Member Info for mulledwine

Merchant Securities has assessed the possibility of a counter-bid for business and technology service company Logica, one day after Canadian group CGI offered to buy the firm for 1.7bn pounds. The agreed cash bid by CGI was for 105p per Logica share; on Thursday the stock settled at 110.9p "indicating the market sees some opportunity for a counter-bid," said Merchant analyst Roger Phillips.

Spudding of seventh well of Phase-III development campaign in Oil Producing Kharsang Field Jubilant is pleased to announce that KPL-B, the final well of the seven well Phase-III development drilling campaign in the oil producing Kharsang Field, Arunachal Pradesh was spudded on 31 May 2012. KPL-B, located in the southern area of the field to the south-west of well KSG#55 and north-west of KSG#62, is being drilled with a primary objective of appraising the S-00 reservoir sands and a secondary objective of appraising the M-00 and T-00 sand layers. The well will be deviated by approximately 686 metres to the south from the existing plinth of well KSG#40 and will be drilled to a target depth of approximately 1,400 metres True Vertical Depth ("TVD"). The well is expected to take up to five weeks to drill. The sixth development well, KSG#63 (previously referred to as KPL-E) was planned to be drilled to a depth of 1,522 metres Measured Depth ("MD")/ 1,400 metres TVD, but due to well complications, it had to be sidetracked twice after drilling to a depth of 956 metres MD and 1,517 metres MD, respectively. The well was completed on 13 May 2012 at a depth of 1,128 metres MD (1,048 metres TVD). Based on the results of the wireline log interpretation and mud log shows, the primary objective of the M-00 sands have been encountered in the well and were in line with expectations. The KSG#63 well will be tested with the smaller capacity work-over rig, which is expected to be mobilized soon. The testing is expected to take approximately three weeks. GeoEnpro Petroleum Ltd., a joint venture between GeoPetrol and Jubilant Enpro (a member of the wider Jubilant Bhartia Group), is the operator of the Kharsang Field. Jubilant holds a 25 percent interest in block through its subsidiary, Jubilant Energy (Kharsang) Pvt. Ltd. The other members of the consortium are Oil India Ltd. and GeoPetrol.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201206010700055738E

RNS good reading

Albert Ellis, Chief Executive of Harvey Nash, said: "We are delighted with the first quarter financial results given the economic uncertainty right now. We are also very pleased with the acquisition of Talent-IT which when merged with our existing successful Harvey Nash business, the merged entity will be the clear market leader in Technology recruitment in the profitable Benelux region."

Summary and Outlook Results for the year ended 31 January 2012 exceeded expectations as the Group benefited from its broad portfolio of services, strong geographic footprint and significant market share gains. In our trading update of 17 February 2012, expectations for the current year ending 31 January 2013 were revised when we said that the ongoing economic uncertainty in the Eurozone meant that our clients continue to exercise caution in relation to hiring permanent staff and that this had impacted demand for executive recruitment in the UK, the Nordics and mainland Europe. There has been no change to our outlook for the Eurozone at this time but, given recent market volatility, we are seeing unique opportunities, such as the acquisition of Talent-IT. In these situations we will be able to drive growth and create new market leaders in key geographies, when the market conditions improve. The outlook for freelance contracting remains encouraging with little evidence of a slowdown. As a result, the Board is pleased to report that underlying organic first quarter trading is on track and the acquisition of Talent-IT is expected to contribute an additional 5% increase to Group PBT (before non-recurring items) this year and a 10% increase next year.

Acquisition We are pleased to announce today the acquisition of the entire issued share capital of Talent-IT BVBA ("Talent-IT"), a Belgium based IT project and recruitment company, for an initial cash consideration of €1.7m. Talent-IT is headquartered in Antwerp and specialises in providing clients with flexible-working, highly skilled IT professionals for their permanent or project based vacancies. This acquisition marks another important step in the ongoing development of Harvey Nash's portfolio of services across its most profitable geographic regions. The acquisition will result in Harvey Nash's Benelux business becoming the market leader in the region. It will increase the total contribution of that business to 30% of the Group's mainland Europe revenue. In the year ended 31 December 2011, Talent-IT and its wholly owned subsidiary Team4Talent BVBA reported a combined profit before taxation of approximately €0.7m, turnover of approximately €11.3m and as at 31 December 2011 had gross assets of €4.4m and net assets of €0.5m. Harvey Nash has acquired 100% of the shares (the "Shares") in Talent-IT from Jeroen Fries, Christophe Orens, Dirk Vangrunderbeek and Jasna Pozna (the "Sellers") for an initial consideration of €1.7m payable on completion. In addition, Talent-IT has agreed to acquire the 50% of the shares of Team4Talent BBVA ("Team4Talent") not currently held by Talent-IT from Stefan Moelants for an initial consideration of €100,000. The Sellers and Stefan Moelants are to remain with Talent-IT and Team4Talent. Subject to certain earn-out thresholds of Talent-IT and Team4Talent being met, the Sellers and Stefan Moelants will receive, in aggregate, up to a maximum of €2.8million in deferred consideration over the next 3 years. The initial consideration, and any deferred consideration which becomes payable, is to be funded out of Harvey Nash's existing cash resources.

Financial position The Group has no term debt and continues to enjoy overall banking facilities of circa £40m. Dividends Subject to approval at the Annual General Meeting on 28 June 2012, and as previously announced, the Group proposes to pay on 13 July 2012 a final dividend for the year ended 31 January 2012 of 1.635p per share to shareholders on the register as at 22 June 2012. This marks an increase of 10% on the dividend for the same period in 2011 of 1.48p. The total dividend of 2.66p per share for the year represents an increase of 10% on 2010/11 (2.42p).

Interim Management Statement and Acquisition Harvey Nash, the global professional services group, is issuing its first Interim Management Statement for the financial year ending 31 January 2013, covering the period from 1 February 2012 to date. There have been no material events or transactions in the period other than those detailed in this statement. Current trading The Board is pleased to report that the Group performed ahead of budget during the first quarter ended 30 April 2012. Revenue rose 18% and gross profit was up 6% compared with the same period last year. The increase in revenue is being driven by a greater proportion of flexible labour services in our business mix. Operating profit, stated before non recurring items and the investment made in two new offices, is 10% ahead of last year. In our preliminary results statement on 30 April 2012, we announced that approximately £0.8m would be invested this year in two new office openings in Hong Kong and Sydney with effect from 1st February 2012. The Group is also relocating its London office achieving approximately £0.8m of annualised like for like savings, at a one-off cost of circa £0.6m. A sizeable amount of the investment in Asia and all of the relocation costs are budgeted for in the first half of the current financial year. Trading in our US markets remains encouraging with good growth seen in the first quarter. As expected and in line with our view expressed in the preliminary results statement, UK and European trading is more modest. Outsourcing continues to perform well.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201206010700096092E

Aer Lingus response to decision by UK Supreme Court relating to OFT investigation into Ryanair's minority shareholding Dublin & London, 1 June 2012: Aer Lingus Group plc ("Aer Lingus") welcomes today's refusal by the UK Supreme Court to grant Ryanair leave to appeal against the recent judgement by the Court of Appeal that the Office of Fair Trading ("OFT") is "in time" to investigate Ryanair's minority shareholding in Aer Lingus under the UK's merger control legislation. The Supreme Court's decision brings to an end Ryanair's challenge to the validity of the OFT's decision to commence its investigation into Ryanair's minority shareholding in September 2010. The OFT can now proceed swiftly to complete its investigation into Ryanair's shareholding which is contrary to the interests of consumers and the majority of Aer Lingus' shareholders.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201206010909266140E

Peel Hunt has downgraded its rating for technology services group Logica from buy to hold and raised its target price from 95p to 105p following Thursday's bid from CGI. The broker thinks that the offer is unlikely to be countered as most of the large players in the industry seem inappropriate candidates: "The US players already have strength in European services and Indian pure plays are probably too conservative to take on anything as large as Logica."

Nomura says that Prudential's acquisition of Reassure American Life Insurance Company (REALIC) from Swiss Re will indeed provide a short-term boost to earnings, but raises some 'strategic questions' for the UK-listed insurance giant. The broker says that its main concerns is that "it is a closed book transaction that will run off over time (probably over half of the book will run off within the next 10 years). This means that, although it provides a strong short-term earnings boost, this will turn into an earnings drag over the longer term as the book runs off." "A key question, in our view, is whether Pru will need to make further Admin Re deals in order to replace the reducing earnings going forward and to avoid the earnings drag from the book over the longer term. This begs the question of whether Admin Re is now strategically important to Pru or not."

Robinson Buy 31-May-12 £52,500.00 Anthony Glossop 50,000 @ 105.00p

Informa Buy 31-May-12 £51,945.00 John Davis 15,000 @ 346.30p

Nick Deacon, Director of Property at Henderson Global Investors said. "We have held these properties for over 6 years. The sale forms part of a strategic repositioning of the Fund which we have undertaken over the last 18 months. The proceeds will be reinvested into CLOF 1's development programme over the near term, including the Fund's joint venture with Istithmar P&O at Regent Quarter in King's Cross, the proposed redevelopment of 54-57 Great Marlborough Street in Soho and Bishop's Court in Spitalfields. The London office investment markets remain a challenging and competitive environment. Deploying capital into the Fund's development and refurbishment activities is a prudent and cost effective course of action for us to adopt."

Great Portland Estates plc ("GPE") announces the acquisition of the head leasehold interests in French Railways House and 50 Jermyn Street, SW1, for £39.0 million from Henderson Global Investor's Central London Office Fund 1 ("CLOF 1"). The purchase price reflects a net initial yield of 5.1% and a capital value of £782 per sq. ft. The properties were both built in the 1950's and provide 49,879 sq. ft. of office and retail accommodation on an underdeveloped 0.3 acre site. They are multi-let to 9 tenants producing a gross rent of £2.12 million per annum, which reflects an average rent of £46.50 per sq. ft. on the offices and £125 per sq. ft. Zone A on the retail, offering good short term reversionary potential; all of the leases have events between 2012 and 2014. The properties are held leasehold from The Crown Estate ("TCE"), expiring in 2057 and 2053, respectively, with a total fixed ground rent of £13,250 per annum. They adjoin the Piccadilly Estate, a 130,000 sq. ft. office and retail holding owned by the Great Capital Partnership ("GCP"), GPE's 50:50 Partnership with Capital and Counties Properties PLC. Toby Courtauld, GPE Chief Executive said, "We are pleased to announce this acquisition in the heart of St James's. The acquisition offers an attractive net initial yield of 5.1% which we expect to be able to grow to around 7% over the next 24 months as a result of imminent lease events and focused asset management. Over the longer term, these two adjoining properties offer a superb development opportunity in one of the West End's premier sub markets, potentially delivering material uplift in both the quantity and quality of accommodation on the site".

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201206010700065795E

http://www.edisoninvestmentresearch.co.uk/researchreports/Augean010612Update.pdf