Member Info for mulledwine

Questor in The Telegraph isn’t that keen on recruitment firm Michael Page International. It’s made big gains since December on the back of increased hopes for the global economy. On the other hand, it’s exposed to Italy and Spain, while banking in the UK is a major part of the business, and that has not performed well of late. The group’s still making money (adjusted pre-tax profits up 19.3% year on year) but a lot of expectation seem to surround the 480p price point. Currently at 443p after falling 17% yesterday. Questor doesn’t seem interested.

Michael Jackson, Executive Chairman, commented: - ''2011 was a tough year which included the implementation of the Cobent turnaround strategy. The company has continued investing in product innovation as well as strengthening our sales and marketing engine. 2012 will see further investment across the group with the full benefits starting to come through in the latter part of the current financial year. The proposed dividend is a sign of our confidence in the future.''

Operational Highlights * Sale of Solcara Ltd for £2,610,623 resulting in a profit in the year of £2,192,047 * Successful claim against the vendors of Cobent Ltd resulted in £1.78m of shares being returned to Treasury * Redemption of £500,000 of convertible loan notes at par * Total software development spend of £638,970 (2010: £816,000) of which £314,250 (2010: £414,620) was capitalised * Recurring revenue was £4,807,500 (2010: restated £4,796,740) being 66% of sales (2010: restated 66%) * New management team in place at Cobent showing signs of turning the company around * A strengthening of the head office team in the areas of Finance, Technology and Marketing * Board changes include the appointments of Joanna Arnold as COO in December 2011, Henrik Bang as Non-Executive in November 2011, Howard Sears leaving the board in July 2011 and Kole Dhoot appointed CFO in March 2012.

Access Intelligence Plc (AIM: ACC), a leading supplier of compliance Software-as-a-Service solutions for the financial services, procurement and media sectors, is pleased to announce its preliminary results for the year ended 30 November 2011. Financial Highlights * Turnover from continuing activities was flat at £7,232,999 (2010: restated £7,224,737) * Adjusted EBITDA on continuing activities down 53% to £720,544 (2010: restated £1,526,557)* * Loss after tax on continuing activities was £91,013 (2010: restated loss £1,620,286) * Profit after tax on continuing and discontinued activities was £2,101,034 (2010: loss £1,562,427) * Basic earnings per share on continuing and discontinued operations 0.84p (2010: loss 0.67p) * Positive cash balance of £4,162,377 (2010: £2,214,278) * Court sanction of a capital restructure to facilitate dividend payments and the subsequent payment of a special dividend in August of 0.1p * Proposed maiden final dividend of 0.2p per share payable on 20 April 2012

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201203070700248301Y

National Express Group Sell 05-Mar-12 £61,552.06 Dean K Finch 25,754 @ 239.00p

InterContinental Hotels Group Sell 05-Mar-12 £289,279.99 Kirk Kinsell 20,000 @ 1,446.40p

Newly appointed director at Dunelm Matt Davies has underlined his loyalty to the homewares firm with the purchase of 4,500 shares. Davies, who joined the firm early last month, bought the shares for 499p each for a total of £22,455.

Christopher Miller, Chairman of Melrose PLC, today said: "This is another set of excellent results. We continue to be confident that there is more improvement to come driven by the positive momentum of our order books and strong end markets. We also continue to look for our next acquisition and current market circumstances mean that we are, if anything, more certain that a suitable acquisition opportunity will arise."

OR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2011 Melrose PLC today announces its audited results, which are reported under IFRS, for the year ended 31 December 2011. Highlights1 § Headline2 results - Revenue in the full year £1,153.9 million (2010: £1,035.4 million), an increase of 11% on 2010 - Revenue in the second half £603.1 million (2010: £531.1 million), an increase of 14% on 2010 - Order intake of £1,212.6 million (2010: £991.2 million), an increase of 22% - Operating profit margin of 15.7% (2010: 14.2%) - Profit before tax of £161.2 million (2010: £121.7 million), an increase of 32% - Diluted earnings per share3 (including discontinued businesses) of 28.8p (2010: 24.1p), up 20% § Results after exceptional items and intangible asset amortisation - Profit after tax of £114.8 million (2010: £103.7 million), an increase of 11% - Diluted earnings per share of 23.7p (2010:19.8p), up 20% § Net debt of £289.6 million (2010: £287.4 million). Net debt equal to 1.4x EBITDA4 § New five-year £600 million committed bank refinancing completed in January 2012 § Final dividend increased by 20% to 8.4p per share (2010: 7.0p) § Full year dividend increased by 18% to 13.0p per share (2010: 11.0p) § Completion of the disposal of Dynacast on 19 July 2011 for an enterprise value of £377 million with the equity value increased fourfold § Since flotation in 2003 approximately £1.5 billion shareholder value created at current market price

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201203070700228250Y

Edward Bonham Carter, Chief Executive, commented: "2011 was a positive year for Jupiter, despite the significant headwinds presented by the Eurozone crisis and increased pressure on household finances. Revenues and profits improved over the period due to the benefits of the last two years' net inflows, continued operational efficiencies and reduced financing costs. Furthermore, our balance sheet position strengthened significantly through continued deleveraging and it was pleasing to see the Group move into a net cash position in advance of the year end as a result. This improved financial performance and balance sheet resilience has allowed a 13 per cent. increase in the final dividend. "While financial assets have rallied sharply since the end of the year, the economic outlook remains uncertain. Markets are likely to remain volatile and fund flows subdued in the near term as a result. However, the long term growth drivers for the savings market remain intact and so we remain focused on delivering strong fund performance for our clients and investing in our business to capitalise on these opportunities when sentiment improves."

Outlook While financial markets have rebounded since the start of 2012 on the back of the ECB's long term refinancing operation and signs of economic stability in the US and China, the significant public and private debt issues faced by Western economies will take some years to unwind and are likely to cause some volatility yet. Fund flows are likely to remain subdued in the near term as a result. Despite this recent turbulence, the structural growth drivers for the savings market remain intact and the growth opportunities for a highly-regarded brand such as Jupiter are considerable. As we have previously demonstrated, success in this regard requires consistent investment through the market cycle, a focus on retaining and attracting outstanding talent who can deliver the continued investment outperformance that is the hallmark of our brand as well as continuing to develop our distribution presence in both the UK and abroad. Such an approach will enable us to capture the benefits of our scalable platform. By building on the strong foundations we have established over the past decade, Jupiter can continue to grow and prosper to the benefit of clients and shareholders.

Financial results Our financial performance and balance sheet continued to strengthen during 2011. Revenues increased eight per cent., which was ahead of the four per cent. rise in average market levels, boosting EBITDA by eight per cent. over 2010. During the year, we continued to degear the business, halving the size of our gross debt. This allowed us to pay our first interim dividend of 2.5p and increase our total dividend to 7.8p. We have also moved to a net cash position and, while we do have a competitively priced debt facility, we will continue to assess our level of debt and balance this with the need to maintain an efficient capital structure. Net revenue, at £248.5m, was eight per cent. ahead of the £230.5m recorded in 2010, while EBITDA was £134.9m, an increase of eight per cent compared to 2010. Our EBITDA margin remained stable at 54 per cent.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201203070700208194Y

nice link up - wonder whats is potential worth is to AXS - i know nothing about these guys - will have a look at some point soon. GLA

Frédéric Baudry, BP's Vice President Petrochemicals, Europe, commented: "I am delighted that we have reached this agreement with Accsys Technologies. As the main supplier of the acetyls that Accsys uses to modify its wood we look forward to working closely with Accsys and using our expertise to assist product development and support their potential licensees." Paul Clegg, CEO of Accsys commented: "The long term objective of Accsys is to licence its proprietary acetylation technology for the manufacture and sale Accoya® and Tricoya® to third parties around the world. BP's commitment to us as a supplier and its willingness to collaborate with us, both in assisting our operational development and supporting our licensing goals, further strengthens our business proposition. In addition, there is potential for the development of new applications which could add further value to our technology platform. We are looking forward to working with BP to help deliver these mutually beneficial outcomes."

Accsys and BP Chemicals Announce Strategic Collaborative Relationship Accsys, the environmental science and wood technology company, is pleased to announce a collaborative strategic relationship with BP Chemicals Ltd. ("BP") under which BP will supply acetic anhydride for the production of Accsys' Accoya® wood and Tricoya® wood elements. Accsys and BP intend the collaboration to support further product and application developments which are expected to contribute to the demand for acetylated materials. Accsys' first product, Accoya® wood, has won numerous accolades for its ecological benefits, including the prestigious Cradle-to-Cradle® "Gold" level sustainability certification from MBDC, and recognition and awards from Dubokeur, the IWPA, DWM, The Future Build and BRE, among others. Accsys expects similar accolades for its Tricoya® product, which was recently launched commercially in conjunction with Medite Europe Ltd ("Medite"), Ireland. BP is one of Europe's major manufacturers of acetyls-based chemicals. As part of the strategic collaborative relationship, BP will supply acetyls products to Accsys Technologies for Accoya®, Tricoya® and related technology and also intends to provide support in relation to Accsys' current operations. It is also proposed that BP will offer guidance to Accsys' potential licensees on acetyls related matters.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201203061021497655Y

Seymour Pierce kept its "add" recommendation for Braveheart Investment Group (BRH), with a 26p target price. The fund manager has been selected to manage a 50 million pound Growth Loan Fund to invest in small and medium sized business in Northern Ireland, which the broker noted will last for 10 years. Seymour Pierce said that this will provide improved revenue visibility, although no significant impact will be felt until 2013. The broker is encouraged by the group's increased focus on revenues from fees rather than realising returns on exits, due to the challenging economic environment where disposals can prove difficult