Member Info for mulledwine

William McGrath, Chief Executive commented: "Our two core brands, Rangemaster and the classic AGA, put in strong performances and were key to the near 6% revenue increase we saw during 2010. We expect similar trend lines in 2011 in spite of the clouds over consumer markets. Strong finances, good operational gearing and investment in new products were the themes of 2010 which will bring clear cut progress in 2011."

Strategic and operational highlights * Revenues rose nearly 6% in the year to £259.1 million; operating profit before amortisation increased to £6.9 million (2009: £0.1 million) and profit before tax including pension curtailment gains was £19.9 million (2009: £0.5 million). * Net cash rose again to £34.6 million from £28.0 million at the end of 2009 and £5.8 million at the end of 2008 reflecting continuing tight cost and cash flow management. * Dividends were restored for the year at a total of 1.7 pence per share (2009: nil) - a sign of the Group's confidence in its prospects. * Product development programmes of recent years are now providing traction in existing and new markets. We expect this to support the trend for range cookers to take share from equivalent built-in formats.

http://investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=20110311070000PC6FA

Aga makes hot profits By Lee Wild Date: Friday 11 Mar 2011 LONDON (ShareCast) - Expensive cooker maker AGA Rangemaster dished up a big increase in profits last year as sales picked up during the second half. Profit before tax swelled to £19.9m from £0.5m the year before, though £16.3m of that was down to a one-off curtailment gain after the firm froze final salaries in the pension scheme. An operating loss of £1.5m in 2009 turned into a profit of £5.1m this time on revenue up almost 6% to £259.1m compared with a 4.8% increase at the interim stage. Just under two-thirds of sales – 63% - were in the UK. "Our two core brands, Rangemaster and the classic AGA, put in strong performances and were key to the near 6% revenue increase we saw during 2010,” chief executive William McGrath said. “We expect similar trend lines in 2011 in spite of the clouds over consumer markets. Strong finances, good operational gearing and investment in new products were the themes of 2010 which will bring clear cut progress in 2011." A final dividend of 1p a share makes a total of 1.7p for the year.

http://investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201103110700077489C

The downturn only lasted a few days basimentos....a correction was due but it didnt last long! However perhaps we are due another soon otherwise this will get silly! Nevertheless - you cannot fault the performance here

Mulberry to beat forecasts Date: Friday 11 Mar 2011 LONDON (ShareCast) - No problems with recession for the rich and famous or their suppliers such as posh handbag and accessory maker Mulberry, which now expects to beat market forecasts for the current year. "Strong UK and export sales during January and February have continued into March and sales and profit for the year ending 31 March 2011 are expected to exceed market expectations," it said. "Margins for the year to date have continued to be strong as increased sales have led to improved operational gearing. Order intake for the Autumn 2011 collection is encouraging," it added.

British Land FD to step down Date: Friday 11 Mar 2011 LONDON (ShareCast) - There is to be a new senior number cruncher at property giant British Land after finance director Graham Roberts announced his intention to stand down from the board at the end of June. Roberts spent nine years in the role. His replacement will be the deputy finance director, Lucinda Bell. “Lucinda has worked for the company in a wide range of finance positions and has consistently demonstrated that she has the capability and experience to be an outstanding finance director,” said Chris Grigg, British Land’s chairman. “Graham and Lucinda will be working together over the coming months to ensure a smooth transition of his responsibilities," Grigg added. There will be some more new faces round the board room table too, as the company announced the appointment of two new non-executive directors: Simon Borrows and William Jackson. Borrows is chairman of Greenhill & Co International LLP and a non-executive director of car dealer Inchcape, and William Jackson is chief executive of private equity firm Bridgepoint. Meanwhile, Clive Cowdery, chairman of insurance group Resolution, will be stepping down from his non-executive directorship of British Land on 17th March 2011 to concentrate on his many other business interests.

Colin Drummond, Chief Executive of Viridor Limited, said "This major contract with Oxfordshire County Council confirms Viridor's position as a leading player in the area of PPP contracts and energy from waste facilities. The new plant will have a gross electrical power generation capacity of 25MW and will also be CHP enabled; it is due to come on stream in 2014."

http://investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201103110700087596C

Pennon in rubbish agreement Date: Friday 11 Mar 2011 LONDON (ShareCast) - Water group Pennon said its Viridor Oxfordshire subsidiary has won a 25-year residual waste treatment contract with Oxfordshire County Council. The contract requires financing, construction, and operation of a new Energy from Waste (EfW) plant at Viridor's site at Ardley near Bicester in Oxfordshire. The plan is to divert around 150,000 tonnes of residual waste per annum from landfill, around 95% of Oxfordshire's typical annual landfill waste. The Ardley EfW plant is being built primarily for the Oxfordshire public/private partnership (PPP) contract but the plant will also be available for the market more generally, as steeply rising landfill tax drives residual waste disposal away from landfill towards EfW, Pennon said. The plant, which is due to come on stream in 2014, needs capital investment of about £205m by Viridor for a 300,000 tonnes per annum capacity plant. Viridor's investment will be met from internal funds as required. “The new plant will have a gross electrical power generation capacity of 25MW [megawatts] and will also be CHP [combined heat & power] enabled,” said Colin Drummond, chief executive of Viridor.

Tony Brewer, Headlam's Group Chief Executive, said: "The performance in 2010 and a positive start to 2011 is a result of the tremendous effort from our management, sales people and all our employees. The group has positioned autonomous businesses into specific market sectors to take full advantage of all opportunities. Through this structure we have extensive penetration into the floorcovering market encompassing both suppliers and customers. Each of our business teams are focused on meeting their individual targets, which provides the group with confidence to achieve its overall objectives for the year."

Key points UK, which represents 80.8% of group revenue, like for like revenue increased by 0.4% Continental European revenue decreased by 0.7% on a like for like basis Profit before tax increased by 13.3% Net cash increased to £10.5 million Dividend per share increased by 12.7%

http://investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201103110700067425C

Headlam profits spark divi hike Date: Friday 11 Mar 2011 LONDON (ShareCast) - Floor coverings group Headlam grew profits by over 13% in 2010 and has enjoyed a positive start to 2011. Profit before tax rose to £25m last year from £22.1m in 2009 on revenue up 0.4% to £535.7m, a good effort, Headlam said, given that indications were market size would keep falling. The UK business, which accounts for almost 81% of group revenue, lifted like for like sales by 0.4%, but sales fell 0.7% in Continental Europe, as flagged in January’s trading update. Excluding January and February, hit by harsh weather conditions, revenue to November was up 1.2% in the UK. “Each of our business teams are focused on meeting their individual targets, which provides the group with confidence to achieve its overall objectives for the year," chief executive Tony Brewer said. “We have made a positive start to 2011 and whilst January and February are relatively lower trading months, it does give a good indication to future trading assuming normal seasonality.” A final dividend of 8.57p a share takes the full-year payout to 12.4p, up 13%.

Commenting on these results, Graham Holden, Chief Executive, said: "Sales have started to turn up following the difficult trading conditions of the previous two years although market uncertainty remains. On balance, the outlook for the Public Sector and Commercial end market is mildly positive. The Domestic end market showed modest growth in the second half of 2010 and installer order books at the end of February 2011 were an encouraging 7.2 weeks."

Highlights · Results in line with January Trading Update · Revenue up 3.7% despite loss of sales from the severe weather at the end of the year · Sales to Public Sector and Commercial up 6%, sales to Domestic up 1% · Dividend maintained at 5.25p reflecting stabilisation of the Group's markets and comfortable cash cover · Gearing down to 33.7% (2009: 38.2%) and interest cover of 4.6 times (2009: 3.8 times) · Operational and financial flexibility to respond to changes in market conditions

http://investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201103110700067429C

Orders turn up at Marshalls Date: Friday 11 Mar 2011 LONDON (ShareCast) - Severe weather dented paving slab firm Marshalls’ results for 2010, knocking sales at both end of the year by £11m in total, but things are looking better this year. The firm recouped the £6m revenue lost at the start of 2010 but not the £5m lost in December, even so sales rose by 3.7% to £323m. The incremental costs of the severe weather at both ends of the year were approximately £2.8m, which clipped the profits recovery back to £9.2m for the year against a loss of £2.4m. Sales to the Public Sector and Commercial end market, which represent approximately 60% of Marshalls' sales, were up 6% for the full year. Sales to the Domestic end market were up 1% compared to the prior year. Things have improved further this year. “Sales have started to turn up following the difficult trading conditions of the previous two years although market uncertainty remains. On balance, the outlook for the Public Sector and Commercial end market is mildly positive. The Domestic end market showed modest growth in the second half of 2010 and installer order books at the end of February 2011 were an encouraging 7.2 weeks,” Marshalls said. The dividend for the year is 5.25p after an unchanged final of 3.5p.

Commenting on the results, Tim Martin, the Chairman of J D Wetherspoon plc, said: "Sales and operating profits in the six months under review were at record levels, in spite of the pernicious combination of increasing taxes and regulation. Trading in the 6 weeks to 6 March 2011 continued on a similar trend to the first half of the current financial year, with like-for-like sales up 2.8% and total sales increasing by 7.9%. Given our resilient sales performance and strong cash flow, I remain confident of a reasonable outcome in the current financial year."