Timmy’s Pies offer a slice of their business on AngelsDen
After completing a PhD in molecular biology, Tim Wilkes found himself baking pies for friends and family and then, eventually, selling them at a Chelsea market stall at the weekends. This was in 2010 – now, his company Timmy’s Pies has been trading for five years, won nine Great Taste Awards in the past four years and has stock in some of the finest stores in London.
As Tim puts it, the growth has come from “three years of slog”. The artisan pie company began in West London, and has a focus on using organic, seasonal produce when making delicious pies, sausage rolls, quiches and scotch eggs. From a small company, it has snowballed into a unique brand and sold in a selection of pubs and shops across the capital – including Fulham Football Club.
“My focus had been on baking the best pie I could bake, but in that six months we’d built a bit of a company, and I really enjoyed what we were doing,” says Tim. “Do I quit or continue?”
The answer was continue. Timmy’s Pies are now crowdfunding through AngelsDen for £100,000, in return for 10% equity.
The company has several little quirks that make it a cut above the rest. Their system of ‘pie-roglyphics’ is a ‘simple solution’ to the problem of knowing which pie is which; and a key to it is included with each large order. Their range of mini pies open the business up to the corporate market, and their unique pie personalisation service “say it in shortcrust” has proven hugely popular, especially on Valentine’s and Father’s Day.
According to statistics from Kantar Worldpanel the UK chilled pie market is having a bit of a moment, up 1.9% to £240m. Sales of “posh pies” were up 13.5% and the penetration of premium brands in the market is only at 5.1%, so as Timmy’s Pies have noticed, there is room to grow the category.
The £100,000 investment will be used for hiring staff, the purchase of a few key pieces of kitchen equipment and to help develop shelf-ready packaging.
For further information on this opportunity, visit Angels Den.
Meggitt profits jump 18%, shares up 5%
Meggitt (LON:MGGT), the UK based aircraft equipment supplier soared over 5% in early Tuesday trade after it announced a 10% increase in revenue.
There has been under some pressure elsewhere in the aircraft industry, todays results have been cheered by investors who welcome Meggit’s ability to navigate the challenges in the market.
“Over the last few years we have made important decisions to further improve our competitiveness in the markets we serve. With implementation of the Meggitt Production System we are delivering valued improvements in customer experience through enhanced quality and delivery and, while this will take several years to optimise fully, the experience we have gathered to date serves to increase our confidence that over the medium term it will drive further cost and working capital benefits,” said CEO Stephen Young
In addition to the jump in revenue which supported an 18% increase in first half pre-tax profit, Meggitt said full year profit is likely to be in line with guidance.
Adding to investor’s delight was a 4.6 pence interim dividend to be returned alongside the current buyback program.
Shares in Meggitt were up 5.6% at 11.00am in London trading, the second highest riser after Smiths Group (LON:SMIN) who were up 5.9% after a US activist investor took a stake.
Smiths up 6% as ValueAct take an interest
Engineering group Smiths (LON:SMIN) are up 6% this morning after reports that US activist hedgefund ValueAct have taken a stake in the group.
This comes just after ValueAct revealed that it was the largest investor in Rolls Royce. Although either side is yet to comment, reports from Bloomberg suggest that the fund has taken a 5% stake in Smiths.
The hedgefund has been reportedly considering investing in Smiths for the past year, and discussed the move with outgoing CEO Philip Bowman.
A spokesperson from Smiths commented on the recent interest from ValueAct: “We welcome an active interest from all our shareholders, and we work in the interests of all shareholders at all times.”
Smiths is an engineering group serving a range of global customers including governments, petrochemical companies, hospitals, telecommunications companies and equipment manufacturers in a variety of sectors globally.
Government sells off 5.4% of RBS stake
The government has begun its sell-off of shares in Royal Bank of Scotland (LON:RBS), taking their 79% stake to just below 73%.
The shares were sold at 330p a share, raising £2.1bn. However the sale was well below the 500p per share the government paid when the UK bailed the bank out after the financial crisis, prompting criticism of the move.
The government sold off 5.4% of its stake last night, slightly more than the 5.2% expected by analysts. The government could have sold far more, given the high interest from investors. Around 60% of the shares were sold to hedge funds while, geographically, just under half were bought by investors in the UK.
RBS chief executive Ross McEwan said: “I’m pleased the government has started to sell down its stake.
“It’s an important moment and reflects the progress we are making to become a stronger, simpler and fairer bank. There is more work to be done but we’re determined to build a bank the country can be proud of.”
However, Ian Gordon, a banking analyst at the stockbroker Investec, said he was “perplexed” by the timing of the sale: “Last night’s disposal at 330p achieved a new 2015 low and arguably sold the taxpayer short.”
HSBC profits rise, driven by success in Asia
HSBC (LON:HSBA) reported positive half yearly earnings this morning, with a pre-tax profit of $13.6 billion, up 10% on a year ago.
Figures were driven by strong performance in Hong Kong, with a surge in individual investments and a strong Chinese market earlier in the year. Asia now accounts for two thirds of the bank’s profits, and HSBC are considering moving their headquarters back to Hong Kong.
Growth in Europe and the US remains slow, with the group agreeing to sell its Brazilian opearations for $5.2 billion as it attempts to cut underperforming sectors of the business. The bank has also pledged to cut 50,000 jobs, with over half in brazil and Turkey.
“The environment for banking remains challenging,” said Douglas Flint, the group’s chairman. He mentioned that economic conditions are uncertain in many parts of the world, and “regulatory workloads have never been higher”.
“HSBC’s wealth management revenues in Hong Kong from equities, mutual funds and asset management increased significantly.”
RBS shares drop in the wake of sale rumours
Shares in RBS (LON:RBS) dropped nearly 2 per cent this morning, following rumours that the Government will start selling off its majority stake in the bank at close of trade today.
UK Financial Investment, which manages the Treasury stakes in RBS and Lloyds, advised by Goldman Sachs, has a small window in which to start the sale. It is likely to be today or early next week, but will depend on the interest of investors – if there is too little, the sale may be delayed until September.
In July’s Emergency Budget, George Osborne announced that the government would start to sell off their 79 percent share in the bank. At today’s price, the sale will be around £2 billion, and represents a significant loss on the 502p average price paid in the £45 billion bailouts of RBS in 2009.
UBS trader convicted for rigging Libor rates
City trader Tom Hayes has been found guilty by a jury of rigging Libor rates, in a scandal that shook the industry.
Tom Hayes has been found guilty of eight counts of conspiracy to defraud between 2006 and 2010. He was the “ringmaster” in an enormous fraud to manipulate the interbank lending rate whilst working for both UBS and Citigroup.
London’s Southwark Crown Court heard how he constructed a scheme to interfere with the rate in order to boost his six-figure salary.
In an audio clip played during trial, he said “influencing” Libor was “commonplace” and admitted he was a “serial offender”.Mukul Chawla QC, prosecuting, said Hayes would “cajole”, “beg” and “bribe” brokers through “corrupt” trades to help manipulate Libor.
“On an almost daily basis he set out to dishonestly manipulate or rig Libor at his bank and other banks.”
“He behaved in a thoroughly dishonest and manipulative manner by repeatedly cheating those with whom he had entered into huge financial transactions.
“The motive was a simple one: it was greed.” He was arrested in December 2012, and it due to be sentenced shortly.Nokia to sell map business to German trio
Three of Germany’s premium carmakers have joined together to buy Nokia’s (NYSE:NOK) maps business, in a deal estimated at 2.5 billion euros.
BMW (ETR:BMW), Audi (ETR:NSU) and Mercedes will hold equal stakes in the business, HERE, and aim to use the locations services to develop self-driving cars in the future. The three companies have clubbed together to prevent the technology being used by rivals in Silicon Valley or China.
“With the joint acquisition of HERE, we want to secure the independence of this central service for all vehicle manufacturers, suppliers and customers in other industries,” said Chief Executive Dieter Zetsche of Daimler.
On its website, Here stated that “no single carmaker can do it on its own”.
“The new ownership structure of Here will allow us to accelerate our strategy, further scale our business and fulfil our intent to become the leading location cloud company across industries,” said Here president Sean Fernback in a statement.
For Nokia, this marks another step in the company’s regeneration. The company has moved its focus away from mobile handsets to focus on its upcoming acquisition of Alcatel-Lucent.
Rajeev Suri, President and Chief Executive Officer of Nokia, said: “With this step we complete the latest stage of Nokia’s transformation. Nokia will be a renewed company, with a world-leading network technology and services business, as well as the licensing and innovation engine of Nokia Technologies.”
Trinity Mirror shares climb 10%
Shares in newspaper group Trinity Mirror (LON:TNI) are up by nearly 10% after releasing its half yearly earnings report.
The market reacted positively to the news that Daily and Sunday Mirror publisher expects to hit 2015 profit forecasts. The group was also net cash positive for the first time in its history.
Recent restructuring has led to cost savings of £7 million, and lower newsprint prices have contributed to overall operating costs falling by £32.9 million.
However, group revenue fell by 11.0% and publishing revenue fell by 9.6%. The papers’ digital content performed strongly, with average monthly uses growing by 55 percent. Revenue from digital advertising was up 44 percent.
Chief Executive Simon Fox commented:
“We remain confident that our strategy will deliver sustainable growth in revenue and profit over the medium term despite the difficult print advertising market conditions. The actions we are taking in support of both our print and digital products provide the Board with confidence that profits for 2015 will be in line with expectations.”
Trinity Mirror is currently trading up 9.21 percent at 145.25 pence per share.
Bank of England announce inflation forecasts on ‘Super Thursday’
Mark Carney is set to announce the Bank of England’s inflation forecasts in a press conference on Thursday, giving way to speculation that an interest rate hike is close.
City traders are calling the day ‘Super Thursday’, as at least two or three of the nine members of the Bank of England’s interest rate-setting committee are expected to vote for a rate rise for the first time since 2007. Interest rates were cut to a low of 0.5% in 2009 in an effort to stimulate the economy after the financial crash.
However, the strength of sterling is causing disagreement among its policymakers over when is the right time; the pound hit its highest level in over seven years against the currencies of Britain’s main trading partners last month.
David Miles, another independent monetary policy committee member, whose term is about to end, said in a speech last month it was time to start to bring rates back towards normal levels, from their record low of 0.5%. “The time to start normalisation is soon; that is not something to shrink from,” he said.
However with inflation at zero, Andy Haldane, the Bank’s chief economist, said in a recent interview with the Guardian that “there is no rush to move rates from where they are right now.”