currently enjoys 9% of the take-off and landing slots at Heathrow. Some slots could be used to commence new services to economic growth spots in the world. •IAG management is confident the BMI deal would be cleared by regulators – its holding at Heathrow is small compared with rivals at other European hubs. •Growing disposable income in the Emerging Markets could underwrite a broader increase in tourism and travel. With Spanish roots, Iberia is currently a strong player in Latin America. •While headline net debt rose, adjusted gearing fell to 44% from 47% in the prior year

Negative Points: •Fuel costs for the year rose by 29.7% to €5.06 billion, before exceptional items. In the fourth quarter, the impact of fuel costs was even more severe, up 33.3%, due to higher prices and the reduced impact of hedging. •The deal to buy BMI is subject to due diligence and regulatory clearances, along with competition from other airlines. •Difficulties for Iberia’s home Spanish economy continued to be highlighted. •The airline industry remains extremely competitive and unpredictable. Low cost airlines are competing heavily - easyJet is now courting business passengers. •The air travel business remains extremely cyclical. Business travellers form an important profit driver for the former BA business. •BA and rivals have been critical of Air Passenger Duty (APD) taxes, claiming that it puts aviation’s social and economic benefits at risk. In 2011 British Airways paid almost £500 million in APD. As a result of the latest increase, the airline is reducing by around half the number of new jobs it is creating this year and has postponed plans to bring an extra Boeing 747 back into service. •With a strong focus remaining on group costs, management have come into conflict with staff. •Group net debt rose by €253 million during the full year to €1.15 billion. •The London Olympics may provide a short term drag. While the Olympics will be positive for the long-term position of London as a global destination, past experience in other host cities suggests that demand could be dampened during the games.

The airline's full year results generally surprised. Operating profit increased 116%, ahead of consensus analyst expectations, with merger cost savings running ahead of target. Underlying trends proved to be encouraging. Revenues per passenger were up 3.6%, whilst non-fuel related costs were down 5.6%. Growth in premium traffic - higher profit margin business class – was described as "good" whilst more dated working practices at Iberia continued to be tackled. Furthermore, the acquisition of BMI dangles the carrot for new lucrative long haul services to economic hotspots such as Asia. Nonetheless, challenges remained numerous. Fuel costs continued to take their toll, denting management's expected performance in the first half of 2012, while management clearly had an axe to grind with the UK government's raising Air Passenger Duty tax. Acts of terrorism had raised the cost of security, whilst geopolitical tensions and upheaval in the Middle East provide uncertainty over safety and passengers' desire to travel. Furthermore, competition from the low cost airlines continued to ratchet up, with easyJet now successfully courting business passengers

International Consolidated Airlines Group S.A (IAG) is a major international airline company formed via the merger of the former British Airways and Spain's Iberia airline.

Positive Points: •Profits exceeded the analyst consensus forecast, while management targets for 2012 were reaffirmed. •Client billings increased by 4.9% to £44.79 billion over the year, driven by net new billings of £3.23 billion. •The United Kingdom improved markedly over the year. Revenues on a like-for-like basis grew by 6.7% compared to +2.9% in North America. •The group continues to grow via bolt-on acquisitions. Deals done continue to be of small and medium sized companies, focused on new markets, new media and consumer insight. 24 acquisitions and investments were in new markets, 32 in new media and 8 in the consumer insight arena during the year. •WPP continues to enjoy geographical diversification. •Events such as the Olympics, the European football championship and US Presidential elections all provide further business opportunities for the group. •Average net debt in 2011 fell by £193 million to £2.811 billion, compared to £3.004 billion in 2010. •In line with the statement made with the group's 2010 full year results, announcing the intention to raise the dividend pay-out ratio, from around a third to 40%, the board declared an increase of 45% to the final dividend, which together with the interim dividend, made a total of 24.60p per share for 2011, an overall increase of 38.3%.

Negative Points: •Excluding the impact of acquisitions, in the fourth quarter, like-for-like revenues were up 4.5%, down slightly on the third quarter, primarily due to strong comparatives the prior year. •Given events in Europe and political deadlock in the US, the economic backdrop remains uncertain. •Each WPP company operates in a fiercely competitive sector. •Group net finance costs (excluding the revaluation of financial instruments) were up 2.5% to £199.9 million, compared to 2010. •The company is exposed to foreign exchange risk. Over 40% of group profit is geared to the US dollar.

Full year results appeared to both please and reassure investors. Profit before tax rose by 18.5% to over £1 billion, for the first time, and were at the high end of analyst estimates. 2012 targets were reaffirmed, with like-for-like revenue and gross margin growth of around 4% and a 0.5% increase headline operating margin to 14.8%. Revenues exceeded £10 billion (+7.4%), with growth seen in all regions and business sectors, although with particularly strong growth seen in Asia Pacific and Latin America and in advertising, media investment management and direct, digital and interactive products. Confidence in the outlook along with an upward adjustment in the pay out ratio was expressed via a 45% increase in the final dividend payment, while 2012 had started in line with target, with like-for-like January revenues up 4%.

The Group's core activity is the provision of communications services worldwide. The Business is divided into four key areas: Advertising & Media Investment Management; Information, Insight & Consultancy; Public Relations, Public Affairs and Branding & Identity and finally Healthcare & Specialist Communications. Brands within the group include J Walter Thompson, Ogilvy & Mather and Young & Rubicam. Its primary listing is on the London Stock Exchange and it is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It has a secondary listing on NASDAQ.

Positive Points: •Last month, IMI acquired Remosa SpA, a leading engineering business specialising in valves and related flow control products for severe applications, for €100 million. •The group's results were boosted by a 27% rise in sales at IMI's Severe Service unit, which now accounts for over a quarter of total group sales. Demand for valves in liquefied natural gas applications remained strong, said the company. •The balance sheet remains strong, said management, with net debt falling 26% to £108 million (2010: £145m). •The board have recommended that the final dividend be increased by 12% to 19.0p, making a total dividend for the year of 30.0p.

Negative Points: •Management highlighted the uncertainty seen within the global macro- economic environment. •IMI is exposed to specific risk in relation to the US consumer, as both the beverage dispense and merchandising systems businesses are dependent on US consumer spending and continued investment. •Currency movement 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.

Birmingham headquartered global engineering group, IMI Plc, formerly Imperial Metal Industries, published its preliminary results for the year ended 31 December 2011 earlier today. In a robust set of figures, helped by strong sales across its businesses, the company posted a 19% rise in pre-tax profits to £363.4 million, coming in above market expectations. Revenues rose 12% to £2.13 billion. In a bid to drive future growth, the engineer is focusing on three principal areas. Firstly an acceleration of new product activity with high exposure to trends and to emerging markets. Secondly, the expansion of the group's presence in its emerging markets, through accelerated investment in sales and engineering. Lastly, to supplement organic growth through an active acquisition programme. The group added that it retained a strong balance sheet and had a number of additional acquisition opportunities in the pipeline. In positive outlook commentary, IMI confirmed its commitment to its plans to "drive strategic convergence, accelerate future growth, deliver further margin improvement and make greater use of its strong balance sheet in delivering value enhancing acquisitions".

Far East focused UK bank Standard Chartered (STAN) has suggested that the QE strategy may have unpredictably negative consequences in terms of laying fresh seeds for the next crisis – an argument that should be taken seriously given that his bank is one of the few that didn’t overextend during the bubble years of the 2000s,. Perhaps the most obvious problem in the near term is that the lending freeze actually prevents the current rolling stagnation from doing anything more than bumping along in the 0%-1% GDP growth zone.

Trade Summary Dream Scenario: The latest dividend hike off the back of double digit profits growth maintains the recent uptrend. Nightmare Scenario: The 20% post December rally means GKN shares have already factored in the latest fundamental news

Key Technicals Shares in GKN have once again backed off from 2011 resistance above 230p, but while there is no break below the 50-day moving average at 208p, the upside should see 52 week resistance at 245p.

On February 28th, automotive and aerospace engineer GKN raised its total dividend by a fifth after reporting double-digit growth in both sales and profits in 2011. Sales climbed 13% from £5,429m to £6,112m, an underlying increase of 10%. Tough trading in Aerospace had been anticipated off the back of austerity measures, nevertheless, GKN said that civil aircraft production is expected to continue to grow in 2012, with both Airbus and Boeing increasing production - enough to offset the prospective reduction in US military aircraft demand. GKN has sweetened shareholders with a dividend hike, double digit sales and profits growth, and even though the shares have risen some 20% over the past quarter, provided the price action stays above the major 50-day moving average support at 208p

Legal & General (LGEN) as the pick of the insurance sector, on the basis of the higher yields offered compared to peers such as Aviva (AV.), Prudential (PRU) and Standard Life (SL.). The big attraction is the cash yield of 10% measured against the broker’s FY 2011 cash earnings forecasts. It also suggested that L&G's growth prospects are the strongest in the sector, as it is the best-positioned amongst its peers in the wake of the product and distribution changes resulting from the FSA’s Retail Distribution Review