Member Info for mulledwine

Commenting, Andrew Cunningham, Chief Executive of Grainger, said: "Grainger continues to outperform the general residential market and we can again report strong increases in each of our three revenue streams - sales, rents and fees. "As stated previously, key strategic themes for 2012 have been to increase the proportion of profit generated from rents and fees and to reduce debt. Considerable progress has been made to achieve these and this focus will be maintained in 2013 as we continue to build sustainable sources of income."

Interim Management Statement Strong operational performance and continued reduction of debt Grainger plc ("Grainger", the "Company" or the "Group"), the UK's largest quoted residential property owner and manager, today announces its interim management statement covering its activities for the four months to 31 July 2012. Highlights Over the reporting period, Grainger has had strong operational performance, a result of our resilient portfolio, evidenced by growth in our three income streams - sales, rents and fees. We have also made further significant headway in our debt reduction programme. · Sales: o Completed Group sales in the four months to 31 July 2012 of £89.8m taking total sales in the ten months to 31 July 2012 to £202.1m, an increase of over 13% (31 July 2011: £177.8m) o UK margins on sales of vacant properties in the ten months of 39.8% (31 July 2011: 38.7%) o Strong Group sales pipeline of £264.5m (31 July 2011: £235.7m) · Gross rents in the four months to 31 July 2012 of approximately £29.7m taking total gross rents in the ten months to 31 July 2012 to £75.1m, up 7.2% (31 July 2011: £70.0m) · Fee income in the four months to 31 July 2012 of approximately £2.8m taking total fee income in the ten months to 31 July 2012 to £7.8m, up by 56% (31 July 2011: £5.0m) · Reduction in net debt of £113m since September 2011.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201208090700116338J

Approval of Celsys Acquisition Cambria announces that all conditions precedent to the Scheme of Arrangement to acquire the remaining share capital of Celsys Limited ("Celsys"), details of which were announced by Cambria on 14(th) May 2012 having been satisfied, the effective date of the Scheme is 15(th) of August 2012. It is expected that Celsys will delist from the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange ("ZSE") Main Board on 30 August 2012 and Cambria will subsequently list on the ZSE Main Board on 31 August 2012.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201208090700126363J

The Tempus column in The Times celebrates the impressive turnaround that Anglo-South African financial firm Old Mutual has achieved in just four years. Chief Executive Julian Roberts took a business ('that could best be described as a sprawling financial mess', the paper says) that stretched across 33 countries and aimed to simplify the group, selling assets, temporary suspending the dividend and bringing down debts. The column highlights yesterday's first-half results from the firm, in which it reported a 12% increase in operating profits and a 17% rise in the interim dividend. "Old Mutual is not yet fully repaired — for example, work remains before the US asset management business can be floated — but this offers potential upside benefits for investors," Tempus said. Nevertheless, the column says it's a stock to 'hold'.

Wonder if any predators have an eye on this?

Outlook Our new Winter collections are now available in our stores and on-line. The initial reaction has been encouraging, but our experiences in the first half of the year are leading us to be very cautious in our outlook for retail revenue in the second half of the year. As previously reported, our Winter 2012 wholesale orders in UK/Europe are slightly below the levels at this time last year and we are working to increase the levels of in-season ordering to compensate for this. We are achieving continuing revenue growth in North America, offsetting the decline in UK orders to some extent. As previously reported we are conducting a thorough review of the UK/Europe retail operation in conjunction with external specialist advisors. The process is well advanced and we have commenced in-store trials addressing the customer proposition and experience with the goal of improving sales densities and margin while reducing costs. We will cover this more fully at the time of our half -year results announcement in September.

Brand licensing Following a change in strategy by Sears' management, the supply agreement between LF USA Inc. ("LF") and Sears for products branded "UK Style by French Connection" has been terminated. As a consequence LF has terminated its licence agreement for "UK Style by French Connection". This licence generated net income of £1.9 million in the year to 31 January 2012. It is now expected that the income from this licence for the year to 31 January 2013 will be in the region of £0.9 million. A number of new licensing opportunities are currently being developed. Two new licences for the operation of the French Connection kids' wear range and for shoes have recently been finalised and opportunities in outerwear, accessories and furniture are currently the subject of advanced discussions. Our other existing brand licences, most notably toiletries and eyewear, continue to perform well.

Trading Update for the six months ended 31 July 2012 9 August 2012 French Connection Group plc ("the Company") is today issuing a trading update for the six month period to 31 July 2012. The Company will announce its half-year results for the six month period to 31 July 2012 on 19 September 2012. Trading update Trading has continued broadly in-line with guidance provided in the interim management statement on 17 May 2012. Group revenue for the six months to 31 July 2012 was 7% below the level achieved last year while gross margin was also lower as a result of additional discounting. The operating result from continuing operations for the half-year will therefore be below last year by approximately £7 million. Net cash at the end of the period was in the region of £20 million.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201208090700136371J

Winter 2012/13 We have had an encouraging start to the Winter 2012/13 season. In the UK, bookings are flat, in line with capacity. So far we have sold 22% of our Winter programme in the UK. Average selling price is up 3% and sales of differentiated product are up 9% compared with this time last year. In the Nordic region, we have remixed the programme with less emphasis on long-haul and an increased capacity to medium-haul destinations which tend to book later. As a result of this, as anticipated volumes are down 2%. Booked load factor is currently 29%.

Peter Long, Chief Executive of TUI Travel PLC, commented "We are pleased with our performance, driven by our strategy of differentiated and exclusive product with a focus on online distribution. We are significantly outperforming the market in the UK. "Summer 2012 volumes have improved in most key markets since our last update. We are seeing strong demand and lates margins for the peak Summer period. Our Winter 2012/2013 programme has had an encouraging start. "We are confident of exceeding our full year expectations based on like for like exchange rates, however, the impact of retranslation of fourth quarter Eurozone profits at current exchange rates leaves us to believe we will perform in line with our expectations for the full-year."

Highlights · Third quarter underlying operating profit of £74m (Q3 11: £88m), reflecting the timing of Easter in the second quarter. · Very encouraging trading for Summer 2012 high season, with less left to sell versus the prior year. · UK continues to outperform the market, achieving strong lates margins and load factors. · Summer 2012 - continued high demand for differentiated product: - UK 63% of bookings - up seven percentage points on prior year - Nordics 76% of bookings - up five percentage points on prior year · France continues to underperform our expectations in a very challenging market. · In A&D, Summer 2012 bookings are up 9% and sales (TTV) up 17% versus the prior year. · Encouraging start to Winter 2012/13 trading. · Cashflow improvement of £52m in the third quarter compared with the same period last year. · The business improvement programme is progressing to plan with £11m of cost savings delivered in the nine-month period.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201208090700146577J

5 months to complete - one for the diary then

Further work, which is estimated to entail 10 holes and approximately 2,100 metres of drilling, has already commenced with the objectives of identifying a possible westerly extension to the mineralised zone and improving the confidence level of the resource data. This work will take approximately five months to complete, subject to the onset of rains in the last two months of the year.

Nama Base Metal Project, Zambia: Project Update Toronto, Ontario - August 9, 2012: Caledonia Mining Corporation (the "Company") (TSX: CAL, OTCQX: CALVF, AIM: CMCL) is pleased to provide an update on the progress at its Nama Base Metal Project in Zambia. The first phase of the 2012 drilling programme at the Nama base metals project in Zambia - which was described in a News Release dated March 12, 2012 - commenced in March 2012 on the Konkola East target area. This phase comprised six holes and approximately 2,400 metres of diamond drilling and had the objective of finding an upward extension, closer to surface of the mineralised zone identified in the 2011 drilling programme. This drilling programme has now been extended into Phase 2 and a total of 12 holes and approximately 4,970 metres of drilling have been completed. 13 of the 18 holes drilled intersected meaningful mineralisation. The identified zone was intersected at depths ranging from 80 metres to 580 metres below surface and the distance between the drill holes was between 100 metres and 500 metres. The results from the drilling completed to date confirm the existence of a mineralised zone which has the following characteristics: o estimated weighted average copper grade of samples of 0.52%; o an estimated mineralised thickness of 10 to 27 metres; o the mineralisation extends from surface to a depth of at least 580 metres; o a strike length of at least 1,300 metres and a dip extent of 900 metres; and o this mineralised zone remains open at depth and to the west.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201208090700146394J

OUTLOOK CONT The Company is contemplating certain initiatives that will result in improved recoveries, reduced costs and/or mine life extension at various operations. These projects are currently being evaluated with final decisions pending. The most significant impact projects are at El Penon, Chapada and Pilar. Cash costs are expected to remain below $250 per GEO for 2012. Cash costs are calculated after only base metal by-product credits. Development capital expected to be spent in 2012 remains to be $665 million as planned. This will decline in 2013 and the following years as the Company's development projects are completed. Sustainment capital expenditures are expected to be $340 million in 2012 and decline on a per GEO basis after the current sustaining development projects are completed in 2014. The Company expects to spend approximately $125 million on exploration in 2012 with a continued focus on increasing mineral reserves and mineral resources with its near-mine and regional exploration programs, and exploration of greenfield targets. In addition to over $1.4 billion of available cash and undrawn credit available at June 30, 2012, the Company expects robust cash flows from operations under the current and intermediate term pricing conditions for gold will enable the Company to fully fund its growth, reward shareholders through dividends and accelerate capital spending to enhance the Company's production growth profile.