Member Info for mulledwine

http://www.investegate.co.uk/central-asia-metals-(caml)/rns/announcement-of-maiden-dividends/201212130700154168T/

John McArthur, Chief Executive Officer commented "We are delighted to have been awarded this contract for our COMPASS product with a major worldwide transport operator. Australasia is a target market for Tracsis as it seeks to expand overseas and this win follows on the back of consultancy work carried out in New Zealand earlier in the year."

Contract award Tracsis is pleased to announce that its COMPASS division has been awarded a significant contract from the New Zealand operations of a worldwide transport owning group. The contract, which will have an element of recurring revenue, is a combination of software licence, support & maintenance, customisation and project management and will be fulfilled over several months.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/tracsis-plc-(trcs)/rns/contract-award/201212130700164194T/

Commenting, Louis Eperjesi, Chief Executive, said: "Lupus has had a satisfactory year's trading in line with expectations. Steady US growth has counter balanced tough market conditions in the UK and Europe. "2013 will see further difficult markets, however the business is well positioned following the corporate activity we have undertaken during 2012; the Group is now a clearly focused building products company and a leader in the supply of components to the door and window industry worldwide." Full Year Results The results announcement for the year ending 31 December 2012 will be made on Tuesday 12 March 2013.

Closure of Belgian Building Products Business We announced the closure of our Schlegel International Building Products business located in Gistel, Belgium, in September 2012 and are in the process of moving production to our Spanish (Barcelona) and UK (Newton Aycliffe) pile manufacturing plants. We will retain a reduced presence in Gistel to focus on our range of industrial and paper handling products and as an R&D centre for Schlegel International. The closure of the Belgian Building Products business will lead to an exceptional charge of approximately Euro 1.5 million being taken in the Group's 2012 accounts with the majority of the associated cash outflows taking place in 2013. The payback on the closure, obtained through lower net headcount and reduced overheads is estimated at just over three years in current market conditions. Once vacated the surplus freehold Belgian property will be marketed for sale.

Schlegel International Schlegel International has seen difficult trading in the year to date and both revenues and operating profit for the year will be lower than in 2011. In Continental Europe, the German and Eastern European markets have shown growth while Southern European markets remain very depressed. Trading in Scandinavia has been subdued across the year as a whole. We expect Continental Europe will remain a difficult trading environment for some time to come. While Australian markets have contracted in the year to date we have grown the business through a combination of market share gain and new product introductions and our Brazilian and Singaporean operations have shown continued growth.

grouphomesafe In the UK, grouphomesafe has seen further overall market contraction during 2012. Small increases in demand have been observed for small ticket component products, however there has been continued significant decline in demand for larger ticket fabricator products and in the social housing sector. Like for like revenues in the UK and operating profit before Peterlee property provision releases are therefore expected be slightly lower than in 2011. We expect these market characteristics will continue into 2013; however, we are well positioned to gain share in the UK with our newly expanded product range. The addition of Fab & Fix to our portfolio offer in August 2012 has been well received in the UK market. The integration is progressing well and the business has traded in line with our expectations since acquisition. The Composite Door business was sold at the end of August 2012 and will be reported as a discontinued operation in the 2012 accounts.

Year End Trading Statement Lupus Capital plc ("Lupus" or the "Group"), a leading international supplier of components to the door and window industry, issues the following trading statement ahead of its financial year end on 31 December 2012. Overview Group revenues to the end of November 2012 from continuing operations were up 5.9 per cent. on prior year and broadly flat on a constant currency like for like basis (excluding the effects of acquisitions). Trading for the Group as a whole in 2012 remains in line with market expectations. Amesbury In North America, Amesbury has seen steady growth throughout 2012 in both revenues and operating profit, with market demand at the start of the year assisted by mild weather conditions across much of the United States. Provided the gradual recovery in the overall US housing and home improvement markets continues, Amesbury is well positioned for 2013.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/lupus-capital-plc-(lup)/rns/trading-statement/201212120700063032T/

Deutsche Bank downgrades Ultra Electronics Holdings from hold to sell.

Panmure Gordon maintained its "buy" recommendation on online gambling firm Sportech (SPO) with a target price of 71p. This reiteration comes on the back of the announcement that the company has been granted permission to exclusively operate online betting in the state of Connecticut on all horse racing. This current market represents exclusivity to an approximate 3.7 million gamblers in the state and the broker believes this is a significant step forward for the firm.

Canaccord Genuity reiterated its "sell" stance on Pace (PIC), the satellite technology company, with a target price of 150p. The broker believes that the potential acquisition of Google's Motorola Home division in a reverse takeover would need to be financed with an "eye-watering" amount of debt. It added that any agreement would treble the exposure of the threat that its residential set-top box will become obsolete over the next 5-10 years

Profit before tax As a result of the exceptional charges detailed above, the reported loss before tax was €7.3 million (2012: profit €0.8 million).

Alan Parker, Chairman, commented: "When I became Chairman in August this year I announced three priorities for Darty, namely to restore shareholder value, to review our markets and operations, and to renew the Board. "Today we are announcing the results of that strategic review - 'Nouvelle Confiance'. We will strengthen our position in France, Belgium and the Netherlands and drive greater efficiency at reduced cost across the Group. We will deliver a step change in performance, and eliminate the losses in our non-core markets of Italy, Spain, Czech Republic and Slovakia. We continue to keep Turkey under review. "We have substantially renewed our Board by the appointment of four new non-executive Directors with wide experience of European consumer markets. We are also making good progress with our recruitment of a new Chief Executive; in the interim Dominic Platt our current Finance Director will be acting Chief Executive. "Current market conditions remain challenging and have been deteriorating in recent months, but we have taken short term actions and continue to plan prudently. Our plan will nevertheless deliver an improvement in earnings over the medium term and in the light of this the Board has declared an interim dividend of 0.875 cents and, subject to full year performance, intends to maintain the dividend for the full year."

Operational Summary · Market share held or gained in our major markets. · Web-generated sales up over 10 percent. · Continued strong performance in Belgium and loss reduction at the Developing businesses. · New Darty Telecom agreement completed and cash received. · Agreement reached for the disposal of Darty Italy.

Statement of Results for the six months ended 31 October 2012 Financial Summary · Group revenue of €1,842.7 million (2012: €1,884.5 million), a decline of 2.3% in constant currency1 and 1.7% on a like-for-like basis. · Group retail loss2 of €3.9 million (2012: retail profit €16.5 million). · Adjusted3 Group loss before tax of €10.8 million (2012: profit €12.1 million). Reported loss before tax €7.3 million (2012: profit €0.8 million). · Adjusted loss per share of 2.3 cents (2012: earnings per share 1.0 cents). Basic loss per share of 1.5 cents (2012: continuing loss per share 1.1 cents). · Net cash outflow of €59.6 million (2012: outflow €85.1 million) with net debt at the end of the period of €187.8 million (2012: net cash €38.6 million). · The Board has declared an interim dividend of 0.875 cents, to be paid on 3 April 2013.

Strategic Review and Statement of Results for the six months ended 31 October 2012 Strategic Review - 'Nouvelle Confiance' · Creating value as the leading cross-channel retailer of technology products and services in our core markets of France, Belgium and the Netherlands. · Losses to be eliminated in non-core markets of Italy, Spain, Czech Republic and Slovakia. Turkey kept under review. · Net operating cost savings of c.€20m p.a. within three years. · Surplus property disposals expected to release c.€35m of net proceeds.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/darty-plc-(drty)/rns/half-year-results/201212120700052977T/

Channel 4 is locked in a stand-off with WPP, the world’s biggest advertising group, which could end up pulling all of its ads from the broadcaster. WPP’s media-buying arm, Group M, is in negotiations to renew its two-year deal to spend around £200m with Channel 4, after its current contract expires at the end of the month. The advertising group, founded by Sir Martin Sorrell, is battling for better terms than in previous years. Channel 4 is not giving ground, leading to an impasse. [The Telegraph]