Member Info for mulledwine

Nomura has maintained its 'buy' rating and 1,800p target price for emerging markets-focused bank Standard Chartered after the group reiterated its full-year guidance in a trading update. "The IMS does not justify upgrades and these have been necessary to generate outperformance from the shares in the past. Overall STAN results highlight a drag from the deteriorating growth outlook and adverse currency movements, much as we were expecting," Nomura said

http://www.edisoninvestmentresearch.co.uk/researchreports/Gemfields270612Flash.pdf

CM - bought in the low 80's ...missed the 60's! - SP has consolidated today - however Im a bit twitchy as to whether I should continue to hold - in normal times I certainly would but these aint normal times. GL

Peter Sands, Group Chief Executive, commented, "Against the background of a slowing and turbulent global economy, Standard Chartered has continued to deliver strong growth. We are seeing good momentum across many of our businesses and geographies and are winning market share as we again increase our financial support and lending to our customers and clients. We remain in growth mode and continue to see significant opportunities in our footprint of Asia, Africa and the Middle East."

The Group is expected to deliver a good performance in the first half of 2012 and the fundamentals remain in excellent shape; highly liquid, very well capitalised and with a firm grip on risk and costs. The Group has strong momentum, is accelerating investment and is on course to deliver on its financial objectives for the full year. The Group continues to grow income and gain market share in multiple products and multiple geographies.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201206270700042293G

Tempus looks, very skeptically, at Carpetright. The column admits the firm is doing nothing wrong in terms of strategy but argues, in the current market: “any company trying to sell big-ticket items that people do not necessarily need is going to struggle.” The figures are dire, pre-tax profits at £4m compared to £16m last year. Yet, very oddly, the shares have gained by two thirds since last Autumn. The explanation, thinks Tempus, are some institutional investors who just “believe” in Carpetright, but as it’s currently trading at a staggering 172 times last year’s earnings, the stock seems best avoided.

Tempus in the Times is something of a fan of Melrose, an engineering firm which buys other engineering firms then sells them at a profit. It has made around £550m on the sale of McKechnie and Dynacast, bought in 2005 and is now in the hunt for German firm Elster which makes smart meters for measuring power usage in people’s homes. With an impressive track record and a price to earnings ratio of just 11 times, Tempus think Melrose is worth a shout.

In the Telegraph, Questor makes the case for Stagecoach, which owns the East Midlands and South West Trains franchises as well as a very large bus network. Broadly, train companies are suffering in the recession but buses are doing well and the North American Megabus gamble appears to be paying off. Trading at 10 times earnings with a decent three per cent yield, the stock is a buy.

Commenting on the acquisition, Michael Roney, Chief Executive of Bunzl, said: "Service Paper is an excellent business with a reputation for providing high levels of customer service which will complement and expand our existing business in the region. We are delighted to welcome their employees to Bunzl."

BUNZL ACQUIRES SERVICE PAPER IN THE US Bunzl plc, the international distribution and outsourcing Group, today announces that it has acquired the business of Service Paper Company in the United States. Based near Seattle, Service Paper is principally engaged in the distribution of disposable supplies to the grocery, foodservice, food processor and industrial packaging sectors throughout the Pacific Northwest. Revenue of the business acquired for the year ended 31 December 2011 was $61 million and the gross assets purchased are estimated to be $18 million.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201206270700061892G

BUNZL PRE CLOSE STATEMENT Bunzl plc, the international distribution and outsourcing Group, is updating the market today relating to the six months ending 30 June 2012 prior to entering its close period. Overall trading is consistent with expectations at the time of the Interim Management Statement in April. At constant exchange rates Group revenue growth for the period is expected to be approximately 7% due to underlying revenue growth of about 4% and the impact from acquisitions and the disposal of the UK Vending business in August last year. There has also been a slight improvement in the Group operating margin as a result of the impact of the acquisitions completed in 2011 and the sale of the UK Vending business. Acquisitions remain an important part of the Group's growth strategy. Including the acquisition of Service Paper announced today, the Company has completed five acquisitions year to date with annualised revenue of approximately £130 million. The current environment for acquisitions remains positive with a promising pipeline of opportunities. Bunzl's strong cash flow and balance sheet should continue to enable the Company to take advantage of appropriate opportunities to consolidate further the markets in which it competes and increase shareholder value.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201206270700061882G

CONT The impact of currency remains uncertain, with the volatility in the euro. Based on current exchange rates, the Board anticipates a reduction to operating profit of some £5 million from translation consistent with the guidance on currency issued with the Group's IMS in May. While the combination of weakness in nitrile and currency translation effects will impact the Group's performance, the Board still anticipates that full year underlying profit before tax will be ahead of prior year pro-forma. Yule Catto will announce interim results for the six months to 30 June 2012 on Tuesday 28 August 2012.

Pre-Close Trading Update Yule Catto & Co plc ("Yule Catto" or the "Group"), the international producer of speciality chemicals, today issues a trading update in advance of entering its close period. The challenging trading conditions outlined at the time of the Group's May Interim Management Statement have continued through the remainder of the first half of the year. In our Europe and North America business segment, demand remains subdued, driven by continuing economic uncertainty and its effect on general business confidence. Demand is currently a little weaker than the first few months of the year, with business in the construction related sector continuing to be the weakest area of activity. Margin management has fully compensated for the volume declines, and our European business is benefitting from the synergies of the PolymerLatex acquisition at the expected levels. In Asia and ROW, the Group's non-nitrile businesses are performing well. In nitrile, the weakness in end market demand continues. This, combined with the effect of recent capacity additions has led to increasingly aggressive competitor pricing and a further weakening of profitability in nitrile. Additional competitive capacity is also due on stream during the course of the summer. The Board remains confident in the long term value that the Group will derive from this high growth sector. However, given the overall supply demand position, competitive behaviour and the volatility in trading caused by rapidly changing input prices, the Board now anticipates the current weakness in nitrile will probably continue throughout the remainder of this year and into next year. This will substantially lower operating profit in our Asia and ROW business segment while this persists.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201206270700092108G

The key benefits of the Decree, are that the Company's subsidiary, Medoilgas Italia SpA, would be able to seek the award of a production concession covering the Ombrina Mare oil and gas field in the Central Adriatic. The relevant application, which includes the proposed field development plan, was submitted in December 2008, received technical approval in June 2009 and was completing the final stages of environmental approval when DLGS 128/2010 came into force. Furthermore, the Company's existing production concession AC19.PI in the Northern Adriatic is also excluded from the restrictions of DLGS 128/2010. The immediate goals of the Company will be to seek the award of a production concession for the Ombrina Mare field, and to increase the priority of the development of the Northern Adriatic discoveries comprised in AC19.PI. The Decree also includes a provision for an increase of 3% in royalty payable by offshore hydrocarbon producers. The proceeds are to be allocated to the state budgets of the Ministry for the Environment, and the Ministry for Economic Development, to support the monitoring and enforcement of marine environmental protection and supervision of environmental safety for exploration and production activities offshore Italy. The increased royalty of 3% will have an impact on the profitability of the Guendalina field, and subsequently for Ombrina Mare, but the economics of both these assets remain viable and the Company is supportive of the proposed uses of these funds for increased environmental protection offshore Italy.

Positive update on the Italian ban on offshore exploration and production The Board of Mediterranean Oil & Gas Plc (AIM: MOG), the central Mediterranean producer, developer and explorer of oil and gas assets, is pleased to announce the following update regarding the drilling ban offshore Italy: Further to the press release issued by the Italian Government on 15th June, 2012, Decree DL 83/2012 (the "Decree") was published on 26 June 2012 in the Italian Official Journal. The Decree is effective immediately but requires ratification by the Italian Parliament within 60 days. During the ratification period the Decree can be amended by Parliament. The Decree includes a modification to the offshore restrictions to the oil and gas exploration and production industry introduced by DLGS 128/2010 in August 2010. According to the Decree, the restriction applicable to offshore exploration and production activities under DLGS 128/2010 will now apply to activities up to 12 miles offshore the Italian coastline. However, under the Decree, the restrictions under DLGS 128/2010 will no longer apply to: (i) applications for production concessions that were under review at the time DLGS 128/2010 came into force, and any connected or subsequent proceedings; (ii) any titles, including exploration licences that had already been issued prior to DLGS 128/2010 coming into force; and (iii) any proceedings connected with or subsequent to such titles, including possible extensions of the same..........

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201206270700102131G