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The Independent says, Charter was hardly expensive at less than 10 times 2011 earnings before yesterday’s share price crash and lower expectations were factored in, putting it at a discount to the sector. After the forecasts are updated, it could look very cheap. But yesterday’s statement just isn’t good enough. Behind the mangled language, it looks like a company in a bit of a state. Those who haven’t bailed out should do so until things have settled, notwithstanding the possibility of a predator putting it out of its misery. Sell, the paper recommends.

When Charter International put out a statement yesterday that, although one side of the business accounting for about a third of sales was doing really quite well, the rest had suffered a bit of a slowdown, almost a third of the company’s market cap disappeared and the shares ended off 179p at 537¾p. At the present level, the shares are on only eight times’ the most pessimistic profits forecast, while the company has been the subject of bid speculation in the past. But not for the nervous, recommends the Times.

Shell buys 254 Total petrol stations Date: Tuesday 21 Jun 2011 LONDON (ShareCast) - Oil giant Shell is buying 254 petrol stations in the UK for $400m (£240m). It is buying the stations, which are mostly in the Midlands and Southeast , from investment group Rontec, which announced today that it is has agreed to buy Total’s retail and distribution business in the UK, which comprises 810 service stations and other outlets. The stations Rontec is selling are part of this portfolio. “Shell is pleased to be investing in our retail business in the UK, a very competitive market," said John Bullock, Shell's Executive Vice-President, Retail. "With this improved network of petrol stations , Shell will be able to provide more people with a top quality customer offer including quality branded fuels, in a convenient location and at a competitive price, helping us compete for the long term."

Crawshaw chops profit guidance By Benjamin Chiou Date: Tuesday 21 Jun 2011 LONDON (ShareCast) - Rising prices and tough trading conditions mean that meat-focused retailer Crawshaw now expects profits for the current year to fall below expectations. Shares were 24% down at 15:37 on Tuesday afternoon. The group - which owns 20 butchers in the north of England - said that sales in recent weeks have been below expectations, and like-for-like sales for the year-to-date are now 2% below the previous year. Market conditions are expected to stay “extremely tough” for the remainder of the year across the grocery retail sector. Margins this year are now 1 percentage point lower. Crawshaw has identified that the decline in sales is being driven by customers “trading down and making purchases last longer.” As such, the company is seeking to recruit new senior marketing staff to broaden its range of products on offer. “Side dishes, desserts, sauces and more take-out options are all being considered,” the group said. “As a result of current trading results and additional recruitment costs, the Company now expects profits for the current financial year to be lower than previously anticipated.”

CONT The broker has left its "buy" recommendation and target price of 345p unchanged, "although we do recognise the general prevailing sector weakness, with many of the asset managers down approximately 10% over the last month." At 3:02pm (21/6/11) the shares of Jupiter were trading at 247p, down 8.3p on the day.

LONDON (ShareCast) - Jupiter Fund Management expects to show a healthy increase in profits at the halfway stage as assets under management (AuM) continue to climb, but that did not stop some of the fund manager's star names cashing in some of the shares held since before the company's flotation. "Against the backdrop of a more challenging flow environment, Jupiter has continued to make good progress," said chief executive, Edward Bonham-Carter. Despite an upbeat statement, the shares fell back in the morning trading session as the company announced a placing of shares below the prevailing market price. The company placed 26.2m shares owned by directors - including Bonham-Carter - plus high-profile Jupiter employees and their spouses, at 240p per share. The day before the announcement of the placing the mid-market closing price of the shares was 255p. The shares placed represent 5.7% of the company's share capital, and were previously the subject of a 12-month "lock-in" agreements entered into prior to the group's flotation last year. Other individuals taking the opportunity to cash in some of their shareholdings at the earliest opportunity included chief financial officer, Philip Johnson; chief investment officer John Chatfeild-Roberts; chief operating officer, Adrian Creedy; sales and marketing director, Chris Crawford; the head of Income and UK equities teams director, Anthony Nutt; fund manager, UK Equities & Financials Teams, Philip Gibbs. AuM at the end of May stood at £24,821m, up 3% from £24,078m at the end of 2010. Net inflows of £623m accounted of the rise, with market movements responsible for the rest of the £743m increase. The Mutual Funds division saw AuM advance to £18,987m from £18,418m at the end of 2010, thanks to net inflows of £643m, which offset a £74m decline caused by market movements. On the Hedge Fund side, where AuM fell to £105m from the year-end figure of £181m, the group saw outflows of £72m, with most of the outflow arising from the liquidation and reconstruction of the Jupiter Merlin Absolute Return Portfolio, which will allow the fund of funds team to focus on their long-only offerings. Net revenue for the six months to 30 June 2011 is expected to be between £126.5m and £129.0m, the company said, up some 15% from £111.2m at the interim stage last year. This is mainly due to increased net management fees, reflecting average FTSE 100 levels for the first half of 2011 of 5,917, some 10% ahead of the prior year (2010: 5,397), and the contribution from net inflows over the last two years. Net revenues include performance fees of £4.5m (2010: £1.0m), reflecting crystallisations to the end of May only, the company said.

Carnival's Q2 sales rise, but fuel costs dampen profits By Benjamin Chiou Date: Tuesday 21 Jun 2011 LONDON (ShareCast) - Cruise operator Carnival’s shares steamed ahead after the company revealed that second quarter revenues grew by $353m in the three months ended 31 May. Shares rose by 4.5% shortly after the announcement at 14:30 on Tuesday afternoon. Second quarter revenues grew from $3.3bn to $3.6bn, due to increased capacity and improved ticket prices, the firm said. Net revenue yields (at constant currency) increased by 2.3% compared with the prior year. “Our North America brands' revenue yields increased 3% in the second quarter while yields for our Europe, Australia and Asia brands were up slightly (constant dollars), having been affected by the geo-political events which unfolded in the Middle East and North Africa, as well as the earthquake and nuclear disaster in Japan,” said chairman and chief executive officer Micky Arison. However, income before tax fell from $251m to $204m, as fuel costs jumped to $579m, from $416m. Earnings per share fell to $0.26, from $0.32 previously. “The revenue yield improvement was more than offset by higher fuel prices which cost the company approximately $150 million, or $0.19 per share,” Arison said. Fuel prices increased by 35% year-on-year to $673 per metric ton, versus $498 per metric ton in the second quarter of 2010. Nevertheless, the company raised its dividend for the period from $0.10 per share to $0.25 per share. The group said that current cumulative advance bookings for the rest of 2011 are at higher prices with lower occupancies versus last year. While pricing in North America remains strong, pricing for the Europe, Australia and Asia regions has been “significantly affected by the prolonged conflict in the Middle East and North Africa regions and earthquake in Japan." As previously announced last week, the company expects the impact of these events to cost around $0.15 per share in the second half and reduce revenue yields by 1%. For the full year, net revenue yields are expected to rise by 1.5-2.5%, compared with previous guidance (in March) of +2.5-3.5%. ---

Horrible spread though - albeit dummy buys are quoted tighter

155 - 162 (from a 146ish low today)- that was on the cards after the RNS

RESULT OF COURT HEARING On 20 April 2011, the board of Cuba Bidco Limited ("Bidco") and Graham Cole, Paul Wright and Valerie Kaye, being the independent directors of Ideal Shopping Direct Plc (the "Company"), announced that they had reached agreement on the terms of a recommended cash offer by Bidco to acquire the entire issued share capital of the Company (the "Proposal"), to be implemented by means of a scheme of arrangement under Part 26 of the Companies Act 2006 (the "Scheme of Arrangement" or the "Scheme"). A shareholder circular containing the terms of the Proposal and the Scheme (the "Scheme Document") was posted to the holders of ordinary shares of 3 pence each in the capital of the Company ("Company Shareholders") on 6 May 2011. Unless otherwise stated, defined terms shall have the meaning given to them in the Scheme Document. On 31 May 2011, the Company announced that, at the Court Meeting and the General Meeting, all the resolutions required to approve the Scheme were passed by the requisite majorities. Today, the Court has sanctioned the Scheme and confirmed the related Reduction of Capital required by the Scheme of Arrangement. It is anticipated that the Scheme will become effective on 22 June 2011 and cancellation of admission of the Company Shares from AIM will take effect from 7.00 a.m. on 23 June 2011. In accordance with Rule 19.11 of the City Code, a copy of this announcement will be published on the following website: www.idealshoppingdirect.co.uk.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201106211239408315I

Commenting on the results, Adrian Bowles, Chief Executive Officer of Helius Energy, said: "We continue to make progress with our pipeline of Biomass energy projects. The Rothes project was project financed in early April and construction has commenced. This demonstrates the ability of the Company to develop, and deliver funding for its projects."

Interim results for the six months to 31st March 2011 Helius Energy plc (AIM:HEGY) announces its interim results for the six months to March 2011 Financial highlights: · Loss before tax of £955k · £2.9m invested into projects in the period · Cash of £6.6m prior to investment of £4.8m in Rothes project after the period end · Project level debt and third party equity package completed for the Rothes project on 13th April 2011 Operational highlights: · Contract negotiations being finalised for the construction and fuel supply of the Avonmouth project · Rothes project in construction (post period end) · Consenting process for Southampton project in progress

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201106211159288258I

Some good reassurance from the BoD - will it make a difference in this Market though - if I had the spare cash I think I would buy following todays update

Trading update and Share Buy Back The Board notes the recent movement in the Group's share price. Although recent media comment has reported a difficult retail trading environment, the Board wishes to place on record that it is not aware of any new specific adverse factors that will affect the Group's performance in the current financial year and the Company expects to meet current market expectations for the year ending 31 August 2011. At this stage, with the Group's product portfolio performing well, the Board believe that the Group will continue to make further good progress, grow market share and deliver another solid performance. The Company advises that on 20 June, 2011 it bought back for cancellation 5,500 Ordinary Shares of 5p each in the capital of the Company ("Ordinary Shares") in the market, at a price of 147 pence per share. This represents approximately 0.02 per cent. of the current issued share capital of the Company (excluding shares held in treasury). For the purposes of the Financial Services Authority's Disclosure and Transparency Rules, the total number of Ordinary Shares in issue as at the date of this notice (taking into account the Ordinary Shares purchased for cancellation by the Company announced above and excluding Ordinary Shares held in treasury) is 23,894,081 ("Revised Issued Voting Share Capital"). The Company has a total unutilised capacity to buy back up to a further 5,592,500 Ordinary Shares under the authority granted at the Annual General Meeting held on 19 January 2011. The Company holds 4,019,456 Ordinary Shares in treasury, representing approximately 16.82 per cent. of the Revised Issued Voting Share Capital, which do not carry voting rights. The figure of 23,894,081 may be used by shareholders as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest, or change to their interest, in the Company under the Disclosure and Transparency Rules.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201106211155258259I

orbiter - yes tipsters are not as talented as they like to think they are !

Investec recommends buy British American Tobacco, target price raised from 2660p to 3000p

Domino Printing sales grow 8%, divi hiked By Benjamin Chiou Date: Tuesday 21 Jun 2011 LONDON (ShareCast) - Industrial printing firm Domino Printing Sciences hiked its interim dividend by 20% after strong product demand and initial sales of its new printer ranges drove first half revenue 8% higher. Revenue grew to £156.4m in the six months to 30 April, from £144.8m previously, helped by sales of the new Continuous Inkjet and Laser printers which were launched at the end of the first quarter. The company's services includes barcode printing and best-before-date stamps on food products, cosmetics and electronics. Sales in Europe grew by 10% and the Middle East and Asia registered 18% growth, "despite the impact of both natural disasters and political events", the group said. However, sales in the Americas fell 8% after a one-off sale in the first quarter of the prior year in South America was not repeated. The half-year dividend has been raised to 6.58p per share, from 5.48p. Meanwhile, pre-tax profit increased by 13% to £27.1m, from £23.9m the year before, while earnings per share rose from 15.45p to 17.24p. Gross margin improved to 49.8%, from 48.9%. "While there remain some uncertainties in global economies we continue to see customers invest and believe we are well placed to develop and grow the business. The Board remains confident in the prospects for the Group," said chairman Peter Byrom. Following the announcement, Altium raised its target price on the stock from 680p to 729p and confirmed its 'buy' rating. Nevertheless, shares edged 0.6% down to 660p at 09:00 on Tuesday