Member Info for mulledwine

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201205040700147092C

Alan Brown, Chief Executive Officer of Rentokil Initial plc, said: "The momentum in sales growth generated during 2011 has continued into 2012, with further improvement in organic growth rates and strong performance from our recent acquisitions. Market conditions have generally remained challenging, especially in our Southern European businesses. However, Pest North America benefited from relatively mild weather. "City Link losses were higher than prior year but performance improved through the quarter as the new management team gained traction. We expect a significant improvement in year-on-year financial performance in the second half. Textiles & Hygiene had a strong start to the year with continued progress in the Benelux business supported by robust performances in France and Germany. The Pest Control Division has been more mixed, with strong performances in North America and UK Pest offset by weaker results in our operations in Southern Europe. Asia has performed well with strong momentum in Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia coupled with continued progress in emerging markets. As indicated at the time of our 2011 results, central costs were higher than in the prior year reflecting increased investment in Programme Olympic. "Assuming economic conditions do not deteriorate further, we anticipate continued organic growth and that this, coupled with productivity improvement at City Link, will convert into a year-on-year improvement in financial performance in the second half of the year."

Q1 Highlights § Group revenue up 3.6%* in challenging trading conditions: Ø Asia +8.6%, Textiles & Hygiene +4.5%, Pest Control +3.7%, Initial Facilities +3.5%, City Link +1.7%, Ø Further improvement in organic growth trend +1.7%** in Q1 Ø Acquisitions continue to perform well contributing 2.4% of revenue growth § Adjusted operating profit down 6.7% or £2.5m at CER of which £2.6m central costs and £2.0m City Link with category gains from Pest Control, Textiles and Facilities Services § Profit before tax growth driven in part by a £2.1m increase in pension interest credit but offset by an adverse foreign exchange movement § Cash flow impacted by seasonality factors but expected to strengthen during the year

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201205040700187189C

The financial year just ended was one of two halves for Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust, with the second being much more to management's liking. Over the year to March 31st net asset value (NAV) per share fell by 5.8% and the share price by 4.6%, both of which represented under-performance against the investment trust's benchmark, the FTSE All-World Index in sterling terms, which fell by 2.9%. It may be some consolation to Scottish Mortgage shareholders, however, that the 5.8% year-on-year decline hides a sharp recovery in the second half of the year; NAV per share was down by 20.5% in the first half of the year, while the share price was down 16.0%. All investment trusts prefer to point to long-term performance, however, and here the story has a happier ending, with NAV per share up 39% over five years, beating the 26% gain on the benchmark index over the same period. Net asset value per share at the end of March, after deducting borrowings at fair market value, fell to 768.7p from 816.5p a year earlier,

Rather more appealingly for Tempus, technology firm Spirent Communications trades on 15 times earnings which, given its markets, is not bad. Revenues gained 16% in the testing division in the first quarter - the kind of growth not to be sneezed at. Buy.

In the Times, Tempus weighs up whether to take a swig of pub chain JD Wetherspoon. It’s going toe to toe with heavily indebted rivals so its well capitalised balance sheet is an asset but the city is worried about margins. The founder and 25% owner of the firm, Tim Martin, has decided to curb aggressive expansion which Tempus agrees with. Trading at 11 times earnings though, in a difficult environment the investor column is going to take it easy, not have one for the road and avoid a headache in the morning. Hold.

Outlook As previously stated, the main challenges for the company, in this financial year of 53 trading weeks, will be the continuing cost pressures resulting from government legislation, including recent increases in excise duty, business rates and carbon tax. We continue to be slightly more cautious about the potential outcome for the current financial year.

In the 13 weeks ended 22nd April, JD Wetherspoon's (JDW) like-for-like sales rose by 2% year-on-year, while operating margins declined 120 basis points to 8.1%. The pub chain opened a net of 27 new establishments since the start of the financial year and plans to open a further 40 by the end of the year. The group also complained about the growing number and size of taxes that it is facing, noting that the excise duty, slot machine tax and "late-night" levy" will cost it an additional 11 million pounds. The shares edged up by 0.1p to 408.5p.

Panmure Gordon reiterated its "buy" recommendation for SIG (SHI) with a 165p target price. The broker said that the building products distributor is taking positive steps to turn around its business and return margins to historic levels. Panmure noted that the group has made good acquisitions to improve its position in the fragmented European market and believes that further purchases are on the way. The broker added that the company will look to centralise its UK operations to improve the brand recognition of its main operating companies. Shares in SIG dropped 2.3p to 103.3p.

Following a 12% fall the shares, Singer Capital upgraded its stance on ASOS (ASC) from "fair value" to "buy", with a maintained target price of 1,950p. The broker believes that investors over-reacted to a weaker than expected sales in the online fashion retailer's fourth quarter. However, Singer pointed out that the group offset this through improved margins, with improved warehouse efficiency. The broker's forecasts put the shares on a prospective multiple of 28.2 times for the 2013 financial year, falling to 19.8 times in 2014. ASOS shares inched down by 3p to 1,480p.

One for the diary Travis Perkins will announce an Interim Management Statement on Monday 14 May 2012 for the period 1 January 2012 to 30 April 2012.

Shore Capital retained its "buy" recommendation for Travis Perkins (TPK), which the broker said has continued to perform well despite the weak economic environment. The builders' merchant operates nearly 2,000 branches and Shore Capital notes that the group's acquisition of plumbing supplies company BSS has generated greater than expected synergies. Shore also noted that the number of house purchases since 2008 have been far below the long term average and believes that a resurgence, resulting from an upturn in the economy, could significantly increase sales volumes. The shares declined by 14p to 1,041p.

The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has yet to announce the conclusions of its 2012 financial planning round. BAE Systems continues to work with the MoD to address the capability requirements for the new Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers, including embodiment of any changes to the contracted programme that may be required. Approval of the US Department of Defense Fiscal Year 2012 budget in December 2011 has resulted in less disruption to the award of defence contracts compared with the corresponding period for 2011, when the US government was operating under a Continuing Resolution. However, with US government debt reduction measures to be determined and with Presidential and Congressional elections in November, delay to the approval of Fiscal Year 2013 budgets is likely, with the possibility that the US government operates under a Continuing Resolution in the last quarter of calendar year 2012. The risk of further reductions in US defence budgets remains if "sequestration" comes into force in January 2013. Funded order intake from markets outside the US and UK in the period was £1.1bn. In 2011, funded order intake from this broad international base totalled £4.8bn for the full year. In April, the Group submitted its proposal for the supply of 12 Typhoon Tranche 3 standard aircraft, together with five-year availability-based support, pilot and ground crew training, and facilities, to the Royal Air Force of Oman. Subject to Parliament approval, the Group expects to receive an order to supply the Norwegian armed forces with a combined total of 144 new and rebuilt CV90 vehicles and initial support, worth some £0.5bn. In March, the Group completed the sale of its BAE Systems Safety Products Inc. and Schroth Safety Products GmbH businesses in the US and Germany for cash consideration of approximately $32m (£20m). The businesses generated sales of approximately $40m (£25m) in 2011.

BAE Systems plc - Interim Management Statement for the period from 1 January 2012 to 1 May 2012 2 May 2012 BAE Systems plc today issues its Interim Management Statement for the period from 1 January 2012 to 1 May 2012 in accordance with the requirements of the UK Listing Authority's Disclosure Rules and Transparency Rules. Trading for the period has been consistent with management expectations at the time of the 2011 preliminary results announcement on 16 February 2012. As previously indicated, whilst little sales growth can be expected for the Group in 2012 in the current market conditions, modest growth in underlying earnings per share is anticipated, assuming a satisfactory conclusion to Salam negotiations in 2012 and excluding the benefit of the 2011 Research & Development tax settlement. A higher level of operating business cash inflow is planned for the Group in 2012 with the anticipated benefit of cash receipts related to the Salam programme. In January, the Group provided an update relating to its Salam programme in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This update included proposed changes relating to final assembly of the last 48 of the 72 Typhoon aircraft, the creation of a maintenance and upgrade facility, initial provisioning for subsequent insertion of Tranche 3 capability in respect of the last 24 aircraft of this order, and formalisation of price escalation. Following budgets being approved in the Kingdom in December 2011 on all these items, other than the price escalation, contracts valued at £0.4bn have been received to date. Salam trading relating to the formalisation of price escalation, including significant cash receipt, remains deferred until ongoing negotiations have been concluded. Budgets were also established for the next five years of support on the core Saudi British Defence Co-operation Programme, including an upgrade of the training environment. Contract negotiations on these items are well advanced

Fashion chain Next is sticking with full year guidance given in March after first quarter sales showed a small year-on-year improvement, helped by contributions from new stores. Sales, excluding value added tax (VAT), for the bricks and mortar retail estate fell 3.9% in the 13 weeks to April 28th from a year earlier, but the Directory division - catalogue and Internet sales - rode to the rescue with sales growth of 11.8%. Total sales over the period were up 1.4%, of which net sales from new space accounted for 2.9% of total sales growth.

Barclays Capital upgrades Ultra Electronics from underweight to equal weight, target price raised from 1520p to 1840p.

Barclays Capital downgrades Halma from outperform to equal weight, target price raised from 380p to 430p.

Michael O’Leary’s all-conquering Ryanair is at the centre of pincer movement after Etihad Airways snatched a strategic stake in the rival Aer Lingus, only months after the Abu Dhabi airline had swooped on another Ryanair competitor, Air Berlin. Etihad has taken a near-3% stake in Aer Lingus, the part-privatised Irish flag-carrier, in a move seen as a sign of the Middle Eastern airline’s desire to buy the Irish Government’s 25% stake as and when it comes up for sale. The acquisition of the stake by Etihad is provocative. Ryanair has built up a near-29% stake in Aer Lingus but has lost a small fortune on the shareholding because of the collapse in the share price. Mr O’Leary has been thwarted in his attempts to take control of Aer Lingus. Dublin has refused to sell him its stake and European competition authorities have ruled his attempts offside, The Times reports.

Jefferies has reiterated its hold rating and 700p target price for broadcaster and broadband group British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB) on valuation grounds, but has highlighted the firm's 'decent' set of third-quarter results on Wednesday. "Overall, it is a decent set of results even after adjusting for a £26m one-off tax benefit. Slower growth in Key Performance Indicators continued to highlight a slowdown in the business, but the performance was generally better than expected," the broker said.