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CVS hit by lower pet spending Date: Thursday 17 Mar 2011 LONDON (ShareCast) - Reduced spending by pet owners and greater online competition has hit veterinary practices owner CVS Group. A decline in underlying interim profit from £4.86m to £4.78m indicates the problems. Acquisitions helped revenues rise from £41.5m to £50.5m in the six months to December 2010 but like-for-like revenues were 2.1% lower. Prescriptions for drugs have to be obtained from a vet for a charge but pet owners can then buy the drugs from where they like. Many are shopping for them online because prices can be up to 30% lower. CVS is suffering along with other vets. There was a like-for-like decline in practice revenues of 1.9% in the six months to December 2010. Higher charges could only partly offset fewer visits to the vet and lower product sale volumes. Product sales fell by £700,000. CVS has started up its own online dispensary with a range of 2,700 products. That contributed revenues of £200,000 in the first half and the annualised run rate is up to £1.2m. The website is running profitably. Around 50% of sales are prescription medicines and 94% of those sales are to non-CVS customers. CVS is looking at ways of marketing the website and is about to offer 500 of its products via Amazon.com, which will take a percentage of the revenues and the transaction fee. CVS also plans to launch online shops for each of its practices. CVS is also revamping its Healthy Pet Club scheme in order to protect it against competition. So far, there are 22,019 members of the club with a possibility of 32,000 members in a year’s time. The club members tend to spend 15% more than non-members. Chief executive Simon Innes says that there has been some like-for-like growth in the past couple of months but that is partly because the comparatives are weak because of snow in January. Innes admits that in reality the overall market is likely to stay flat. CVS remains acquisitive and it is managing to reduce its debt so that it can afford to make more purchases. Net debt was £37.8m at the end of 2010 and the total debt facilities are £46m. The business is cash generative and that debt will continue to fall without further acquisitions. Brewin Dolphin forecasts an improvement in profit from £8.6m to £10.2m in the year to June 2010.

Broker Peel Hunt said it would upgrade its full year profit before tax forecasts for 2011 and 2012 by 6% and 15% respectively, but expects margin outperformance and mergers & acquisitions activity to spark more upgrades as the year progresses. “On our new forecasts, the shares are trading on a Dec11 price/earnings ratio of 13.7x, falling to 10.5x Dec12,” the broker said. Peel Hunt has lifted its 12-month target price from 200p to 230p following the results announcement and reiterated its “buy” recommendation. Evolution Securities, which also rates the shares a “buy”, described the results as “very solid” and said they confirmed the recovery profile of the company. “The catalyst for the rerating is tangible progress on its margin targets particularly in 2012 as the repositioning of the company into more growth orientated markets such as aerospace & defence, medical and broader transportation gathers momentum. 210p remains a sensible target price on our ev [enterprise value]/sales, ebit [earnings before interest and tax] margin correlation,” the broker said.

TT races ahead By John Harrington Date: Thursday 17 Mar 2011 LONDON (ShareCast) - Sensor and electronic component technology firm TT Electronics bounced firmly back into the black in 2010, and took a machete to its debt pile. Profit before tax in 2010 was £25.2m compared to a loss of £16.6m the year before. With exceptional items included, profit before tax was £20.7m, against £0.8m in 2009. Operating profit from continuing operations before exceptional items was £25.2m compared with £6.4m in 2009, delivering an operating margin of 4.4% (2009: 1.4%). “This represents good progress towards the group's medium-term margin target of eight to ten per cent and I am confident that the actions we continue to take will lead to a further improvement in performance in 2011,” said Sean Watson, chairman of TT. Group revenue from continuing operations increased by 23.3% to £571.3m from £463.5m the year before, with the 2010 figure including an adverse effect from foreign exchange movements of around £1.3m. Underlying revenue in the Components division increased by 23.2% and in the Sensors division by 41.5%. Revenue in the Integrated Manufacturing Services (IMS) division advanced by 20.8% on an underlying basis, despite the difficulties experienced in sourcing components throughout the year. Sales growth of 37.4% in the Secure Power division was driven by solid demand from abroad. Net debt tumbled to £9.9m from £56.9m at the end of 2009. “Strong customer demand has continued in 2011, particularly in our Components, Sensors and IMS divisions. The current order book and trading in January and February provide confidence for the first half of the year,” said group chief executive Geraint Anderson. The directors have recommended a final dividend of 2.0p, making the full year payment 2.8p. The company did not pay dividends in 2009.

ProStrakan tops £100m in turnover By John Harrington Date: Thursday 17 Mar 2011 LONDON (ShareCast) - ProStrakan, which looks likely to be taken over by Japanese pharma company Kyowa Hakko Kirin, is going out on a high as it almost made it into the black in 2010 despite major setbacks with two of its drugs. Loss before tax narrowed to £0.6m in 2010 from £15.0m the year before on revenues that grew to £100.2m from £79.0m. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) were £10.8m, compared to a loss of £5.1m the year before. Cash at the end of the year was up to £19.4m from £19.0m at the end of 2009. “It was undoubtedly a year of two contrasting halves as the business flourished in the first six months of the year, with Abstral displaying continued strong growth in Europe and contributing to an EBITDA positive first half. However, the second half of the year began less encouragingly with ongoing approval delays to both Fortesta and Abstral in the US and an interruption in manufacturing for Sancuso in the US,” said company chairman and acting chief executive, Peter Allen. “By the end of the year, thanks to the persistence and diligence of the team at ProStrakan and our partners, we responded successfully to these challenges, achieving the US approval of Fortesta and the recommencement of Sancuso's manufacture,” Allen added.

Diploma raises guidance By John Harrington Date: Thursday 17 Mar 2011 LONDON (ShareCast) - Diploma was up by a sixth Thursday after the specialised technical products and services provider unleashed an upbeat trading update. The company said the strong growth in revenues and profits seen in the first quarter of its financial year carried on into the second, helped in part by contributions from recently acquired businesses. Group sales in the six months to the end of March are expected to be ahead of the corresponding period from a year ago by about a quarter, while underlying revenues, after stripping out currency fluctuations and acquisitions, are expected to be up by just under one-sixth. The revenue growth will feed through to a “significant increase” in operating profit at the halfway stage, while the full year result at the pre-tax profit level is likely to be “materially ahead” of current market expectations, provided there are no significant negative changes in the world’s major economies. Current market consensus is for Diploma to report a pre-tax profit of £36.44m in the year to 30 September 2011. Cash is rolling into the company’s coffers and should see net debt at the end of the month down to about £5m. By the end of the financial year the group expects to be cash positive. Panmure Gordon responded to the statement by lifting its earnings estimates for the current year and the next by 17%. It expects pre-tax profit at the interim stage to be £20.8m, versus £14.6m a year earlier. Full-year profit for the current year is now forecast to be £41.2m, up from Panmure’s previous forecast of £36.1m. “Diploma exhibits many of the positive characteristics that we look for in an investment,” the broker said. “It has a proven operating model, scope to expand by product and geography, strong management and sound finances. This is a strong trading update and maintains its positive earnings momentum. We stay positive.” Northland Capital Partners was also impressed, describing the update as “a strong statement that will lead to upgrades.” Trading on 11 times consensus earnings per share for 2012 “the shares do not appear expensive”, the broker said.

Following its first-half trading update release, Panmure Gordon maintained a "buy" recommendation for technical products and services supplier Diploma (DPLM), with a 350p target price. The broker notes management's expectations that financial year results will be "materially" ahead of consensus as the strong trading momentum experienced during the first quarter continued into the second. Looking ahead, Panmure is positive given the business's proven operating model, scope to expand by product and geography, strong management and sound finances.

Commenting on these results, Robert Brooks, CEO of Titanium Asset Management Corp. said: "We are pleased to report positive EBITDA for the fourth quarter of 2010 and for the full year, excluding severance costs. The improved operating performance reflects the benefits of the reorganization and integration activities undertaken throughout 2010. These changes resulted in significant reductions in our structural administrative expenses, while we continued to grow revenues." "Since the acquisition of Boyd Watterson at the end of 2008, we have reduced headcount from 97 to 82 and have reduced our annualized administrative expenses from approximately $25.1 million to $22.8 million. We believe these reductions position us to be able to achieve significant growth in profitability as we achieve revenue growth." "In the fourth quarter, we continued to achieve excellent investment performance, with 72% of our managed assets outperforming their benchmarks. In addition, several of our significant strategies are now in the upper deciles of our peer group rankings for three year investment performance. We believe these strong performance rankings should position us for strong growth over the next year." "While our investment performance remained strong, we had a challenging fourth quarter as we lost a significant managed client that decided to change to an indexing strategy, we had partial redemptions of TALF assets, and we experienced a reduction in distributed assets. We are working to overcome these challenges, and we remain optimistic that 2011 will be a much better year for new business, as we are already seeing increased opportunities."

Highlights for the year are as follows: · Average managed and distributed assets of $9,325.8 million for 2010, an increase of 6.9% over $8,726.2 million for the same period last year. · Operating revenues of $23,570,000 for 2010, a 4.9% increase over operating revenues of $22,471,000 for the same period last year. · Adjusted EBITDA(1) deficit of $592,000 for 2010 compared to an Adjusted EBITDA deficit of $2,894,000 for the same period last year. Excluding severance costs, Adjusted EBITDA was $326,000 for 2010. · Net investment income of $1,266,000 for 2010 compared to $398,000 for 2009. · Net loss of $13,602,000, or $0.66 per diluted common share, for 2010 compared to a net loss of $21,169,000, or $1.03 per diluted common share, for 2009. (1) See the accompanying table on page 10 for a definition of Adjusted EBITDA, a non-GAAP financial measure. The table provides a description of this non-GAAP financial measure and a reconciliation to the most directly comparable GAAP measure.

Highlights for the fourth quarter are as follows: · Managed and distributed assets decreased by 5.7% from $9,560.3 million to $9,019.4 million during the fourth quarter of 2010 primarily reflecting negative asset flows and market losses on fixed income strategies as interest rates increased. · Average managed and distributed assets of $9,306.8 million for the fourth quarter of 2010, an increase of 1.1% over $9,208.2 million for the same period last year. · Operating revenues of $6,506,000 for the fourth quarter of 2010, a 4.9% decrease over operating revenues of $6,840,000 for the same period last year primarily due to lower incentive fees. · Adjusted EBITDA(1) of $473,000 for the fourth quarter of 2010 compared to an Adjusted EBITDA deficit of $310,000 for the same period last year. · Net investment income of $257,000 for the fourth quarter of 2010 compared to $269,000 for the same period last year. · Net loss of $6,032,000, or $0.29 per diluted common share, for the fourth quarter of 2010 compared to a net loss of $12,235,000, or $0.60 per diluted common share, for the fourth quarter of 2009.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201103180700091696D

Result of High Court hearing Following the General Meeting held on 14 February 2011 at which the resolution put to shareholders regarding the cancellation of the Company's share premium account was duly passed, the Company is pleased to confirm that a High Court Order was obtained on 16 March 2011 confirming the cancellation of the share premium account of the Company. As set out in the Company's interim accounts for the six months ended 30 September 2010, the Company had an accumulated deficit on its profit and loss reserve of £8,626,000. The High Court Order has resulted in the creation of a new reserve of £12,848,000 against which the Company expects to credit its profit and loss reserve. Once the Company has an accumulated surplus on its profit and loss account, it will be in a position to pay dividends thereafter, should the Board recommend such payment.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201103180700101766D

Result of Rights Issue Fiberweb announces that it has received valid acceptances in respect of 39,923,271 New Ordinary Shares, representing approximately 94.2% of the total number of New Ordinary Shares offered to Qualifying Shareholders, pursuant to the Rights Issue announced by the Company on 2 March 2011. It is expected that the New Ordinary Shares in uncertificated form will be credited to CREST accounts on 18 March 2011 and that definitive share certificates in respect of New Ordinary Shares in certificated form will be dispatched to Shareholders by no later than 25 March 2011. It is expected that the New Ordinary Shares will commence trading fully paid on London Stock Exchange plc's main market for listed securities on 18 March 2011. As disclosed in Part IX of the prospectus sent to shareholders dated 2 March 2011 ("Prospectus"), Numis will endeavour to procure subscribers for the balance of 2,464,611 New Ordinary Shares not validly taken up under the Rights Issue, on and subject to the terms and conditions agreed with the Company under the Underwriting Agreement. A further announcement as to the number of New Ordinary Shares for which subscribers have been so procured will be made in due course. Following the Rights Issue, the Company's enlarged issued share capital will consist of 169,551,530 ordinary shares of 5 pence each. Therefore, the total number of voting rights in the Company will be 169,551,530. The Company does not hold any ordinary shares in treasury. The figure of 169,551,530 may be used by shareholders and others with notification obligations as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in, the Company under the FSA's Disclosure and Transparency Rules.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201103180700101807D

Alessandro Manghi, Chief Executive Officer, said: "During 2010 the Group increased production 238% to 8,100 bbl/day, increased 2P reserves by 82% to 239 million barrels and completed some key infrastructure projects. We believe the macroeconomic and operational environment continues to be favourable for our business, and that there is substantial opportunity for further growth in our business."

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201103180702121993D

Hoddy - PDX have reached a low equivalent to aug / sept 2010 - just before it took off --- i can certainly see it bouncing from here - how high is the question !

Commenting on the announcement, Neil Koehler, CEO of Pacific Ethanol, Inc. (NASDAQ CM: PEIX), which manages the plant, stated: "The agreement with PDX enables the continued operation of the ERS and verification of the benefits it delivers at the Pacific Ethanol Columbia plant in Boardman, Oregon. We are pleased to advance our relationship with PDX as it demonstrates our continued focus on introducing new technology that will enable us to enhance the yields on corn ethanol and optimizing the overall performance of our ethanol production plants." Commenting on the announcement, Roel Pieper, CEO of PDX said: "Today's announcement is the culmination of a tremendous amount of hard work on behalf of the team who have worked diligently and tirelessly to demonstrate the ERS's commercial potential. We now look forward to growing the business further and continuing to drive commercial returns."

Pursuit Dynamics PLC (AIM: PDX) ("PDX" or the "Company') Biofuels update PDX is pleased to announce today that it has agreed to formal terms with Pacific Ethanol Columbia LLC for the commercial operation of the Ethanol Reactor System ("ERS") installation at its Columbia Plant near Boardman, Oregon (USA). The agreement, which is in line with previous guidance, ensures that PDX would share in the full range of benefits that accrue to Pacific Ethanol Columbia through operating the ERS, which we believe will include an enhanced yield, reduced operating cost, reduced enzyme costs and improved cycle times.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201103180706331999D