Member Info for mulledwine

Marketing Services With a contribution from all of the Marketing Services businesses in the period, revenue and underlying operating profit are significantly ahead of the equivalent period for last year. All of the acquisitions have integrated well and we are winning business at an individual business level and through combining our capabilities on specific customer propositions. We will continue to invest in this area of our business, and to seek further selective acquisitions that extend our ability to offer a comprehensive and differentiated proposition to our target markets.

Print Trading conditions remain challenging but despite the anticipated fall in revenue, we have managed to improve margins and therefore maintain underlying operating profit. Within our Direct Response business, the closure of the Leeds facility will complete on schedule and the work will be transferred to our remaining site in Bradford. Our Point of Sale business continues to perform well and we have successfully renegotiated a number of our larger contracts. Service Graphics, our Exhibition and Events business, has performed well in the period and is benefitting from the reputation for the quality and reliability of the services that we provided during the London Olympics. Whilst our Books business continues to be impacted by changing order patterns, our reputation for service and reliability ensures we produce the majority of the bestselling titles.

St Ives plc - Interim Management Statement St Ives, the UK's leading marketing services and print group, is today publishing its Interim Management Statement covering the period from 28 July 2012 to date. We have made a good start to the current financial year with revenue for the fourteen week period ended 2 November 2012 broadly flat compared to the equivalent period last year, reflecting the benefit of growth across our Marketing Services businesses, offset by the revenue impact of our decision to exit commoditised print markets. As a result, margins are improved and underlying operating profit is ahead of the equivalent period for the prior year. We continue to make good progress with our strategy to reposition the business and offer an extended range of services and added value customer solutions from across the Group's capabilities.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/st.-ives-plc-(siv)/prn/interim-management-statement/20121127070000P2C22/

Commenting on today's announcement, Ken Randall, Chief Executive Officer of Randall & Quilter, said: "We are pleased to have reached agreement to acquire Alma and it demonstrates our commitment to find new legacy portfolios which meet our return criteria. We have commented that our pipeline has grown in recent times and it is pleasing to report that this heightened activity has now resulted in a run-off company purchase alongside the recent captive acquisitions. Regulatory approval is expected to be received by year end."

26 November 2012 Randall & Quilter Investment Holdings plc ('R&Q' or the 'Group') is pleased to announce that, subject to change of control approval by the Fin-FSA, it has reached agreement to acquire the entire issued share capital of Alma Insurance Company Limited ('Alma'), a Finnish domiciled reinsurer, from Tapiola General Mutual Insurance Company. Alma has been in run-off since 1989 and comprises international reinsurance business with net reserves of c. £1.6m as at 30 September, 2012 (the date of the latest available unaudited accounts). The consideration payable by Randall & Quilter in cash from existing resources is c. £4.4m, a discount to the estimated adjusted net asset value. The business will be managed by R&Q Insurance Services Ltd.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/randall-38-quilter-(rqih)/rns/acquisition/201211260700059258R/

"To be able to announce that we have achieved first coal production from the Penumbra Coal Mine is a really significant moment for the Company. It is the result of a huge effort from our operations team and a number of contractors that have been working together on this project for the past 14 months," Continental's Chief Executive Officer, Don Turvey said. "Penumbra will soon be making its first export thermal coal sales and generating its first cashflow. It is set to be a long-life and low-cost operation which should generate significant and sustainable returns for shareholders." Mr. Turvey added.

Wolfhart Hauser, Chief Executive Officer of Intertek, commented: "LSI adds new world-class trade reference testing capabilities to our minerals business within our Commodities division with an excellent reputation for precision and customer service. We are pleased to welcome LSI and its team of experts to Intertek".

Intertek acquires Laboratory Services International B.V (LSI) Mineral Laboratory Intertek Group plc (Intertek), a leading provider of quality and safety services to a wide range of industries worldwide, announces that it has acquired 75% of the issued capital of LSI, a global minerals reference testing laboratory. The shareholding was purchased from LSI's management shareholders for a cash consideration of EUR 5 million (GBP 4 million). LSI supports vendors and buyers of mineral consignments globally with analytical testing of traded minerals as a worldwide reference laboratory. As a LME (London Metal Exchange) approved facility, LSI is used by customers around the world to ascertain precise minerals values when settling commercial trades of minerals. Demand for LSI's services is driven by global minerals trading activity. As a leading international reference testing laboratory, LSI will enhance Intertek's existing minerals services by extending world-class trade verification services to all our customers. LSI is located in Rotterdam, Netherlands with 27 full-time employees. The company will form part of Intertek's Commodities division.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/intertek-group-plc-(itrk)/rns/acquisition/201211260700069359R/

Outlook The outlook for 2013 remains uncertain, with the Construction Products Association forecasting no return to growth before 2014. However, our management team have repeatedly demonstrated their ability to deliver superior performance in difficult markets and we remain confident that we will make further progress next year.

Operational progress Breedon continues to make good progress, despite the significant difficulties faced by the UK construction market, with reported construction output and mineral production volumes both sharply down in the year to date. We have maintained our focus on management of costs and careful selection of work, with the result that both England and Scotland have made solid progress this year. In October we announced our withdrawal from bidding for the majority of the Lafarge and Tarmac assets being divested as a precondition of their construction materials joint venture. We were ultimately unable to match the value expectations of the sellers for any of the assets on offer, in line with our often-stated position that we will only pursue acquisitions which add value for our shareholders. Several other potential acquisition opportunities are currently being investigated.

Trading Update Breedon Aggregates Limited issues the following statement in advance of its preliminary results announcement due on 5 March 2013. Trading Performance Anticipated trading results for the year to 31 December 2012 remain in line with market expectations, assuming normal weather conditions in December. Sales volumes of aggregates and ready-mixed concrete are ahead in both England and Scotland, assisted by positive contributions from acquisitions, C&G Concrete and Nottingham Readymix in England and Rothes Glen in Scotland. Sales volumes of asphalt are down year on year in line with market demand. Sales revenue in the second half of the year has been slightly stronger than the first half and the EBITDA margin improvements reported in the first half have been largely maintained.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/breedon-aggregates-(bree)/rns/trading-statement/201211260700069338R/

Andy Blundell, Chief Executive commented: "We are delighted to be entering a strategically important new relationship with BT. This provides further evidence of the attraction of the Group's market-leading propositions in the application of high-speed colour digital technology for transactional communications."

Important contract win with British Telecommunications plc (BT) Communisis plc (LSE: CMS), the leading marketing services provider, announces the award of a five year contract by British Telecommunications plc (BT) for the production of all its billing and associated customer communications, commencing December 2012. This work will be produced at our transactional centre of excellence in Liverpool, using high-speed colour digital technology; to make the billing formats clearer, more personal and more dynamic. This is additional to the BT shareholder communications that Communisis has produced for many years.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/communisis-plc-(cms)/rns/contract-win/201211260700069389R/

http://www.investegate.co.uk/cranswick-plc-(cwk)/rns/half-yearly-report/201211260700069377R/

Highlights: · Reported revenues up 6 per cent to £418.6m (2011: £393.9m) · Underlying revenues increased by 5 per cent * · Profit before tax rose by 21 per cent to £22.5m (2011: £18.5m) · Earnings per share up 23 per cent to 35.8p (2011: 29.2p) · Adjusted earnings per share 19 per cent higher at 35.8p (2011: 30.1p) · Dividend increased to 9.4p per share (2011: 9.0p) · Net debt £32.2m (30 Sept 2011: £48.2m) · Kingston Foods Limited acquired on 29 June 2012