Member Info for mulledwine

Jefferies Internatioanl upgrades CSR from hold to buy, target price raised from 360p to 410p.

S&P Equity Research downgrades Reed Elsevier from sell to strong sell.

Bubs - I have dropped you one ! A bit late though!

Seymour Pierce downgrades Xaar from add to hold, target price raised from 275p to 280p.

JP Morgan Cazenove downgrades Hays from overweight to neutral, target price cut from 149p to 108p.

Numis upgrades Trinity Mirror from hold to buy, target price raised from 50p to 60p.

This dosnt help. Panmure Gordon said the probability of the News International takeover of BSkyB going ahead has fallen below 50% from about 90%.

Much more like it. Up 5% as I type. 44 - 45.50

HMS GROUP TO DELIVER MODULAR EQUIPMENT TO EASTERN SIBERIA HMS Group (LSE: HMSG), the leading pump manufacturer and provider of flow control solutions and related services in Russia and the CIS, today announces that it has signed several contracts for total sum of more than RUB 500 mn for the design, production and delivery of a broad range of oil production technological modular equipment to one of the largest oilfields in Eastern Siberia. ***

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=20110708090000Z0528

Moneysupermarket.com expects 23% rise in revenue Sounds good - lets see what the related profits add up to.

8th July 2011 Post Close Trading Statement Moneysupermarket.com Group PLC ("Moneysupermarket.com" or "the Group"), the UK's leading price comparison site, issues the following trading update relating to the six month period ending 30th June 2011. Trading in the second quarter has been strong and consistent with the trends seen in the first quarter. The Board expects adjusted half year revenues to be in the region of £88.3m and adjusted EBITDA to be approximately £22.8m, which are approximately 23% and 26% ahead of the same period last year respectively.(1) Consistent with its strategy of driving higher-margin, direct-to-site revenues, the Group has continued to increase its investment in offline marketing, including the sponsorship of Britain's Got Talent in the second quarter to consolidate its position as a mainstream brand. Consequently, and as expected, offline marketing expenditure in the first half of the year was approximately 50% ahead of the same period last year. The Group will continue to invest in its brand in the second half and launched a new campaign in the first week of July. Offline marketing expenditure is therefore expected to continue to be ahead of the comparator period in the second half of the year. However, consistent with previous years, the absolute quantum of spend is likely to be lower than first half of the year reflecting lower expenditure levels in the fourth quarter. The Group will recognise a one off credit of approximately £3.3m in the first half of the year, following reaching agreement in principle with HMRC relating to the VAT treatment of certain of the Group's supplies. The Group anticipates that there will be an ongoing benefit of approximately £0.5m per annum. (1) The Group's financial position remains strong. As at 30 June 2011 the Group had cash balances of £32.1m after the payment of a dividend of £12.9m in May 2011 and was debt free. The results for the half year will be announced on 2 August 2011.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201107080700100120K

Big Yellow storing up increased revenues Date: Friday 08 Jul 2011 LONDON (ShareCast) - Storage barn operator Big Yellow saw 'occupancy growth' up from 143,000 square feet in the second quarter of 2010 to 162,000 square feet between April and June this year. Big Yellow wholly owns 52 of its stores, and at these outlets annualised revenue was up 7% compared to the first half of 2010 at £63.7m. The 11 “partnership stores” were up 64% from June 2010 at £3.9m. The wholly owned stores are operating at 61.3% of capacity. The group claims rental rates have increased year-on-year but are slightly down from the previous quarter due in part to a significant increase in the number of new customers taking up introductory offers. James Gibson, Chief Executive Officer, commented: "Given the continuing uncertainties in the macroeconomic environment it is right to remain cautious. We are however encouraged by the continuing positive performance of this business."

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201107080700090072K

Chris Grigg, Chief Executive of British Land said, "While we remain focused on our core retail and Central London office markets, this acquisition demonstrates British Land's ability to work with banks to unlock opportunities to create incremental value. These high quality assets will be operated by a strong, established management team and provide us with a secure and growing income stream. The acquisition further underlines the strength of our property, structuring and financing skills and we expect more opportunities will continue to emerge in the coming year."

British Land Acquires 17 Virgin Active Premium Racket Club Properties for £179 million British Land announces that it has agreed to buy a portfolio of freehold and leasehold racket clubs from Societe Generale for £179 million. The portfolio consists of 17 premium racket clubs which will be let on new, 25 year leases to Virgin Active pending its acquisition of the Esporta business. The purchase is conditional on the Office of Fair Trading's approval of Virgin Active's acquisition of the Esporta business and will be funded through the Group's existing facilities. The properties have been acquired at a net initial yield of 7.3% and an equivalent yield of 8.4% and will generate an initial annual net rental income of £13 million. The leases are subject to a fixed uplift at year five, compounded at 2.5% pa, followed by annual RPI uplifts of between 1% and 4% for the remainder of the term. The average rent on the new leases is £8 per sq ft. The properties acquired have a total of 1.7 million sq ft of leisure and gym facilities spread over 380 acres of land. The purchase price represents a capital value of just over £100 per sq ft. Nearly 85% (by value) of the clubs acquired are located in the South East of England, with nearly half of the clubs by value within the M25. Offering an extensive range of facilities, the clubs are all well located on the edge of major towns, are highly accessible and dominant in their catchment areas. Virgin Active will be the second largest provider in the UK with 124, mainly mid to high end market clubs and over 425,000 members. The acquisition of the Esporta business will provide Virgin Active with a strong presence in the premium health club sector where membership and revenues have remained resilient. The Esporta clubs are expected to benefit from Virgin Active's proven management skills alongside significant new investment. The purchase of the Esporta properties brings British Land's total acquisition spend over the last 18 months to £784 million. The acquisitions, which include Drake Circus shopping centre in Plymouth, Green Lane's shopping centre in Barnstaple and Hutchinson 3G's UK head office in Maidenhead, as well as a number of development properties, generate annualised incremental rental income of £46 million.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201107080700100190K

Half Year to 30 June 2011 Grafton Group plc, the builders merchants and DIY Group with operations in the UK and Ireland, issues this trading update for the six months ended 30 June 2011. Group turnover for the half year was circa €997 million, compared to €979 million in the first half of 2010. Turnover in the early months of the year benefitted from more favourable weather conditions than in the same period last year and the rate of growth moderated in the second quarter. UK average daily like for like sterling turnover increased by circa 4.7 per cent. Demand was resilient in the RMI-focused UK merchanting business against the background of pressure on disposable incomes and consumer spending. Irish turnover for the half year was down by circa 6 per cent and was impacted by challenging trading conditions in the Merchanting and DIY markets. Spending on housing RMI and DIY was lower due to general weakness in the economy, reflecting a decline in incomes and contraction in employment levels. The trading environment in the Group's key markets is proving slow to recover to more normal conditions in light of the continuation of weak mortgage lending and low levels of consumer confidence. However, the Group continues to significantly improve its trading performance from the historically low levels of the recession.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201107080700100149K