Member Info for mulledwine

Royal Dutch Shell (RDSA) has agreed to buy Norwegian liquefied natural gas company Gasnor for 74 million dollars (47.6 million pounds). The move is in-line with the oil and gas giant's strategy of developing its presence in the LNG market and will give it access to two tanker ships, a fleet of trucks and a network of terminals. The group believes that the switch the LNG will allow it to reduce its emission levels ahead of new regulations which will come into effect in 2015. Shares in Shell edged up by 20p to 2,199.5p.

Northland Capital reiterated its "buy" rating for Anite Group (AIE) with an increased target price of 153p, from 140p. The broker was impressed by the technology group improving its adjusted EBIT margin by 800 basis points in the year ended April 2012, to 28.1%, as it benefited from higher than expected 2G and 3G equipment sales. Northland added that this could increase to 29% in the 2013 financial year as the company's mix moves more towards software. With a strong cash position, the broker believes that Anite has room to make some small bolt-on acquisitions. The shares crept up by 0.1p to 131.9p.

Singer Capital maintained its "buy" stance for Micro Focus International (MCRO) with a 570p target price. The broker believes the software developer's focus on delivering a steady supply of new technology to its clients give it good revenue visibility. Singer noted that the group is the market leader in the 250 million dollar (160.7 million pounds) COBOL programming market and pointed to its Visual Cobol software, which allows companies to reuse their older software in modern environments. Shares in Micro Focus inched down by 4p to 542p.

Seymour Pierce initiated coverage of Messaging International (MES) with a "buy" recommendation and 2.1p target price. The mobile video messaging provider has a history of steady earnings growth and the broker noted that the firm is set to bring out two new products in the second half of 2012, including text to voice software in India. Seymour Pierce forecasts compounded annual revenue growth of 16% over the next three years, bringing revenues to 5.7 million pounds by 2014. The shares jumped by 0.025p to 0.825p

Recruitment specialists such as Michael Page International are very useful indicators of economic trends and the confidence of their clients, but they are not a lot of use in discerning economic courses in the future. There is almost no forward visibility of earnings. As one analyst says of Michael Page, at the end of the first half: “The outcome for the full year remains anybody’s guess.” Steve Ingham, the chief executive, says that the market for recruitment at present is stable, static and flat, outside Asia Pacific at least. Europe, particularly the southern half, is difficult; Britain is tough, especially in banking. This suggests, and Mr Ingham concedes, that the third quarter, traditionally a quiet one, is going to be challenging. As the graph shows, the shares have come back from almost £5 in March and, down 13¾p to 360p last night, are back to where they were at the start of the year. They sell on a hefty 20 times’ earnings. As I have suggested before, the time to invest in recruiters, because they are such cyclical businesses, is when they are at their lowest ebb. I am not sure we are there yet, Tempus writes.

Panmure Gordon has downgraded its recommendation for soft drinks group Britvic from 'hold' to 'sell' and slashed its target price from 350p to 250p after Wednesday's trading update which saw the stock drop by 15 per cent. Britvic has said the recall of its Robinsons Fruit Shoot and Fruit Shoot Hydro drinks could cost the company £15-25m, up from earlier guidance of just £1-5m. Added to this, poor weather conditions and weak consumer sentiment means the group now expects to deliver a full year results at the bottom end of market expectations - before taking account of the impact of the recall.

Nomura has reduced its target price for luxury brand Burberry after a slower first quarter, though the broker maintained its 'buy' recommendation for the stock. Given the recent pull back in the sector and its reduced estimates, the broker has lowered its price target from 1,530p to 1,450p. Investec also reiterated its 'buy' rating on the stock this morning, saying: "We would highlight that Q1 is the smallest quarter for Burberry and is against the toughest comp this year." The broker said it would review its forecasts for the group after a conference call with the firm but is "happy to remain a buyer".

Moljen - hello - SP bounced off this level in October 2011 ---will she do likewise again ?

Yes it should be taken as a sign of confidence Dillistone Group Buy 10-Jul-12 £98,600.00 Mike Love 145,000 @ 68.00p

Chocolate retailer Thorntons said total sales in the fourth quarter improved 7.8 per cent to £24.7m as action taken to revitalise its brand starts to deliver improvements in a difficult trading environment. Own Store like-for-like sales during the nine-week period increased by 0.7%. Overall sales in Own Stores declined £0.7m to £13.7m following the closure of 36 stores during the year. Chief executive Jonathan Hart commented: "Although we are encouraged by this performance, this nine week period contributes less than 12% to our annual sales and we continue to remain cautious about the outlook for the coming year." "Trading initiatives in our Own Stores, implemented since our strategic review, combined with new product launches have led to some improvement in underlying sales." We anticipate profit before tax, impairment and onerous lease charges for the full year to be in line with our expectations, the group said.

Shore Capital retained its "sell" stance on Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG), noting that the shares are trading at record highs and a prospective 2012 earnings multiple of 18 times. The broker said that the proceeds of the sale of the firm's New York Barclay hotel for 200 million pounds will be returned to shareholders. However, Shore believes that any value added to shareholders will be offset by the ensuing 10 million dollar (6.4 million pound) decline in annual profits. The shares grew by 16p to 1,564p.

Panmure Gordon reiterated its "buy" recommendation for Kingfisher (KGF) with a 350p target price. The broker previously expected the DIY specialist's B&Q business to report like-for-like sales growth of 4% in the second quarter, recovering from an 11.7% decline in the first. However, in light of the heavy rain, Panmure now forecasts growth of just 1%, noting that 40% of B&Q's sales are related to outdoor activities. However, the broker added that, despite these downgrades, the shares trade on a prospective multiple of just 11 times for 2013. Kingfisher shares advanced by 5.4p to 274.1p.

Severn Trent Sell 09-Jul-12 £150,181.10 Michael J E McKeon 8,916 @ 1,684.40p Severn Trent Sell 09-Jul-12 £88,346.78 Andy Smith 5,245 @ 1,684.40p Severn Trent Sell 09-Jul-12 £65,371.56 Martin Kane 3,881 @ 1,684.40p Severn Trent Sell 09-Jul-12 £59,358.26 Tony Ballance 3,524 @ 1,684.40p

Chief Executive of N Brown, Alan White, has sold 234,699 shares, post-exercise of options, just a week after the internet and catalogue home shopping company said sales were up. White, who joined the company in September 2002, earned himself £613,597 after selling the shares at 261.44p each. The CEO sold all of the 234,699 shares, having earned them through the company's long-term incentive plan and deferred annual bonus scheme.

Director Shareholdings Aegis Group plc has been notified that on 4 July 2012 the directors named below acquired Aegis Group plc ordinary shares of 5.5p each at a price of £1.6748 per share, in each case pursuant to a dividend reinvestment arrangement. Jerry Buhlmann Jerry Buhlmann acquired 1471 shares. Following this transaction his total ordinary shareholding is 532,705 shares, constituting 0.0454% of the total issued share capital of Aegis Group plc. Nick Priday Nick Priday acquired 233 shares. Following this transaction his total ordinary shareholding is 19,736 shares, constituting 0.00168% of the total issued share capital of Aegis Group plc.

"As well as having strong expertise and credentials in working capital management solutions, Gresham demonstrated an innovative approach and a clear vision for the future," said Anne Collard, Global Head of Product & Channel Management, Payments & Cash Management at ANZ. "We needed to supplement the work we are doing to enhance our suite of advanced client solutions and meet an aggressive roll-out schedule, so partnering with a vendor we can trust was crucial. Gresham has been collaborative throughout all stages of development and we envisage this to be the start of a long and successful partnership." "From the outset we established a very close relationship with ANZ, developing a mutually supportive business model where our commercial success is linked directly to the uptake of solutions by ANZ's clients. We successfully delivered each phase of the overall project on time, allowing the bank to hit all of its launch date targets," said Chris Errington, CEO of Gresham Computing. "I look forward to working with ANZ as the solutions are rolled out to local, regional and global clients." ANZ Cashactive Virtual was launched in Australia in December 2011, with ANZ Cashactive Fusion and ANZ Cashactive Control introduced in April 2012. Gresham is now actively supporting ANZ as they roll out the solutions across the Asia Pacific region.

Following the announcement of a "Significant Contract Win" with a major new bank customer, as announced by the Company on 20 July 2011, Gresham has today issued a press release with further information on the partnership with this bank customer, which has now been named as Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. The press release follows in full unedited text below: ANZ partners with Gresham to deliver innovative cash and information management solutions for corporate clients London, 10 July 2012, Gresham Computing plc, a leading provider of transaction control solutions to international financial institutions, today announced the successful commercialisation of its third major project with Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ANZ) - rounding out ANZ's innovative solution suite for helping corporate clients to increase visibility, control and efficiency in the areas of cash flow and information management. Using Gresham's Clareti Transaction Control (CTC) solution, ANZ recently launched ANZ Cashactive Fusion. This solution helps organisations managing large volumes of payments and collections with optimising working capital and finance team efficiency. By streamlining and automating the capturing and reconciliation of financial information to drive insight-led business decisions, it is ideal for organisations in financial services, utilities, telecommunications, health and property sectors. The bank has also partnered with Gresham to deliver ANZ Cashactive Control and ANZ Cashactive Virtual. While both solutions provide a robust and efficient way of managing, segregating and reconciling funds, they offer the flexibility of addressing different business needs. ANZ Cashactive Control is specifically targeted at helping organisations in accounting, legal, property, government or specialist financial sectors with the compliance obligations involved in managing client monies. When it comes to managing intra-company funds, ANZ Cashactive Virtual is relevant to any organisation looking to maximise their liquidity in today's challenging environment.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201207100700070158H

Replacement RNS http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201207101010133104H

Valuation: Maintained at £89m Our DCF model to 2018, with a 5% long-term growth rate and Edison’s standard 12.5% WACC, yields a net present value of £89m, assuming the equity fund-raising takes place in 2012. This is equivalent to 296.75p per share, and 276.72p per share if the £3m convertible loan converts to equity