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Carnival lowers guidance on oil price Date: Friday 11 Mar 2011 LONDON (ShareCast) - Cruise operator Carnival has lowered its full-year guidance after surging oil prices and turmoil in the Arab world. It now predicts earnings per share of $2.50 to $2.60 for the full year, sharply lower than the previous envisaged range of $2.90 to $3.10. Carnival provided initial guidance in December but says it now sees an additional $0.40 coming off earnings due to the higher fuel prices, while the Arab turmoil will result in a five cents reduction. On the plus side, the quarter to 28 February was ahead of expectations, with earnings per share coming in at $0.19. The company had issued guidance of $0.15 to $0.19.

In the six months to 31 January 2011, Pacific Horizon's net asset value per share rose 10.8% while the MSCI All Country Far East ex Japan Index in sterling terms rose by 14.6%. The Company's share price rose by 13.2%. · A number of the larger holdings such as Li & Fung and Samsung Electronics continued to perform well. Some individual industrial names and Indian holdings demonstrated disappointing short term performance. · Earnings per share for the six months were 0.17p compared to 0.10p in the first half of the previous year. As in previous years, no interim dividend will be paid. · Economic growth across the region has been robust, building upon the recovery since the global financial crisis. · The Board and Managers believe that the quality of companies in which the Company invests remains high and overall valuations continue to be attractive for investors, notwithstanding the recent short term reversal in equity values in many of the region's markets.

http://investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201103110700077493C

Pacific Horizon lags its benchmark Date: Friday 11 Mar 2011 LONDON (ShareCast) - Asia-Pacific and India-focused investment trust Pacific Horizon saw its net asset value (NAV) per share rise 10.8% in the six months to 31 January 2011, a performance that lagged its benchmark index, the MSCI All Country Far East excluding Japan, which rose by 14.6% in sterling terms over the same period. Earnings per share for the six months were 0.17p compared to 0.10p in the first half of the previous year. As in previous years, no interim dividend will be paid. The best performing markets were Taiwan, Korea and Thailand, which posted gains of 27.2%, 21.4% and 15.1% in sterling terms respectively. The weakest were Vietnam, India and China with returns of 0.3%, 1.4% and 2.8% respectively in sterling terms. "The outlook remains bright for the markets of the Asia Pacific region. Economic performance is expected to be robust with the many structural drivers of growth continuing to present an attractive backdrop for our companies," the company said. "The company remains ungeared with a low cash balance and expects to be able to take advantage of future opportunities as they arise," the statement added.

Andy Worrall, Director of New Britain Oils, said: "It is clear from the amount of interest New Britain Oils Ltd has already had that UK retailers, food manufacturers and the UK government are taking sustainable palm oil sourcing very seriously. With our unique offering, end users know what they are getting, where their oil has come from and that it was produced affordably and to the highest standards of social and environmental sustainability. We have always believed that if we could offer traceable and sustainable palm oil products to the market at competitive prices then enough companies will do the responsible thing and start buying it. That is why we chose to invest £18m in our Liverpool refinery in 2009 and is why we are committed to roll out now an even broader range of downstream products via the new packing facility." Alan Chaytor, Executive Director of NBPOL, added: "This marks another significant step towards giving the UK market what it really wants - affordable and responsibly sourced palm based food ingredients. The bakery fats category represents approximately 40% of the palm and palm oil derivatives demand in the UK and was part of our thought process right from the start. Many companies in this sector have claimed for years that it is just too difficult to buy sustainable products and so they either do nothing or end up buying offset certificates. However, companies like Bako, Nortech and Olympic Foods have already proven that it can be done. It makes perfect sense for us to invest now in providing an even greater volume of traceable sustainable solutions to that part of the market." Nick Thompson, CEO of NBPOL, said: "We are delighted that mature markets like the UK are beginning to recognise the importance of sustainable palm oil production and, just as importantly, its usage. This investment greatly enhances the product portfolio that we are able to offer customers in a fully sustainable format and at truly affordable prices. As part of our own sustainability initiatives, NBPOL is investing in rehabilitating old estates, is optimising yields at underperforming estates and is helping to improving the yields of thousands of smallholders across Papua New Guinea and The Solomon Islands who supply us with palm fruit. The UK market is beginning to recognise that responsible production of palm oil matters and is willing to buy it from known RSPO certified sources. This investment is testimony to that growing interest in sustainable palm."

http://investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201103110700067428C

New Britain Palm to spend £9m on new facility Date: Friday 11 Mar 2011 LONDON (ShareCast) - New Britain Palm Oil is to invest around £9m in a new food ingredients processing facility at its Liverpool palm oil refinery. The new facility will be dedicated to manufacturing bakery and foodservice products made with palm oil that only comes from certified sustainable sources – the first facility of its type in the world, according to New Britain Palm Oil (NBPO). The Papua New Guinea-based palm oil producer said the new facility will offer a complete range of high quality, affordable, margarines and bakery fats for use in pastries and cakes, puff and short crust pastry, as well as shortenings and bread fats, all containing sustainable palm oil and palm oil fractions from a fully traceable source. Boxed palm oil will also be produced for the foodservice sector, such as fish and chip shops and restaurants, as well as for smaller food manufacturers who currently do not buy in bulk. Andy Worrall, director of NBPO subsidiary New Britain Oils, said the company has seen a lot of interest in sustainable palm oil sourcing from retailers, food manufacturers and the government. “We have always believed that if we could offer traceable and sustainable palm oil products to the market at competitive prices then enough companies will do the responsible thing and start buying it. That is why we chose to invest £18m in our Liverpool refinery in 2009 and is why we are committed to roll out now an even broader range of downstream products via the new packing facility,” Worrall said.

Not sure this recent drop is warranted - surely a quick rebound is in order - look at the chart - have you ever seen a share with such frequent 10+% swings!

Business highlights · Ranked number one NOMAD, in respect of client market capitalisation, by Hemscott in January 2011 reflecting continued success in attracting new institutional and corporate clients helping to grow the Cenkos franchise. · Continued success in raising funds for our clients even though conditions in equity capital markets remain unpredictable. In the year to 31 December 2010, we raised a total of £1.44 billion (2009: £0.95 billion). · In April 2010, Cenkos, as sole book runner and listing sponsor, raised £460 million for the Anthony Bolton-managed Fidelity China Special Situations plc. In February 2011, we raised a further £166 million for this Fund. · Strong growth in Fund and Wealth Management business with funds under management increasing 41% to £1.10 billion (2009: £0.78 billion) reflecting increasing diversification of revenue within the Group. · Continuing investment in high quality personnel with the expectation of increasing the Group's level of recurring income. · Since the period end a further £292 million has been raised for clients from 5 transactions.

Financial highlights · Revenues up by 31% to £60.3 million (2009: £46.2 million). · Underlying operating profit up by 10% to £14.4 million (2009: £13.0 million). · Statutory operating profit up by 25% to £7.0 million (2009: £5.6 million). · Underlying profit before tax up by 5% to £14.5 million (2009: £13.8 million). · Statutory profit before tax down by 5% to £7.1 million (2009: £7.5 million). · Underlying basic earnings per share 13.2p (2009: 13.8p). · Underlying diluted earnings per share 13.1p (2009: 13.8p). · Statutory basic and diluted earnings per share 5.2p (2009: 6.2p). · The Board proposes a final dividend of 4p per share (2009: 5p). This makes a total dividend of 8p for the year (2009: 20p). This year's dividend represents current year performance, whereas last year's total dividend was made up of 10p per share reflecting the underlying performance of the Group in 2009 and a further 10p per share which was paid from profits generated in previous periods. · Strong cash levels (including £5m held on trust for creditors) at £28.5 million (2009: £20.0 million) and capital resources surplus (including £5m held on trust for creditors) of £7.7 million (2009: £6.4 million) in excess of our Pillar 1 and 2 regulatory capital requirements.

http://investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201103110700087606C

Cenkos lowers divi as profits slip Date: Friday 11 Mar 2011 LONDON (ShareCast) - Stockbroker and financial services firm Cenkos Securities underwhelmed the market with its final results, despite revenues rising by 31%, as it announced that this year’s annual dividend would be 20% lower than last year. Revenue increased from £46.2m to £60.3m, mainly attributable to the performance at its corporate broking and advisory division, which grew revenues by 31% to £46.7m, from £35.6m previously. However the final dividend was 1p lower than last year at 4p, bringing the total dividend for 2010 to 8p, compared with an underlying payment of 10p the year before. While underlying pre-tax profit grew to £14.5m, from £13.8m,pre-tax profit before tax down dropped 5% to £7.1m (2009: £7.5m). Cenkos’s chief executive officer Simon Melling expressed caution in the group’s performance over the next year. “Confidence levels are still delicate, fuelled by concerns about the Middle East, the strength of the global economy and the potential for a second recession in the UK... Whilst not immune to events in the general economy, our pipeline remains strong and we have made an encouraging start to 2011,” said Melling. Underlying basic earnings per share fell to 13.2p, from 13.8p.

http://investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201103111111447955C

JD Sports walks away from JJB By Rory Gallivan Date: Friday 11 Mar 2011 LONDON (ShareCast) - Trendy sportswear retailer JD Sports Fashion has decided not to make an offer for its struggling rival JJB Sports. JD said it had asked JJB for details of a proposed restructuring of JJB’s property portfolio through a company voluntary arrangement, but that it “received no further information whatsoever from JJB Sports.” On the basis of the information it could garner from JJB’s public announcements, JD decided not to make an offer. Shares in JJB fell back after the announcement, but JD’s were among the best-performing in the FTSE 250. JJB said it “welcomes” the clarification from JD Sports saying it “will enable the Company to continue to focus exclusively on delivering its standalone restructuring plan with the support of its stakeholders.” It added: “The board considered JD Sports' indicative proposal to be highly conditional and lacking sufficient certainty to be deliverable.” JJB last month warned it could go bust unless landlords agree to cut rents on 95 stores it has earmarked for possible closure. The announcement came soon after the two companies revealed they were in offer discussions. JD’s unique offering, whose emphasis is more on sports than fashion, has helped the company prosper in recent years, in contrast to the pile ‘em high approach of JJB, which has failed to win over consumer.

Scope for a good 10% recovery here over next few weeks perhaps

Chairman's statement Maintel Holdings' revenues rose by 13% during 2010 to £22.0m (2009 - £19.4m) and adjusted profit before tax by 14% to £3.046m (2009 - £2.675m) giving an increase in adjusted earnings per share of 15% to 20.3p (2009 - 17.7p). Our maintenance base ended the year at a record £13.2m (2009 - £10.3m) having grown by 28%, boosted by two substantial pieces of new business from our largest customer, a new partnership with Westcon which brought in £600,000 of annualised revenues and the acquisition towards the end of the year of a £2m maintenance base from Redstone which we believe will deliver significant incremental earnings in the future. Equipment sales rebounded strongly from 2009 levels showing a 32% increase which included one very large order at lower than average margin but a good spread of smaller projects which fulfilled our margin targets. Network services revenues increased only slightly during the year, with call rates remaining highly competitive. However, line rental and data showed promising returns and we continue to broaden our product offering to access new revenue streams. Aside from organic growth which continues to be a priority, we remain vigilant for acquisitions that fulfil our valuation criteria as industry consolidation continues apace. Equally we are always pleased to work closely with a range of longstanding partners including some of the biggest companies in our industry to whom we supply complementary services and we expect further growth in this area in the year ahead as various new relationships bear fruit. The Company continues to be strongly cash generative. We repurchased 295,000 shares during the year, equivalent to 3% of the outstanding share capital, and following our acquisition in October of the Redstone businesses for £1.6m net we ended the year with cash balances of £2.5m and no debt. We are proposing a final dividend of 4.6p payable on 28 April 2011 to shareholders on the register at 25 March 2011. It falls to me to thank on behalf of shareholders our loyal and energetic staff for their work and commitment during the year and to wish them well for the challenges and opportunities ahead. J D S Booth Chairman

Operational highlights 3 year partnership agreement signed with Westcon in June to service its maintenance base, adding c£600,000 annualised maintenance revenue, c1,400 customers and an important Avaya skill base Acquisition of business and assets from Redstone plc subsidiaries in October, adding c£2m annualised maintenance base and further Avaya and other resource 2 further significant orders received from the Group's main customer, one in February and one in July

Financial highlights Adjusted* earnings per share of 20.3p (2009: 17.7p); basic earnings per share of 17.8p (2009: 15.7p) Group revenue increase of 13% to £22.0m (2009: £19.4m), with recurring revenue increasing by 9% to £17.5m (2009: £16.0m) to be 79% of total 2010 revenue Profit before tax up 12% at £2.673m (2009: £2.382m) Adjusted* profit before tax up 14% at £3.046m (2009: £2.675m) Maintenance base £13.2m at year end (2009: £10.3m) Equipment sales up by 32% at £4.7m (2009: £3.6m), including a £622,000 contract Sales of broadband, call traffic, line rental and related products increased by 2% to £5.8m (2009: £5.7m) despite rate pressures Strong operating cash flow and year end cash balances of £2.5m (2009: £2.5m), after the acquisition of the Redstone base for £1.6m net cash, dividends of £1.2m (including a special dividend in March 2010) and share buy backs costing £0.5m; the Group has no debt Final dividend proposed of 4.6p per share (2009 second interim equivalent: 4.1p), making 8.5p for the year (2009: 10.1p, including a special dividend of 2.9p)

http://investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201103110700077487C

Small cap round up: Maintel, Date: Friday 11 Mar 2011 LONDON (ShareCast) - Maintel, the supplier of telecoms products and services to businesses, posted a decent rise in profits last year as sales picked up following a tough 2009, but predicts a difficult 2011. Pre-tax profits in the year to 31 December climbed by 12% from 2009 to £2.673m, on revenues that were up 13% at £22m. “While we see the 2011 economic environment remaining difficult as the government's policy to reduce the structural deficit continues to have an impact on company investment and cost reduction activity, Maintel is well placed to continue its growth in this environment,” the company said.