Member Info for mulledwine

http://www.stockopedia.co.uk/content/vassilios-carellas-sets-his-sights-on-gold-in-slovakia-with-ortac-resources-54939/?utm_source=sendgrid.com&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Site%20Features

Goodwin PLC today announces its third quarter Interim Management Statement for the period 1st November 2010 to 31st January 2011. The consolidated, abbreviated and unaudited income statement below for the nine months' trading ending 31st January 2011 shows revenue of £66,150,342 and profit before tax of £8,200,000. The results as yet have not obtained the benefit of the increased order input achieved this year mainly due to a number of contracts in our engineering companies being delayed from shipping. It is hoped that these delays should be resolved by the financial year end. The above mentioned delays in shipments continue to keep control of cash flow high on our priority list as work in progress has increased by 26% compared with this time last year. J. W. Goodwin Chairman

http://www.halifaxmarketwatch.co.uk/rns.cgi?username=&ac=&action=news&rns=1&view=full&story_id=4118479

Keith Ludeman, Group Chief Executive of Go-Ahead and Chairman of Govia, said: "We are pleased that this important franchise, which carries over a 160 million passengers a year, will run to 2014. "In the first five years of this franchise Southeastern has increased the number of train services operated across the region and customer satisfaction has risen. It has successfully introduced the UK's first domestic high speed service and independent research shows that passengers using this service are the most satisfied in the UK. More than £10m has been invested in employee training and development, £40m on improvements at stations and £174m on new high speed trains for the region. "Our focus will be on continuing to further improve punctuality and reliability of our services for passengers. In the past four weeks Southeastern has delivered in excess of 90% punctuality across the network. Southeastern is committed to increasing customer satisfaction, particularly through ensuring more effective passenger communication - especially in times of disruption. This continuation will allow us to further invest and improve performance."

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201103180930032097D

Go-Ahead to continue Kent rail franchise Date: Friday 18 Mar 2011 LONDON (ShareCast) - Rail and bus operator Go-Ahead will continue to operate the Southeastern rail franchise in Kent until 2014. Govia, a joint venture that is 65%-owned by Go-Ahead and 35% owned by French transport group Keolis, accepted the continuation of the franchise. Go-Ahead said that the Department of Transport formally offered the continuation of the franchise until 31 March 2014 after Southeastern met performance criteria. “In the first five years of this franchise Southeastern has increased the number of train services operated across the region and customer satisfaction has risen,” Keith Ludeman, chief executive of Go-Ahead and chairman of Govia, said. “It has successfully introduced the UK's first domestic high speed service and independent research shows that passengers using this service are the most satisfied in the UK.” Shares in Go-Ahead jumped nearly 4% after the announcement.

http://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/columns/fat-prophets/4835/in-its-current-form-sky-looks-well-placed-to-perform-4835.html

Commenting on the results John Russell, Group Chief Executive, said: "2010 was another difficult year for our UK taxi manufacturing operation. However, the actions taken to return the Group to profitability have now been completed, culminating with the successful launch of the new TX4 model range and the rebranding of the manufacturing and dealer facilities as The London Taxi Company. "Our relationship with Geely is crucial to the Group's long term success, and it has been further strengthened by the appointment of George Zhao and Frank Cao to the MBH Board. The order for 1,000 London taxis from the Republic of Azerbaijan through Shanghai LTI that was signed earlier this month demonstrates its potential. "The Board is confident that, with the extension of credit terms from Geely, the continued support of the Group's bankers, and the improvement in operating margins delivered by restructuring, the Group is well positioned to return to profitability in 2011 and make further progress with joint initiatives with Geely."

Manganese Bronze trims losses By Lee Wild Date: Friday 18 Mar 2011 LONDON (ShareCast) - Manganese Bronze (MB), the company behind London’s iconic black cabs, narrowed losses in 2010 and still thinks it can return to profit this year. The firm announced a deficit of £6.3m for the year just gone – “a year of transition” - down by a million from 2009, though revenue fell 5% to £69.6m as total new vehicle sales dropped by 154 to 1,879. Restructuring cost £3.5m. International sales volumes increased from 209 to 226 vehicles and the firm’s share of the London market has grown from 75% to 82% since the launch of the new TX4 model range in November. MB received a lifeline in January from China's biggest private car-maker and major MB shareholder, Geely Automobile. It agreed to extend credit terms for amounts due to both Shanghai LTI Automobile and Shanghai Maple Automobile by 120 days. "The board is confident that, with the extension of credit terms from Geely, the continued support of the group's bankers, and the improvement in operating margins delivered by restructuring, the group is well positioned to return to profitability in 2011 and make further progress with joint initiatives with Geely," chief executive John Russell said.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201103180700091750D

Berkeley to hit high end of forecasts By Philip Whiterow Date: Friday 18 Mar 2011 LONDON (ShareCast) - London and south-east housebuilder Berkeley continues to benefit from the region's position as a pocket of strength in an otherwise gloomy housing market. "Berkeley anticipates reporting earnings at the high end of its expectations for the year ended 30 April 2011 and the investment in work in progress will enable a further growth in earnings in 2011/12 if overall market conditions permit," it said. Sales reservations were up 25% between November and February on the same time last year. "Cancellation rates are at historically low levels, while visitors per site has been consistent with the same period last year, reflecting the current mortgage market conditions, with an increase in the number of outlets leading to the higher levels of sales overall," the firm said. "Forward sales currently exceed £800m, while build costs remain benign with underlying increases in fuel and commodities offset by excess capacity in the construction sector," Berkeley added. In the period, it acquired a further 1,000 plots across 8 new sites bringing the total number of plots acquired in the year to 3,500 across 21 sites.

Brewin Dolphin issued a "buy" rating for pawnbroker H&T Group (HAT) with a reduced target price of 400p, down from 450p. The broker notes the group's "strong" preliminary result last week with profit up 40% to 26.3 million pounds and net debt closing at 27 million pounds, 3.3 million pounds better than forecast. With that said, although profit growth is expected to be postponed by a year after accelerating the roll out of new stores, Brewin believes this is the right move.

Mark Lawrence, Group Chief Executive commented: " The market that we operate in has continued to be challenging. However, we have made good progress to reposition the Group to enable us to offer a wider range of services to our clients. Both our recent acquisitions have made a useful contribution to the Group's performance. Looking forward, we are well positioned to benefit from the recovery in our markets. Despite the backdrop of a tough trading environment, we remain confident that the Group will maintain its industry leading position. Our strategy to create a broader platform will underpin our potential to deliver long-term growth in earnings and dividends."

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201103180700091502D

T. Clarke beats lowered expectations By John Harrington Date: Friday 18 Mar 2011 LONDON (ShareCast) - Having lowered expectations in January with a profits warning building services group T. Clarke managed to beat those downgraded expectations with its full year results. Revenue in 2010 rose to £179.0m versus £175.5m in 2009 and against market expectations of £169.0m. Profit before tax slipped to £5.7m from £7.3m the year before. The market had pencilled in a figure of £5.63m. The underlying operating profit of £7.3m, down from £9.4m the year before, was affected adversely by prevailing margin pressure across the group and by specific trading issues in Scotland, company chairman Russell Race said. Net cash and bank deposits at the end of 2010 stood at £7.2m, down from £23.2m at the end of 2009. The order book, however, fattened up during the course of the year and was valued at £190m at the end of reporting period, up from £160m a year earlier. “The market that we operate in has continued to be challenging. However, we have made good progress to reposition the group to enable us to offer a wider range of services to our clients. Both our recent acquisitions have made a useful contribution to the group's performance,” revealed group chief executive, Mark Lawrence. Chairman Russell Race said the difficult market conditions which the group is enduring show few signs of abating but said the longer term prospects for the group are encouraging. “A number of large scale commercial developments in London have been started and this bodes well for the future. However, in the short-term, 2011 will be challenging not only for T.Clarke but for the wider construction sector,” Race said. As previously announced, the group, which paid 13p in dividends last year, has decided to rebase its dividend. A final dividend of 4.25p has been proposed in respect of 2010, making the full year pay-out 8.5p.

Very healthy results indeed - significantly up

Edward Bonham Carter, Chief Executive, commented: "2010 was another successful year for Jupiter with a strong performance for both clients and shareholders. More than 50 per cent. of our mutual funds by AUM were ranked in the first quartile in terms of three year investment performance. Strong net sales of £2.3bn in the year combined with improving market levels to increase AUM from £19.5bn to £24.1bn. These strong sales and AUM numbers form a healthy backdrop to our increase in full year EBITDA to £124.6m from £91.2m. Our Listing on the London Stock Exchange in June 2010 was an important step in the Group's development. It strengthened our ability to retain and attract talented employees, provided shareholders with liquidity and transparency and enabled us to reduce our debt substantially, thus positioning the business for further growth. While volatility is set to remain a key feature for the markets in 2011, we are confident that our targeted approach to developing our distribution channels and product set, together with investment outperformance, sees us well positioned to deliver further growth for clients and generate value for our shareholders."

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201103180700111844D

Jupiter profits rocket By Lee Wild Date: Friday 18 Mar 2011 LONDON (ShareCast) - Fund manager Jupiter, which relisted in June, enjoyed a profit burst in 2010. Profit before tax came in at £42.4m compared with £7.2m in 2009. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) grew 37% o £124.6m. Assets under management increased 24% to £24.1bn as at 31 December 2010 from £19.5bn a year earlier. Net inflows grew by half a billion pounds to £2.3bn, around 1.9bn of which was from the mutual fund operation. “More than 50% of our mutual funds by AUM were ranked in the first quartile in terms of three year investment performance,” boasts chief executive Edward Bonham Carter. But turmoil in the Middle East and the disaster in Japan can cause “significant short term volatility and markets are likely to remain range bound over the medium term as a result,” he warned. There’s a final dividend of 4.7p a share.

William Hill gets Playtech injunction extended By Lee Wild Date: Friday 18 Mar 2011 LONDON (ShareCast) - Bookmaker William Hill has been granted an extension to the injunction preventing Playtech from selling its stake in William Hill Online. The company said in February it had secured an interim injunction against Playtech to ensure that its legal rights under the William Hill Online joint venture agreements were maintained. In court yesterday, it was agreed the injunction will stay in place until a further court hearing which is expected to occur in May or shortly thereafter. Playtech had wanted “possible significant amendments” to the current William Hill Online joint venture deal, and there was press speculation it was in talks with Hill’s rival Ladbrokes. Rumours have done the rounds that Ladbrokes is interested in buying £780m Playtech, which also supplies software to the Tote and Betfred. William Hill Online was set up in October 2008 and Playtech has a 29% stake with Hill owning the rest. In 2010, Playtech’s share of the venture’s profit was 37% higher at €30.8m (£26.3m), although the fourth quarter contribution was lower. That was partly down to a withdrawal from the French market.