The write-off, which reduces forecast full-year profits to pounds 200m, was viewed with equanimity by analysts, who believe that Keith Orrell-Jones, managing director, is concentrating the business on its core activities.
The disposal of New World marks the final unravelling of Blue Circle’s pounds 300m acquisition of Birmid Qualcast in 1988. INTERIM profits at Blue Circle will take a pounds 43.8m hit after a goodwill write-off at the cement and heating group’s New World cooker business sold to management, writes Tom Stevenson. The dividend also looks as safe as it has at any time during the past five years while it has sat at 9p.At that level the yield is a well above average 6.2 per cent, which more than compensates for the fact that with minimal cover it is unlikely to grow much for a while Good, if unexciting, value.. Mr Turcan can be relied on not to rush into a hasty acquisition. These interims were spoiled by a collection of banana skins, in the US at the builders’ merchant Moore’s, in the still problematic pigs operation and at the American chrome business, which took the shine off good performances from Harcros and British Chrome.The shares do have their attractions, however. Whether margins near the previous peak can be achieved is debatable, with all the main businesses producing unimpressive returns.The attraction of diversified businesses is that while one side languishes another is buoyant, but the theory cuts both ways.

The record over the past five years since the sale of the Malaysian plantations has been nothing to write home about, with neither the builders’ merchant Crossley nor BOCM high on the list of great purchases.
That said, Mr Turcan has moved swiftly to create a more focused business with real recovery potential as the economy recovers, even if the house market is doing building materials no favours. With a war chest of up to pounds 200m, the new chief executive, Bill Turcan, has ample ammunition to prove that the company has learnt how to make decent acquisitions and create a worthwhile return

He needs to do so. SELLING its Indonesian plantations last week has put Harrisons & Crosfield in an enviably liquid position to bolster its two core businesses in building materials and chemicals. They should still be bought despite the prospect of a rights issue to pay off debt next year and the uncertainty about the resumption of dividends.. Admittedly he has been helped by a kinder economic climate in the US and the UK.But the near doubling of profit margins owes more to the implentation of cost efficiencies and a reinvigorated marketing strategy.Most impressive has been the way Ransomes updated its product range with a keen eye on the US golf course market.At 42p, up 12p yesterday, annualised first-half profit indicate a p/e of only 6 but there is as yet no dividend news.The shares have risen by 240 per cent since the Independent recommended a purchase in January. Ordinary dividends were nothing but a distant memory and the company had also passed on its preference share obligation.
Crippled by debts incurred by an ill-timed US acquisition in 1989, it was struggling through a sustained period of weak demand for its products.After pressure from institutional shareholders, Peter Wilson, ex-BTR, was given the helm. IN LESS than a year the new management team at Ransomes, the Ipswich-based maker of grass cutting equipment, has performed beyond all expectations

Twelve months ago Ransomes looked doomed It made net losses for four years on the trot.

It gives opportunities to stagging investors but the long-term prospects are less certain.. In the circumstances it has done well to widen profit margins in its main business from 1.5 to 6.9 per cent in three years.The pricing of the issue takes account of the problems. For example, the flotation price is equivalent to just under 11 times the company’s pro-forma earnings per share and the yield is 5.5 per cent.
Chamberlain, supplying component materials to shoe makers, is not in an industry with obvious growth prospects in the UK.In a static market prices will also always be under pressure, with end customers including Marks & Spencer and Clarke to deal with. The 165p issue price is modest and the notional yield generous. PROMOTERS of the flotation of Chamberlain Phipps, which produces cobbling materials, have gone to great lengths to ensure that the newly quoted shares will go to a premium when trading begins two weeks from now. Joint ventures with several international companies to exploit the technology, which emulates the human nose, commercially are expected soon..

About 12 million shares are being placed at 100p each, valuing the company at pounds 27m. AromaScan, developer of sensor technology for aroma measurement and management, is joining the USM. Chemring, a radar-chaff to flares group, is raising pounds 5.4m via a placing of 1.97 million shares at 272p Chemring held at 299p Kembrey rose 4p to 16p.The trickle of new issues continues. Kembrey’s directors have pledged their 27 per cent stake to the bid, which values the shares at 17.8p.

Gilt-edged stocks lost around pounds 1 4 .Long-suffering shareholders in Kembrey, the electricals group, are being put out of their misery through a pounds 4.8m bid from Chemring. Second-line stocks, however, were in demand and the FT-SE Mid gained 16.2 to 3,689.6. Zeneca, expected to report interim profits of pounds 420m to pounds 440m, added 13p to 771p.PowerGen added 25.5p to 545.5p as it repurchased for cancellation 2.5 million of its own shares at 527p each.The FT-SE 100 share index managed only a 2.9-point advance to 3,160.4 following the previous day’s 60-point surge. SmithKline Beecham, believed to be in asset-swap talks with Cyanamid, held at 422p as dealers played down fears that it would enter a bidding war.Wellcome, often mentioned as a possible bid target, advanced 17p to 676p.