Recent articles for private investors with a focus on dividend announcements
Premier Farnell third quarter results
Commenting on the results, Harriet Green, Group Chief Executive, said:"The quarter's profit was in line with our expectations, compared with lastyear's strong performance. Although we remain cautious on the global economicoutlook, the business has responded well to the challenging environment and weremain focused on margin management, improving our cost ratios and investing inour strategy. As markets remain uncertain it is encouraging to note that ourstrategy delivered third quarter operating profit up 40.2% on two years agowhen markets were similarly challenged, with sales up by 21.8% over the sameperiod.November sales per day showed progression on Q3 but a small decline fromNovember of last year. Gross Margin was up from Q3 levels.The balance sheet has been further strengthened through the successfulrefinancing of our bank facilities and the raising of $235m through US privateplacement notes. This provides the company with flexibility to repay short termdebt and the confidence to execute its plans.Through focus on the strategic delivery of our key metrics - web penetration,growing our EDE active customer base and growth in profitable MRO segments -Premier Farnell has proven its resilience and agility through the economiccycle, maintaining an industry leading return on sales and with a track recordof acting swiftly and decisively to shape our business. This will allow us tocontinue to generate cash and benefit strongly from the recovery whenconfidence returns."
Astra Zeneca Restructuring
AstraZeneca said it will reduce its US sales force by appx. 1,150 leadership positions and sale s representatives, roughly 24% of the Co's sales organisation in the US. The Co added: "This change to the US sales force is incremental to the ongoing second phase of the company's restructuring programme that was announced in January 2010. As a result, a discrete restructuring cost associated with today's announced changes, estimated at between $50 million to $100 million, will be charged in the fourth quarter of 2011."
Tesco Interim Management Statement
"We have made good progress in our third quarter against the background of challenging conditions for consumers in many of our markets.
PZ Cussons trading update December 2011
PZ Cussons Plc announces its trading update in respect of the half year to 30 November 2011.
Standard Chartered pre-close trading statement December 2011
Peter Sands, Group Chief Executive, commented, "Standard Chartered is on course to deliver another strong set of full year results. Income growth remains resilient and well diversified, underpinned by high levels of activity across our businesses. We have continued to invest to underpin future income momentum; the credit environment remains relatively benign across our footprint. We continue to focus on the basics of banking, on maintaining a very strong balance sheet, as well as on the continued disciplined execution of our strategy. Our consistent performance and balance sheet resilience have been recognised by both the market and by the rating agencies. We have now been upgraded by all three rating agencies since the beginning of the financial crisis. The growth prospects of our markets in Asia, Africa and the Middle East remain intact despite the increasing uncertainty in the West."
Carillion Trading statement
"Total revenue in 2011 is expected to be broadly similar to that in 2010, because increased revenues in support services and our international business will be offset by lower revenue in UK construction, in line with our previously announced objective of re-scaling our UK construction activities. In 2011, we remain firmly on track to deliver strong growth in underlying profit and earnings, in line with market expectations."
Stagecoach investment
STAGECOACH INVESTS £44M IN NEW VEHICLES FOR BUDGET COACH NETWORKS IN NORTH AMERICA AND UK
GKN Disposal
GKN Plc announced the disposal of its Aerospace Engineering Services Business in the UK and Australia to QuEST Global Services Pte Limited and QuEST Global Engineering Limited.
Rio Tinto acquires Hather
Rio Tinto has acquired Hathor Exploration stating: "All of the conditions of the offer, made through an indirect wholly-owned Canadian subsidiary, have been satisfied. Appx. 94,950,089 Hathor common shares were validly tendered by shareholders or held by an affiliate of Rio Tinto, representing 70.21% of the outstanding Hathor common shares on a fully diluted basis."
Greene King half year 2011 results - interim dividend increased
Retail like-for-like sales growth of 4% and 10% operating profit growth
Rolls Royce contract win
Rolls-Royce has won a $350M contract from Hawaiian Airlines to deliver Trent 700 engines to power five Airbus A330 aircraft.
Vodafone acquires Bluefish
Vodafone Group announced its acquisition of European IT and communications consultancy Bluefish Communications Ltd, saying: "Bluefish will form the nucleus of a new Unified Communications and Collaboration practice within Vodafone Global Enterprise, which will focus on advising multinational companies on how to get the most from their mobile, fixed line and IT services, as well as offering guidance on the adoption of cloud services."
Pennon Group Acquisition of Community Waste Holding & Recycling
Pennon Group expands its Waste Management business
Sage 2011 final results - 25% increase in dividend
Guy Berruyer, Chief Executive, commented: "These good results reflect the strong fundamentals of Sage's business including our leading market positions, a large and loyal customer base, a culture of innovation and robust financial position. In the past year we have continued to build on these foundations to deliver higher revenue and profit growth in the future. With our strong cash flows, confidence in our business and our focus on shareholder returns, we are evolving our approach to the use of capital, and as part of the process, the Board has rebased the dividend, resulting in a proposed 25% increase for 2011.
AstraZeneca EU marketing authorisation
AstraZeneca Plc and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co announced that the European Commission has granted marketing authorisation for KOMBOGLYZETM (saxagliptin and metformin HCl immediate-release fixed dose combination) that will cover the 27 Member States of the European Union, adding: "The indication for KOMBOGLYZE is as an adjunct to diet and exercise to improve glycaemic control in adult patients aged 18 years and older with Type 2 diabetes mellitus inadequately controlled on their maximally tolerated dose of metformin alone or those already being treated with the combination of saxagliptin and metformin as separate tablets."
IG Group Trading Statement November 2011
IG Group Holdings plc (the "Group") issues the following trading update in respect of its first half ending 30 November 2011.
WPP investment
WPP Plc said it has invested for a minority equity stake in Lumi Technologies Limited, which "provides mobile engagement services to a broad range of clients and will partner with Kantar, WPP's consumer insight group, in order to further develop Lumi's technology platforms".
Rio Tinto Acquisition cleared
Rio Tinto yesterday received Canadian Competition Bureau clearance for its offer, made through an indirect wholly-owned Canadian subsidiary, to acquire all the common shares of Hathor Exploration Limited ("Hathor") for C$4.70 in cash per common share.
Fosters Acquisition update
On 25 November 2011, the Australian Federal Treasurer on recommendation from the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB), approved SABMiller's acquisition of Foster's and the remaining 50% of Pacific Beverages.
Pennon Half Yearly Report 2011/12 - interim dividend increased 10%
"I am pleased to report another successful half year for the Group" said Ken Harvey, Chairman. "South West Water continues its very strong operational performance and is well placed to outperform the assumptions for the current K5 regulatory period. Viridor continues to grow and its long-term profit momentum is underpinned by its developing pipeline of major Energy from Waste and PPP projects. I am delighted to say that Pennon Group has invested a further £100m in key infrastructure which supports the development of the UK economy."
Daily Mail and General Trust Final results
Martin Morgan, Chief Executive, said:"DMGT has delivered a solid set of results. Our international B2Bcompanies have increased their revenues and profits* by 10% and 13% on anunderlying# basis respectively. Our UK consumer businesses have been impactedby the weak advertising environment, particularly in the third quarter, andhigher newsprint costs resulting in profits* down 20% for the year.Notwithstanding the challenging trading conditions, the underlying# revenuesof Associated Newspapers were unchanged. Furthermore, Mail Online is now aglobal name in news and on course to become the world's biggest Englishlanguage newspaper website. Whilst first quarter trading to date has beenreasonable, we remain cautious about the medium term outlook, given continuingexternal uncertainties, particularly for UK advertising.Our strategy remains focused on innovation-led growth, talentdevelopment and improved operating effectiveness. We are a more focused andfinancially stronger Group today, which makes us confident that we can makereal progress in 2012."
Johnson Matthey Interims
Commenting on the results, Neil Carson, Chief Executive of Johnson Matthey said:
United Utilities 2011/12 interim results - dividend increased
Steve Mogford, Chief Executive Officer, said:"This is a good set of results in a tough economic climate."Our stronger focus on operational performance is delivering further service improvements for customers and we have reduced customer complaints by 20 per cent in the first half of this year. We were one of only four water and sewerage companies to meet its regulatory leakage target in 2010/11 and our water supply and demand balance remains robust, with our reservoirs at healthy levels. "We have improved our efficiency and have moved into the first quartile on relative efficiency for the water service and remain on course to meet our regulatory outperformance targets. Alongside this, we have continued to make high levels of capital investment in our assets to maintain and improve the resilience of our network."In line with our dividend policy of targeting growth of two per cent above RPI inflation, we have increased the interim dividend by 6.7 per cent to 10.67 pence per share."
Weir Group Acquisition
Weir Group PLC has agreed to acquire Seaboard Holdings Inc, an independent wellhead solutions provider focused on the growing North American unconventional oil and gas drilling and production markets for US$675m (£431m).
Halma Interim results increases dividend 7%
Commenting on the results, Andrew Williams, Chief Executive of Halma, said:
Resolution - Statement re: press speculation
Resolution notes recent press speculation and confirms that, whilst it did investigate the possible acquisition of Phoenix Group Holdings ("Phoenix") with both Phoenix and its lending banks, these talks have terminated.
Capita Group Interim Management Statement
"Capita is having a successful year in respect of new major contracts and renewals, reflecting the operational track record of the Group and the demand for outsourcing across our target markets. Furthermore, we have made a series of acquisitions which are playing a key role in extending our capabilities and making a valuable contribution to our growth. However, this progress is somewhat counterbalanced by the prevailing pressure on spending which continues to affect adversely a small number of our trading activities and is also constraining discretionary additional revenue from existing clients. Taking these factors into account, we expect to achieve reasonable revenue growth for the full year and stable year on year margins."
Investec half yearly report 2011 - interim dividend maintained
Stephen Koseff, Chief Executive Officer of Investec said:
Amlin Interim Management Statement
Charles Philipps, Amlin's Chief Executive, commented "While this year's performance has been impacted by an exceptionally high level and frequency of catastrophe events, the overall outlook for underwriting returns is improving and we remain a strong business which is more than capable of delivering excellent returns for shareholders."
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