http://www.alertdata.co.uk Latest Industry News From Alert Data. en-gb Copyright 2005-2006 Alert Research Ltd, UK rss@ 720 http://www.alertdata.co.uk/rss.php PHP/5.2.5 http://www.alertdata.co.uk\images\alertdata.gif http://www.alertdata.co.uk 216 51 Latest Industry News From Alert Data. http://www.alertdata.co.uk/2038.htm High raw material prices and difficulty in passing these on has prompted engineer Samuel Heath to forecast another significant fall in profits this year. Profits in the year to March fell from £1.73m to £1.39m on sales of £12.2m down from £12.7m. The change in the product mix, which was foreseen for the previous year, is continuing. Samuel Heath has experienced a rise in commodity prices and there are difficult trading conditions practically everywhere. This is combined with the reluctance of the market to accept higher prices against any logical rationale. All this forces the company to anticipate a further significant fall in profits for the coming year. Fri, 04 Jul 2008 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.alertdata.co.uk/2038.htm http://www.alertdata.co.uk/9208.htm Eaga has agreed in principle on a contract, worth in excess of £200m, with Scottish Power for the outsourced management and delivery of its entire Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT) obligation. The energy efficiency solutions provider plans to use the agreement to further underpin its organic growth and provide security of future revenues. The arrangement will support Eaga's continued progress in the CERT marketplace and the strengthening of relationships across the wider customer base in a core business area. With its strong organic growth platform in place, securing future revenues in this area leaves eaga well placed as it move forward. The chief executive is John Clough. Fri, 04 Jul 2008 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.alertdata.co.uk/9208.htm http://www.alertdata.co.uk/1937.htm Aga Rangemaster, formerly Aga Foodservice, expects underlying trading results for the first half to be broadly in line with those for 2007, as restated for the Foodservice disposal. Revenues have grown in the first half, supported by its strong marketing programme, while the balance sheet remains strong. Rangemaster has continued to grow market share in a difficult cooker market, with sales up 5% over the same period last year. The group is taking action to rationalise its operations in Ireland, where the market has deteriorated materially. With efficient manufacturing and well established distribution structures, the potential for the group remains strong, although it is mindful of the current economic climate it is facing. The chief executive is William McGrath. Fri, 04 Jul 2008 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.alertdata.co.uk/1937.htm http://www.alertdata.co.uk/2773.htm Speciality pharmaceuticals and healthcare company, Meldex International recently appointed the company’s two largest shareholders to the board. Klaus Kühne and Helmut Kerschbaumer, co-founders of Melbrosin, the company acquired by Meldex in June 2007, have joined the Meldex board, with Kühne assuming the position of chief operating officer. Messrs Kühne and Kerschbaumer have run and operated over the counter (OTC) healthcare businesses for the past 11 years. Meldex will be publishing an operational review of the company’s activities in July and a full trading update will be published as soon as possible thereafter. The company has not been able to publish these updates before because it has been subject to an offer period and other related matters. The company recently posted a reduced pre-tax loss of £0.36m for 2007 versus a loss of £1.94m. Revenues virtually tripled to £271m from £9.5m the year before. Richard Trevillion is the chief executive officer of Meldex. Fri, 04 Jul 2008 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.alertdata.co.uk/2773.htm http://www.alertdata.co.uk/2291.htm Plastics group British Polythene has experienced a downturn in demand from customers in the UK construction sector and parts of its industrial business are quite weak. The group has recently been notified of further substantial increases in raw material costs for July and the late notice from its suppliers will result in margin compression while the group passes these costs on to its customers. The group remains confident that, as with the cost increases of the last few years, it will recover margins as prices stabilise. There has been good demand from agricultural and consumer related sectors. Fri, 04 Jul 2008 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.alertdata.co.uk/2291.htm http://www.alertdata.co.uk/1112.htm The economic downturn and publicity highlighting the government’s data protection failures helped the NCC Group record higher pre-tax profits. NCC, which provides escrow software solutions and website and software security, recorded a rise in pre-tax profits to £8.7m in the year to May 31 from £7.8m the previous year as turnover increased to £35.7m from £25.4m. The rise in turnover was helped by two acquisitions, but 17% of revenue growth was organic. The Manchester-based company benefited from the difficult economic conditions as companies sought to ensure they minimise risk by quickly taking up escrow services. The assurance testing division benefited from the stream of media coverage of government failures to keep data protected. The division’s activities include 'ethical hacking', which highlights security failures in software and websites. It is thought that the government is the company's best marketing department. NCC has a strong order book, with total orders and renewals currently standing at £26.9m. The NCC Group chief executive is Rob Cotton. Fri, 04 Jul 2008 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.alertdata.co.uk/1112.htm http://www.alertdata.co.uk/2243.htm Consumer electronics group Armour recently warned that it expects results for the year to be 20% to 30% below current market expectations as consumers tighten their purse strings. The group provides car amplifiers, speakers and hands free mobile phone systems. After an encouraging first half of the year, the group has experienced challenging market conditions in the third quarter that have resulted in lower than expected sales volumes across the group's operations. Armour expects the difficult trading conditions in its core UK market to continue for the remainder of the reporting year and into 2009. Fri, 04 Jul 2008 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.alertdata.co.uk/2243.htm http://www.alertdata.co.uk/3450.htm Arriva has extended its presence in the Madrid transport market with the acquisition of De Blas, one of the largest privately owned transport contractors in the Spanish capital. The UK-based bus and train firm is paying €99.25m (£78.6m) for De Blas, of which €79.4m is being paid in cash up-front, with the remainder placed on deposit as security for any claims against the sellers. The remaining cash will be released to the sellers over the next five years. De Blas has 222 buses and 679 employees, and operates 34 inter-urban routes into and around Madrid. Scope for expansion is available in the form of substantial depot facilities to the south-west of Madrid. In 2007 De Blas made a pre-tax profit of €3.5m (£2.8m) on revenue of €48.8m (£38.6m). The company’s gross assets at the end of 2007 were worth €34.2m (£27.1m) while net assets were €11.4m (£9m). The acquisition is expected to be earnings enhancing before goodwill impairment, intangible asset amortisation and exceptional items. Madrid's rapidly growing population provides a backdrop of strong demand, and the transport authority's significant investments in services and infrastructure are helping to create the potential for world-class public transport in and around the city. It is thought that long concessions give considerable visibility into earnings in the medium term, and that the business has great potential. David Martin is the chief executive of Arriva. Fri, 04 Jul 2008 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.alertdata.co.uk/3450.htm http://www.alertdata.co.uk/82540.htm Online payments specialist NETELLER has continued its good start to 2008 and is expected to report first half results in line with expectations. Reported revenue for the second quarter of the year is expected to be around 10% ahead of the first quarter. The group, which provides money transfer services is continuing to invest in developing its businesses and is confident of further progress in the second half of the year as the Group's growth plans remain on track. NETELLER is believed to be close to completing the sale of its principal Calgary property. Thu, 03 Jul 2008 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.alertdata.co.uk/82540.htm http://www.alertdata.co.uk/2550.htm Dairy group Robert Wiseman is expected to deliver results in line with expectations for the year as it passes on rising oil and packaging costs to customers. Sales volumes in the first three months of the year are around 2% ahead of the same period last year. Fuel, electricity and gas prices have continued to rise, which the company will recover by passing on costs to customers though price increases. Some recovery in bulk cream prices has taken place in May and June and sales of its “the One” milk and Extended Shelf Life milk continue to make progress. Alan Wiseman is Chairman. Thu, 03 Jul 2008 00:00:00 +0100 http://www.alertdata.co.uk/2550.htm