Member Info for mulledwine

Even by LANDs standards the £3.445M BUY is huge - it dont take much of a rise to make a decent profit with that sum

Property investor Land Securities (LAND) has formed a partnership with the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board to develop the Victoria Circle site in central London. The group plans to construct five new buildings, providing 910,000 square feet of mixed residential, office and retail space, with a final estimated value of over 1 billion pounds. The existing properties are let until September 2012, after which demolition can begin. The first phase of development is scheduled to be completed by 2016 and the project should be fully completed in 2018. The shares crept up 1.5p to 687.5p.

Reckitt Benckiser (RB.) has agreed to sell the personal care brands of Paras Pharmaceuticals to Indian consumer product company Marico for an undisclosed amount. Reckitt bought Paras in April 2011 for around 460 million pounds in order to develop its healthcare range in India. The assets to be disposed include deodorant brand Zatak and hair care product Livon and are expected to generate around 150 crore rupees (19.4 million pounds) in turnover for the current financial year. Share in Reckitt gained 31p to 3,567p.

Seymour Pierce reiterated its "sell" recommendation for Home Retail Group (HOME), but with an increased target price of 95p, from 75p. The broker said that while the company is undervalued on a sum of parts basis, declining profits at Argos are unlikely to improve even if the economy recovers. Seymour Pierce pointed to the low gross margin model and little room for cost reduction. The broker's forecasts put the shares on a prospective earnings multiple of 12 times for the 2012 financial year, rising to 13.9 times in 2013. Home Retail shares dropped by 2.4p to 103p.

Panmure Gordon maintained its "buy" recommendation for Smith & Nephew (SN.), with an increased target price of 680p, from 640p. The medical device developer has performed broadly in-line with the broker's forecasts, reporting fourth quarter revenue growth of 1.106 billion dollars (0.705 billion pounds) against a target of 1.118 billion dollars (0.713 billion pounds). Panmure added that if the US economic environment does not see improvement soon it could lead to market consolidation. Smith & Nephew has been on a number of corporate shopping lists over the years. The shares finished flat at 635p.

Paul Walsh, the Chief Executive Officer at Diageo, the FTSE 100 beverage giant, has sold off a bumper-load of shares in the firm. Walsh, who disposed of 90,000 shares at 1,500.00p each, made the transaction on February 13th, just a few days after the company reported an 8% rise in net sales for the half year ended December 31st. Walsh, who has been CEO since September 2000, bought the shares, including another 10,000 which he has retained, in October 2008 at £8.77, earning him £560,000 from the sale.

Very nice thank you!

The billionaire financier Nathaniel Rothschild has suffered his second defeat in a week, losing control of the board of Bumi at the hands of the mining company’s Indonesian investors. Mr Rothschild is to be ousted as co-chairman of the South-East Asian coal mining empire after losing a power struggle with the company’s biggest shareholders. The purge is also likely to include a clear-out of remaining Rothschild allies within Bumi and is the price demanded by the Bakrie family and their partner, the mining tycoon Samin Tan, for backing down on a threat to call an extraordinary general meeting, The Times reports.

Merchant Securities initiated coverage of Fidessa (FDSA) with a "buy" recommendation and 1,950p target price. The broker views the trading software developer's recent share price weakness as a good long term opportunity. Merchant noted that the firm exceeded its 2011 full year earnings forecasts and added that the derivatives market offers considerable opportunity for growth. Additionally, the broker pointed out the company's strong cash generating ability, which led to a third special dividend in as many years.

Panmure Gordon downgraded its recommendation for Rentokil Initial (RTO) from "hold" to "sell" with a reduced target price of 62p, from 76p. The broker does not believe that the pest control company's City Link business will see much recovery in the near term, and is dubious as to whether it will ever reach previous levels of profitability. Additionally, with the UK and Europe accounting for around 80% of the group's revenue, Panmure expects to see increased pressure on volumes and prices.

These figures certainly back the recent SP rise from December - surely another big blue day today +30p ?

Commenting on the results and strategy for Morgan Crucible, Chief Executive Officer, Mark Robertshaw said: "The Group's continuing strategy of focusing on the right growth markets and the right growth geographies with innovative, differentiated, added-value products drove revenue and underlying operating profit to record levels in 2011. As one of the world's leading advanced materials companies, innovation and differentiation in our product offerings are the bedrock of our long-term profitable growth ambitions. I am therefore very encouraged by the success we achieved in 2011 in commercialising an increasing number of new products and technologies. Our continued expansion into the dynamic growth economies of the world such as China, India and Latin America also made significant strides in 2011. Overall, Morgan Crucible's robust levels of top-line growth allied to continuous improvement initiatives on our cost base meant we made significant progress in 2011 against the 2013 financial goals that we announced at the beginning of last year." Outlook Whilst the macroeconomic outlook remains uncertain, the Group believes that with its innovative and differentiated technologies and developing businesses in dynamic growth economies, Morgan Crucible remains well placed to make further progress in 2012 against the three-year financial goals that were announced in early 2011.

· Record levels of both revenue, up 8.2%, and underlying operating profit, up 39.3% · Strong performance in both Divisions, Ceramics and Engineered Materials each achieving margins of over 13% · Underlying EPS increased by 59.9% to 29.9 pence per share (2010: 18.7 pence) · Net debt at year end of £215.4m (2010: £236.2m), improving net debt to EBITDA ratio to 1.2 times (2010: 1.7 times) · Proposed final dividend increased by 20.0% to 6.0 pence (2010: Final 5.0 pence), giving a full year dividend of 9.25 pence (2010: 7.70 pence) · Revenue from dynamic growth economies such as China and India increased by 23% and now represents c.25% of total Group revenue · Significant progress towards the three-year goals of doubling underlying PBT, achieving mid-teen profit margins and improving Operating ROCE to 35%.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201202150700344329X

Neil O'Brien, Chief Executive Officer of Alkane, commented: "I am delighted to be able to announce this agreement with ADM. This partnership, our first in CBM, is another important step in Alkane's development. Whilst maintaining focus on our core business, we continue to exploit new and related business streams where our skills and capabilities are transferable, and in the case of CBM exploration offer very significant upside potential for the Company. This partnership further builds Alkane's footprint in the gas to power sector and follows the recent acquisition of Greenpark Energy's CMM operations."

("Alkane" or "the Company") Alkane signs coal bed methane partnership with Aberdeen Drilling Management Alkane, the profitable alternative energy company, has signed a partnership agreement with Aberdeen Drilling Management Limited ("ADM") to explore two of Alkane's Petroleum Exploration and Development Licences ("PEDL"s) with coal bed methane ("CBM") potential in the North West of England and in the East Midlands. ADM will initially complete a geological research programme on the licences before finalising drilling commitments. ADM will farm-in to Alkane's licences and gain up to a 50% share in Alkane's interest in each licence following the completion of a CBM well in the respective licence area. The licences are PEDL 191 in the North West and PEDL 90 in Nottinghamshire, covering a total area of 133 sq. km with an initial estimated gas in place of circa 385bcf (as calculated by Tesla Exploration International Limited, an independent consultancy). This partnership agreement is Alkane's first in CBM and further delivers on the Company's stated strategy of remaining focused on its core coal mine methane ("CMM") business whilst leveraging its "gas to power" skills into new, related business streams. Working with ADM as an experienced partner to drill these licences allows Alkane to concentrate its financial and management resources on CMM whilst benefiting from ADM's skills and knowledge base.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201202150700244263X

Interim Management Statement Renold, a leading international supplier of industrial chains and related power transmission products, today issues its Interim Management Statement covering the period from 1 October 2011 to the current date. The Company will announce full year results on Tuesday 29 May 2012. On 15 November 2011 Renold announced strong growth in its results for the half year ended 30 September 2011. Since that date, growth in year on year underlying order intake and underlying sales has been consistent with expectations. Both the Torque Transmission and Chain divisions are delivering sales growth. North America and Australasia have continued to show double digit underlying growth. Early indications in the current fourth quarter show the European businesses returning to double digit year on year underlying sales growth. In the third quarter, operational gearing and the conversion of incremental revenue into additional profitability continued the encouraging trend of the first half. The Company also noted at its Interim results that proactive measures were being taken to reduce costs in order to protect against the impact of ongoing macro-economic uncertainty on revenues. The restructuring of the European back office support functions is progressing with the most of the remaining changes being delivered in the new financial year. There have been no other significant changes in the position of the Company since the publication in November 2011 of its half year statement for the six month period ended 30 September 2011. *The use of "underlying" excludes the impact of changes in foreign exchange rates.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201202150700244261X

Some very good figures here