Key announcements 11-16 July

During the period I was away there were a few announcements for shares that I hold:



The company issued a statement at its AGM on 16 July, the essence of which is that management's expectations for the current financial year remain consistent with what was indicated when full year results were announced on June 4^th 2014.

They stated that Laminates and Foils Europe are trading well and Holographics is on track to at least hold the breakeven performance established in the final quarter of last year. For Foils Americas - it has continued to experience reduced demand from the metallic pigment sector, exacerbated by destocking of the supply chain. Volumes are expected to start to recover in the second half and action has already been taken to re-align operating costs.

Overall they expect progression in results compared to last financial year.

The company also announced that Chris Smith their CFO will be leaving the company at the end of the year.  He is joining McBride (MCB) as CFO a £175m market cap. private label contractor for household and personal care products.

 

TELECOMPLUSPLC

A very strong IMS from Telecom Plus on the 15 July, stating that customer numbers for the period rose by 16,739, representing a jump of 25% on the increase last year and their customer base now stands at over 547,000, an increase of 15.4% over the last 12 months.

 

The number of services being provided grew by 56,574 in the quarter to 1,963,734, making it their 12^th consecutive quarter in which they have achieved net growth of more than 50,000 services.

 

Management expect profits for the first half to be significantly ahead of the corresponding figures for last year and, they remain comfortable with the guidance they provided in May that profits for the full year will increase by almost 50% to £63m.

 

 

Further weakness at ICAP as their IMS released on 16 July stated that Group revenue for the quarter was 14% behind the same period last year on a constant currency basis and19% below on a reported basis. 

 

They also stated that the cost savings programme remains on track to deliver the annualised target of at least £60m for the current year. Since announcing their full year results in mid-May, over £28m of annualised cost savings have been identified partly through a reduction in broker headcount. These savings are in addition to the £125m of cost savings delivered over the past three years.