Member Info for mulledwine

In the Telegraph Questor senses some value with high tech firm E2V. It makes various types of sensors and yesterday announced a tie-up with Rio Tinto. The deal will see Rio use E2V’s technology to identify copper deposits in “tailings” or waste from mining operations and so ought to increase yield. E2V trades at 11.7 times earnings and yields 2.8%. It also shot up 10% yesterday on the Rio deal but Questor believes once the euphoria has died down the stock could be worth a buy.

Outlook The Group remains on track to record good growth for the current financial year. The Board remains confident that the existing strategy for both customer and product range expansion will lead to further solid progress thereafter.

Trading Update The Group's operating results through to the end of the period under review continue to be ahead of both the prior year comparable and earlier internal expectations by a satisfactory margin. Total revenues are in line with historic trends which traditionally see a slightly weaker second half to the full financial year. Shipments of semiconductors into industrial and professional wireless applications continued to be firm. Through the period a number of new products were released to market that are expected to both consolidate the Group's existing market position and also begin to drive adoption across wider markets. Particularly pleasing are the sales revenue gains from the Group's flash memory controller chips for use within industrial solid state storage devices and embedded computing platforms. Previously announced new products have commenced sampling at key customers and are currently on track to begin contributing to Group revenues during the next financial year. The Group received close to US$700k, net of costs and taxes, following the sale of its North American commercial property announced in November 2011. Any overall enhancement to current year profits is not quantifiable at this stage due to a pending professional revaluation of certain other Group properties prior to the financial year end. As previously reported, the Board continues to provide appropriate resources to realising capital from the Group's commercial property assets. Gross margins and costs remained within target range and the Group's net cash position has been strengthened. There have been no other material events or transactions to report since 1 October 2011.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201202210700067558X

fallingknife - morning - there may well be some profit taking today but at some point you will see your 10% from here - markets are still a roller coaster but they will settle.

Computer chip maker CSR gets the eye from Tempus in the Times following an update yesterday revealing stronger than expected revenues. The company took a battering in 2011 due to the acquisition of Zoran, which makes chips for imaging and video chips. Markets were sceptical after Zoran released a profits warning during negotiations. Since the transaction, however, CSR has sold more so called “platform chips”, which was the precise reason they wanted a piece of Zoran in the first place. Margins at CSR have also risen which has allowed the firm to increase its total dividend and begin a share buy back programme. Trading at 17 times earnings but apparently on an upward curve, Tempus says buy.

Commenting on the results and outlook, David Sleath, Chief Executive said: "We delivered strong income-generation and earnings growth, driven by an excellent operational performance which included further reducing our vacancy rate, significantly increasing customer retention and building a strong pipeline of future income from pre-let developments. We expect the macro environment to remain unsettled for some time to come, both in the UK and Continental Europe. However, we have started the new year with good momentum in our letting activity and our 20 mainly pre-let development projects underpin future rental income. We have a strong balance sheet and a clear focus to build on our strengths by investing in the strongest locations in resilient sectors, both in the UK and Continental Europe, and to recycle those assets which do not fit our strategic criteria. Given the strengths of our operational teams and core assets, we are well-positioned to continue to capitalise on demand for newly-developed and well-located industrial space from a diverse range of customers and industries." "As part of the revised strategy for the Group outlined on 8 November 2011, we have made a promising start to reshaping our portfolio with the completion since the year end of the acquisition of prime logistics assets with a joint venture partner and the disposal of a portfolio of non-core holdings in the UK."

Strong operating results due to portfolio quality and operational focus l Strong income generation, with £38.4m of new rental income contracted during the year (2010: £42.7m); lettings completed 1.7% above December 2010 ERVs l Increased retention rate to 74% (2010: 63%), with takebacks reduced to £21.0m (2010: £29.3m) l Group vacancy rate reduced further to 9.1% at 31 December 2011, down from 11.4% at 30 June 2011 and 12.0% at 31 December 2010. Former Brixton portfolio vacancy reduced to 13.4% (2010: 18.6%) - acquisition target of sub-15% achieved one year early l Total cost ratio reduced to 24.3% (2010: 28.1%), with improved vacancy rates and tight management of operating expenses l EPRA profit before tax up 8.8% to £138.5m (2010: £127.3m) l 3.5% increase in full-year dividend to 14.8p (2010: 14.3p) Reduction in Net Asset Value (NAV) impacted by write down of non-core assets l Year-on-year like for like core completed portfolio valuation decline of 0.4% l H2 2011 non-core portfolio valuation decline of £187.0m l 2011 EPRA NAV per share down 9.6% to 340p (2010: 376p) Good progress with strategic portfolio reshaping l £110.9m of disposals in 2011 and post year-end disposal of five non-core UK industrial estates to Ignis Asset Management for £80.2m; further disposals expected over balance of year l 14 developments completed during the year, generating £9.0m of annualised rental income l A further 20 developments under way or contracted, producing annualised rental income of approximately £18.9m, and an average expected development yield of 9.5% l Planned expansion of the logistics portfolio commenced with the £314.7m acquisition of the UK Logistics Fund in January 2012 in a 50/50 JV with Moorfield Solid balance sheet l Funding position further strengthened by significant debt financings arranged in 2011, including €440m (£367m) of new five-year bank facilities and a £400m refinancing of the Airport Property Partnership (APP) JV l 78% of net borrowings in long-term bonds; weighted average maturity of gross borrowings of 8.8 years. No significant debt maturities before 2014

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201202210703227746X

Commenting on the new contract, Xchanging's CEO Ken Lever said: "In August 2011 we saw our procurement business make a step change with the addition of the two important contract wins. The new contract announced today will contribute significantly to this, enabling us to retain the benefits of scale as well as our core expertise and infrastructure in the important UK market. We have an extensive relationship with BAE Systems across three continents and this new contract will also support our wider relationship with this valued customer."

Xchanging plc BAE Systems signs new UK Procurement Contract Xchanging plc ('Xchanging'), the business process and technology services provider and integrator, today announces that BAE Systems has entered into a new contract for its procurement services in the UK for a further period of three years following expiry of the current UK contract at the end of 2012. The award of this contract follows the announcement in August 2011 of two significant contract wins, one with BAE Systems in North America, and a second with L'Oréal in Europe. Together with the new BAE Systems UK contract announced today, which will have a lower margin than the existing contract, these contracts are expected to contribute towards Xchanging's aim of re-generating profitable growth momentum.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201202210700107731X

Welcoming the news, Andy Roberts, Chief Executive Officer of The Innovation Group commented: "This news is further evidence of the power of our technology platform and its attractiveness to Tier One insurers. The ability of Innovation's policy software to encapsulate the functionality of multiple existing systems, demonstrates the depth of functionality and its extensibility."

Australian Software Contract The Innovation Group plc (LSE: TIG.L), a global provider of Business Process Outsourcing ("BPO") and software solutions to the insurance, fleet, automotive and property industries is pleased to announce the signing of a software contract extension, with one of Australia's largest insurers. The contract extension, for the Group's policy software, starts immediately and will generate software license revenues of approximately £1.7m (AUD 2.5m), in this financial year. Innovation's policy software enables the insurer to consolidate their policy administration for multiple insurance brands onto one system, replacing a number of separate policy software systems. As a result the insurer will be able to administer all of their Australian personal-lines business on Innovation's Policy software.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201202210700117911X

E-commerce market place provider @UK* (ATUK) has been recognised as an approved supplier for the UK government's G-cloud, an initiative designed to consolidate cloud based IT services for use by public authorities. The framework was tendered with an estimated value of 60 million pounds, and the firm believes it has a strong competitive position within the framework as it has the largest UK user base on its platform, while recognising itself at the most efficient and greenest cloud provider. The shares rose 0.875p to 11.375p, while Redstone (RED) and Netcall (NET), two other UK-listed companies who were recognised as approved suppliers, saw their shares climb 0.025p to 1.25p and 0.5p to 22.75p respectably.

The bitter rivalry between International Consolidated Airlines (IAG), owner of British Airways, and Virgin Atlantic rages on, as Virgin filed with the European Commission to block the proposed 172 million acquisition of BMI from Lufthansa. The chairman of Virgin, Sir Richard Branson, claimed that the move would create a monopoly which would choke out competitors at Heathrow and proposed that Virgin commences an internal flight service. Meanwhile, the rivalry has led to some embarrassment for the government when Prime Minister David Cameron's adviser, Steve Hilton, referred to British Airways as "the fat cats", instead encouraging ministers to fly with Virgin. Shares in International Consolidated Airlines ascended 1.7p to 173.4p.

A wee bit more meat on the bones .... Northland Capital initiated coverage of Gem Diamonds (GEMD) with a "buy" recommendation and 351p target price. The broker is impressed with the quality of the group's Letseng mine, which has produced five of the 20 largest rough white diamonds in the world. Additionally, Northland pointed out that the mine's diamonds consistently sell for a higher than average price per carat than it's competitors'. Additionally, the broker noted the strength of the global diamond market, with high demand from the US, Japan and China. Gem Diamonds shares advanced by 2.5p to 239.7p.

Panmure Gordon maintained its "sell" stance on Millennium & Copthorne (MLC), ahead of the hotel chain's full year results on 22nd February, with a target price of 343p. The broker expects the group to report a return on capital employed of 5%, well below its weighted average cost of capital of 10.7%, noting difficult trading in the UK. Panmure added that the firm will need to significantly invest in refurbishing its London hotels following the Olympics, due to the gap in quality between old and new upscale hotels. The broker also pointed to Millennium's high prospective earnings multiple for 2012 of 15.4 times. The shares inched up 3.2p to 489.2p.

I think that cut and paste is missing a decimal point!