Member Info for mulledwine

Tim Roberts, Head of Offices at British Land, said "I am excited by this unique opportunity to buy nearly an acre of land in Mayfair, where we can leverage our financial and development expertise to add value. The scale of development will create a landmark building and will further enhance British Land's presence in the West End." On completion, the acquisition of the Clarges Estate will add further to British Land's central London development programme. Covering both offices and residential schemes, our 2.3 million sq ft of committed developments includes: a new 700,000 sq ft building for UBS at 5 Broadgate; The Leadenhall Building, a 610,000 sq ft tower, in London's insurance district; and a 500,000 sq ft mixed use office and residential scheme at our Regent's Place estate in the West End along with a number of stand-alone residential developments. Since the beginning of 2009, we have completed 143,000 sq ft of residential developments in London, with a further 200,000 sq ft due to be completed by the end of 2013. The acquisition of Clarges House will add to our prospective residential pipeline. The vendors were advised by CBRE and Olswang, and British Land was advised by Mayer Brown.

British Land acquires the Clarges Estate, Mayfair for £129.6 million British Land has entered into a corporate agreement to purchase Clarges House, 6/12 Clarges Street and 82/84 Piccadilly in Mayfair based on a property price of £129.6 million. The site is located on Piccadilly overlooking Green Park, and is close to the Ritz and Bond Street. The acquisition is expected to complete in November 2012. Both buildings are freehold and together comprise over 119,000 sq ft of existing office and retail space. 82/84 Piccadilly comprises approximately 84,600 sq ft and is let until December 2012. Clarges House totals 34,700 sq ft of offices and is currently vacant. Adjoining the two is the Kennel Club at 1-5 Clarges Street which is freehold and owner occupied. British Land intends to redevelop the entire site to create a landmark mixed-use scheme. Planning consent was granted in April 2011 for redevelopment of the site to comprise 191,000 sq ft net. The scheme, designed by Squire & Partners, includes 63,000 sq ft of luxury private residential units fronting Piccadilly with 7,900 sq ft of retail below, 91,000 sq ft of high quality offices in a separate block, and a new Kennel Club building. Design and planning work is already underway to improve the existing consent.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201207250700134170I

Volker Schultz, chief executive officer of Essar Oil UK, said: "This transaction with Barclays is an important landmark step for Stanlow. We have built a strong working relationship with Barclays, allowing us to continue delivering a high level of service to our customers, but in a much more efficient manner. The change is fully in line with our strategy to maximise efficiency, to substantially improve margins and to ensure that the refinery can thrive in all market conditions." Essar Energy completed the purchase of Stanlow, the UK's second largest refinery with a capacity of 296,000 barrels per day, from Shell on July 31, 2011.

Essar Energy agrees new oil and product inventory arrangements for Stanlow refinery July 25, 2012: Essar Energy plc [LSE: ESSR], the India-focused integrated energy company, today announced that its subsidiary Essar Oil UK has entered into new arrangements with Barclays Bank plc covering the supply of crude oil to its Stanlow refinery in the UK. Under the new arrangements, Barclays will hold the inventories of crude oil and petroleum products at Stanlow and will supply crude to the refinery in line with its requirements. The new arrangements allow Essar Oil UK to repay its existing working capital revolving credit facility, provided by 13 banks. In addition, they allow Essar Oil UK to reduce its costs by reducing its crude oil inventory holdings and also permit greater operational flexibility. The customer relationships and product sale processes will remain with Essar Oil UK. These arrangements with Barclays are for three years and take effect immediately.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201207250700124422I

not exactly rocket fuel news.

John Teeling, Chairman of Botswana Diamonds, commented: "Our exploration in Cameroon is justified. We found a diamond in the palaeoplacer conglomerate. Diamonds being mined from palaeoplacers is a relatively new phenomenon and only gradually finding acceptance due mainly to the Marange discoveries in Zimbabwe. Botswana Diamonds was an early mover when rumours of diamonds in Cameroon palaeoplacers emerged. We obtained a large licence next door to a Korean company, CNK, who claimed to have a commercial diamond discovery. Two years later we have found the rock type and now a diamond in this rock. The stone is of industrial quality but proves the concept. Meanwhile, CNK is completing the construction of a diamond mine. We will complete the processing of the 300 tonne bulk sample and prepare for the next stage." _________________________________________________________________________________

First Diamond Recovered in Cameroon Exploration Botswana Diamonds plc (AIM: BOD) ("Botswana Diamonds") is pleased to announce that it has recovered a 2 carat diamond at its sampling project at Libongo in the Cameroon. The diamond is a low value, near gem quality stone. A 300 tonne bulk sample has been taken from a palaeoplacer conglomerate identified by Botswana Diamonds in 2011 and is being processed. The objective was to confirm the diamondiferous potential of the deposit. Libongo is a very remote site in dense rainforest in eastern Cameroon. The 400 sq km licence lies adjacent to the Mobilong diamond mine being developed by CNK Mining of South Korea. Heavy rains and equipment breakdowns have delayed the processing of the material but the full results are expected to be known by the end of Q3 2012.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201207250703194423I

Associated: reported revenues were £210 million, with circulation revenues up 4% and continued market share improvement (Daily Mail 21.6% compared to 21.0% last year and The Mail on Sunday 20.1% compared to 19.8% last year)*. Total underlying advertising revenues were up 2%; comprising newspapers down 5%, newspaper websites (mainly Mail Online) up 69% (when combined these two revenue streams were broadly in line with last year), and other digital advertising (primarily Evenbase) up 15%. For the first three weeks of July, total underlying advertising revenues were 3% ahead of last year. Headcount reduced by a further 105 (3%) during the quarter to 3,809, 533 (12%) lower than at the start of the financial year. Northcliffe: reported revenues were £54 million, with circulation revenues up 2% on an underlying basis, reflecting the benefit of recent cover price increases. Total underlying advertising revenues were down 7% in a difficult market. There is a continued focus on efficiency with costs reduced by 14%. For the first three weeks of July, total underlying advertising revenues were 7% below last year. Headcount reduced by a further 86 (4%) during the quarter to 2,280, 251 (10%) lower than at the start of the financial year. Net debt / financing Net debt at 1st July, 2012 was £800 million, down from £809 million at 1st April, 2012. The Group continues to generate strong cash flows and these were primarily used to fund further acquisitions in the quarter. Acquisitions have now used £82 million of cash year to date (notably Jobrapido, Intelliworks, Xcelligent, Global Grain and Euromoney shares) with proceeds from disposals totalling £16 million year to date (notably the final instalment from the GLM disposal). Further debt reduction is expected in the fourth quarter.

Interim Management Statement This Interim Management Statement ('IMS') covers the third quarter of DMGT's financial year to 1st July 2012 and describes the Group's financial position and performance during the period, updated to the latest practicable date. Encouraging performance; outlook for year unchanged: • Revenue for the third quarter of £509 million, up 3% on last year on a reported basis and up 4% on an underlying# basis • Continued good underlying# growth from our B2B businesses • Return to underlying# growth at Associated Newspapers • Net debt reduced by £9 million to £800 million Outlook for the year remains unchanged

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=20120725070500P9C8E

Numis initiates add on Oxford Instruments, target price 1380p.

Investec upgrades Howden Joinery from sell to hold, target price raised from 108p to 135p.

Coverage Titan Europe (TSW) warned that trading conditions in China remained poor, while sales in Italy were heavily impacted by the earthquake in May 2012. In order to prevent accumulating dead stock in China, the group has been forced to re-export products originally manufactured in Europe. Combined with the weakening of the Euro against the sterling, the wheel and undercarriage manufacturer does not expect to meet market expectations. Titan Europe shares crashed by 13.13p to 110p.

Summary The Board's current estimate of the impact of trading-related adjustments to the Company's performance would not have required an update before the release of half-year figures in September, however, an additional effect is caused by the significant weakening of the Euro which suggests that our sterling consolidated trading profit will be materially below current market expectations although, if this was to continue, there would also be a positive effect on the overall sterling consolidated net debt position of the Company.

Trading update At the Company's AGM on 27 June 2012, the Board stated that, despite short term uncertainty around the European market and destocking in China it continued to believe Titan's key markets would have strong medium to longer term growth and this still remains the case. During the first half, trading has been affected by external factors, which we have already highlighted and reported to shareholders. Subsequent to the half-year period end, the Company provides the following details on current position: · The earthquake in Northern Italy which has severely impacted the Italian agriculture large wheel factory:- In the Statement issued on 18 July 2012, we updated on the progress at Titan's Italian operations at Finale Emilia where production, although limited, recommenced on 16 July 2012. We continue to manage customer supplies with the use of extensive internal and third party resources and we are working closely with our insurance and loss recovery partners to ensure that the financial impact of this earthquake on the business is minimised. Despite this excellent recovery work, we cannot realistically anticipate that there will be no volume loss in the short term. · The continuation of very depressed trading conditions in China:- As we stated at the time of our AGM, the depressed trading conditions in construction equipment manufacture in China have greatly reduced our sales values into the region. Furthermore, to avoid "dead stock" we have had to incur considerable extra cost as we re-export components made in Europe. A corollary to this Chinese problem is the attempts by Chinese and other Asian manufacturers to export components previously aimed at the local market into the low-cost end of the worldwide aftermarket. This has changed the mix of business and reduced Titan-ITM's aftermarket business with the volume split between OEM and aftermarket expected to be 80:20 against the 2011 split of 70:30. The OEM business for Undercarriage continues to meet budget expectations in our main markets. Our new products, particularly for mining, continue to be well received

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201207240700103135I

Outlook Across the Group, the focus remains on driving profitable growth through brand innovation and renovation, and through improving margins via further cost reduction initiatives. The major supply chain optimisation project, announced in March, is on track to significantly reduce the overhead footprint of the Group's manufacturing activities, and the benefits will be seen in the current financial year. Whilst input costs have shown signs of short term easing, they remain volatile and in some cases close to their highest levels. The balance sheet remains strong with only a small net debt position and the Group is well placed to pursue further growth opportunities which fit its strategic aims. Last year's underlying revenue growth across the business, particularly in the UK, in the Beauty division and in Indonesia, together with the new Cussons Mum & Me and Fudge ranges, have provided encouraging momentum into the current financial year. As a result, overall performance since the year-end has been in line with expectations. Clearly the world remains uncertain and volatile. However, consumer demand for high quality innovative products serving day to day needs continues, and we are well placed to serve those needs with a strong distribution footprint in key geographic markets. Whilst the situation in the Group's important Nigerian market remains fragile, the Board is confident of a return to profitable growth in the current financial year.