Dairy Crest surged 23.6 to 372.6p after Germany's Theo Mueller Group, which makes M�ller yoghurts, said it had acquired a 3pc stake in the London-listed company. The move triggered speculation the secretive German dairy giant may be lining up a bid for Dairy Crest.

Damian McNeela, an analyst at Panmure Gordon, told Bloomberg: "This indicates that Mueller may make a formal offer for Dairy Crest � they might be looking to widen their product base in the UK".

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/markets/marketreport/8033253/Vedanta-Resources-hit-by-Indian-copper-mine-closure.html

Looking to close above £4.

MIDAS SHARE TIPS: A chance for investors to cream a profit at Dairy Crest



By Joanne Hart

PUBLISHED:22:17, 19 January 2013| UPDATED:22:17, 19 January 2013

Anyone who has bought a cut-price burger from a supermarket recently will almost certainly be wondering what was in it. The horse meat scare is the latest in a series of food industry scandals that all seem to arise when price is more important than quality.


Fortunately, Dairy Crest Group is not in that position. The company has nothing to do with meat and is keenly aware of the need for high standards at its facilities. At 4001⁄2p, the shares offer good, long-term value.


The firm supplies a third of the country’s milk, including all that sold by Waitrose and Marks & Spencer. Sainsbury’s and Morrisons – but not Tesco – are key customers, too, as well as corner shops, hospitals and restaurants. It even delivers milk to a million homes.





Milk monitor: Mark Allen is pushing for greater efficiency at Dairy Crest, which delivers dairy goods to a million British homes

The company buys about four billion pints a year from farmers and chief executive Mark Allen is known for his desire to see them get a fair price.


But milk is a commodity and profit margins are low, so Dairy Crest has to work hard to deliver returns to investors and keep customers and suppliers happy. The firm has made tangible progress towards that end and Allen intends to lift the milk division’s profits from about £10 million to about £30 million over two to three years.


Dairies are being merged, new machines have been acquired that process milk faster and more efficiently and the business has invested heavily in software that will ensure it transports milk more cost-effectively. The firm is doing much better with dairy products, such as Cathedral City cheddar and Frijj milkshakes.

Sales of Cathedral City have doubled over the past five years and the cheese was recently voted one of British consumers’ most trusted brands – the only food in the top ten. Frijj sales are growing strongly, too, and a long-life version, which can be sold in petrol stations and other outlets with limited fridge space, was recently launched.


Dairy Crest makes Country Life butter, Clover spread and other similar products. This market is highly competitive, but Allen is merging two factories next year to boost efficiency.


The group has also launched an internet ordering service, Milk & More, using its milk floats to deliver groceries daily.


And last year, Allen sold French spreads firm St Hubert for £344 million, since when he has been looking for acquisitions.


For the year to this March, brokers expect profits of £50 million rising to nearly £60 million in 2014.


The dividend is forecast at 22p in 2013, rising to 23p in 2014, so the stock is on a yield of more than five per cent.


Midas verdict: Dairy Crest is a well-regarded food company, doing its best to maintain standards and increase profits in a tough market. However, milk prices have at least started to rise recently and the outlook is better than it has been for years. The shares should increase. Buy

Interim Management Statement


Dairy Crest continues to cope well in a challenging environment and overall trading remains in line with our expectations. We remain focused on growing added value sales and improving efficiency across the business. Our four key brands continue to grow, aided by good performances from the innovative new products launched in recent years. We are on track to exceed our annual cost savings target by delivering savings of around £23 million this year. We have already identified several meaningful projects for next year that should enable us to maintain our track record in this area.

The sale of St Hubert has significantly strengthened Dairy Crest's financial position, and has provided a strong foundation for the future. Our aim in deploying the cash from the transaction is to make targeted acquisitions. We are determined that any acquisition must deliver strong returns for shareholders but, to date, we have not identified any such acquisition. Our short-term focus is on improving our debt structure in order to reduce future interest costs, improve earnings and underpin our dividend. We also continue to work on providing appropriate long-term funding for the pension fund.

Panmure Gordon Hold 410.75 422.00 410.00 430.00 Downgrades

Contract to supply milk to Sainsbury's

Dairy Crest, the leading UK-owned dairy foods company is today announcing that it has retained its contract to supply liquid milk to Sainsbury's from February 2014, after a competitive process. The new contract is for 3 years until 2017. Although the conditions of the contract will change from 2014 our ongoing cost reductions are expected to offset any financial impact on our business.

Dairy Crest continues to focus on driving efficiencies so it can meet customers' demands for cost, quality and service. In its IMS on 7 February 2013 it reported that it was on track to exceed its annual cost savings target by delivering savings of around £23 million for the year ending 31 March 2013 and that it had already identified several meaningful projects for the following year.


Reorganisation and Board changes

Final Results 23rd May.

Final Results

Financial Highlights

· Adjusted profit before tax is up 7% to £50.6 million
· Year-end net debt is down 82% to £60 million
· Post year-end restructuring of balance sheet reduces future interest charges
· Post year-end additional £40 million cash contribution to the pension fund reduces exposure
· Proposed final dividend is up 2%

Strategic highlights

· Successful sale of St Hubert has refocused the business on the UK
· Process is underway to move to one business structure focusing on consumer driven growth and an integrated supply chain
· Innovative new milk price formula introduced to help farmers and sustain milk supply

Operating Highlights

· Ongoing growth for Cathedral City ahead of market
· Clover and Country Life both gained market share
· Innovation driving added value sales: 5% of total revenue and 9% of key brand revenue generated from products introduced in the last three years
· Continued focus on costs: £23 million annualised cost savings delivered in 2012/13, with a further £20 million identified for 2013/14
· BITC Platinum Big Tick Award reflects ongoing strong Corporate Responsibility commitment

MILK GOING UP 4p pint ON 26 MAY

Group... Investec Add 481.20 466.00 480.00 Retains

Beaufort Securities Buy 481.20 - - Initiates/Starts

forward diary says 15p div on 3rd july.,.

Ex Divi is 26th June I think.

xd is on 26th June - 15p Final dividend - paid 1st August.

sorry was just going to put right.... brain drain.,.

Good company this. Am in profit and picking up 6+ % divi per year.

AGM and Interim Management Statement

Dairy Crest's overall trading in the first quarter has been in line with our expectations and our financial position also remains in line. Our expectations for the full year remain unchanged.

Trading Update

Starting to look intersting again.

GF - any chance of a chart in the header?

Blackrock > 5%

Interim Results

Interim Management Statement and Sale of Nine Elms Depot

Dairy Crest, the leading UK-owned dairy foods company, is today issuing its Interim Management Statement for the nine months ended 31 December 2013. It is also announcing that it has agreed the sale of its Nine Elms residential and middle-ground milk depot ("Nine Elms"). Following this transaction we expect to report profits for the year ending 31 March 2014 ahead of our expectations.

Third quarter trading in line
Trading in the third quarter was broadly in line with our expectations in an environment that remains challenging. We have continued to grow key brand sales and implement cost reduction projects.

Taken together, sales of our four key brands (Cathedral City, Country Life, Clover and FRijj) have grown by 4% over the nine month period. Innovation continues to be an important factor in the success of these brands, new products introduced earlier this year such as Clover Additions and Cathedral City Grated Portions are meeting their targets and we have recently launched Cathedral City Spreadable. We continue to expect FRijj to be in growth for the year as a whole following the successful upgrade of our production facilities in the first half of the year and a strong third quarter.

We have also continued with initiatives designed to improve the profitability of our Dairies product group and remain committed to our medium-term target of 3% on sales. We are on track to deliver cost savings ahead of our annual target of £20 million.

Our demineralised whey powder project is progressing to plan and we are in advanced discussions with a small number of potential customers.

Proceeds from sale of depot exceed expectations
The sale of Nine Elms in London to Battersea Project Phase 5 Residential Company Limited for £17.6 million in cash generates a profit of £15 million on the disposal.

Residential milk deliveries have steadily declined over recent years as supermarkets have grown their share of the market. Property profits from the sale of depots such as Nine Elms offset the costs associated with this decline. We had forecast property profits of around £8 million but we had also highlighted that Nine Elms was a particularly valuable property which would result in a spike in profits in the year in which it was sold. We anticipate profits from the sale of depots we no longer require are likely to return to a more normal £5 million to £10 million in future years.

Outlook for year
We now anticipate that profits from the sale of properties will total around £18 million this year, £10 million ahead of previous expectations. However, the challenging Spreads market will lead to full year Spreads profits below previous expectations. Taken together these changes will increase adjusted profit before tax. This will result in additional bonus payments to over 1,200 of our employees which will total around £2.5 million and lead us to report profits for the year ending 31 March 2014 ahead of expectations.