Member Info for mulledwine

SUMMARY AND OUTLOOK The Group delivered a strong first half performance despite currency headwind and weakened demand in the Eurozone economies. Looking forward into the second half, growth in aerospace and energy together with new technologies, is expected to counteract the effect of slowing economies. The Board remains confident that the ongoing execution of the Group's strategy will continue to deliver superior through-cycle shareholder returns.

Commenting, Stephen Harris, Chief Executive said: "The Group delivered a strong first half performance despite currency headwind and weakened demand in the Eurozone economies. Looking forward into the second half, growth in aerospace and energy together with new technologies, is expected to counteract the effect of slowing economies. The Board remains confident that the ongoing execution of the Group's strategy will continue to deliver superior through-cycle shareholder returns."

Highlights · Revenue up 5%; 7% at constant currency · Good growth from North American Automotive & General Industrial and Aerospace & Energy in all geographies · Headline operating profit up 10%, with headline margin up to 15.8% · Recent US acquisition performing well · 110% headline operating cash conversion6 · Free cash flow exceeded cost of US acquisition · Net debt at £16.7m · Interim dividend up 11% to 4.0p

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201207260700095282I

OUTLOOK We are benefitting from the strength of a number of our markets and the breadth of our customer base. The new product introductions we have planned for later this year, the incremental capacity that will come on stream, and the innovation driven demand for our customers' products, gives us confidence in the strength of our business for the second half of the year and beyond. Our technology remains critical to the effectiveness of electronic devices and wireless systems, and the positions we hold across a number of structural growth markets will enable us to capitalise on the growth that industry forecasters are predicting over the medium to long-term.

Nigel Keen, Executive Chairman, said: "We are benefitting from the strength of a number of our markets and the breadth of our customer base. The new product introductions we have planned for later this year, the incremental capacity that will come on stream, and the innovation driven demand for our customers' products, give us confidence in the strength of our business for the second half of the year and beyond. I am delighted that our new Chief Executive, David Lockwood, will be joining our Board in August. David brings considerable experience of a variety of international market and technology sectors relevant to Laird's businesses."

Laird, a global technology company focused on providing components and solutions that protect electronic devices from electromagnetic interference and heat, and that enable connectivity through wireless applications and antennae systems, today announces its results for the six months to 30 June 2012. Highlights from Continuing Operations: · Revenue of £249.6 million (2011: £243.1 million) · Pick-up in revenue in the second quarter, over the first quarter · Underlying operating margin of 12.4% (2011: 11.7%) · Underlying profit before tax up by 7% to £27.3 million · Earnings per share of 8.6p, up 9% on prior year · Interim dividend declared of 3.4 pence (2011: 2.7 pence), up 26% on 2011 · Strong cash conversion · Expansion of capacity proceeding to plan · New product launches on track for the second half of the year · Integration of recent acquisitions, Emerson & Cuming and Summit, progressing according to plan · David Lockwood joins the Board as Chief Executive on 13 August 2012

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201207260700125328I

Dick Elsy, Torotrak's CEO, said: "We are making good progress in our key programmes, with strong interest being shown in our new products, which are capable of providing additional routes to market outside main drive transmissions." Jeremy Deering, Torotrak's Director responsible for commercial development said: "Our prospects in the Commercial Vehicle market continue to grow, bolstered by this latest sign of confidence from our major licensee, Allison Transmission Inc, which has today committed a further £2.5 million in licence and engineering fees. This is an advance against a final £10.62 million option to secure exclusivity in its licensed field of commercial vehicle main drive transmissions, co-existing with our other two licensees in this area. "Fuel economy testing on both of our commercial vehicle main drive transmission programmes shows strong benefits, even in some of the longer haul cycles, which opens up wider market opportunities than previously thought."

V-Charge - variable single solution to provide boost for smaller engines We have undertaken further vehicle demonstrations with some notable international vehicle manufacturers, as well as potential Tier 1 and Tier 2 manufacturing and supply chain partners. The response from these drive events has been encouraging. The V-Charge unit clearly delivers the prized rapid vehicle response time that vehicle manufacturers require for downsized engines, which are crucial to meeting industry CO2 targets. Through these drives and presentations, we have confirmed that the unit is attractive in terms of its cost, benefits and low noise relative to other solutions. We see significant strengthening of interest in this application. M-KERS - affordable mechanical hybrids Results from recent testing on the "Flybus" M-KERS equipped city bus are currently being evaluated. Although we are not yet presenting a headline fuel economy result, it is clear from the development work on this early version hardware that M-KERS can deliver material fuel savings with a fully configured system. Our priority now is on next stage hardware with representative flywheel and variator components, and progressing to fleet trials with bus operators. We will report further on this on or before our half year results in November. Other We continue to strengthen the supply base for components, fluids and sub systems for Torotrak licensees. At the Annual General Meeting, Dick Elsy and Jeremy Deering will give presentations on the Company and copies will be available on the Company's web site (www.torotrak.com) later today. No new material information is contained in the presentations.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201207260700135339I

In May, SCISYS said the difference between H1 and H2 would be less pronounced than initially forecast due to a combination of earlier client deliveries, operating efficiencies and deferred costs. The group’s Environment division has been under intense pressure from public sector cuts, while the other four divisions retained healthy order books. SCISYS says it has maintained a solid overall order book throughout H1. While it is significantly exposed to the euro, the group hedges its euro revenue stream. Further, SCISYS has minimal expose to the weaker European economies while its German-based business is robust. We await further news on the Warrior AFV upgrade when the group reports its interim results, expected on 26 September. The stock trades on 0.3x our maintained 2013 revenue forecasts and below book value, making the shares look attractive given the four years of margin improvements and healthy cash generation. We continue to anticipate the valuation will expand with sustained margin momentum and, based on our forecasts, the stock trades on 7.4x earnings in 2012, falling to 6.4x in 2013 and to 6.0x in 2014.

http://www.edisoninvestmentresearch.co.uk/researchreports/scisys260712flash.pdf

Singer Capital maintained its "sell" stance for Topps Tiles (TPT) with a 25p target price. The broker said that while the DIY company has seen growing popularity for its own brand, higher margin products, trading remained volatile in the third quarter. Singer added that performance was interrupted by the Jubilee celebrations and noted that the Olympics may also prove a hinderance. The broker also raised concern over growing competition from independent businesses as well as large firms such as B&Q

Shore Capital initiated coverage of OPG Power Ventures (OPG) with a "buy" recommendation, claiming that the India focused electricity company is on the verge of an inflection point. The broker noted that the firm's revenues are starting to grow rapidly as it completes a number of projects, with plans to install 700 megawatts of capacity over the next two years. Shore added that the group is already profitable and using earnings to invest in additional capacity.

Panmure Gordon reiterated its "buy" rating for Unilever (ULVR) with a 2,300p target price. The broker expects the consumer goods conglomerate to report a slowdown in like-for-like sales growth from 8.4% in the first quarter to 4.4% in the second, reflecting the weakening economic environment. However, Panmure noted that the group's Hindustan subsidiary achieved an 18.7% rise in domestic sales for the June quarter, with operating margins rising 180 basis points to 14.5%. On the broker's forecasts, the shares trade on a prospective earnings multiple of 17.5 times for the 2012 financial year, which the broker said is a discount to the global peer group average of 19.1 times

HRG is on course to meet current year expectations. A slowing in constant currency revenue in the quarter to June (-8% against -1% in the second half of FY12) should not be a worry as management will continue to adjust costs effectively in line with changes in demand, eg 10% trading profit gain in FY12 on just 2% higher revenue. The company has avoided chasing low-margin revenue. The acquisition of Unilever as a client is a notable success with service in over 70 countries due to start in H2. The new business pipeline remains healthy, as does the opportunity to expand relationships with existing clients such as Volkswagen and the UK government. For the current year, despite cutting our revenue growth target from 3% to flat thanks specifically to a weaker euro, we are holding our PBT forecast owing to the aforementioned scope for margin enhancement. IATA is still expecting 3% growth in air passenger travel in 2012 while global lodging RevPAR guidance is cautiously positive.

http://www.edisoninvestmentresearch.co.uk/researchreports/hogg260712flash.pdf

Henry Angest, Chairman, said: "Secure Trust Bank is successfully delivering the commitments made at the time of the flotation as evidenced by the significant progress in the first half of the year, with underlying pre-tax profits up by 50%. We have remained true to our philosophy of managing the bank's balance sheet on a prudent basis. This is reflected in robust capital, modest gross leverage and very strong funding positions. Provided there is no material deterioration in the economy, we expect to see growth in the underlying profitability of the business in the second half." Paul Lynam, Chief Executive Officer, said: "Despite a challenging economic environment, we have been able to deliver a strong underlying performance and an excellent set of results. These highlight the positive progress we are making with our plans to grow a sustainable alternative to the current high street banking models. Our strong funding, liquidity and capital positions enable us to take full advantage of opportunities in our chosen markets. We are continuing to see strong demand for our products from a wide variety of customers and the recent acquisition of Everyday Loans has helped us establish a more prominent presence in our chosen markets. We have an ongoing pipeline of organic and external business opportunities and, subject to there being no material deterioration in the economic environment, we are confident about the future potential of Secure Trust Bank." *This is after excluding the fair value gain, costs relating to the acquisition of Everyday Loans, the effects of acquired portfolios the accrued costs for the share options granted at the IPO, the costs of surplus deposits held in anticipation of the acquisition and group recharges. This announcement together with the associated investors' presentation are available on www.securetrustbank.com.

OPERATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS · Overall loan book increased to £260.3m; 110% higher than H1 2011:£123.9m (FY 2011:£154.6m) · Customer deposits increased to £297.9m; 37% higher than H1 2011:£217m (FY 2011:£272.1m) · Total customer numbers increased to 198,767; 58% higher than H1 2011: 125,500 (FY 2011:139,693) · Acquisition of Everyday Loans contributed £71m of loans · The costs avoided through lower than expected impairments of £3.1m have enabled the business to bring forward planned investment in risk, finance and anti fraud teams without impacting anticipated profitability