Menzies(john) Share Discussion Threads

[philanderer] 23/8/2012 16:51

'Menzies Distribution going the extra mile for NewstrAid charity'

A team of 30 cyclists from Menzies Distribution will complete a 1,500km charity bike ride along the east coast of the UK to raise money for the newspaper industry's charity, NewstrAid.

The team, which includes Managing Director David McIntosh, will take it in turns to tackle different stages of the journey from John O'Groats in Scotland to Mile End in Portsmouth over 10 days, starting on Friday 24th August.

The challenge, which will see the cyclists visit several Menzies Distribution depots along the way, has already raised more than £11,000 for NewstrAid, a benevolent fund set up in 1839 to provide help for people in need from the retailing, wholesaling, distribution and circulation of newspapers and magazines.

[philanderer] 17/8/2012 13:28

17th august Numis 'buy' tp 732p

again reiterating

[philanderer] 17/8/2012 11:42

Nice pick up so far today on good volume ... 120k+ traded

[philanderer] 17/8/2012 09:43

Scotsman

John Menzies clinches key NI distribution contracts

Friday 17 August 2012 00:00

The newspaper and magazine wholesaling division of logistics group John Menzies yesterday said it had extended its contract with News International (NI).

The revised seven-year agreement will see Menzies Distribution expand its operations for the media company into Kent and Lancashire from October and in Northern Ireland from September 2013.

[philanderer] 16/8/2012 12:34

Afternoon CR.

Good news, and could get even better :-)

David McIntosh, Managing Director, Menzies Distribution said,

"I am very pleased that we have concluded negotiations with News International and that we will be expanding our relationship into new territories."

[cockneyrebel] 16/8/2012 12:15

News Int contract renewed - nice :-)

CR

[philanderer] 16/8/2012 00:24

just one more :-)

Herald Scotland..

Team GB success at Olympics boosts John Menzies

Mark Williamson
Group Business Correspondent

The success of the London Olympics has provided a boost for John Menzies, the Scottish aviation support and newspaper distribution firm, which said it had made a good start to the second half amid challenging trading conditions.

Paul Dollman, finance director of Edinburgh-based John Menzies, said the company had benefited from an increase in sales of papers in response to huge public interest in the Games.

"Because of the success of Team GB, newspaper sales did actually improve over the past two weeks," said Mr Dollman.

He added: "The press did very well in the way they covered the Olympics."

John Menzies also distributed collections of games-related stickers, but Mr Dollman said these did not seem to match the appeal of soccer collections.

The company will make between £500,000 and £1 million profit from distributing stickers connected with the Euro 2012 soccer competition held in June. Its aviation support side has been handling more planes at Heathrow, where airlines laid on extra flights for the Olympics.

Directors were also pleased that fears the games would bring London to a halt were misplaced.

"It was potentially a logistical nightmare because the whole Olympic Park was right in our patch and there were obviously severe traffic restrictions," said Mr Dollman.

"As it turned out I think most people disappeared other than people going to the Olympics, so actually the logistics side of life was absolutely fine. The product flow was virtually unscathed."

He was speaking after the group posted underlying interim pre-tax profits of £25.4m, up from £25.1m in the first half last year. It said: "Global economic conditions and exchange rate movements, particularly the Euro, continue to provide challenges."

The aviation support business, which provides services ranging from checking passengers on to flights to loading cargoes, lost business worth £7.7m on an annual basis after five airlines ceased trading.

However, it won a net 22 contracts adding £14m revenue.

"The UK in particular had an excellent period with major contracts secured at a number of stations," said John Menzies.

Underlying aviation profits increased from £13.8m last time to £14.5m, £15.4m excluding currency movements.

John Menzies is rationalising its UK cargo business, including exiting operations at Glasgow, to boost profitability.

The distribution business increased underlying profits to £14m from £13.7m.

Mr Dollman said sales of papers had held up relatively well. The company said the effect of "strong cover price growth" compensated for falls in circulation.

"Magazines are still under pressure from UK economic conditions. Sales of monthly titles remain more resilient than weekly titles where price cutting is fierce in the crowded celebrity magazine category, although both were slightly boosted by Jubilee-related product," it said.

[cockneyrebel] 15/8/2012 18:54

Cheers.

CR

[philanderer] 15/8/2012 11:50

'Menzies look on positive start to the year'

[philanderer] 15/8/2012 08:14

Yorkshire Post

'Menzies seeing effect of Sun launch'

15 August 2012

Newspaper distributor John Menzies yesterday warned the launch of the Sun on Sunday was hitting the Sunday newspaper market as its low cover price attracted readers from rivals.

Menzies, which handles around five million newspapers and 2.1 million magazines each day, said the Sun on Sunday, priced at 50p, had taken share from the likes of the Sunday Mirror and Mail on Sunday, priced at £1 and £1.50 respectively.

The Sun on Sunday launched on February 26 following the demise of The News of the World in the wake of the phone hacking scandal at parent company News International.

However, in the overall newspaper market, sales volume decline was offset by strong cover price growth with some 12 titles increasing cover price during the six months to June 30. John Menzies' distribution arm recorded broadly flat operating profits of £14m.

It said its aviation arm – which provides baggage handling services and recently overtook newspaper distribution as its biggest profits driver – saw earnings slightly increase to £14.5m.

The wider group reported broadly flat underlying pre-tax profits of £25.4m in the period, against £25.1m a year earlier.

Mike Murphy, analyst at brokers Numis Securities, said: "We continue to believe the growing aviation business will dominate the earnings profile underpinning a change in perception of the group to a business with good long-term growth prospects."

Within the magazine category, monthly title sales fell 4.4 per cent, while weekly titles dropped 8.4 per cent.

[philanderer] 14/8/2012 23:17

Scotsman..........

John Menzies profits flying high

John Menzies, the Edinburgh-based distribution and aviation services group, managed to grow profits in the first half despite weakening revenues and adverse currency movements.

Underlying profit before tax rose 1 per cent to £25.4 million, but the group said the rise would have been greater on a stable currency basis.

Group revenues were down around 2 per cent to £990m, as lower magazine sales affected its distribution arm.

The firm said its aviation division continued to grow, with contract wins from global carriers such as British Airways and operations beginning in two new countries.

Finance director Paul Dollman said that, without currency impacts, profit growth would have been in the firm's 10 to 15 per cent target range.

He added: "It's all being driven by contract wins."

The group is retrenching its cargo operations, reducing costs by closing down bases at four airports, including Glasgow, to concentrate on Aberdeen, Belfast and Heathrow.

[philanderer] 14/8/2012 20:01

Yep, a bit of consolidation above 600p no bad thing.

Still a few good yielders nudging up... BRSN pretty solid lately and NWS storming on :-)

[cockneyrebel] 14/8/2012 17:46

Agree - chart still looks good imo.

Bit of a general move from yielders to cyclicals imo so probably a fund selling out of the income and moving more to risk perhaps.

CR

[philanderer] 14/8/2012 16:45

120k traded and a lot of short term positions unwound today I would have thought.

Next price drivers may be down to continuing small bolt-on acquisitions.

Solid company :-)

[cockneyrebel] 14/8/2012 15:49

All the broker comments seem positive imo.

CR

[philanderer] 14/8/2012 11:07

Two more reiterations..

14th august Numis 'buy' tp 732p
14th august Shore Capital 'buy'

[philanderer] 14/8/2012 08:52

14th august Peel Hunt 'hold' tp 630p


reiterates

[philanderer] 14/8/2012 08:35

No surprises , no investor interest so far , just 3k traded.

N+1 Brewin reiterates 'conviction buy' and 700p target


8/14/2012

(RTTNews)

- John Menzies plc (MNZS.L) posted lower first-half pre-tax profit of 18.3 million pounds, versus last year's 21.4 million pounds, with profit attributable to equity shareholders declining to 12.8 million pounds, from 16.3 million pounds in the previous year.

Earnings per ordinary share were 21.2 pence, lower than 27.8 pence in the 2011 period. On an underlying basis, half-yearly earnings per ordinary share slid to 31.8 pence, from 32.2 pence in the prior-year period.

Revenue for the first half of the year totaled 941.0 million pounds, compared with 941.9 million pounds in the earlier year period.

[cockneyrebel] 14/8/2012 07:45

Well I reckong there were many expecting MNZS to say they'd miss full year forecasts or reduce guidance but they seem confident of meeting and have raised the interim divi. Over 4% yield.

CR

[cockneyrebel] 13/8/2012 14:50

Cheers - starting to get going now :-)

CR

[philanderer] 13/8/2012 13:16

Afternoon CR.

It`s a reiteration of it`s 16th july upgrade

13th august Numis 'buy' tp 732p

[cockneyrebel] 13/8/2012 11:23

Numis have a buy out today

CR

[cockneyrebel] 12/8/2012 11:17

So Peel Hunt want to get clients in MNZS ahead of the results then :-)

Peel Hunt have the lowest expectations and the only broker with a 'Hold' - the rest all have 'Buys'

Chart above is wrong too - the April high was 635p - MNZS has recently made a 20 year high at 649p.

CR

[philanderer] 12/8/2012 08:52

Delay in John Menzies share move

Sunday 12 August 2012

Hopes for a "re-rating" of John Menzies shares, which was expected to bring the company's market capitalisation in line with rivals in the aviation business, has been deferred by analysts who claim the economic outlook is currently dampening its growth prospects.

Peel Hunt analysts say the Menzies Aviation business was trading at a 27.5 per cent discount in value compared to Swissport, the market ­leader in global outsourced ground and cargo handling. While the Menzies business had "attractive growth prospects", it said that the gap was "appropriate for now, given the macro-economic outlook".

The firm is this week expected to say trading in the other half of its business, its traditional newspaper and magazine distribution division, was flat in the first half of the year.

But this could get a boost as John Menzies is understood to be in talks with Dundee publisher DC Thomson, which last week revealed plans to outsource the distribution of its Aberdeen magazines and newspapers with the loss of around 59 jobs.

The two firms already have close links. Ellis Watson, the chief executive of DC Thomson Publishing, was previously managing director of Menzies Distribution.

Edinburgh-based Menzies' half-year results, which will be reported on Tuesday, are expected to show pre-tax profits reduced by about 3 per cent to £24.2 million.

On Friday the company's shares closed at 625p.

[philanderer] 10/8/2012 17:15

Never seen such a weird day`s trades CR :-D

Anyway, UT 3,500 @ 625p - a bit of normality.