UFO Info Week-End

Only 24 per cent of profit is generated in the UK which allows Mr Dwek to be relatively relaxed about a hard landing in

Only 24 per cent of profit is generated in the UK, which allows Mr Dwek to be relatively relaxed about a hard landing in the UK economy.Capital expenditure is expected to grow by 50 per cent to pounds 70m in the current year, of which almost half has already been spent. In the six months to 30 June profits from ongoing businesses rose by 26 per cent to pounds 28m, while last year’s acquisitions brought in a similar increase. Add in a lower interest bill and profits before tax were up by 61 per cent to pounds 38.1m.HIT, the French business bought in January for pounds 60m, increased its profits by 40 per cent. The rise was fuelled by a strong first half set of new titles, which included hardbacks from TV chef Sophie Grigson and paperbacks such as Josephine Cox’s Miss You Forever.Asia will probably only account for 3 per cent of Hodder’s sales this year compared to the usual 6 per cent.

The financial turmoil in the region has hit demand in Australia and New Zealand. Hodder is establishing a joint venture there to reduce costs, but the dent to profits could keep second-half figures at the same level as last year.On full-year profit forecasts of pounds 9m, the shares – up 10p to. Sales in July and August were “reasonably firm”, he says, contradicting reports of a slowdown.Hodder’s half-year figures underlined the progress: pre-tax profits shot up by 70 per cent to pounds 2.2m. The collapse of the Net Book Agreement is helping sales of mass market titles where Hodder is strong with authors such as Stephen King and Tom Clancy. And the dash to open book superstores by retailers such as Waterstone’s and Borders, the US group, is stimulating bookbuying.
Tim Hely Hutchinson, Hodder’s chief executive, reckons the UK book market will grow by 5 to 6 per cent this year, a healthy trend in a mature market. Its shares have risen by a third in the past year, outperforming the market by 28 per cent.

Investment: Hodder result is a good read

AFTER ITS profits warning in 1995 Hodder Headline, the book publisher, has been recovering steadily. in a major exhibition Theatre des Sens in Paris.” Makes a change to the Car Show at the NEC!JIM MERCER, chief executive of British Vita, the Manchester based plastics manufacturer whose two year old pounds 66 million bid for rival plastics maker Doeflex finally came to fruition yesterday, said it was “only the second biggest bid in Manchester at the moment.”With is tongue firmly in his cheek, Mr Mercer says his bid is the best for Mancunians (as opposed to some other chap’s bid for a certain footy team) but as a keen supporter of Bolton Wanderers he isn’t quite as emotionally involved as most of the city’s inhabitants.. The members of the French luxury association, Comite Colbert, have just elected Mr Krug as its new chairman. The committee is made up of 75 of the top luxury companies and vigorously campaigns to protect them with the message: “Centering on emotions and sensations generated by all creations constituting French Art de Vivre … Peter Ridley was officially appointed managing director last autumn, but his role expanded on Ms Chain’s departure.How all this will help to attract high flying lawyers to Garretts remains to be seen.HOW NICE it must be to be Remi Krug, heir to the French Champagne house. Now the frustrated accountants appear to be mounting a shake-up at Garretts, despite the fact that the firm lies just outside the UK’s top 20 in fee income.To add insult to injury, Andersen have imposed an accountant to run Garretts.

It employs 1,100 staff and last year relaunched its product range under the Wedded name. Cadbury claims that Wedel is “an icon” in Poland with a similar standing to Cadbury in the UK.PepsiCo, which has invested almost $500 million in Poland since 1991, withdrew Wedel from the Warsaw Stock Exchange in April after increasing its stake to 99 per cent from 74 per cent.The US company wanted to divest the chocolate and biscuits portions of Wedel to focus globally on its beverage and salty snack businesses.This deal consolidates Cadbury’s position in Poland where it started manufacturing chocolate in 1993, spending pounds 20m developing a greenfield site. The deal makes Cadbury market leader in Poland’s chocolate market with a share of 28 per cent. Chocolate sales in Poland have been growing at an annual rate of 17 per cent over the last seven years, making it one of Europe’s fastest growing markets for chocolate bars.
Based in Warsaw, Wedel recorded sales of $80m in 1997.

It opened its Russian manufacturing site in July 1997 and has so far invested pounds 75m in the market, including a factory.Sales have been affected by the recent economic turmoil in Russia, but Cadbury has said it is committed to the Russian market in the long term.Cadbury has also invested pounds 20m in China, having entered the market in 1993.Cadbury Schweppes director Ian Johnston said: “The combination of Cadbury and Wedel puts us in a strong position to generate added value for the group in this large developing market. The Wedel business will be run in conjunction with Cadbury Poland.Cadbury has been investing heavily in new markets both in Europe and the Far East. The tale of a travelling giraffe is also being tipped as a Christmas bestseller. Michael Allin’s Zarafa is the story of a giraffe given to France’s Emperor Charles X by an Egyptian potentate.Investment, page 17. CADBURY SCHWEPPES, the confectionery and soft drinks group, took a further bite out of Poland’s fast-growing chocolate market yesterday when it paid Pepsico pounds 46m for Wedel, the country’s leading brand of confectionery. The shares have fallen by a third in three months, but rallied yesterday to close at 230p..