15 June 2011 – interim management statement
A very detailed Interim Management Statement, covering the period to 14 June 2011, has been released by Mouchel. This has not been well received and the shares have slipped back. Although underlying trading has been in line with expectations the exit from some activities and negotiation to end contracts has led to higher costs or lower profitability than anticipated. These have been offset by a significant one-off gain on one of our long-term contracts.
The company remains upbeat about its prospects and althouth this latest news is slightly disappointing, the share price fall looks excessive. A year-end trading update is expected to be issued at the beginning of August and ahead of that we keep the shares as a SPECULATIVE BUY.