Member Info for mulledwine

Elementis traces its roots to 1844 and the Harrisons & Crosfield tea and coffee trading conglomerate, but it took its present shape in 1998, when the company focused on chemicals found in substances such as paint, cosmetics and, more recently, shale gas wells, where the flow of a substance needs to be controlled. Elementis, which trades on 15 times Brewin Dolphin forecasts, has shed its volatile past and consistently overdelivered on the earnings front. It looks to be in its element and could flow higher, says the Times.

Media communications group Aegis (AGS) is to expand its influence in Japan with the purchase of Filefix, a digital service agency, for an undisclosed amount. Commenting on this, Nick Waters, chief executive of Aegis Media, Asia Pacific said: “Japan is the most digitally advanced market in the world and this acquisition puts Isobar [a wholly owned subsidiary of Aegis] at the forefront of developments in the market.” The shares crept down 0.6p to 161.7p.

News that Peter Botha, the current head of health solutions provider Liberty Health, has been appointed chief executive officer and director of African Medical Investments (AMEI) sent the African-focused private healthcare provider’s shares up 2.125p to 5p. Prior to taking up the role, Mr. Botha had shown his support by committing to subscribe to shares that would raise 2 million dollars (1.23 million pounds) for the group.

Northern Bear (NTBR) shares rose 3.75p to 16.25p on news the support services group has won a contract to install solar panels in both the UK domestic and commercial markets as part of an agreement with RGE Energy UK and St Columb Solar. Commenting on this, Graham Forrest, chief executive of Northern Bear, said the contract “will be of significant benefit to the group, both in opening up new markets and enabling us to provide additional products to our existing customers.”

Poor market conditions, the restructuring of its upholstered furniture interests and the expenses associated with the acquisition of Collins and Hayes have led Airsprung Group (APG) to post more than halved pre-tax profits for the full-year. The struggling bed and mattress company reported a pre-tax profit of 0.5 million pounds for the 12-months ended 31st March 2011 on revenue down 4% at 44.9 million pounds. Similarly, the group added that the current year has started slowly with weak consumer spending. Airsprung shares fell 2p to 23p.

Jacques Vert (JQV) posted increased pre-tax profits for the full-year, boosted by improved sales despite a difficult trading environment, but said it remains cautious for the new financial year. The women’s clothing retailer reported a pre-tax profit of 5.3 million pounds for the 12-months ended 30th April 2011, up 3.1% on a year earlier, as revenue climbed 2.6% to 118 million pounds. Commenting on this Seymour Pierce said the firm’s “sales were better than expected”. The broker has a "buy" stance and a 28p target price for the shares, which edged ahead 0.25p to 17.625p

Norseman Gold (NGL) received a “buy” recommendation from Seymour Pierce with a 52p target price. The Australian gold miner has secured 15 million Australian dollars (9.96 million pounds) in short term funding from Red Kite Group, which provides financing for mining companies, in order to improve performance and the underground structure of its North Royal pit. The broker says this will allow Norseman to bolster previously weak performance and is considerably cheaper than obtaining funding from an equity raise. Shares closed unchanged at 17.75p.

Brewin Dolphin believes that the recent takeover attempt of engineer Charter International (CHTR) by larger rival Melrose (MRO) is a sign that merger and acquisition activity could dominate financial markets in the coming months. The broker said that with many companies becoming more focused on cash generation over the last 2 years, their balance sheets are strong enough to look for aggressive expansion opportunities. What’s more, while noting that UK markets have been stagnant since the start of the year, due to a lack of investor confidence, Brewin added that “corporate activity could continue to prove a prominent theme in the next 12 months”.

N Brown (BWNG) We get the distinct impression that N Brown shares have been bumping along the bottom in the recent past, an idea backed up by the floor of a rising March trend channel in place at 260p. While there is no end of day close back below this number the upside here is seen as being a retest of the early June resistance zone of 290p plus over the next 2-4 weeks. So reckons Zak Mir

Reckitt Benckiser (RB.) Although Reckitt Benckiser tends to be the kind of blue chip elephant that does not gallop, the gap to the upside today suggests that this is just what it is doing at the moment. The gap through the June 3,507p high is a very strong technical feature, one that should ensure that while there is no end of day close back below this level we shall be treated to a minimum March price channel top target of 3,700p over the next couple of weeks. So reckons Zak Mir

Northgate is the largest hirer of light commercial vehicles to British retailers, wholesalers, distributors and construction and maintenance folk. In the 12 months to the end of April 2008 — the height of the boom before the fall — Northgate on average had 91% of its vans in a fleet of 68,600 vehicles in use every week. Two years later that rate had slipped and Northgate had brought its fleet down by about 8,000 vans. This year the numbers using Northgate white vans has barely shifted. But while total group revenues have fallen year on year to GBP537m, group pre-tax profits have leapt by 47 per cent to GBP53m. After an 80 per cent run-up in shares in the past 12 months, those investors not already aboard have missed the ride and, for now, there appears to be little, if any, upside left in the price, says the Times.

While Greene King’s retail estate of 915 pubs remains the driver thanks to sizzling food sales, its brewing business and 2,400 tenanted pubs are also outpacing rivals. Greene King’s skill at increasing sales while mitigating cost rises has kept the cash flowing, allowing it to lift the divdend for the year by 7.4% – good going in a tough market. The shares, off 30.6p at 487.4p, are trading on a forward multiple of about 9.5. Buy, says the Times. Greene King’s net debt of GBP1.4bn makes the Independent a little queasy but fixed charges such as interest payments and rent are 2.6 times covered. The company’s food offering is performing strongly and its expansion strategy is aggressive and ought to help it to continue to grab market share. Plus, the valuation, at about 10 times full year earnings, is undemanding with a forecast yield of 5 per cent. Hold, the newspaper says.

Commenting on the launch of RemoteView and the CarieScan Caries Monitoring System, Graham Lay, Chief Executive Officer of 3D Diagnostic Imaging, said: "RemoteView software completes the CarieScan Caries Monitoring System. This system is a really exciting development for dentists. It provides them with information in a form which they have never had before, enabling caries status data to be captured, stored and recalled onto the dentists' PC enabling the long term monitoring of disease progression or regression. It provides the dentist with all the data needed to easily monitor the health of a patient's teeth and make decisions that will help prevent the need for fillings in the future."

Launch of RemoteView Software signals the world's first wireless Caries Monitoring System 3D is pleased to announce that its subsidiary CarieScan Limited ("CarieScan"), the producer of the CarieScan PRO, a handheld device for the early detection and monitoring of tooth decay, has launched its unique RemoteView Software ("RemoteView"). Used exclusively in conjunction with the CarieScan PROtm, the CarieScan Caries Monitoring System is the world's first dedicated wireless caries monitoring system. RemoteView changes the paradigm for Caries Monitoring. Working with the CarieScan PROtm, all data including tooth numbers, site information and measurement results, is captured and displayed in a number of formats on the dentist's computer. Once captured, data is available for review and forms part of an ongoing monitoring record. Disease progression and regression can easily be monitored. All CarieScan PROtm units are shipped with a Bluetooth dongle enabling any XP/Vista/Windows 7 PC to communicate with the CarieScan PROtm.

gige - re your message left on RR. Ye I like the RNS - its all good progress...need to see some figures re sales etc - confidence as we know was severely knocked here and it takes twice as long to get it back as it does to lose it !

nighthawk - no not as yet - the spread kills it for me although its sometimes not as large as listed here. Still watching!

Matrix upgrades Marks & Spencer from add to buy, target price unchanged at 407p

Davy Research upgrades Associated British Foods from neutral to outperform

Davy Research reiterates outperform on Persimmon

CONT Any meaningful increase in industry output will only occur with a significant improvement in the currently constrained mortgage lending conditions. We continue to see some modest improvement in mortgage lending with a greater number of higher loan to value products available in the market. We have been successful in securing c. £35 million of funding from the Government under their FirstBuy Scheme to support first time buyers in the market. We look forward to introducing this facility to our customers across the c. 290 sites where c. 2,100 new homes have been allocated support. Our customers have also been keen to take advantage of our part exchange facilities which provide a very convenient method for acquiring a newly built home. We continue to invest in high quality land, which will support both the improvement in the Company's profitability over the medium term and an expansion in legal completions as and when market conditions allow. During the last six months we have acquired c. 7,500 plots of land, c. 36% of which have been secured through successfully converting strategic land positions. Notable successes have been c. 800 plots at Gatwick in the South East and c. 200 plots at Whinmoor in Leeds, West Yorkshire. These anchor sites will deliver superior returns for the business in the coming years. At 30 June 2011 our borrowings were c. £15 million (June 2010: £122 million). As previously announced we arranged a new five year £300 million revolving credit facility during the first half of the year. The combination of our strong liquidity and these new facilities on improved terms will lead to lower finance costs in future periods, supporting further growth in profitability. We continue to operate successfully in the current market and remain focussed on delivering further margin growth and free cash flow, supported by our strong high quality landbank. We will announce our Half Year Results on Tuesday 23 August 2011 and provide further details at that time.