After such heady growth it is perhaps hardly surprising that pre-tax profits a mere 22 per cent ahead at
After such heady growth, it is perhaps hardly surprising that pre-tax profits a mere 22 per cent ahead at pounds 24.8m failed to excite the market. The shares fell 20p to 509p. That was a harsh appraisal of another strong result, which saw group margins grow from 10.8 to 11.7 per cent, helped by a cracking performance from the rapidly improving North American businesses. Increasing productivity there on the back of a 16 per cent rise in sales pushed profits up 61 per cent to pounds 6.67m, generating a double-digit return on sales for the first time.European packaging was held back by a pounds 500,000 negative swing into a pounds 100,000 loss on the Bibby & Baron UK plastic bags operation, which was sold in February Flotex non-stain carpet sales were also disappointing. But the actions taken and cost reductions worth pounds 1.75m in a full year should restore momentum in both European packaging and carpets.
Low was able to fully recover raw material costs up 19 per cent in the six months and believes they are near the peak. The converse of that is that economic growth may be slowing and the company warned that 5 per cent volume growth may now slow to nearer 3-4 per cent.Margins of between 10 and 15 per cent remain the target and profits of pounds 53m this year would put the shares on a prospective multiple of 14. Still reasonable value, even after a 15 per cent outperformance this year.. It is just as well that shares in the electrical goods maker Kenwood did not come with a three-year warranty when they were floated on the stock market. Investors would have been queueing for refunds after a 30 per cent underperformance of the market since June 1992. Yesterday's results for the year to March did nothing to improve the City's view of the stock.
While profits before tax rose from pounds 11m to pounds 13.5m, there was concern over a half percentage point fall to 9.6 per cent in operating margins at continuing businesses. Kenwood's shares fell 7p to 261p as analysts cut their forecasts yet again. Employees at London Underground are protesting over a 2.75 per cent pay offer. It is envisaged that they will join the third 24-hour stoppage planned by BR train drivers on 27 July.. JUDITH JUDD Education Editor Members of privatised teams of school inspectors have been flouting their code of conduct and touting for business.Entrepreneurial inspectors have been presenting their business cards to heads during inspections in the hope of winning more work. But, just as importantly, he has learned self- control."I enjoy the psychological side of bowling, trying to work out a batsman's strengths and weaknesses and putting him to the test."But Mike Hendrick, Geoff Arnold and now Peter Lever in the England set- up have all worked with me on keeping the ball in the channel, being a bit boring if you like, but building the pressure on the batsman, getting that control and swinging it away so that the batsman gets frustrated."I think I'm bowling as well as I ever have I've got a rhythm now which I've kept Now I'm just trying to keep going, to not change. He'd just let you think about it, and that's the way I'm trying to emulate."It was Russell who helped Cork perfect the late away-swinger which has become his stock delivery. Through a long-standing friendship with the WBC, he got Lewis displaced by Tyson as their No 1 contender on a technicality.
From being the most powerful single funding force in boxing, HBO found itself on the outside looking in.King has the WBC champion, Oliver McCall, the WBA champion, Bruce Seldon, and a number of handily placed contenders King thinks further ahead than a chess champion. His words are carved as his epitaph on the headstone of his grave in the village graveyard in Scopwick, Lincolnshire.Yours faithfully,David PeckettHarrogate4 July. From Mr John F Buckley Sir: Chris Martin ("From the dawn of time, a bargain", 1 July), does not seem to be aware of the proposals for an International Convention on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects, under the auspices of Unidroit, which was adopted by an international diplomatic conference in Rome on 23 June 1995 and which is now open for signature. Perhaps this convention, the result of seven to eight years of preparatory work, may prove more effective than the Unesco one, which did not find favour with a significant number of "importing" states and achieve the return of illegally exported cultural objects.Yours faithfully,John F BuckleyDublin. From Mr John Boorman Sir: The marriage of convenience between a newspaper's editorial and advertising content is a necessity we accept, but as the industry's own codes of conduct recognise, there are limits.
We have certainly not yet drawn up a model that works."If the Health Secretary has jumped the gun on her own committee, perhaps it is because it would take for ever to perfect a system that would be acceptable to all doctors.Yet if politicians had published outcome results - however crude - years ago, there would now be a far better educated public. Take one example:people are sentimental about small local hospitals. But would they feel the same if they knew that general surgeons in small units who dabble in a bit of everything get far worse results than big specialist hospitals? They would learn that it is often better to travel a long way to a major trauma centre than to arrive sooner at a small local casualty department with no specialists on duty. They would ask penetrating questions before being operated on by any surgeon who does fewer than 50-100 identical operations a year.Professionals will always try to prevent the publication of league tables, but the only way to squeeze better information out of them is to publish relatively crude figures now. It will frighten doctors into hastening to provide better quality information in future and it might encourage them to weed out their own rotten apples who drag down the statistics of a hospital..