Member Info for johnjohn

Interim Management Statement http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=20110216070000P80B7

You could use Reuters - just enter any company's name / symbol into their search browser. http://uk.reuters.com/search?blob=santander&x=21&y=7

Many thanks for your good wishes Senor buller. As to good profits, I'm sure you'll agree - with a company like HRG patience is likely to pay of. Re refinancing, agreed about the media's limited coverage down to just reporting. HRG's RNS could've been posted a little earlier, but better late then never eh... There are clear opportunities of making serious profits in junior oils and mining stocks. Apart from Bem - Cove Energy, Encore Oil and San leon also look very interesting and well worth closer inspection.

Closed at 41p - nice one :-) GL ALL

Thanks for replying. It was shareprice.co.uk who had the incorrect SP on for some time, which was somewhat alarming as it coincided with large sells. Since then, HRG have posted an RNS advising of technical issues concerning voting rights involving major holders. One false alarm I could've done without especially coming on my birthday - lol Enjoy your week end and good luck next week.

2 sells of 200.000 shares each - anybody know why? SP down to 32.88p -18.83%

biggest bank, yesterday postponed the £15bn flotation of its British operation, a deal originally pencilled in for the first quarter of this year. Emilio Botín, chairman of Grupo Santander, said that he was now aiming for the last quarter of 2011, subject to market conditions. Santander UK was to be floated in London as a way of raising about £3bn from the sale of a 20% stake. The bank gave little explanation for the delay, which comes despite a healthy 11% rise in after-tax profits of the UK business to £1.7bn, the Times reports.

Santander with my SIPP By Ian Cowie Last updated: January 17th, 2011 After all the shocks of the global credit crisis, most investors prefer to avoid banks in general and those of the PIGS – Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain – in particular. So, on the basis that the best bargains are often found in the most unloved sectors, I have just bought a slug of Banco Santander for my self-invested personal pension (SIPP). Why? Everybody knows the Spanish property market has slumped and Santander must be exposed to bad debts there. What is less well known is that it has largely avoided the nightmare of investment banking and stuck to its knitting with the much less risky business of retail banking where – with 14,000 outlets – it has the biggest branch network in the world. Another plus point that is not fully reflected in the share price is its substantial exposure to the rapidly-growing economies of Latin America. For example, its latest accounts show it generated more profits in Brazil than Spain. In any other sector, these emerging market growth prospects would justify a premium rating but Santander’s price/earnings (P/E) ratio – or the number of years’ earnings per share needed to pay for its price today – is less than half that of HSBC and not much better than half that of Standard Chartered. http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/finance/ianmcowie/100009312/banking-on-recovery-at-santander-with-my-sipp/

Have a wonderful Christmas and be lucky in 2011 jj

Always good to see you around, be it here or other bb's. At long last there appears to be a sentiment shift since the last results just in time for Xmas eh... Have an enjoyable Christmas and be lucky in 2011. Ps, have you looked at bem recently, if not, check it out as it's still early days?

35 + spot on as always! Nice to see an upward momentum since their last great results.

Ex div 08/12/2010 Payment 06/01/2011

as travel demand improves By Adveith Nair BANGALORE | Tue Nov 30, 2010 11:49am GMT BANGALORE (Reuters) - British corporate travel firm Hogg Robinson Group Plc's (HRG.L) first-half profit more than doubled and it said full-year results would race past market estimates on expectations that an improving economy will continue to bolster travel activity. "Revenue is up, cash flow is strong, and there are increasing signs that our client base is retuning to higher levels of travel frequency," Finance Director Julian Steadman told Reuters. Passenger demand -- a reflection of business and consumer confidence -- was 10.1 percent higher in October than a year earlier, and is now 5 percent above pre-crisis levels, airline industry body IATA had said last week. "With the strong client base behind us returning to normal, we are flagging to the market that expectations for the full year will be slightly ahead of what they thought it would be before," Steadman said. Analysts currently expect full-year pretax profit to rise 35 percent to 28.8 million pounds and revenue to grow 4 percent to 339.5 million pounds, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Collins Stewart analysts said though the company had limited visibility, business confidence and travel statistics produced by IATA remain positive. "We believe that client revenues in Oct-Nov continue to track the 5-6 percent growth witnessed in the first half," they said. For the six months ended September 30, pretax profit before items at the company rose to 15.3 million pounds from 7.5 million pounds last year. Revenue was up 9 percent to 169.2 million pounds. Hogg's rival Holidaybreak (HBR.L) also posted a 9 percent rise in full-year headline pretax profit, but orders for the current financial year fell a percent on year. Hogg Robinson shares, which have been largely unchanged over the past year, were up 2 percent at 35.50 pence at 1017 GMT Tuesday on the London Stock Exchange End.

yesterday produced a sparkling set of interim numbers with sales up 9at £169.2m, but pre-tax profits quadrupling to £13.3m. Underlying profits were up a slightly more sober 104% to £15.3m, but whichever way you look at it, these are good numbers. Business travel volumes are still 10-15% off where they were a couple of years ago and the shares trade on just five-times forecast full-year earnings and with a healthy prospective yield of 4%. Hogg Robinson isn't without risks but buy says the Independent.

ups dividend by 25 pct Tue Nov 30, 2010 7:29am GMT * H1 pretax profit more than doubles * Ups interim div by 25 pct to 0.5p vs 0.4p * Rev up 9 pct as client travels spend rises * Sees FY results ahead of expectations Nov 30 (Reuters) - British corporate travel firm Hogg Robinson Group Plc's (HRG.L) first-half profit more than doubled and it forecast full-year results ahead of expectations as an improving economy boosts travel activity. The company also raised its interim dividend by 25 percent to 0.5 pence. "Both client spending and travel bookings were up 18 percent in real terms during the first six months of our financial year compared to the prior year, reflecting strengthening confidence amongst many of our clients," Chief Executive David Radcliffe said in a statement. Passenger demand -- a reflection of business and consumer confidence -- was 10.1 percent higher in October than a year earlier, and is now 5 percent above pre-crisis levels, the airline industry body IATA said last week. [ID:nLDE6AN1W2] For the six ended Sept. 30, pretax profit before items at the company rose to 15.3 million pounds ($23.82 million) from 7.5 million pounds last year. Revenue was up 9 percent to 169.2 million pounds. Also on Tuesday, rival Holidaybreak Plc (HBR.L) reported a 9 percent increase in headline profit before tax. [ID:nWLA9444]. Hogg Robinson shares, which have been largely unchanged over the past year, closed at 34.75 pence Monday on the London Stock Exchange. ($1=.6423 Pound) (Reporting by Adveith Nair in Bangalore; Editing by Prem Udayabhanu)

Pleased to hear you're OK. I'm very well thanks - looking forward to calmer markets:-) My inquiry was out of my long standing respect for your astuteness. As it happens it was you who drew my attention to HRG back in mid June 09. Since then you've been helpful on several occasions, which is much appreciated.

Btw, hope I'm finding you in the best of health... thanks also for your reply.

What in your opinion are the pluses/minuses for HRG in view of the forthcoming royal wedding and Olympics in 2012?

Thanks, I stand corrected. I now have what I believe to be the actual date: 30 Nov 2010 - Half-yearly results for the six months to 30 September 2010

These results will cover the 3rd quarter of course.