I bought into these in December last year, primarily for the yield, but also for the potential growth of one of the better companies in their sector.


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Marston's Fundamentals (MARS)

OK Ralphy, but don't lose focus here please.

ACQUISITION

Marston's PLC ("Marston's") is pleased to announce that it has reached agreement with Daniel Thwaites plc ("Thwaites") to acquire the trading operations of Thwaites' beer division. The acquisition includes two leading, premium brands: Wainwright and Lancaster Bomber ales. The total cash consideration is £25.1 million excluding working capital.

Marston's has been brewing Thwaites' beers since early 2014. As part of this acquisition, we have entered into a long-term exclusive agreement to supply all beer, wine, spirits and minerals to Thwaites' pub estate.

Thwaites' beer division is a high quality sales business of scale concentrated in the North West of England, including a 150-strong team of regional sales, marketing and distribution staff operating in the Independent Free Trade, National On Trade and National Off Trade channels. The business has shown good growth in recent years, including the acquisition of Hydes Brewery's free trade business in 2012 which increased Thwaites' business in Manchester.

Thwaites' two principal beer brands are Wainwright, one of the most popular golden cask ales in the UK and Lancaster Bomber, a premium ale. Both brands have won numerous awards in recent years and are highly complementary to Marston's market-leading portfolio of premium craft and bottled ales.

This acquisition is consistent with Marston's brewing strategy to focus on popular premium ales with local and regional appeal, and provides an opportunity to capitalise on the developing free trade market and wider consumer interest in the beer category.

The transaction is expected to complete on 17 April 2015. In the 12 months to December 2014 EBITDA is estimated to have been around £7 million before overheads of approximately £2 million. The acquisition is expected to be earnings-enhancing in the first full year of ownership; in the current financial year it is estimated that the contribution to profit before taxation will be around £1.5 million.

Canaccord Genuity Hold 156.20 158.30 150.00 160.00 Reiterates

MIDAS SHARE TIPS UPDATE: City toasts Marston's move upmarket

Well that's Canaccord's target hit, Skinny. Is there a bit more left in the tank?

I may be tempted to sell a third around 165p - but still undecided!

I see Jefferies have reiterated their 180p TP this morning.

Tempted to sell some on this 20 month high spike.

Numis Add 165.30 180.00 180.00 Retains

Another strong finish on reasonable volume.

UBS Investment Bank go below a "notable interest".

Sold out today - decided to bank a good profit after that spike. Hopefully just a trading sell and that I will have a chance to buy back lower down.

Interim Results

Interim Results

INTERIM RESULTS FOR THE 26 WEEKS ENDED 4 APRIL 2015

REVENUE AND EARNINGS GROWTH SUPPORT INCREASE IN DIVIDEND


FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
· Underlying Group revenue up 3% to £384.5 million
· Underlying profit before tax up 2% to £29.6 million, despite disposals and anticipated pension costs
· Underlying earnings per share up 2% to 4.2 pence per share
· Interim dividend up 4% to 2.5 pence per share
· Estate valuation reveals £54 million increase - 40% increase on build cost for new-builds

OPERATING HIGHLIGHTS
· Destination and Premium: Like-for-like (lfl) sales up 1.5%, underlying operating profit up 10%, operating margin up 0.5%
· Taverns managed and franchised: Lfl sales up 1.4%, profit per pub up 19%
· Leased: Profit per pub up 4%
· Brewing: Underlying revenue up 9%, ale volume up 4%, underlying operating profit up 10%, operating margin up 0.1%

STRATEGY HIGHLIGHTS
· New-build development: Completed 8 new-builds in the half year
· Franchise expansion:37 pubs converted to franchise; now 520 pubs
· Disposal of smaller wet-led pubs: Disposal proceeds of £26 million, including sale of 65 pubs, improving average estate quality and returns
· Brewing: Acquisition of Thwaites' brewing operations completed in April 2015

CURRENT TRADING - 5 WEEKS TO 9 MAY
· Managed lfl sales up 2.0% including lfl food sales up 1.8% and lfl wet sales up 1.7%
· Taverns lfl sales up 2.8%
· Leased profits and own-brewed volumes in line with expectations


more....

Brewin Dolphin Limited > 5%

A mention here.

Numis seem to still be reasonably positive on the sector after the budget.

Numis Add 158.25 157.90 180.00 180.00 Retains

Trading Update

We have continued to make profitable progress in line with our expectations.

In Destination and Premium, like-for-like sales for the 41 week period were 1.7% ahead of last year, including like-for-like food sales growth of 1.6% and like-for-like wet sales growth of 1.6%. In the last 10 weeks of the period, like-for-like sales are up 2.0%. Operating margin is slightly above last year and we remain on track to complete 25 new-build pub restaurants in the current financial year.

In Taverns, like-for-like sales for the 41 week period were 1.7% ahead of last year and in the last 10 weeks of the period, like-for-like sales were up 2.0%. Our franchise business continues to perform strongly and now operates in around 550 pubs.

In Leased, profits for the 41 week period are estimated to be in line with last year. Average profit per pub was up 4%, reflecting our higher quality leased estate.

In Brewing, own-brewed beer volumes, excluding Thwaites, were up around 4% compared to last year. Including Thwaites, own-brewed beer volumes are up 10%.

Net debt and cash flow are in line with expectations.

The recently announced Government plans to introduce a mandatory Living Wage by 2020 are consistent with our expectation that the gap between the National Minimum Wage and the Living Wage would be closed over time. The additional cost of meeting the higher target of £9 per hour by 2020 will mean that wage costs will be modestly greater than we had expected, but the impact compared to our plans is mitigated by the fact that we had anticipated increases above the rate of inflation, and the lower rate of corporation tax from 2017. Our view remains that Government should prioritise taxation and business rate reductions to reduce the cost of doing business and increase consumer confidence.


more....

Canaccord Genuity Hold 151.60 175.00 175.00 Reiterates

MARS sees underlying FY pretax profit in line

StockMarketWire.com

Marston's said it has made good progress this year with underlying profit before tax in line with expectations.

In Destination and Premium, like-for-like sales were 1.8% ahead of last year including food like-for-like sales growth of 1.7% and wet like-for-like sales growth of 1.7%.

"In the last 11 weeks of the period like-for-like sales have grown 2.2%. Operating margin is ahead of last year and we completed 25 new pub-restaurants in the financial year just ended," the company said in a statement.

"As we highlighted at the Interim Results, the shape of our estate expansion will evolve slightly and in the 2016 Financial Year we plan to open at least 20 Destination pub-restaurants, two Revere sites and five Lodges.

"We have a good pipeline of sites to maintain similar levels of expansion for the foreseeable future.

"In Taverns, like-for-like sales were 2.0% ahead of last year, with growth of 3.1% in the last 11 weeks. Our franchise business, which now operates around 550 sites, continues to perform strongly as we evolve and develop the business model.

"In Leased, like-for-like profits are estimated to be up 4% compared to last year.

"In Brewing, our strong brand portfolio, supplemented by the acquisition of the Thwaites' beer brands, has performed well. Excluding Thwaites, own brand beer volumes were up 5% compared to last year, with strong performance in premium ales and the off-trade. Including Thwaites, own-brewed beer volumes were up 15%.

"The Group will no longer provide like for like, segmental current trading data for the short seven week period immediately post the year end with effect from the results for the 12 months to 3 October 2015 which will be reported on 26 November 2015.

PENSION VALUATION

"We have concluded the triennial valuation of our pension scheme for the period ended 30 September 2014 and as a consequence of this we have agreed a reduction in cash contributions from the current £13m to £7.5m per annum."

Story provided by StockMarketWire.com

SP largely unaffected.

Marston's swings to FY profit

StockMarketWire.com

Marston's has swung to a FY pretax profit of GBP31.3m, from a loss of GBP59.2m, on a surge in revenue to GBP878.6m, from GBP815.3m. Final dividend was 4.5p a share, up 4.7% on the year.

CEO Ralph Findlay said:

"The three year transformation of our pub portfolio towards an optimised estate is now largely complete. We approach 2016 with our business successfully positioned at the forefront of industry trends with high quality, well-invested pub assets which are fit for the future.

"We have great people and a growing portfolio of leading beer brands where our focus on premium and local provenance continues to serve us well.

"Looking forward, we remain on track to open at least 20 new-build pubs this year and have in place a carefully selected site pipeline in key regional locations for 2016 and beyond.

"Whilst new-build, food-led pubs remain our core growth driver, we have evolved our strategy to capitalise upon other opportunities for expansion where we see attractive returns potential.

"At this early stage of the current year trading has begun well and we look forward to building on this momentum over the months ahead to deliver another year of good progress for the Group."

HIGHLIGHTS:

- Underlying Group revenue up 7% to £845.5 million

- Underlying profit before tax up 10% to £91.5 million

- Underlying earnings per share up 10% to 12.9p

- Profit growth in all trading segments despite disposals

- Operating cashflow up £34.5 million to £162.3 million

- Leverage reduced 0.3x to 5.1x

- Return on capital up 0.3% to 10.8%

- 25 new pub restaurants completed this year, creating 1,250 new jobs

- Continued conversion of Taverns to Franchise - around 550 now converted

- High quality Leased business delivered like-for-like profit and rental growth

- Average profit per pub up 15% in 2015, up around 40% since 2012

- Strong brand portfolio continues to outperform market with volumes up 15%

- Innovation continues - Hobgoblin Gold c.20k barrels sold since launch this year

- Thwaites acquisition complements strategy and fully integrated

Can't see anything not to like out of that lot. up 3% in early trading.

From Monday :- Deutsche Bank Hold 170.20 170.00 180.00 Reiterates