Member Info for mulledwine

Ladbrokes: UBS reduces target from 185p to 175p but maintains buy

Wolseley: RBS cuts target to 2,378p from 2,420p, stays at buy.

http://www.growthcompany.co.uk/news/1660408/global-energy-wins-attention.thtml

Commenting on these Preliminary Results, David Baynes, CEO of Fusion IP, said: 
 "We are pleased to announce another successful year for the Group, one in which we have increased revenue, portfolio returns, and EBITDA. The value of our portfolio has continued to grow and we anticipate we will be able to demonstrate this further in the current financial year, and remain focused on achieving our first cash realisation. We look forward with confidence."

Post year end highlights: · Diurnal, our Cardiff-based drug development company, completed a £335k funding round in August that will enable its lead product, Chronocort®, to complete the profile stage of its Phase I clinical trials · Mesuro, our Cardiff-based Radio Frequency (RF) technology company, raised a further £440k in August to support its growing sales activity Recognition: Following on from last year's awards for Magnomatics and Simcyp, our portfolio companies continue to be recognised for their achievements: · In December 2010 MedaPhor, our Cardiff-based ultrasound simulation company, won the MediWales Industry Innovation Award for its new ScanTrainer ultrasound simulator that is revolutionising how medical trainees acquire the necessary obstetrics and gynaecology skills needed to safely examine patients · In October 2011 Simcyp won Insider's 'Growth 100 Rising Star Award' for the UK's most promising business.

PRELIMINARY RESULTS FOR THE TWELVE MONTHS ENDED 31 JULY 2011 Fusion IP plc (AIM: FIP), the university IP commercialisation company that turns world class research into business, is pleased to announce its Preliminary Results for the twelve months ended 31 July 2011. Highlights: · Revenue & portfolio return increased by 35% to £5.9m (2010: £4.4m) · Profit, excluding subsidiary spin-out costs and amortisation, increased by 68% to £4.2m (2010: £2.5m) · EBITDA increased by 650% to £3.0m (2010: £0.4m) · Profit before taxation of £1.0m (2010: £1.6m loss) · Cash balances of £2.0m (2010: £4.6m) · Co-investment agreement with IP Group implemented on three occasions · One new portfolio company started and funded in the year (Perlemax) · 6 portfolio companies in trading phase of growth, three of which are trading profitably · Portfolio company Simcyp increased turnover by 25% to £5.9m (2010: £4.7m) and profit by 35% to £2.3m (2010: £1.7m) · Portfolio company Magnomatics increased turnover by 62% to £1.3m (2010: £0.8m) · £1.6m invested in the portfolio companies by Fusion (2010: £1.8m) · £6.1m invested in the portfolio companies by third party investors (2010: £6.9m) · 15 funding rounds completed by portfolio companies (2010: 20)

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201110110700119235P

MBL Group plc announces disposal of Global Media Vault The Board of MBL Group plc announces that it has signed an agreement to sell its Digital and eCommerce businesses, Global Media Vault Limited and MBL Guernsey PCC Limited (collectively "GMV"), to Sainsbury's Supermarkets Ltd. The sale follows a decision previously announced within the Operating Review of the Group plc's Preliminary Announcement dated 26 August 2011 to withdraw from this business due to high development costs. The purchase consideration is £1 million cash. In the financial year to 31 March 2011, GMV made a loss before tax of £2.9 million and had net liabilities of £3.9 million. The sale proceeds will be used for working capital purposes.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201110110700119238P

Board Update The Board of Woburn Energy Plc ("Woburn" or "the Company") announces that after six years with the Company, Dr John Cubitt will step down as Managing Director no later than the end of this year, to pursue other interests. Chairman Arif Kemal, said: "The Board is grateful to John for his contribution over the last difficult six years and we wish him well for his new projects. We have commenced the process for appointing John's successor."

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201110110700129225P

Those market players who have been piling into shares in Jardine Lloyd Thompson in the hopes of some bid action will not thank them, but the board of long-term investor Jardine Matheson have put paid to any such speculation and probably done the board of JLT a favour, says the Tempus column in the Times. Jardine Matheson has tendered for enough shares to take its holding from 30 per cent to a little more than 40 per cent. The indications are that its offer, pitched at 765p, will be taken up by investors speaking for rather more than 10 per cent; the shares were up 3½p at 664½p last night. The shares have recovered from a low of 587p in August; the tender offer is clearly a strong vote of confidence in the JLT management by their biggest shareholder.

We reiterated our hold stance on YouGov in April as the valuation looked pretty full, according to the Independent. At the time the polling firm was changing hands at just over 51p. And although they rose sharply in subsequent months, flirting with levels well above 60p in early July, the recent market turmoil has been taking its toll. Indeed, at 44.5p, YouGov, which yesterday announced that its adjusted operating profits for the year to July had climbed by nearly 40 per cent, now trades on multiples of under 10 times forward earnings. That compares to around 17 times when we had a look earlier this year. The results show that the market is being far too bearish. It is clearly time to add to our holding. The Independent gives a buy rating.

Despite cuts to defence budgets around the world, 120-year-old Avon Rubber is enjoying a new lease of life, according to the Questor column in the Telegraph. Over the past few years the management team at the maker of rubber products has shed struggling divisions such as aerosol gaskets and automotive – which five years ago accounted for three quarters of the business – to focus on the defence and dairy industries. This unlikely pairing has helped to drive an impressive 40pc rise in the company's share price this year, amid turmoil on stock markets. The key product for Avon has become the M50 gas mask. In 2008, the company secured a pivotal deal with the Department of Defense (DoD) to design and manufacture the next generation of gas masks for the US Army, Navy, Air Force and Special Forces. Questor is attracted to Avon by the stability this revenue stream provides and the company's desire to invest in research and development. Buy, the paper recommends.

The market reacted with a distinct lack of enthusiasm to the third-quarter update from Michael Page International, even if most of the bad news should by now be in the public domain, says the Tempus column in the Times. The year-on-year rate of growth in gross profits, or net fee income, slowed to 22 per cent in constant currency rates during the third quarter, from 29 per cent in the first quarter and 30 per cent in the second. While areas such as Asia and Latin America were powering ahead, up 60 per cent and 40 per cent, respectively, on last year, Europe, the Middle East and Africa were up only 23 per cent, while growth has flattened off in the UK entirely. The shares, off by a third since the start of July and down another 5¾p at 358p last night, sell on about 16 times’ this year’s earnings, but there seems no compelling reason to buy, says the Times.

Ladbrokes abandoned bid talks for online gaming group Sportingbet and was warned it would fail to find another takeover target because it was too “over-sensitive”. The UK bookmaking giant, believed to have been considering a bid of 70p a share valuing Sportingbet at over £450million, said it had walked away from almost four months of talks over regulatory concerns relating to Sportingbet’s Turkish website operation, according to the Daily Express.

Ladbrokes abandoned bid talks for online gaming group Sportingbet and was warned it would fail to find another takeover target because it was too “over-sensitive”. The UK bookmaking giant, believed to have been considering a bid of 70p a share valuing Sportingbet at over £450million, said it had walked away from almost four months of talks over regulatory concerns relating to Sportingbet’s Turkish website operation, according to the Daily Express.

Lord Alliance of Manchester, CBE, Chairman, said: "We are pleased to show continued progress across the business for the first half of the year in spite of the difficult economic environment. We have focused on our core strategy to invest in the business, through brand acquisitions, the launch of Simply Be stores and our international expansion, which we believe will deliver long-term growth despite the short-term impact on profits." Alan White, Chief Executive, added: "We have delivered a solid performance for the first half, driven primarily by increased online penetration and our younger titles. We are encouraged by the performance of our menswear catalogues, particularly Jacamo which recorded 66% sales growth, by the positive response that we have had in the US with Simply Be, and excited by the launch of our two new stores. Looking forward, in the short term we expect the uncertainty surrounding the economic outlook to continue to impact consumer sentiment, which is demonstrated by the extremely volatile shopping patterns we have experienced in the first few weeks of the second half. However, we believe that our strategy to invest in the development of our brands, both nationally and internationally, the improvement of our online capability and the flexibility of our business model will mean we are well positioned for the future."

N Brown Group plc, the internet and catalogue home shopping company, today announces its interim results for the 26 weeks to 27 August 2011. Highlights: § Total revenue £363.7m +4.0% § Profit before tax £44.8m +5.9% § Operating profit £47.0m +1.7% § Continued improvement of gross margin 54.9% +1.2% § E-commerce sales up £175m +17.0% § Adjusted earnings per share 12.10p -0.4% § Interim dividend up 5.29p +5.0% § International revenue from Simply Be £4.1m +173.3% § Like for like sales for the six weeks ended 08 October -1.5% § Launch of first Simply Be stores in Liverpool One and Bury

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201110110700119231P