Investors Chronicle articles from March 2004

Investors Chronicle archives from March 2004

Moths to the laser.
March 5, 2004... I Have had my share of losers - oh yes. But few have been such sagas as the one that crystallised this week when a substantial cheque arrived from the Laser 1988 Property Trust. It was substantial - but rather less so than the money that went...

ABBEY NATIONAL (ANL).
March 5, 2004... Abbey National is just one year into its three-year plan to exit its bad-debt-ridden wholesale operations and refocus on its retail bank, so banking analysts hadn't been expecting too much from these full-year figures. But even after taking...

Access Intelligence.
March 5, 2004... The loss was due to consultancy and administration charges. Access acquired Readco 261, which provides services on a subscription basis to small-and-medium-sized businesses.

AVIVA (AV.).
March 5, 2004... Aviva's policy of investing in continental European life markets paid off in 2003. The European new business contribution rose 6 per cent to GBP1.12bn, while operating profits grew 9 per cent to GBP815m. That's down to a successful offering in...

Vexatious to the soul.
March 5, 2004... The "ISA season" is upon us. This is, as Reggie Kray said of Jack 'the hat' McVitie, a vexation to the soul. Yes, soul. Fund managers offend this as much as the wallet. All their adverts and advertorials cover up the most important fact about...

Spring sales.
March 5, 2004... Think back a year. Do you remember the absolute panic in the stock market as insurers, hit by solvency fears, dumped equities and pushed share prices down? Financial armageddon seemed to be just around the corner, and short-selling pundits...

Dividing the spoils.
March 5, 2004... For investors who rely on shares for a regular income, it could have been dubbed the Frocky Horror show. Clothing retailer Monsoon axed its annual dividend payment this year, and said it would spend the money on foreign takeovers instead. Its...

Cocktail for growth.
March 5, 2004... Mixing Jack Daniel's with Bacardi, or Malibu with Chivas Regal, sounds like nothing more than a surefire way to wake up feeling lousy in the morning. But, for the world's leading spirits makers, such combinations could offer the opportunity to...

Medisys named in patent complaint.
March 5, 2004... Shares in Medisys fell 2p to 10.75p this week, after the group revealed that its diagnostic business, Hypoguard, has been named as one of four defendants in a complaint for patent infringement by Roche. Roche argues that the Assure family of...

Informa to merge with Taylor & Francis.
March 5, 2004... Consolidation in the academic publishing sector has been a fact of life for many years. The concept of combining an academic publisher with a commercial publisher and conference organiser is a newer one, but Informa and Taylor & Francis (T&F)...

Momentum points to higher house prices.
March 5, 2004... Momentum investing isn't just working in stock markets. It's also working in the housing market. Nationwide building society has reported that prices leapt by 3.1 per cent in February, despite rising mortgage rates and low wage growth....

Enthusiasm greets Ark flotation.
March 5, 2004... Ark Therapeutics has become the first major UK biotech to float in three years, raising GBP55m. In a demonstration of renewed enthusiasm for the sector, the offer was three times oversubscribed. With the shares priced in the middle of the...

Borrowing indicates stock market falls.
March 5, 2004... The stock market is floating on a sea of borrowed money. Bank of England figures released this week show that non-bank financial institutions' debt grew at an annualised rate of 24.7 per cent in the past three months. Financial institutions'...

Lastminute snaps up OTC for GBP55m.
March 5, 2004... Lastminute.com has made its biggest acquisition to date, splashing out GBP54.9m on Online Travel Corporation (OTC). The deal follows on from last year's acquisition of Holiday Autos for GBP39.7m and should give Lastminute greater access to...

IPO market springs into life.
March 5, 2004... The initial public offering (IPO) market suddenly woke up this week, with two companies - Ark Therapeutics and Cambridge Silicon Radio - making their debuts on the main market and three others announcing their intention to float. Those...

Ezaccess acquisition boosts Bond.
March 5, 2004... Recruitment software group Bond International is strengthening itself via the $5m acquisition of Ezaccess. To help fund the purchase, Bond is raising GBP4.1m via a placing at 40p a share. Ezaccess already has a strong customer base in the...

Centaur set for Aim.
March 5, 2004... The unrelenting stream of new issues joining Aim continues apace. Centaur Holdings is one of more than 20 companies hoping to join the junior market this month and, having raised GBP134m, it will be the largest newcomer so far this year. ...

Sure things.
March 5, 2004... It doesn't happen often but, every once in a while, some of us are lucky enough to stumble across an investment opportunity that has "screaming buy" stamped all over it, something that looks too good to be true, but actually isn't. There are no...

IP2IPO set to float Offshore Hydrocarbon.
March 5, 2004... The first spin-out from Aim-listed IP2IPO is due to hit the market within the next few weeks. IP2IPO listed in October last year with the aim of collaborating with UK universities in developing intellectual property and research into commercial...

Next week.
March 5, 2004... MONDAY 8 MARCH Interims: Town Centre Securities Finals: Bioprogress, Bovis Homes, Candover Investments, Clinical Computing, James Fisher, Huveaux, ICM Computer, IDN Telecom, IMI, Intertek, Lloyds TSB, Taylor Nelson Sofres, Travis...

Next week.
March 5, 2004... French Connection will be one of the first retailers to reveal its figures this year after much of the sector experienced disappointing pre-Christmas sales. The retailer had a strong first half, with pre-tax profits growing 33 per cent....

Taylor & Francis enjoys academic security.
March 5, 2004... Academic publishing may be insulated from the swings of the advertising market, but it is still buffeted by state budget constraints and mutinous academics. Although Taylor & Francis acknowledges both factors, there was little sign of any...

New boss for Bradford & Bingley.
March 5, 2004... Christopher Rodrigues, the chief executive of mortgage bank Bradford & Bingley (B&B), is leaving the bank to become chief executive of Visa International. He will be replaced at the end of this month by Steven Crawshaw, who runs B&B's core...

Network Rail pays GBP24m to Jarvis.
March 5, 2004... Jarvis, the troubled support services group, has received GBP24m owed to it by Network Rail for maintenance work. That's a relief because some analysts doubted that it would be paid at all, jeopardising its financial position. Howard...

DS Smiths gets big in cardboard boxes.
March 5, 2004... Corrugated packaging maker DS Smith is set to become the biggest player in the UK's cardboard box market following its acquisition of rival, Linpac. The company is to pay GBP170m in cash to take over its privately-owned competitor. ...

ICI sells food business to Kerry.
March 5, 2004... ICI is selling its food ingredients business to Ireland's Kerry Group for GBP238m as part of a restructuring of Quest, its fragrances and flavourings unit. Quest was ICI's worst-performing division last year, booking a 45 per cent drop in...

Bookings surge at Carnival.
March 5, 2004... It's full steam ahead at Carnival, the world's biggest cruiseline operator. Bookings during the first two months of the year - usually the industry's key period - were up by a massive 59 per cent over the same period in 2003. Of course, last...

That's banks sorted, now for the tax man and life insurers.
March 5, 2004... At last someone is putting a stop to the banks' gallop. As a shareholder, I like fat dividend cheques as much as the next person - but not if it's costing me as much again in charges and lost interest, thanks to the banks' habit of moving money...

Keeping an eye on house prices.
March 5, 2004... Looking at how prices have risen over the past seven or eight years, it's no wonder we Brits are obsessed with the value of our homes. And right now, concerns that increases in interest rates may prompt a setback in the housing market are...

PKL to continue push into medical market.
March 5, 2004... PKL, a supplier of temporary kitchens to contract caterers, hopes to float on Aim next month as part of its expansion into the medical market. Founded in 1985, and based in Cheltenham, the company manages over 700 kitchen contracts a year,...

Commercial fund.
March 5, 2004... A new commercial property fund aimed at private investors, but investing in an existing diversified portfolio, is being launched by Sprefs, the financial services arm of Strutt & Parker. The new Sprefs fund will act as a feeder fund, investing...

Charges on the rise.
March 5, 2004... Annual charges on unit trusts and open-ended investment companies (Oeics) are rising, according to research from Fitzrovia International. The average charge on a UK Oeic is 1.69 per cent, and that on a unit trust is 1.57 per cent, up from 1.66...

Tax burden ahead.
March 5, 2004... Budget Day is on 17 March and most commentators expect plenty of tinkering with the tax rules. John Whiting, tax partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers, is ruling out a major tax hike tax (GBP10bn to GBP15bn), but thinks an increase in the...

China 'overvalued'.
March 5, 2004... Angus Tulloch, one of the UK's top emerging markets fund managers, believes China has become too popular and some companies are starting to look overvalued. He has reduced exposure to less than 10 per cent, down from 12.5 per cent last summer....

Revenue edits film schemes.
March 5, 2004... Following cuts imposed by the Inland Revenue, the range of film partnerships has been reduced, which could leave some would-be investors out in the cold. Film partnerships are an attractive, but little-known, area of tax planning. While...

A place in the sun.
March 5, 2004... Buying a second home abroad isn't just a luxury anymore. It can also make sound economic sense. Following a decade of double-digit gains, there's now a clear risk that all the value has been squeezed from the UK housing market. That means...

Freedom for fund managers.
March 5, 2004... Fund investments in the UK are set to change dramatically. The introduction of a new European Union product directive has paved the way for a very different type of fund: one that gives the manager far greater freedom in his or her attempts to...

Finding growth, efficiently.
March 5, 2004... Y ou know how you hear "efficient" as today's adjective of choice to describe the world's big financial markets. It's much bandied around, usually wrongly. The popular perception of an efficient stock market is one where investors might as well...

Time for a check-up.
March 5, 2004... It's time for my annual self-invested personal pension (Sipp) check-up. This is when I put the shares I have selected under the microscope to see whether there is any merit in all my stock-picking efforts, or whether I'd be better off using a...

PROVIDENT FINANCIAL (PFG).
March 5, 2004... Provident Financial continues to benefit from the canny export of its consumer credit services to central Europe. Turnover grew 34 per cent in the region, to GBP191m, and customer numbers rose 30 per cent to 1.2m. The Czech market is beginning...

INCHAPE (INCH).
March 5, 2004... Inchcape's latest figures demonstrate strong growth in most of its core markets - profits are one-fifth higher, after excluding GBP37.5m of VAT recovery. That seems to justify the sevenfold increase in the share price in the past five years....

DOCTORS DIRECT.
March 5, 2004... Doctors Direct was set up 10 years ago to provide a private medical service to Londoners and tourists who have difficulty accessing NHS services. Last year's loss is partly blamed on a 30 per cent drop in the number of tourists using the...

Watts walks at Shell and de Vijver follows.
March 5, 2004... The City finally got what it wanted this week when Sir Philip Watts stepped down as chairman of Shell's committee of managing directors (CMD) "by mutual consent". Walter van de Vijver, the managing director of exploration and production (E&P)...

FARSIGHT (FAR).
March 5, 2004... There was not a lot of foresight at Farsight last year when it came to preparing its accounts. The errata takes up a full page and includes a change of date and venue for the annual meeting. Since then, company doctor Chris Thomas seems to have...

Allenbridge top picks.
March 5, 2004... Allenbridge Investment Consultants has published its Isa recommendations. For capital growth from large-cap stocks, it recommends Gartmore UK Focus, Lazard UK Alpha, Liontrust First Large Cap and Schroder UK Alpha Plus. For mid-cap and smaller...

Informa hoping for economic upswing.
March 5, 2004... Like many other media companies with revenues that depend on advertising and marketing budgets, the story at Informa isn't so much about 2003 as about 2004. This year, companies should be sending more delegates to conferences, and spending more...

CENTURION ELECTRONICS (CUC).
March 5, 2004... Like rival Armour Trust, Centurion is booming, thanks to the craze for in-car DVD players, which keep kids and in-laws entertained during car journeys. But the company's spectacular 2002-03 results and this year's bumper expectations have been...

GAMING CORPORATION (GMC).
March 5, 2004... The explosive rise in Gaming Corporation's 2002-03 turnover is due to the launch of its flagship online internet site, play.casino, in December 2002. Margins on such games as black jack and roulette are low, but player numbers are up and...

CONAFEX.
March 5, 2004... Conafex owns three estates in Zimbabwe, and twice last year they were targeted for takeover by President Mugabe's henchmen. Fortunately, Conafex is quoted in Luxembourg and is represented in Zimbabwe by the Belgian embassy, which persuaded the...

INVESTMENT MGMT (IMH).
March 5, 2004... Following the disposal of a number of loss-making businesses, Investment Management (formerly Seymour Pierce) is about to pay back between GBP18m and GBP21m to shareholders, or between 2.4p and 2.8p a share. It will then be left with one...

SCHRODERS (SDR).
March 5, 2004... Schroders celebrates its 200th birthday this year but management, which is half-way through a four-year restructuring plan, has had little time to celebrate. Much of the profit improvement last year was due to cost-cutting - group costs...

SRS TECHNOLOGY (SGY).
March 5, 2004... SRS floated in August 2001 via a placing at 125p. Disappointing results since then are largely due to slow sales to the NHS (which accounts for three-quarters of sales to date) and US wheelchair maker Pride Mobility. The latter promised in...

ULTIMATE FINANCE (UFG).
March 5, 2004... Rather unusually, company broker WH Ireland owns 27 per cent and is the dominant shareholder in Ultimate Finance, which it floated on Aim in June 2002 at 24p. Ultimate specialises in financing businesses with turnover of up to GBP6m and, on top...

AKAEI (AKI).
March 5, 2004... Akaei is a shell with a smidgen of cash. It is 86 per cent-owned by On-Line (see right) and the three remaining directors are all directors at On-Line. Akaei returned to profit last year, but only after On-Line waived a GBP201,000 loan. This...

NORTHAMPTON SAINTS.
March 5, 2004... Northampton's accounts illustrate why a top-flight rugby union club has sounder finances than most Premiership league football clubs, even though turnover is much less and the average crowd for a Zurich Premiership match last year was just...

ON-LINE (ONL).
March 5, 2004... On-Line is the cheap way to invest in financial website ADVFN, which claims 30 per cent of the UK market for online share information. On-Line owns over 28 per cent of ADVFN's shares, making its stake worth close to GBP7m, with ADVFN shares at...

SIRA BUSINESS SVCS (SIB).
March 5, 2004... In 2001-02, Sira Business Services lost seven contracts worth GBP3.25m, and the introduction of the minimum wage pushed up costs that were not easy to pass on. The return to profits on reduced sales last year is said to be due to a "refocus" on...

IAF.
March 5, 2004... Most administrative functions have been outsourced. IAF sold one aircraft and is attempting to exit its remaining aviation assets.

Swallowfield.
March 5, 2004... Sales at Swallowfield's cosmetics business fell by 21 per cent to GBP6.3m, while sales at its aerosols division fell 31 per cent to GBP17.2m. It hopes to cut costs by sourcing from the Far East.

Trace.
March 5, 2004... Trace was cash-generative over the period as market conditions continued to improve and earlier cost-cutting measures began to take effect. The company has GBP2m cash in the bank.

FALCON INVESTMENT.
March 5, 2004... Falcon is a sister company to Conafex (see above). Last year's enormous profit followed the sale of an iodine deposit for $13m to a major Chilean producer. It was an offer too good to refuse and meant that Falcon pocketed a $10.11m gain....

Teesland.
March 5, 2004... Profits - before tax and goodwill - totalled GBP654,000 (up from GBP587,000 last year). Teesland continues to focus on increasing funds and assets under management.

BRITANNIC (BRT).
March 5, 2004... Britannic has fought its way back after the problems of early 2003, when it warned that it would have solvency problems if the FTSE 100 went below 3300. It closed its life assurance operation to new business, and sold its problem mortgage arm....

Independent Media.
March 5, 2004... These were record results for Independent Media, thanks to strong demand for its radio services. The move into TV continues apace and provides plenty of scope for expansion.

GOOCH & HOUSEGO (GHH).
March 5, 2004... Like MANY UK companies, Gooch & Housego is becoming "increasingly concerned" by the fall in value of the US dollar, and has no currency hedging policies in place. But Gooch does have some protection: it buys a lot of components and raw...

Norish.
March 5, 2004... Norish is currently reviewing its operating strategy and has cut costs by closing its head office and reducing staff numbers. Results include a GBP600,000 loss as an exceptional charge.

PREMIER DIRECT (PDR).
March 5, 2004... Premier Direct's business model is a numbers game: the more self-employed distributors it has to display goods and collect orders, the more money it should make. Distributors visit schools, hospitals and factories with a range of books, toys,...

International Real Estate.
March 5, 2004... Refurbishment of a site in Brussels and the disposal of a property in Belgium hit gross income. International Real Estate trades at a significant discount to net assets of e258 a share.

Arsenal.
March 5, 2004... Traded on Ofex. Another record-breaking season for the club was recently capped with news that it now has the funding for its new stadium.

Charterhouse Comms.
March 5, 2004... The mortgage market remained strong, but the personal investment sector continued to be depressed. Charterhouse Communications is still waiting for a pick-up in advertising revenues.

Farsight.
March 5, 2004... Farsight has reduced its cost base, but sales remain insufficient. Remote video monitoring boosted revenues 25 per cent in the quarter to 30 November 2003.

BRIT INSURANCE (BRE).
March 5, 2004... Judging by BRIT's impressive SHOWING, fears of a imminent softening of the insurance market look considerably overdone. Only the insurer's airlines account experienced a premium rate fall - down 7 per cent in 2003 - and business lines, such as...

Avingtrans.
March 5, 2004... Results include the full cost and cash flow effect of the purchase of the assets and ongoing business interests of Boneham & Turner Spindles, acquired in September 2003.

Leisureplay.
March 5, 2004... The company, which previously traded as Murray Financial, has changed its name and its direction. It has bought Chartcity - which consists of seven pubs trading as The Front Room.

London Asia Capital.
March 5, 2004... London Asia continues to focus on China. Having raised GBP2.3m over recent months, the plan is to bring smaller companies to more recognised public markets, such as London.

Millwall.
March 5, 2004... Excluding player trading, Millwall's loss was GBP3m. The club sold midfielder Steven Reid for GBP1.8m. It also appointed Dennis Wise as manager. Income from attendances remains low.

Rangers Football Club.
March 5, 2004... Traded on Ofex. Champions League football boosted Rangers' ticket, commercial and sponsorship income. But the company must continue to operate on a tight budget.

Real Good Food.
March 5, 2004... Real Good Food joined Aim last September and has recently secured GBP10m to fund expansion. It is keen to add further acquisitions to complement the three businesses it operates.

SRS Technology.
March 5, 2004... The loss for the period reflects the slower-than-expected growth in overseas sales and the delay to the launch of a new range of environmental controllers.

St Barbara Mines.
March 5, 2004... Gold production fell and had a corresponding effect on revenue, although losses were reduced on the previous period, which included heavy write-downs and a change in accounting policy.

Surface Transforms.
March 5, 2004... Cost saving measures helped Surface narrow losses. Its focus is on developing brakes for the aerospace industry and for high-performance road cars.

Virotec.
March 5, 2004... Virotec continues to research and develop further applications for its products and plans to expand its network of strategic alliances throughout the world.

ISIS ASSET MANAGEMENT (ISIS).
March 5, 2004... Isis, formed from the merger of Friends Provident's fund management arm and Ivory & Sime, has big ambitions to become one of the top five players in the UK by 2009. It currently ranks 10th. The fund manager digested last year's acquisition...

Western Selection.
March 5, 2004... Most of Western's investments are cash-generative, and much of the recovery in NAV per share was driven by the strong performance from Creston, in which it has a 21 per cent stake.