Member Info for mulledwine

CONT The development of a range of products for domestic waste disposal, which was introduced in 2010, has proved successful. In addition, the acquisition of Interpack, a reseller and distributor of plastic container products, was the next major step in the diversification of the Company's product portfolio. Since its acquisition, Interpack has delivered sales and contribution ahead of the board's expectations and has continued to grow. The full impact of the Interpack acquisition will be seen in the forthcoming financial year. The Company has invested heavily in new manufacturing plant and facilities (circa £1.8m) to increase the Company's capacity for manufacturing food packaging products whilst at the same time diverting capacity from production of media products and the board is confident that the Company will see the benefit of this investment in the new financial year. The board anticipates that the preliminary results of the Company will be published on or around 23 July 2012.

Trading Update Coral Products, which specialises in the design, manufacture and supply of injection-moulded plastic products, today announces the following trading update. The results for the current financial year ending on 30 April 2012 are expected to be below market expectations with an expected shortfall in total sales of £1.1m and a resulting shortfall in contribution. This is largely attributable to a decline in sales and contribution of media products in the final quarter. However, taking into account the acquisition of Interpack Limited ("Interpack") for approximately 8 months of the current year since its acquisition in September 2011 and including acquisition and related costs of £450,000, the Company expects to report sales and ebitda substantially ahead of 2011 of £13.2 million and £602,000 respectively. Coral recognised in 2010 that the media distribution market had been permanently changed by the increasing use of digital media and that it was essential to reduce the Company's dependence on the sale of media products. As the market for media products has declined, pricing has become increasingly competitive, which has had an adverse impact on sales and contribution, which have fallen sharply during March and April of the current financial year. The Company has implemented a cost reduction programme to reflect current market conditions whilst at the same time reducing overheads. Annualised savings are estimated to exceed £300,000.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201205010700133993C

Transport group National Express enjoyed good overall revenue growth in the first quarter, despite a slightly mixed bag of results. In the UK, the bus division remains strong, growing four per cent year-on-year, with operating profit up two per cent, like-for-like (LFL) passenger volumes stable and student travel cards on the rise. 160 new buses are being added in the first six months of 2012, with funding for a further 31 hybrid vehicles recently secured from government. In the coach division, the company has been dealing with the lower profit caused by the loss of £15m of annual concession revenue, withdrawn by the government in November 2011, the progress of which has been slower than expected. Total concessionary revenue was down £2.8m year-on-year, a reduction of 40%. Sale of the firm's own concessionary cards has grown, albeit at a slower rate, with 100,000 cards already sold and alterations made to the scheme to extend it to include local airports, which has doubled that weekly rate of card sales. LFL revenue in the division has grown five per cent, including three per cent volume growth reflecting increased schedule frequency. In UK rail, the c2c division's revenue leapt 10% during the quarter and improved its punctuality performance to 96.8%.

Panmure Gordon upgrades Inchcape from hold to buy, target price raised from 410p to 430p.

Panmure Gordon initiates buy on Netdimensions, target price 76p.

The Chief Executive Officer of FTSE 250 energy services provider Hunting has sold off 100,000 shares in the firm at 945p each. Dennis Proctor, who has been a director of Hunting for twelve years, made the £945,000 sale to satisfy personal tax liabilities, the company said. Following the transaction, the director now holds 1,220,472 shares, equal to 0.83% of the firm's share capital.

GoIndustry-DoveBid plc Response to recent movement in share price and commencement of offer period The Board of GoIndustry-DoveBid plc ("GoIndustry-DoveBid" or the "Company") notes the recent movement in the share price of the Company and confirms that the Company is in discussions with Liquidity Services, Inc, which may result in an offer being made for the Company. There is no certainty that these discussions will result in an offer being made for the Company. In accordance with Rule 2.6(a) of the Takeover Code, Liquidity Services, Inc will have until 5.00pm on 29 May 2012 (or such later time and/or date as may be agreed by the Takeover Panel) to announce either a firm intention to make an offer for GoIndustry-DoveBid or that it does not intend to make an offer. Further announcements will be made as appropriate.

Investec retains buy rating and 550p target

HB Markets upgrades Aegis Group from hold to buy.

Alison Cooper, Chief Executive, said: "Our focus on realising the potential of our total tobacco portfolio through our sales growth drivers has delivered a good first half performance, with strong second quarter results reflecting the sales momentum we're generating. "I'm pleased with the ongoing success of our key strategic brands Davidoff, Gauloises Blondes, West and JPS, as well as the recent cigarette and fine cut tobacco share progress we've made in both the EU and emerging markets. "Disciplined investments are supporting our sales ambitions and we'll continue to maximise the many growth opportunities that our unique portfolio offers to create further value for our shareholders."

Half Year Results for the 6 months ended 31 March 2012 Total Tobacco Portfolio Driving Sales Momentum Sales Growth · Tobacco net revenue up 3.3 per cent; stick equivalent volumes down 4.1 per cent · Key strategic brand net revenue up 12 per cent; stick equivalent volumes up 5 per cent · Continued growth in luxury Cuban cigars and snus · Strong Q2 growth: tobacco net revenue up 8 per cent*; stick equivalent volumes down 1 per cent* Ongoing Cost Optimisation · Tobacco adjusted operating margin at around 43 per cent · Disciplined investments supporting growth Maximising Cash Returns · Interim dividend up 13 per cent · Ongoing increase in full year dividend payout ratio ahead of adjusted earnings per share growth · Annualised £500 million share buyback achieved and ongoing

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201205010700224393C

The chairman of RSM Tenon stepped down yesterday, paving the way for a second boardroom reshuffle this year. Adrian Martin took control of the troubled accountancy firm in January after Tenon’s two top directors left abruptly amid mounting losses and questions about the company’s accounting. The former BDO managing partner was instrumental in securing Tenon’s short-term survival, bringing in Chris Merry to replace Andy Raynor as chief executive and helping to negotiate a crucial funding agreement with Lloyds Banking Group, which Tenon owes about £88m. But Mr Martin has also recently been inmvolved in an embarrassing dispute between Tenon and PwC, its auditor, over mistakes in its latest accounts, The Times explains.

Oliver Slipper, Joint Chief Executive Officer, said: "We are very pleased to report that our strong performance has continued in Q1, with year on year growth across the business. We continue to execute against our strategy for growth, acquiring new content, expanding our geographical footprint and launching our products on new platforms, with exciting partnerships recently announced with Facebook, YouTube and LG, further improving our global reach. The funds raised at the time of the IPO give us a substantial platform to grow through acquisition and this pipeline remains promising. The integration of the Spox group is progressing on schedule and Spox, Global Sports Media and Watch&Trade are all performing well following their acquisition in December. Goal.com continues to grow revenues and we have invested in a number of new country editions in this quarter. Our contracted revenues for full year 2012 are currently £104m, which gives us confidence that we are on track to deliver strong growth in 2012."

Perform Group plc Q1 Interim Management Statement Perform Group plc, the global market leader in the distribution and commercialisation of sports content across connected digital platforms, today issues its interim management statement for the three months ending 31 March 2012 ("the period"). Highlights · On track to deliver 2012 revenue and EBITDA in line with the board's expectations. · Year on year revenue growth of 45% to £31.4m (Q1 2011: £21.7m), with growth across all business areas. · £104m of revenue contracted for full year 2012. (£72.9m of 2011 revenues were contracted at the same point in time in 2011). · Increase in Watch&Bet licensees to 38 (Q1 2011: 26). · ePlayer headline sell through rate of 28%, increased total quarterly streams viewed to 1.2 billion and average monthly unique users to 105 million. (Q1 2011: sell through rate 15%, 585 million total streams and 58 million unique users). · New distribution partnerships in place with YouTube, LG and Facebook enabling LIVESPORT.TV and Goal.com to reach new audiences.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201205010700134097C

Substantial interest in share capital of Aer Lingus Dublin & London, 1 May 2012: Aer Lingus Group plc ("Aer Lingus", "the Group") is aware of speculation that Etihad Airways ("Etihad") has acquired a shareholding in the Group. Aer Lingus confirms that Etihad has acquired a holding of 2.987% of the Group's issued share capital. Etihad has stated to Aer Lingus that it does not intend to increase this stake, pending the outcome of the discussions referred to below. Aer Lingus and Etihad are engaged in discussions which to date have focused on reciprocal code-share opportunities. Future discussions may explore additional commercial and cost opportunities to develop a closer working relationship in areas such as joint procurement. Aer Lingus views these discussions as a natural progression of its successful Greenfield cost reduction programme. There can be no certainty as to the outcome of these discussions.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201205010700224222C

"We have been incredibly impressed by Euro Food Brands' passion in building and supporting the illy brand. Our mpro Smartphone App helps our clients improve their service to their customers and we're delighted to welcome a client of Euro Food Brands' standing to our growing list of mpro customers. We're also pleased to be supporting the maintenance of the quality of illy coffee in around 4,000 locations," says Crimson Tide's Executive Chairman, Barrie Whipp. "Our collaboration with Crimson Tide has been a huge leap forward in the way that we are able to monitor and maintain the standard of our coffee machines, which are used to serve illy coffee. Through the mobilisation of our paper forms into one of Crimson Tide's mpro Apps, our staff have considerably more time for site-visits and the generation of automatic reports means that staff are able to act immediately to a situation if necessary. We are dedicated to providing continual service improvement to our customers and we are passionate that illy coffee is served at a consistently high standard to the consumer. mpro will certainly enable us to reach this goal," says Euro Food Brands' Finance Director, Phil Gotch.