Member Info for mulledwine

Canaccord Genuity reiterated its "buy" recommendation on Majestic Wine (MJW) with an unchanged target price of 505p. The broker envisages positive times ahead as spend on advertising in the second half of the year will be cut, removing a substantial squeeze on profits. Secondly, the broker believes that the 6-8 new shops the wine company opened in the first half of the year positions it well to exploit the Christmas market, a time that traditionally yields 60% of all profits. Shares in the company slipped by 0.75p to 475p

Diageo's Chief Executive Officer, Paul Walsh, sliced a chunk off his stake in the drinks giant with the sale of 50,000 shares on Monday. The transaction follows the company's purchase of a stake in Indian spirits group United Spirits Limited (USL). Diageo said on Friday that it is to acquire a 27.4% stake in USL for around £660m and announced a tender offer to buy an additional 26% stake (53.4% interest in total), which now means that the company generates 45% of revenues from emerging markets.

Awards Armour is also pleased to announce that at the recent What Hi-Fi Sound and Vision Awards in October 2012, Armour Home received seven of the prestigious awards. Armour's proprietary brands received five awards, three for the Q Acoustics speaker brand and two for the QED cable brand. In addition, there were two awards for brands exclusively distributed by Armour, one for Grado headphones and one for NAD hi-fi separates. These awards are important with regard to brand building and generating incremental sales, and continue a long tradition within Armour of designing and marketing award winning products.

New Product Launch and Awards Notice of results New Product Launch Armour, the UK's leading consumer electronics group focused on the in-car communications and entertainment and home entertainment markets, is pleased to announce that Armour Home, its wholly owned subsidiary, has launched under the Systemline brand its next generation of installed audio products. The Systemline E200 is the first product in a new family of installed audio systems targeting new markets for Armour Home, including hotels, kitchen/bedroom installers and new build apartments. The Systemline E200 is a built-in DAB/FM/iPod sound system with the capability to stream music wirelessly and/or to connect a television to deliver high quality audio. E200went on sale in October and the market response has been very encouraging. The product is being marketed both in the UK and internationally across a wide range of sales channels including professional audio system installers, house builders, kitchen retailers and commercial audio integrators. Armour believes that E200 will further strengthen the Systemline brand in the installed audio market and develop new markets and customers in the kitchen and commercial audio markets.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/armour-group-plc-(amr)/rns/product-launch/201211130700049251Q/

Commenting on the Interim Management Statement, Johnston Press' CEO Ashley Highfield said: "The second half of 2012 has seen acceleration in the implementation of the strategy for the business. While market conditions have been even tougher than expected, we have made good progress in restructuring our operations, reducing the cost base, maintaining focus on debt reduction and continuing to invest in growth areas. We have moved forward with the re-launch of our titles with encouraging early signs, and our digital business has seen a huge increase in audience this year, as well as the launch of services across iPad, mobile and PC, which will provide a spring-board to future digital revenue growth. As a result, the business is moving onto a more stable footing as we go into 2013 when the full benefits of the changes will be seen."

Outlook Provided that the trading environment does not deteriorate further, with continued achievement of the identified cost savings, increased circulation revenues during Q4 and a growing digital business, we expect full year operating profit performance for 2012 to be broadly in line with current market expectations.

Cost savings and debt reduction We project that full year like for like cost savings in 2012 will now exceed £30m, representing a further £5m saving over and above the amount estimated at the time of the interim results. Net debt has fallen from £351.7m at the start of the year to £336m as at the end of October with further reductions expected over the remainder of the year. This has been achieved after incurring £11.7m of refinancing costs and £13.8 m relating to the cash impact of restructuring.

Operational performance As forecast at the time of the interim results, difficult market conditions mean that trading in the second half of 2012 has been even more challenging than in the first. The results also include the impact of moving a number of titles from daily to weekly, the closure of titles, and changes to the contract printing operations as a result of the revised arrangements with News International. The overall movement in the second half (18 weeks) compared to the same period last year is therefore given on both a like for like and unadjusted basis. On a like for like basis, total revenues were down 11.4% year on year, with circulation revenues down 0.5% and total print and digital advertising revenues down 14.0%. The unadjusted declines were 16.1%, 5.1% and 16.3% respectively. The second phase of the re-launch programme has been implemented and, while it is early days, we are seeing a positive impact on these titles with circulation revenues of the 31 paid-for titles re-launched in the second half up 19.5% on the week immediately prior to re-launch and 13.8% up year on year. Display advertising declined by 16.8% in the 18 week period compared to last year, principally as a result of weakness in national advertising revenues over the summer and relatively strong comparatives in 2011. The decline in classified advertising of 19.1% in the period was primarily due to the economic environment, but also reflects some transitional impact arising from the consolidation of the number of contact centres in the Group from 14 to 2. We anticipate that any residual impact from this transition will have been removed by the end of 2012 and that we will see the additional benefits of the new arrangements building into 2013. Digital revenues grew by 2.9% year on year in the 18 week period. Online display revenues in particular continue to show strong growth but the overall digital growth has been impacted by the reduced digital upsell from a lower level of print employment advertising. This is being addressed by an increased focus on standalone digital employment advertising and a move to a 'digital first' approach.

INTERIM MANAGEMENT STATEMENT TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2012 Johnston Press plc today publishes its Interim Management Statement which has been drawn up for the 18 weeks to 3 November 2012, this being the last practicable date, as required by the UK Listing Authority's Disclosure and Transparency Rules. Highlights for the period: · Market conditions in the first 18 weeks of the second half of 2012 were more challenging than in the first half with like for like total revenues down 11.4% year on year although we are seeing some positive signs of a slowing in the rate of revenue decline in November · Successful re-launch of 54 paid-for titles has contributed to a slowing of the Group's year on year circulation revenue decline to just 0.5% on a like for like basis, and we anticipate year on year growth in circulation revenues in Q4 · Extensive reshaping of the business has seen the level of cost savings increase and we now expect cost savings for the full year to be around £30m, a £5m increase on the previous estimate · Continuing focus on reducing net debt with repayment of borrowings ahead of schedule although the robust operating cash flow in the first 18 weeks of the second half has been offset by the cash cost of restructuring in the period · Digital audience growth across our network of websites has continued apace, with monthly website visitors for October showing a 25.2% year on year increase to 9.8m

http://www.investegate.co.uk/johnston-press-plc-(jpr)/rns/interim-management-statement/201211130700099652Q/

A very nice SP reaction today - all good since Sept

TyraTech's Vice President of Commercial Operations, Shayne Wetherall, added: "NO-SKEETO!™ provides a compelling and timely solution for families seeking superior non-toxic protection. This product also provides TyraTech with outstanding commercial opportunities as it is ready for immediate commercialisation. We are currently in the process of evaluating global commercial and retail partners for this product and for our strong pipeline of personal repellent solutions".

Richard Steeves, Chief Executive of Synergy Health, said: "Despite the ongoing economic challenges, particularly in Europe, I am very pleased with the resilience of the Group, and the progress that it continues to make." "Our strategy of bringing forward investment in the United States has been well timed and will support our global growth objectives. The acquisition of SRI has given Synergy a real presence and management depth, opening up a number of new business development opportunities."

Outlook · Although the economic environment in Europe & Middle East and UK & Ireland remains a challenge, we are increasing our investment in business development and strengthening the senior team · The Americas and Asia & Africa continue to show solid growth and we expect to see further developments over the coming 18 months that will increase the importance of these two regions · The Group is progressing in line with the Board's expectations for the full year

Operational Highlights · A solid first half with strong revenue growth in Asia & Africa and the Americas offsetting weaker growth in Europe & Middle East and UK & Ireland · UK & Ireland affected by a number of one-off events, including the Olympics · Good cost control has helped to lift Group operating margins by 0.6% · The integration of both the Swiss gamma and X-ray facilities and the small hospital sterilisation business in New York, has progressed well · In July 2012 the Group completed the acquisition of SRI for £25.5 million · The integration and turnaround of SRI is going well and is ahead of plan · The United States hospital sterilisation bid pipeline looks promising, with bids in progress for revenue in excess of $60 million per annum

Financial Highlights · Strong reported revenue growth up 10.5% to £171.6 million · Underlying revenue growth, excluding currency effects, up 14.2% · Adjusted operating profit* up 15.2% to £26.6 million · Adjusted EBITDA up 11.2% to £46.5 million · Interim dividend up 15.8%, reflecting growth in underlying earlings · Net debt increased to £180.3 million from £173.5 million at 1 April 2012, reflecting the payment of deferred contingent consideration for BeamOne LLC ('BeamOne'), the acquisition of SRI/Surgical Express, Inc ('SRI') and capital investments in new facilities in Costa Rica and France

http://www.investegate.co.uk/synergy-health-(syr)/rns/half-yearly-report/201211130700059356Q/

Financial Position The Group remains financially sound with a strong balance sheet. £75m of banking facilities have recently been agreed, following the renewal of £50m of existing facilities together with a further £25m of facilities that run through to 2015. Projections for year-end net debt are in line with expectations and the Group has the resources to invest as opportunities arise within either operating division. There has been no material change to the Group's financial circumstances since the announcement of the Interim Results in August and we remain well placed to deliver sustainable earnings growth.

Trading at Menzies Distribution is broadly in line with last year. Newspaper sales have been ahead of expectations following a number of cover price increases and new business gains from News International and DC Thomson. Declines in magazine sales are within the range of expectations expected although weekly titles are proving particularly challenging. Rationalisation projects continue, with infrastructure changes in the Scottish central belt and Yorkshire now complete and further plans under way in East England. The final stage of the SAP implementation is operational with the system now installed throughout Ireland. With this major project now complete management will be able to focus on continued cost reduction as well as looking for further benefits now that SAP is imbedded in the business.