Member Info for mulledwine

Charter turns its nose up at Melrose's sweetened bid Date: Friday 15 Jul 2011 LONDON (ShareCast) - British engineer Charter International has rejected investment firm Melrose’s revised 840p-a-share bid, saying that the proposal undervalues the company and its prospects. Charter maintains that the sweetened offer does not reflect, among other things, the belief that the market was undervaluing the company’s prospects in the immediate aftermath of its trading statement on 20 June. On 20 June, Charter had warned that full year figures are expected to be below forecast and announced further cost cutting, which had wiped off more than 21% from its market value. Charter’s board reaffirmed its confidence in the ability of its core ESAB welding and metal-cutting wing to effect substantial operational improvement under the new management team and added that it is exploring a full range of strategic alternatives to maximise shareholder value. Shares of Charter rose 0.4% to 832p, while Melrose was up 0.2% at 360p in London.

Rejection of Melrose PLC Proposal As announced on 14 July 2011, the Board of Charter International plc ("Charter" or the "Company") confirms that it received a revised proposal from Melrose PLC ("Melrose") regarding a possible 840 pence per share equity and cash offer for the Company. Having reviewed Melrose's revised proposal and given Melrose's advisers the opportunity to provide certain important clarifications, the Board of Charter continues to believe that Melrose's revised proposal is opportunistic and undervalues the Company and its prospects. Accordingly, the Board of Charter has rejected the revised proposal.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201107151406085034K

Apologies Harry - i was a very slow second there with the broker note - its certainly a hefty reduction to say the least!

The future is black for Black’s Leisure, judging by finnCap’s latest diagnosis of the outdoor clothing and equipment retailer’s health. It has slashed its target price on Black’s to 1p from 10p, following the company’s announcement this morning that it is extending its bank facility to £40m as it battles against challenging retail market conditions. “It is now hard to see where any equity value might lie,” says finnCap in response to the announcement. The broker also notes that the company’s plans to exit its boardwear business seem to be behind schedule, with five shops not yet exited. Unsurprisingly, finnCap keeps its “sell” rating on Black’s.

Matrix upgrades Workspace Group from hold to buy, target price raised from 25p to 32p.

A very good bounce from the lows but the spread kills any realistic trading ie 50%

Abbeycrest shares plunge on debt worries Date: Friday 15 Jul 2011 LONDON (ShareCast) - International jewellery designer and manufacturer, Abbeycrest, today said it would need to renegotiate its debt facilities in the coming months. The news wiped 57% of the value of its shares in morning trading. The company said that in May 2011 it had agreed revised and extended facilities with its lenders in the UK and Thailand. Abbeycrest operates manufacturing plants in the Far East and supplies jewellers in the UK and elsewhere. "However, the group now needs to extend these existing facilities further or reduce the group's peak working capital funding requirement by approximately £0.7m in October 2011," it said. The firm put the blame on difficult trading conditions in recent weeks, including continuing rising precious metal prices and retailer action to protect volumes. Despite this it said it had "made a satisfactory start to the current financial year".

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201107150700064231K

Numis downgrades Future from buy to hold, target price cut from 27p to 18p.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201107150947004720K

Standard Chartered eyes Piraeus Bank's Egyptian unit Date: Friday 15 Jul 2011 LONDON (ShareCast) - Standard Chartered confirmed that it has submitted a request to the Central Bank of Egypt to conduct its due diligence into the operations of Greece-based Piraeus Bank’s Egyptian unit, indicating that it may consider acquiring the business. The Asian markets-focused banking group's confirmation followed Piraeus’s announcement that Standard Chartered had indicated an interest in buying the shares of Piraeus Bank Egypt. Piraeus has a 98% stake in the Egyptian bank. In its press release, Standard Chartered said it does not expect the transaction to have a material financial impact and cautioned that, “There can be no certainty as to whether any agreement will be reached between Standard Chartered PLC and Piraeus Bank S.A.” Shares of Standard Chartered rose 0.9% to 1,620p in mid-morning trading in London.

Looking at the charts, the 16 p support that offered the 'bottom' on several occasions throught 2010 has been well and truly breached today. If I could find the bottom I would be in for a risy recovery trace. Peel Hunt might well be correct with 12p

Financial position The Group's net debt at 30 June 2011 is estimated at 1.67 times bank EBITDA. The Group continues to operate within all bank covenants and is confident that, including the impact of the information in this statement, the Group will continue to comply with all bank covenants.

Re-structuring and exceptional costs The business is executing its operational review of geography and function: (a) to accelerate the move of the US business to one that is a primarily digital business model, simultaneously reducing volatility associated with print data flows; and (b) to re-organise the UK business, re-calibrating it to ensure faster adaptation to digital and more efficient execution of print. The benefit of these steps will be to improve efficiency, reduce headcount, reduce property requirements, and help accelerate the most promising areas of digital product development. The Board anticipates one-off associated exceptional cash costs of up to £3.5m in 2011. As at 30 September 2010 the carrying value of the goodwill in the US business was £21.8 million and, in view of the degradation of the US print business, the Group now expects to take a significant (non-cash) 2011 impairment charge in respect of that print business, subject to any business disposals that may be made.

Outlook for the year ending 30 September 2011 The pattern of total revenue for the nine months to 30 June was consistent with the position reported for the half-year ended 31 March, with the UK business anticipated to deliver revenues and EBITA in line with expectations. However, the US business is likely to incur an EBITA loss for the full year £2m worse than expectations, following the most recent information about print performance in the US. The Board now anticipates that Group EBITA, before exceptional items, will be £2m less than previously expected.

Trading update for the nine months ended 30 June 2011 In general terms, the trends identified in the Group's half-year results (announced on 20 May 2011) continued during the quarter to 30 June. Group revenues for the nine months are estimated to be down 5% on last year, continuing the decline reported for half-year to 31 March 2011. UK trading During the year to date, UK revenues in total have held up well. Circulation revenues are down 3%, whilst digital advertising revenue growth continues to offset print advertising decline. Digital products are performing ahead of management expectations, and our continuing progress in this field has been recognised by the award to Future by the Association of Online Publishers as Consumer Digital Publisher of the Year. We have seen an acceleration of sales of digital magazine replicas (on platforms such as Zinio); iPad successes continue; and digital advertising revenues (which comprise around a third of advertising revenue) have achieved growth of 40% to date; May was our first £1m digital revenue month in the UK. US trading The most recent newstrade returns of unsold copies (relating to magazines which went on sale during the first half of the financial year) suggest further significant adverse adjustments to our forecasted sales. Retail opportunities for newsstand magazine sales have decreased even further in the current quarter, reflecting broader challenges at retail and fewer opportunities still for consumers to buy magazines. Print advertising revenues continue to decline, and we are also actively discontinuing subsidised magazine subscriptions. In addition, a digital product launch planned for the second half-year has been further delayed. All of these factors will depress 2011 performance. As a result, the Board has decided to accelerate transition of Future US into a primarily digital business. This process may take 12 to 15 months, to allow time for existing subscriptions and other contractual obligations to be fulfilled.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201107150700084494K

Peel Hunt downgrades Future from hold to sell, target price cut from 17p to 12p.

TUI bags language school Date: Friday 15 Jul 2011 LONDON (ShareCast) - TUI Travel, the FTSE 250 travel firm, has bought a language school in York for £800,000 to add to its education portfolio. TUI already owns EAC, the Hampstead School of English and the Manchester Academy of English. The travel giant has made a strategic decision to move into the eduction sector with 35 brands in school expeditions, sport, ski, activity, education, gap and experiential travel. TUI shares were flat on the news at 192.7p.