Member Info for mulledwine

Trading Update DATONG PLC (DTE.L), a leading provider of covert intelligence gathering solutions, today announces that since the release of its half year results on 31 March 2011, the Group has experienced extended order lead times from some of its customers in the Rest of World territory ("RoW") and a slow-down in its European business, which excludes the UK. In the RoW, although sales in the second half of the financial year are expected to be significantly better than in the first half they will nonetheless fall short of management's expectations. However, management believes that the sales pipeline for the RoW remains strong and these opportunities are expected to carry forward into the next financial year. In Europe, the broader economic conditions continue to impact our law enforcement customers and as a result sales into the territory are expected to be lower than last year. This is particularly true in Third Party products where the short term requirements of a number of customers were fulfilled by projects last year and, as a result, further orders have not been placed this year. Management expects the Group's Own Products business to continue to perform well in its core markets of the USA and UK, however as a result of the extended lead times in the RoW and a slow-down in Europe, it now believes revenues and profits will be materially lower than previously expected for the year to 30 September 2011. The trading period to the end of the financial year remains important, particularly in the USA, and the Company will further update the market on its performance in September.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201108030700126227L

Felix J Vulis, Chief Executive Officer, said, "We are pleased to report that production in our businesses in Kazakhstan continued at effective full capacity and that the development of our copper and cobalt assets in Africa is progressing to plan. Production across all Divisions is expected to be maintained at effective full capacity for the second half of 2011. We are continuing our programme of capital investment which is set to deliver a significant uplift in production capacities as planned."

Production Report for the Second Quarter Ended 30 June 2011 The information in this Production Report, unless stated otherwise, relates to the three months ended 30 June 2011, and is compared to the corresponding three months ended 30 June 2010. Group production volumes for the quarter were at effective full capacity, being slightly ahead in the Ferroalloys Division and largely in line for the other Divisions in Kazakhstan when compared to Q2 2010. In the Alumina and Aluminium Division, aluminium volumes were higher as the smelter operated at its full Phase 2 production capacity throughout Q2 2011. In the Other Non-ferrous Division, copper and cobalt contained production increased significantly on the comparable period. · Ferroalloys Division. Volumes for most ferroalloy products grew versus Q2 2010, with a 0.8% increase for total saleable ferroalloys and a 3.2% increase for saleable ferrochrome, including 2.8% for saleable high-carbon ferrochrome. · Iron Ore Division. Volumes decreased slightly compared to Q2 2010, with a 4.8% fall in iron ore extraction and a 2.2% decline in primary concentrate production. Pellet production rose 3.1% as demand continued to recover in Q2 2011 versus Q2 2010. · Alumina and Aluminium Division. Bauxite extraction increased 1.0% whilst alumina production remained at the same level as in Q2 2010. The Division produced 62 kt of aluminium, an increase of 8.8% compared to Q2 2010, as the smelter operated at its full Phase 2 capacity. · Other Non-ferrous Division. Production of saleable copper in Q2 2011 was 7,361 t and of cobalt contained was 2,666 t, increases of 42.2% and 21.6% vs. Q2 2010 respectively. · Energy Division. Coal extraction decreased 2.2% compared to Q2 2010. Electricity generation was broadly in line with Q2 2010. · Logistics Division. The volume of goods transported by railway increased 1.3% against Q2 2010. The proportion of volumes attributable to third parties also increased.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201108030700096156L

STATEMENT BY THE CHAIRMAN, MARK CROPPER At the AGM to be held at 11.00am today, Mark Cropper, Chairman, will make the following statement: "I am pleased to report that the Group has traded profitably in the opening quarter in line with management expectations." "The strong recovery made by James Cropper Speciality Papers ("Speciality Papers") in the final quarter of last year has continued against the background of high pulp and energy costs. Turnover in the first three months was up 4% on the same period last year, despite volume being down 7%. The price of pulp continued to move upward during the first quarter. Northern Bleached Softwood Kraft pulp opened at US$965 and was US$1020/tonne by mid-July, an increase of 60% since July 2009." "The growing concerns of customers in the USA relating to resurgent recessionary pressures and Federal austerity measures are beginning to be reflected in the order book of Technical Fibre Products ("TFP"). Although it is early in the current financial year and therefore difficult to quantify, it should be anticipated that TFP's profits in 2011/12 will be down on last year's record result." "James Cropper Converting ("Converting") is trading in line with management expectations. As previously reported, sales of digital printing grades into the US retail sectorcontributed significantly to the raised level of operating profit in 2010/11. I stated in the Annual Report that as a proportion of the 2010/11 sales of digital printing grades included customer launch stocks, sales of these products in 2011/12 would be lower. As a consequence, Converting's profit in the current financial year will be below the exceptional result of 2010/11 but ahead of the trend of previous years." "The recovery of Speciality Papers is very pleasing and will offset any potential down turn in TFP, illustrating the strength of our balanced portfolio of businesses. The current financial year opened with a strong balance sheet and low borrowings following the measures we have taken to reduce risk and conserve cash over recent years. This situation provides me with confidence as we approach an exciting period of capital investment which aims to strengthen our platform for growth and to mitigate our risk exposure to raw material and energy costs."

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201108030700116209L

Alain Grisay, Chief Executive of F&C, commented: "We made good progress in the first half of 2011 with an 86 per cent. increase in new business generation and revenues up 28 per cent. over the first half of 2010. Encouragingly, increased revenues came from both the legacy F&C business and Thames River. We also maintained a strong cost discipline. These factors resulted in an 86 per cent. uplift in our H1 underlying earnings per share. As we look to H2, considerable uncertainties persist from the weak macroeconomic environment and concerns about sovereign debt in both Europe and the US. However, at a Company level, more of our products have performance fees that typically crystallise at year end and in addition we expect to see the first cost benefits emerge from the recent outsourcing of our investment operations. Our review of strategy is progressing well and we expect to report to shareholders in October."

The F&C Asset Management plc group ('F&C' or 'the Group') has today announced its unaudited financial results for the six months ended 30 June 2011. Business Highlights § Assets under management increased to £108.0 billion (31 December 2010 : £105.8 billion) § Net inflows ex. insurance of £0.8 billion (H1 2010 : net outflow of £0.3 billion) § Strong improvement in gross sales to £5.2 billion (H1 2010 : £2.8 billion) § Net revenue increased by 28 per cent. to £137.0 million (H1 2010 : £106.8 million) § Average fee margin increased to 24.3 basis points (H1 2010 : 21.6 basis points) § Underlying earnings per share increased to 2.6p (H1 2010 : 1.4p) § Investment performance remains competitive § Outsourcing of investment operations to deliver cost benefits in H2 2011

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201108030700126220L

The Evolution Group plc (the 'Company') - Offer approach The board of Company (the "Board") announces that it has received an indicative and preliminary expression of interest from a third party which may or may not lead to an offer being made for the Company. This approach is at a very early stage and the Board is far from certain that it will ultimately result in an offer being made. The Board therefore urges shareholders to take no action until the Board has concluded a full analysis of the approach.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201108030700136399L

Compass Group Chief Executive Richard Cousins said "Obasan is a great addition to our existing business in Turkey and it will bring significant expertise in providing delivered meals to offices. This will enable us to service more organisations that don't have the required catering facilities on-site and expands our offering to customers in this exciting growth market."

Compass Group Agrees to Acquire Obasan in Turkey Following the acquisition of the remaining 50% of SOFRA, its joint venture in Turkey, in July 2011, Compass Group is pleased to announce that it has agreed to acquire the entire issued share capital of Obasan Gıda İnşaat Sanayi ve Ticaret Anonim Şirketi ("Obasan") from Ömer Faruk Aslanoba, Fatih Aslanoba, Ferruh Aslanoba, Zehra Aslanoba and Emre Aslanoba. Obasan is the leading provider of delivered meals to businesses within Turkey in and around Bursa and Istanbul. For the year ended 31 December 2010, it generated revenues of 89.7 million Turkish Lira (c.£34.8m). The gross assets acquired amount to 24.6 million Turkish Lira (c.£9.6m) as at 31 December 2010. The completion of the transaction is conditional on a number of matters including clearance by the board of the competition authority of the Republic of Turkey.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201108030700136249L

No doubt the Market will be over negative on this

Operational Update Hardy Oil and Gas plc (LSE: HDY), the oil and gas exploration and production company focused in India, announces that on 30 July 2011 the PY-3 field was shut-in. The PY-3 oil field has been temporarily shut-in pending Management Committee approval of the award of a contract for the field's floating production system (FPS). We are working closely with all stake-holders to secure the necessary approvals and recommence production as soon as possible. Hardy is the operator of the PY-3 field and holds an 18 per cent participating interest.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201108030707546401L

Cookson, the engineering group, may not be the most fashionable of companies, but it has been something of a star for its investors – at least until very recently. The company has been buoyed by the continued rebound in the world's steel and electronics market, and, as far as the numbers are concerned, it is ticking all the right boxes. Yesterday Cookson again provided evidence that its recent success is sustainable. Pre-tax profits grew 27 per cent to £132.1m on revenue of £1.4bn, up 12 per cent. However, there is a perception among investors that the company may find it tough to hit its targets (Cookson is looking for a 12 per cent return on sales). If it loses its pricing power, that could happen. Then there are also the ongoing worries about the global economy, rising again thanks to the kerfuffle over America's debt in Washington DC. While we acknowledge the concerns, we'd point out that Cookson remains a fundamentally strong company. Moreover, putting the recent volatility aside, we can't ignore the fact that at their current levels, the shares look undervalued. Buy, says the Independent.

The stock market kicking administered yesterday to Hargreaves Lansdown was ferocious. The shares fell almost 13 per cent to 506½p in the worst day for the company since it joined the FTSE 100 in March. The scare was over the decision on Monday by the Financial Services Authority to force investment platforms such as Hargreaves to disclose to clients the rebates they quietly receive from fund management houses and, possibly, eventually to ban the payments outright. Hargreaves, which has waxed fat on the back of these payments, is seen as vulnerable to any crackdown. Last year about £60 million, or one third of its revenues, came from such payments. Even after yesterday’s sell-off, they trade on about 27 times forecast earnings for this year. But that racy multiple makes Hargreaves vulnerable to any negative story. The crackdown and the associated uncertainty will overshadow the shares for years. Avoid, recommends the Times.