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Helical Bar reveals 2011 loss Date: Thursday 26 May 2011 LONDON (ShareCast) - Commercial property firm Helical Bar posted a full year pre-tax loss but maintained it had drawn a line under the difficulties of the last four years as it makes progress with sales and its acquisitions trail. The group's share of net rental income rose 19% to £17.8m for the year to 31 March 2011. Net gain on sale and revaluation of investment properties fell to £7.5m from £8.2m in 2010. Diluted EPRA net asset value, including trading and development stock surplus, dropped to 253p per share from 272p in 2010. Helical reported a loss before tax of £6.3m during the year compared to a profit of £7.9m the year before. Chief executive Michael Slade commented, "It has been a long and hard four years since the warning bells sounded in mid 2007. It has required patience and discipline, however, the slate is now clean and the platform established to enable us to return to our outperforming ways." Sales of assets totalled £110m during the year and a further £58m has been sold or agreed since the year end. Sales include £60m of non-income producing assets. Chairman Giles Weaver added, "The number of sales achieved during the year, and subsequently, draw a line under the difficulties of the last four years and the company can move forward confidently." "Helical is now actively pursuing new investment and development opportunities. We are pleased with the number and quality of investment purchases, in particular our acquisition at Barts, London EC1."

Michael Slade, Chief Executive, added: "It has been a long and hard four years since the warning bells sounded in mid 2007. It has required patience and discipline, however, the slate is now clean and the platform established to enable us to return to our outperforming ways."

HELICAL ESTABLISHES PLATFORM FOR FUTURE OUTPERFORMANCE Financial Highlights § Group's share of net rental income up 19% to £17.8m (2010: £14.9m). § Net gain on sale and revaluation of investment properties of £7.5m (2010: £8.2m). § Loss before tax of £6.3m (2010: profit of £7.9m). § Diluted EPRA net asset value, including trading and development stock surplus, down 7% to 253p per share (2010: 272p). § Group's share of property portfolio of £532.2m (2010: £494.5m) § Ratio of net borrowings to value of property portfolio of 45.3% (2010: 46.3%) § Final dividend proposed of 3.15p per share taking total dividends for the year to 4.90p (2010: 4.75p), up 3.2%.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201105260700153143H

Apologies. My last post is on wrong board

Man Group in upside surprise Date: Thursday 26 May 2011 LONDON (ShareCast) - Full-year pre-tax profit at hedge fund manager Man Group came in at just under $600m, higher than the group had indicated at the time of its pre-close trading statement. The higher profit number was caused mainly by three factors: an increase of $10m in gross management fee income following strong AHL investment performance at the end of the reporting period; gains of $10m on seed capital investing, which were not included in the pre-close estimate; a $15m adjustment to the GLG acquisition balance sheet. While adjusted profit before tax rose to $599m in the year to 31 March from $560m the year before, statutory profit before tax tumbled to $324m from $541m. However, even this was ahead of previous guidance (of $280m) after strong investment performance in the last week of March and an adjustment to the GLG acquisition balance sheet. Funds under management (FuM) at the end of March stood at $69.1bn, up from $39.4bn a year earlier, when GLG was not part of the group. Since then, FuM have risen to around $71bn, helped by net inflows of $2bn from Nomura Global Trend and $400m from Man IP220 GLG. "Macro uncertainty has impacted markets and performance across most asset classes again recently, reinforcing investors' long-term focus on liquid and diversifying investment strategies," claimed Peter Clarke, chief executive of Man Group. "Man is positioned to address these requirements through our focus on performance, our wide range of investment strategies, and the scale and resources we can apply to producing solutions for investor portfolios across the world," he added. A final dividend of 12.5 cents has been recommended, taking the full year to 22 cents, in line with market expectations. The final dividend will equate to 7.68p in sterling terms.

British American Tobacco buys Colombian firm Date: Thursday 26 May 2011 LONDON (ShareCast) - British American Tobacco is buying Colombia’s second biggest cigarette company for $452m (£279m). The acquisition of Productora Tabacalera de Colombia (Protabaco) will elevate the Lucky Strike firm from third to second place in the cigarette market in Colombia, where 17bn cigarettes are sold a year. Protabaco sold 5.5bn cigarettes in 2010. “The investment will strengthen and complement our position in an important market and fill a strategic gap in our Americas region,” said Mark Cobben, British American’s Americas director. Emerging markets are a strong growth driver for the company. The acquisition of Indonesia’s Bentoel in 2009 helped drive last year’s results.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=20110526070000H8935

Environment Agency grants permit to dispose of LLW at East Northants Resource Management Facility Following yesterday's decision by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government to uphold Augean's appeal for the granting of planning permission for the disposal of Low Level Waste at the Group's East Northants Resource Management Facility, Augean is pleased to announce that the Environment Agency has granted Augean South Ltd a permit to dispose of Low Level Waste at the site. The permit allows the disposal of wastes with a range of hazardous, non-hazardous and inert properties with low levels of radioactivity. The decision follows a rigorous assessment of the company's application, extensive consultation with the local community and approval from the European Commission. Further information can be found on the Environment Agency's website http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201105260700123082H

Angela Ahrendts, Chief Executive Officer, commented: "Burberry delivered strong operational and financial progress during the year, thanks to the consistent execution of our core strategies by our team and partners, more closely connecting our brand vision and values to consumers around the world. While mindful of global macro challenges in the current year, we will continue to invest to drive growth across our portfolio by channel, region and product."

Continued focus in FY 2012 on investing for growth - Capital expenditure planned at £180-200m (2011: £108m) - Emphasis on flagship openings and refurbishments in high profile locations including London, Chicago and Hong Kong - Accelerating new space growth to 12-13% and 15-20 major renovations - Enabled by brand momentum and improved productivity

Highlights · Strong financial performance - Revenue up 27% to £1.5billion - Retail/wholesale revenue up 29%; adjusted operating profit up 59% - Adjusted PBT up 39% to £298m; reported PBT £296m - Adjusted diluted EPS up 39% to 48.9p; reported diluted EPS 46.9p - Full year dividend up 43% to 20.0p - Net cash of £298m after £52m spend to date on China acquisition · Key strategies continued to underpin operational progress - Double-digit revenue growth in retail and wholesale, in all regions and all product categories - Retail revenue up 36% to 64% of sales (2010: 60%) - Non-apparel revenue up 35% to 40% of sales (2010: 38%) - Product strategies drove growth especially in core outerwear, relaunched menswear and Burberry Prorsum and London - Further development of digital initiatives across all channels - Good progress on integration of Chinese operations

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201105260700143124H

Horizonte's CEO Jeremy Martin said "We have made solid progress at our flagship 100% owned Araguaia nickel project since the beginning of the year. The Company has delivered on a number of key milestones at Araguaia, including the release of the Maiden Resource of 76.6Mt at a grading of 1.35 % nickel and 0.06% cobalt, totalling 1.03Mt of contained nickel. We have increased our drilling capacity on the project with seven drill rigs now active on three of the main target areas. The recent drill results, which include 18.6m at a grading of 2.42% nickel, demonstrate zones within the ore body with high grades over significant widths. We are working towards increasing the resource towards a 100Mt target by Q4 2011 and upgrading and delineating a higher grade core in the indicated category. On the metallurgical testing we have a number of process routes under consideration and the Preliminary Economic Assessment is planned for release in Q1 2012. "In terms of our Falaco gold project, over the last three months there has been significant activity in conjunction with our strategic partner AngloGold Ashanti. The main gold anomaly in soils at >50 ppb Au covers an aerial extent of 3,000m by 600m. The first phase drill programme has been agreed and a 3,000m diamond programme will be underway in early June 2011 with the aim of defining a major mineralised system. "On the corporate front our TSX listing should be complete imminently together with the completion of the purchase agreement with Lara Resources for the purchase of the Vila Oito and Floresta projects which add additional target areas to the Araguaia Project."

Overview Araguaia nickel project · Seven drill rigs active with a total of 173 holes totalling 5,013m completed to-date · Drilling has been extended to Baião, Lontra and Vila Oito East targets · An upgraded resource on schedule for release early Q4 2011 · Acquisition of the adjoining Vila Oito and Floresta nickel target areas from TSX quoted Lara Exploration Ltd to close shortly · Commencement of a Scoping Study by Wardell International in June 2011 Falcao gold project · Final drill targets selected on the Falcao gold project testing the 3km long gold in soil anomaly · 3,000m diamond drill programme to commence in early June 2011 funded by JV partner AngloGold Ashanti · New regional targets as part of the AngloGold Ashanti regional programme have been prioritised for follow up exploration

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201105260700143129H

The momentum within Hayward Tyler's main manufacturing and aftermarket services divisions has continued into 2011, the specialist of fluid filled electric motors and pumps revealed following an increase in sales pipeline activity during the latter part of 2010. The group added that, for the year to date, intake levels have increased by over one third compared to the same period last year for both new units and aftermarket orders. Shares in Specialist Energy Group (SEGR), the parent company of Hayward Tyler, gained 1.5p to 87.5p.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201105250700082125H

Machine gun manufacturer Manroy (MAN) has signed a 4.1 million pound, 5 year continuation to an existing contract to supply the UK Ministry of Defence with blank ammunition for the 0.5" calibre Heavy Machine Gun. Blank ammunition is primarily used by the MoD for training purposes. Shares in Manroy, which last month acquired AEI Land Systems, a UK based designer and producer of weapon mounting systems, were flat at 107.5p.