Member Info for mulledwine

Yes I quite like this Steve although I am kicking myself I missed the recent low - Cinema’s appeal stretches far and wide and in India it is an obsession. Last year, for example, more people went to the cinema there than in America. At the same time, ticket prices are on the rise. Currently, a trip to the cinema there costs about 40p. That is expected to reach about 55p by 2013, writes Joanne Hart at the Mail on Sunday. These increases reflect the changing face of India, particularly the rapid rise in the middle classes. Bollywood also appeals to non-Asian audiences and Eros distributes movies in 27 dubbed languages. Eros is heavily involved in other media as well, such as DVDs, video on demand, television, the internet, even mobile phone film streaming. The market is vibrant, both at home and abroad. In the West, there tends to be one screen per 10,000 people. In India there are only 13,000 screens in the entire country, which amounts to one per 90,000 people. The Indian film market is growing rapidly and Eros is an industry leader at home and abroad. Bollywood is big business, buy into it,” the Mail on Sunday´s Midas column says.

Coal and transport services supplier Hargreaves Services may benefit from three factors, according to the Questor team at the Sunday Telegraph. First of all, a planning decision on the Tower Colliery expansion in Wales is expected in the next few months. Although news on this front has been expected for a long time, now the Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council is expected to consider the planning application for the Tower project on the next 4th of July. According to the Sunday Telegraph, “the expansion has not been included in analysts’ earnings models – and although last week’s update was positive, there’s little scope for a major upgrade.” Secondly, a new management contract has been signed with the Hatfield Colliery. Hargreaves will provide management at the colliery in return for a fixed fee, on an initial term of 12 months, and it may be extended after that. Lastly, the company will also launch a new seam-coal trading operation. It currently just trades speciality coals. Shares of Hargreaves Services are now trading on a May 2011 earnings multiple of 10.1 times, falling to 8.7 in 2012. The yield is just 1.4pc. For Questor the shares remain a buy.

http://www.iii.co.uk/tv/episode/petrolatina-pele

UBS reiterates buy Elementis, target price raised from 185p to 195p.

Software supplier Clarity Commerce Solutions (CCS) has won a significant follow-on contract with an un-named US theme park operator to upgrade the current installations to the firm's new ClarityLive software. The deal is worth 640,000 pounds and roll out is expected in 2012. In a hint on current trading Clarity also noted that other sectors, such as Retail, are exhibiting extended lead times. Results for the year to 31st March 2011 should be out in the coming weeks. Clarity shares were flat at 19p.

bas - yes the market certainly seems to have this one by the tail !

Shares in Leeds based design and engineering consultant WYG (WYG) collapsed by 6.5p to 2p after the company announced a massively dilutive restructuring programme. The firm is to raise 32 million pounds in a placing at 1p per share and convert 51 million pounds of debt into convertible shares. A 50-1 share consolidation will also take place. The firm, previously known as White Young Green, ran up a huge debt position after making 38 acquisitions between 1997 and 2007, before running into difficulties during the financial crisis. The shares were changing hands for over 4,800p each at the start of 2007. Following the restructuring existing shareholders will be left with just 1.09% of the company.

Beleaguered hedge fund RAB Capital (RAB) has announced it is to delist from AIM and return just 10p per share to shareholders after a planned management buyout. Just before the financial crisis took hold RAB shares were changing hands for circa 125p. There will also be the option to receive shares in the buyout firm. RAB has seen a spectacular fall from grace in recent years, with assets under management falling from $7.24 billion at the end of 2007 to just $1.06 billion at the end of 2010. Shares in the firm advanced by 1.49p to 9.59p.

BarCap reiterates equal weight on 3i Group, target price cut from 351p to 333p.

A little more coverage - same topic Habitat is being broken up and the bulk of its UK business could be placed into administration as early as today. Argos owner Home Retail Group has offered between £20m and £30m to buy parts of the household furnishings chain’s underperforming UK business, while Habitat’s international business has also been put on the block, reports the Daily Mail.

ING reiterates buy Reckitt Benckiser Group, target price raised from 4475p to 4500p.

UBS reiterates buy Pearson, target price reiterated at 1400p

http://www.iii.co.uk/articles/16010/stock-watch-charter-international

Safestore took a knock yesterday after making downbeat noises about the economy and revealing that headline interim pre-tax profits had slumped by 85% to GBP973,000 from GBP6.6m. The latter was largely down to a cautious valuation of the company’s existing property portfolio. At the operating level, things look rather better. Despite the tough economic climate, occupancy was up 3% and customers are paying more to stash their things with the storage group. Buy, recommends the Independent.

No one could accuse Micro Focus International of inconsistency. I said in December this computer software company had had a truly horrible year. Six months on, and the company has had a truly horrible six months. It provides software for large corporates such as Tesco; its downfall came in 2009 when it bolted on two small companies to create AMQ, a testing business. Core revenues were off 0.2% in the year to the end of April, those from AMQ down 16%. Micro Focus shares sell on about ten times this year’s earnings, pathetically cheap for the sector. One for the brave only, and those with a long-term view, says the Times.

Soco International‘s business is set to be transformed in the third quarter by the development of its TGT oilfield, offshore Vietnam; yet the stock continues to trade at a 40% discount to our 595p-a-share net asset value, which makes it one of the least expensive stocks in our international universe. We forecast that the TGT development will help lift Soco’s production, from 2,500b/d in early 2011, to more than 20,000b/d in 2012. And, under the terms of its production sharing contract (PSC), the company could be allocated 45% of the field’s revenue. As a result we calculate Soco’s post-tax cash flow should leap 20-fold. Buy, recommends the Scotsman.

Until now we haven’t been the biggest fans of Chemring, the military equipment maker that issued half-yearly results yesterday, says the Independent. The worries, which we aired in detail in a note last year, were down to the defence squeeze and its likely impact on the sector. Adding to our caution was the fact the group’s shares were trading at a premium to the wider sector in advance of the defence review. Fast forward to yesterday and Chemring not only posted higher revenues – up by nearly 30% – but also higher profits in the six months to the end of April. And despite the budget cuts and spending pressure here and on the other side of the Atlantic, it managed to grow its order book, which rose to a record high of nearly GBP1bn. Buy, recommends the Independent.

It is game over for Rank Group. Despite its misgivings, the company has told shareholders to accept a ridiculously low offer from the Malaysian billionaire Quek Leng Chan. The assumption was that the 150p a share offer would fail, leaving outside shareholders with a small majority. For some reason it attracted sufficient support to go through 50%, though Guoco said it would retain the listing in London. Analysts had an average target price of 191p, which suggested the shares could have had farther to run. The safest course is for investors to take Rank’s advice with whatever grace they can muster and accept these miserable terms, according to the Times.

VPhase entry into GE Ecomagination Challenge Energetix Group plc (AIM: EGX), which develops and commercialises alternative and efficient energy products and which holds a 43% stake in VPhase plc, was pleased to note the announcement from GE regarding the proposed investment of $63 million into 10 home energy technology companies, including VPhase, as part of its Ecomagination Challenge. In addition, Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY) (one of the world's largest retailers - the Best Buy family of brands and partnerships collectively generates more than $50 billion in annual revenue) is partnering with GE to fast-track the commercial availability of two technologies, one being the VPhase home energy control device, so they can be ready for retail testing through select Best Buy retail channels in the future. Discussions relating to the quantum and structure of any proposed investment in VPhase are continuing but have not yet been finalised. For full details of the announcement by GE, please see here: http://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/market-news/market-news-detail.html?announcementId=10900676

http://investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201106240835570537J