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Company Descriptions
Abbey
Abbey is a housebuilder with operations based primarily in the South East of England and the Republic of Ireland. In 2008 it completed 716
house sales, 457 in the UK and 249 in Ireland. It has also recently expanded its operations to the Czech Republic and its first phase of homes
is due for completion over the next 12 months. While Abbey is a small housebuilder which specialises in supplying houses to the
first-time-buyer market, the group's operating margins are amongst the highest in the industry. The company also has a plant hire business
(M&J Engineers) in England and has some commercial property interests in Dublin.
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Aer Lingus
Aer Lingus is a low fares airline that was privatised by the Irish Government in September 2006. It provides short and long haul services
to and from Ireland and the UK, serving destinations in Europe and the US, carrying 10.4m passengers in 2009. The company operates a
fleet of 44 aircraft, of which 8 are long haul Airbus A330s and 36 are short haul Airbus A320/21s. Long haul activities focus on the US,
where Aer Lingus has a partnered with JetBlue (at JFK and Boston), enabling connecting passengers to book onward travel in the US or
Europe via either partner website. Codeshare agreements with United allow for connections at Chicago, while a JV between the two
operates a Madrid-Washington route. On short-haul, Aer Lingus established new bases in Belfast and Gatwick in 2009, although capacity at
the latter was reduced from five aircraft to three as a result of the downturn. Aer Lingus has codesharing agreements with British Airways
and United (Ireland-UK routes) as well as KLM (Ireland-Amsterdam routes). Finally, the carrier has a franchise agreement with AerArann to
operate routes under the Aer Lingus Regional brand from Dublin and Cork to regional UK destinations, which will also feed connecting traffic
back into its long haul routes.
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AIB Group
AIB Group provides a range of banking and financial services in Ireland, the US, UK and Poland. It has approximately 300 outlets in the
Republic of Ireland, with more than 20% market share of loans and deposits. In Northern Ireland, it operates from 75 outlets and is the
third largest banking group, with over 20% market share of loans and deposits. In Britain it provides a full range of banking services, mainly
to medium sized corporates, through 40 or so outlets. In the US, AIB has a 24% stake in M&T Bank Corporation. M&T is a community bank
with a top 2 market share of the Upstate NY, C. & E. Pennsylvania & Maryland regions of the US. The Group also holds a 70.5% stake in
BZWBK, a Polish bank.
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ARYZTA
ARYZTA was formed through the merger of IAWS and Hiestand, to become the player in the frozen bread, viennoiserie and patisserie segment
of the bakery market. Its operations now span Europe, North America and it also has a small presence in Asia. The company has emerged as
one of the leading providers of food-on-the-go in Ireland, the UK, where it still has some way to reach mature levels. Delice de France sells to
complementary markets (Delice sells to the catering trade), while Pierres adds a hot snack food offering. In Central Europe and parts of Asia
Pacific the market is serviced through Hiestand, while in France Groupe Hubert is a leading player in this niche. In North America, the JV with
Tim Hortons manufactures donuts and other bakery items for the Hortons estate, while La Brea is expanding on the east coast in the US. The
acquisitions of Fresh Start Bakeries make the company one of the main suppliers of bakery products to McDonalds and other leading foodservice
companies in the US, Europe and selected countries in South America and Australasia. ARYZTA is also a distributor of agri-products in Ireland
though its quoted subsidiary, Origin enterprises, which also operates fishmeal and fertiliser plants in Ireland and the UK.
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Bank of Ireland
Bank of Ireland is an integrated institution providing a range of banking and other financial services throughout Ireland, the UK & internationally.
It has four principal divisions: Retail Ireland, Life, Capital Markets (includes the old Asset & Wealth Management division) and UK Financial
Services. BOI possesses a market share in Ireland of over 20% of resources and loans outstanding. In the UK, BOI has a 2-3% market share in
the UK mortgage market, operates a JV with the UK Post Office and has recently expanded its business banking footprint. Its Life operation ties
IL&P as the largest in the country. Finally, Capital Markets has three businesses, Corporate Banking, Global Markets (treasury) and the Group's
Asset Management & Administration business.
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Betfair
Betfair's propriety betting exchange was first launched in 2000. The betting exchange is a unique model different from traditional bookmakers
as it allows customers to place bets against each other on a peer to peer basis. The distinguishing feature of the betting exchange is that it
allows customers to back (take a positive view) and lay (take a negative view) selections whereas traditional bookmaking allows back only.
The betting exchange matches bets between customers and takes a commission on the winning side of a bet of between 2-5% depending on
a customer's activity. In addition to this, consistently successful customers also pay a premium charge. In the last number of years the group
has also started to offer customers traditional bookmaking products (i.e. multiples, and through its Italian sports book) and this now accounts
for c.8% of its core sports betting revenues. Betfair also offers its customers poker, casino and games products on its platform.
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Bwin
Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment was created with the merger of Bwin and Partygaming in March 2011. Following the merger the group is the
largest listed online gambling group globally with over €830m of net revenues. The group operates across the key four verticals of online
gambling including sports betting, casino, poker and bingo. The main driving force behind the merger was that it gave the new entity increased
scale, while matching the sports betting strengths of Bwin, with the strengths of Party Gaming in casino, poker and bingo. The group operates a
number of seperate B2C brands including bwin, PartyPoker, PartyCasino and Foxy Bingo. The main geographic market for the newly enlarged
group is Germany which in 2010 accounted for c.23% of pro forma revenues. Other key markets include the UK (c.10%), Italy (c.10%) and
France (c.6%).
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C&C
C&C is one of Ireland's leading drinks companies. It has the dominant share of the cider market where market share of the long drinks
category has increased from 3% a decade ago to over 10% today. The key strategic goal of C&C Group today is to establish its Magners
cider brand in the British long drinks market. Progress to date has been impressive and roll-out has the potential to transform the Group
from an established low-growth beverage company in mature beverage segments into a fast growing business in a high margin niche
category. The acquisitions of Tennents and Gaymer in the UK will help to secure the long term position of C&C in the British alcohol market.
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CPL
CPL is an Irish employment services company that covers a broad range of industry sectors, including technology, financial services,
accounting, sales, engineering, industrial, medical, office administration and consultancy. The group operates eleven separate recruitment
companies, namely: CPL, Careers Register, Multiflex, Tech Skills, Ann O'Brien, Thornshaw, BroadReach, Eastlink, Nursefinders UK, Key 6 and
Medical Recruitment Specialists. It derives almost all of its business from Ireland, but it also has a small presence in the UK, Polish, Czech and
Slovak recruitment markets. Whilst originating in the IT sector, it now has dominant positions in across all employment niches within Ireland.
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CRH
Headquartered in Dublin and with operations in 35 countries, CRH has a presence across the construction industry supply chain through
three closely related core businesses: primary materials, value-added building products and distribution. CRH has circa 75,000 employees
located at 3,600 locations worldwide. The Group is organised on a products basis with six divisions: US Materials, US Products, US
Distribution, Europe Materials, Europe Products and Europe Distribution. CRH's strategic vision is clear and consistent - to be a leading
international building materials group delivering superior performance and growth. A key element of this strategy has been acquisitions, with
the company spending c.€12bn on almost 500 deals over the last ten years. Given that the average transaction value has been only
€25m, the focus is on bolt-on deals with the occasional medium sized deal. However, no one deal has been greater than 10% of the
company's capital base. In delivering on this strategy, total shareholder return is a key overall objective, which focuses efforts on enhancing
shareholder value. Since 1970 the Group has generated a compound annual growth of c.16% on this measure.
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Cove Energy
Cove Energy is an early stage oil & gas company established in 2009. Reflecting its relative immaturity the emphasis within the Cove portfolio
is on exploration. Despite that, a successful drilling campaign offshore Mozambique in 2010 establised sufficient quantities of gas to justify the
development of an LNG facility. The emphasis over the coming years will be to appraise the commercial potential of the Mozambique asset,
while at the same time assessing the exploration potentiial of other assets in the portfolio, notably the stakes held in seven blocks offshore Kenya.
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Datalex
Datalex is a leading provider of e-business and technology solutions for the travel industry. Its solutions meet the travel supply and distribution
needs of a broad range of companies involved in the travel sector, enabling them to establish multiple channels to their customers via the
Internet. The company's comprehensive range of integrated, open architecture applications include booking engines, fare search engines and
CRM systems. Its customers include United Airlines, Aer Lingus, Frontier Airlines, Copa Airlines, Philippine Airlines, Aero Republica, SAS, STA
Travel, South African Airways, Saudi Arabian Airlines, Travelbag and. The company is headquartered in Dublin and employs approximately
165 mainly in Ireland and the US.
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DCC
DCC is a business support services group which markets and distributes products to segments of the energy, IT & entertainment products,
healthcare, food & beverage and environmental markets in Ireland, the UK and Continental Europe. The energy division distributes oil products
and LPG in the UK, Ireland and Europe, while the healthcare division markets hospital supplies and nutraceuticals (mainly in Ireland and the
UK). The IT division markets and distributes a broad range of computer hardware, software and storage products to markets in Ireland, the
UK and Continental Europe. The Food & Beverage division markets wines, coffee and snack foods throughout Ireland and the UK.
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Dragon Oil
Dragon is an oil production company with its entire production base currently offshore Turkmenistan in the Caspian Sea. It initially established
itself in the region through a joint venture with Larmag Energy in 1993 and has since assumed 100% of the licence under a PSA that extends
out to 2025 with an option on a further ten years. Average gross production in 2006 of 20.5 kbopd has since accelerated to exit 2010 at 57.0
kbopd as investment in new platforms, infrastructure and a higher rig count has borne results. Headquartered in Dubai, Dragon is 52% owned
by the Emirates National Oil Company, which in turn is owned by the Government of Dubai.
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DS Smith
DS Smith is a leading paper and packaging manufacturer with operations in the UK, France and across Continental Europe. DS Smith is made up
of four key divisions; UK Packaging (40% operating profit), Continental European Packaging (29% operating profit), Plastic Packaging (12%
operating profit) and Office Products Wholesaling. Through its recycling business in the UK, DS Smith is the leading player in the recovered paper
market, collecting some 2m tonnes of recovered paper annually. In its corrugated operations, DS Smith designs and manufactures innovative
recycled packaging solutions for a broad range of customers in the fast moving consumer goods (70% of sales) and industrial (30% of sales) sectors.
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easyJet
easyJet is a no-frills airline based in London. The carrier copies the Texas-based low-cost pioneer Southwest Airlines and in Europe is most
often compared to Ryanair. Its main focus is to fly between primary airports at fares that are often a fraction of its legacy peers. The UK
accounts for about one-third of traffic, with France, Italy and Switzerland key markets for it. About one-quarter of the fleet is based at
Gatwick, in London.
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FBD
FBD is primarily a General Insurer that operates in the Irish market with its breakdown by business line more or less mirroring that of the
market. It currently writes c.10% of premiums in Ireland. The Property & Leisure division comprises the Tower Hotel Group in Ireland and
a number of resorts in Spain, The La Cala Golf Resort & Sunset beach club. Complementary businesses to insurance operations include;
FBD Brokers, which offers advice and insurance intermediary services to corporate customers; FBD Life & Pensions, which is an independent
life assurance, pensions and investment advisor; and Abbey Finance which provides premium finance to customers paying by instalments.
The insurance and financial services businesses are mainly provided via the company's network of 50 branches and its focus remains on its
direct sales channel.
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First Derivatives
First Derivatives was established in 1996 as a technology service provider to the capital markets industry. From its base in Newry, Northern
Ireland, and offices in each of the key global finance centres, the company has carved out a niche, and current counts eight of the world's
ten largest investment banks as clients. The company's services include consultancy, custom software design, deployment of its in-house
produce suite and systems integration.
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Fyffes
Fyffes procures bananas, pineapples and melons from Central and Latin America, which it markets in Europe and the US under the Fyffes,
Turbana and Nolem brands. It is one of the leading distributors of bananas in Europe. In addition the company has a 40% stake in the property
company, Blackrock International.
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Glanbia
Glanbia processes and markets dairy-based products, meat products and food ingredients. Greater emphasis is being placed on its ingredients
side, especially those derived from the cheese making process and the company has developed a number of niche speciality protein products
for the nutritional market which have proved very successful. This has and will likely be the main focus of growth for the company in the coming
years. Its Dairy Ireland operations remain a significant contributor to profits. Its products consist of fresh milk, cheeses, butter, dairy spreads
and the cream base for Baileys. Glanbia is a large manufacturer of cheese with substantial operations in Ireland and Idaho (US). Its main
products here are cheddar (and American cheese) and through its 50/50 joint venture with Leprino positions it is the leading mozzarella
operator in Europe. Two other JVs -one in the US and another in Nigeria - are expanding its presence in the cheese / whey protein and dairy
markets respectively in these regions.
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Grafton Group
Grafton Group is a leading supplier of building materials in the UK and Ireland, which following the acquisition of Heitons now trades from over
550 locations. Its Irish businesses include leading positions in builders merchanting and DIY (with market shares of 19% and 15%, respectively),
together with plant hire and manufacturing plants in plastics, concrete (incl. Euromix dry mortar) and windows / doors. Grafton's growing UK
operations, which continue to participate in the merchanting market consolidation, now accounts for 61% of turnover and 52% of profits and
includes plumbers merchants Plumbase and builders merchants Buildbase. This business ranks fourth in the UK merchanting sector with a
market share of c.10%. CPI Euromix, with 9 manufacturing locations, is the market leader and largest provider of silo mortar in the UK.
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Greencore
Greencore is one of the largest manufacturers of convenience food products in the UK. It holds market leadership in most of the categories of
own-label products in which it has a presence. Key product areas include sandwiches, quiche, Italian ready meals, mineral water and chilled
sauces. The company has generated consistent growth in this market since it became a major player in 2000. Greencore's strategy entails
optimising its position in the UK market by further expansion into new distribution channels and product range. Expansion outside the UK has
included selective investment in the US through acquisition but, more particularly, strong organic growth arising from demand from US
multiples in the chilled ready-to-eat category.
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Irish Continental Group
Irish Continental Group is a shipping company which operates passenger car ferries, roll-on roll-off freight transport and lift-on lift-off freight
services between Ireland, the United Kingdom and Continental Europe. It operates four ships, three of which ply the Irish Sea and one serving
Ireland-France. The company operates a low cost model compared to many of its peers, having outsourced much of its staffing needs in 2006.
With limited upcoming capital expenditure requirements, its cashflow strength is set to move the company into a net cash position.
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IFG
IFG is a predominantly fee-based financial services company which operates throughout Ireland, the UK, the Isle of Man and the Channel
Islands. It comprises two divisions: Financial Services and Corporate & Trustee Services. Financial Services includes investment, life and
pension advice, actuarial and pension trustee services, mortgage broking, title insurance and trade credit insurance. Corporate & Trustee
Services is a specialist provider and administrator of offshore trusts and a large global provider of timeshare trustee services. Many of its
businesses generate recurring income for ongoing trustee and administrative services.
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Independent N&M
Independent N&M is a geographically diversified media company, with operations based in Ireland, the UK and South Africa and a 41%
shareholding in APN News and Media, a leading Australasian media company. In each of these regions, the company is primarily involved
in the publishing of newspapers and magazines (over 175 national/regional titles) but it also has significant interests in radio, outdoor
advertising and new media. Given high levels of leverage, the group has had to dispose of a number of assets over the last number of
years including an Indian associate holding JPL, a South African outdoor advertising business, the UK Independent and a number of online
associate holdings.
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Kerry Group
Kerry Group has adopted a twin strategic approach to the food industry, through its Kerry Foods business in the UK & Ireland and its
Global Ingredients operation. In the food manufacturing sector, we foresee Kerry building its market share in the current segments
served (e.g. ready meals, breakfast items, pies and cooked meats). In ingredients, the key thrust is to expand further through acquisition
in all its chosen segments. The bulk of Kerry's food ingredients is in what might be called "application food ingredients". Here, product
offerings started in dairy ingredients but expanded through acquisition into other areas like seasonings (for snack foods), fruit preparations
(for yogurt), particulates (for breakfast cereals), flavours and bio-ingredients. Kerry Group has undergone a number of internal
restructurings in recent years, resulting in improved margins and higher organic growth. We expect this focus to continue and be
supplemented by acquisition activity.
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Kingspan
The Kingspan Group comprises of four core manufacturing divisions - insulated panels, insulation boards, environmental & renewables and
access floors. The Group has 45 manufacturing facilities in 12 countries (Ireland, UK, Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Turkey, USA, Canada,
Australia, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands). In terms of group turnover, Kingspan is a relatively small company compared to most of
its European materials peers. However, the company has been successful in establishing market leadership positions in its chosen product
sectors. Kingspan's preferred market segments are those that have greater organic growth potential than underlying construction markets,
due to regulatory changes (i.e. higher insulation and energy efficiency standards in buildings, pollution control etc.) and structural trends
(i.e. moves to modern methods of construction etc.).
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Ladbrokes
Ladbrokes is the second largest retailer bookmaker in the UK with 2,098 shops. The group has over 8,000 gaming machines across its UK retail
estate and has just changed supplier to Global Draw. The group also has 208 retail betting shops in the Republic of Ireland, along with 78 in
Northern Ireland. The group's other European retail businesses include a 280 betting office chain in Belgium, along with a retail betting JV in
Spain. The group also offers online betting and gaming which represents 27% of its EBIT. Sports betting which would account for 40% of the
group's online revenue is where it would see the most growth potential going forward. Its gaming products, casino, poker, bingo and games,
where traditionally nearly all supplied by Microgaming. However, the group has recently signed a deal which means, going forward, it will have
greater flexibility in its platform and will thus be able to use a wider variety of suppliers.
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NTR
NTR continues to invest in its diversified platform focused on the renewable energy and sustainable waste management sectors. It has a
particular interest in the US market and over the last four years invested approximately US$850 million in its US based businesses across
a number of sectors - waste: 36%; solar: 31%; wind: 17%; ethanol: 16%. NTR's US investments are: Wind Capital Group (US Wind);
Green Plains Renewable Energy (Ethanol); Stirling Energy Systems / Tessera Solar (Solar manufacturing / project development); Greenstar
North America (sustainable waste management). At the end of 2010, NTR reduced its focus on the solar manufacturing and development
business. NTR continues to hold a significant stake in Greenstar Ireland and other Irish investments in Celtic Anglian Water (water and
wastewater treatment), Imagine Telecom and residual equity investments in Irish toll road assets (Waterford N25 and Portlaoise M7/M8)
complete NTR's portfolio. More recently, in February 2011, NTR and BlackRock, Inc. announced a strategic relationship agreement to launch
a new renewable power investment group. Note: NTR is not listed on any official exchange, but shares are traded on an OTC basis by
Goodbody Stockbrokers.
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Origin Enterprises
Origin Enterprises comprises the agribusiness, fishmeal and ambient food operations within ARYZTA, which continues to own 71.5% of its
shares. The acquisition of Masstock has been a very significant development for Origin as it places the company at the forefront of progressive
farm enterprises that are seeking to expand output as a result of the recent demand surge for cereals. It is the leading agronomist service
company operating currently in the UK and Poland. It has established itself as the largest animal feed ingredients importer into Ireland, market
leader in the Irish blended fertiliser market and a significant player in the GB market. In the marine protein business, it is the third largest
player after the leading Scandinavian manufacturers, while its food associate (Valeo) owns some of Ireland's best known ambient brands, like
Roma, Shamrocks and Batchelors.
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Paddy Power
Paddy Power is the largest provider of betting and gaming in Ireland, and it continues to grow its market share in the UK market. The group's
betting and gaming activities are spread across a number of channels; retail, online, mobile and telephone. The group is the leading online
sports book in Ireland and has a top five position in the UK. In online gaming (casino, poker and bingo) the group is again the leader in the
Irish market, with a top 10 position in the UK. In relation to its LBO activities, Paddy Power operates 207 betting offices in the Irish market
and 124 shops in the UK. In the UK, following a number of years in a development phase its UK estate is now benefiting from increased scale
with profitability much improved. Paddy Power has expanded its operations into Australian, through the acquisition of a, Sportsbet, the leading
corporate online bookmaker in the Australian market. In FY11, we estimate that 78% of group EBIT will be derived from its online activities,
with retail contributing 21% and a small contribution 0.6% from its telephone business.
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Petroceltic
With assets bordering the Mediterranean Sea in Algeria and Italy, Petroceltic provides exposure to the European oil and gas market. Drilling
success through the exploration and appraisal phases since 2008 has established a P50 gas resource of 6.1 Tcf in its primary asset onshore
Algeria. Elsewhere, success has been less evident, though much of it beyond management's control, given restrictions on offshore drilling in
Italy due to environmental concerns. Funding has traditionally been sourced from shareholder equity providing sufficient capital to meet near
term capex commitments (c$74m to complete the Algerian appraisal phase in 2011), supplemented by a farm-down of 18.4% bringing its
stake in Algeria to 56.6%. With first gas from Algeria not due until 2015, the lack of a production base clearly limits the ability of Petroceltic
to generate organic cashflow.
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PetroNeft
Established in 2003, PetroNeft has focussed its efforts on the Tomsk region of Western Siberia. Exploration activity since 2007 has seen the
2P reserve estimate rise steadily from 33.5 mmbo to 96.9 mmbo, with the resource base (3P) increasing from 324.2 mmbo to 640.7 mmbo.
Construction of an export pipeline and associated facilities enabled the commencement of initial oil production in August 2010. Achieving that
milestone has had a fundamental impact on the model in that it moves PetroNeft firmly into the self-funded realm. The transition also provides
funding to secure additional acreage and thus enable management to repeat the cycle based on a proven track record. We estimate net cash
by the end of 2011 of $12.5m and a Total NAV of 81.9p.
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Playtech
Playtech is a B2B provider of online gaming software and is widely recognised as a global leader in this area. Its expertise lies in its knowledge
of online gaming and it has industry leading software across the three verticals of casino, bingo and poker. Operators of online gaming sites
across the world leverage their own expertise and brands with Playtech's products. By using Playtech software, operators can immediately offer
a competitive product, in which they may have limited scale and knowledge to their players. This allows operators to leverage their brand and
effectively cross sell gaming products. These operators consist of historic online gaming brands, online sports betting brands (Paddy Power,
William Hill, Bet365) and land based companies. Playtech is also involved in the gaming machine market, through its ownership of Videobet. With
its constant flow of new games, extensive experience and player yield enhancing management software, we believe Playtech is excellently
placed to capture the growing B2B market in online gaming.
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Premier Oil
Premier Oil is a well balanced E&P with material value across all three segments of the asset cycle - production, development and exploration.
A stated target to increase production from 42.8 kbopd in 2010 to 75 kbopd by 2012 and 100 kbopd by 2014 derives from the pending
commencement of production from three development projects due to come on stream prior to the end of 2012. That, along with a more
concentrated investment focus (centred on the North Sea, South East Asia and the Middle East), relative commodity stability (exposure to oil in
the North Sea and gas in SE Asia and Pakistan) and a degree of exploration success (Catcher in the North SEA) has gained market acceptance.
We estimate a Total NAV of £24.50, with Net Debt guided to peak at $800m by mid-2011 before easing as development projects come
on stream.
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Ryanair
Ryanair is a low-cost, low-fares airline providing point-to-point services across the European short-haul air travel market. Operating from 43
European bases, it operates over 1,100 routes across 26 countries in Europe and expects to carry over 73.5m passengers in FY11 and 80m in
FY12. The carrier expects to finish FY11 operating a fleet of 272 Boeing 737-800s (with an average age of 2.8 years) and delivers services off
the lowest unit costs of any airline in Europe. The company is focussed on further reducing its ex-fuel unit operating costs through lowering
aircraft acquisition costs and improving service contracts (e.g. maintenance, airports) while continuing to grow passenger volumes. Key target
markets for growth going forward include Spain and Italy.
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SIG
SIG plc is a leading European supplier of specialist products to the building and construction industry. The group's operations are evenly split
between the UK and mainland Europe. It focuses its activities into four business sectors: Insulation and Building Environments (40% Group
sales), Exteriors (32% of Group sales), Interiors (22% of Group sales) and Specialist Construction Products (6% of Group sales). SIG is the
largest specialist supplier of insulation and related products in Europe. This focus on insulation offers the company a structural growth story,
which looks set to strengthen as a result of tightening regulations for energy efficient buildings across the UK and Europe. Furthermore, the
company's Exteriors division offers exposure to more stable repair and maintenance markets, as the largest specialist supplier of roofing
products in the UK & Ireland.
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Smurfit Kappa Group
Smurfit Kappa Group is the largest manufacturer of containerboard and corrugated packaging in Europe and one of the leading players in
Latin America. These types of packaging constitute the largest part of its business (c.90% of group sales), with the remainder being speciality
packaging. Approximately 80% of the company's EBITDA is earned in Europe, where it operates in 21 countries, being market leader in seven
and second largest player in a further seven. The Specialties Division comprises activities dedicated to the needs of specific, sometimes niche,
markets, quite often as market leader. These include Bag-in-Box (taps, bags and systems), Solid Board (packaging and graphic board mills,
solid board packaging) and a sack kraft mill. With its HQ in the Netherlands, the Specialties Division operates worldwide. The Latin American
business comprises all forestry, paper, corrugated and folding carton activities in such countries as Argentina, Colombia, Venezuela, Mexico,
Chile, Dominican Republic, Costa Rica and Ecuador.
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Total Produce
Total Produce is one of the leading operators within the European fresh produce distribution sector with facilities in Ireland, the UK, Sweden,
Denmark, Spain, Italy, Holland and the Czech Republic. It provides a complete basket of fresh produce for its retail and wholesale customers
on a year round basis. It is one of the leading distributors of Southern Hemisphere fresh produce in Europe, in particular from South Africa
and South America.
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Travis Perkins
Travis Perkins is a leading distributor of materials to the building and construction sector operating solely in the UK. The current business was
formed in 1988 through the merger of Travis and Arnold plc and Sandell Perkins plc. Its core merchanting business consists of 625 branches
in the UK supplying more then 100,000 products lines to trade professionals, while the specialist merchanting business consists of four separate
businesses (Keyline, City Plumbing Supplies, CCF and Benchmarx). The retail business includes the brands of Wickes and Tile Giant. Following
the recent acquisition of BSS, the group has now annualised sales of circa Stg£4.7bn, through a branch network of 1,800. In terms of
merchanting, it is now the no.1 player with over 20% market share, while in DIY it is no.3 with a 6% share.
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Tullow Oil
Tullow Oil is an independent oil and gas company with a portfolio of production, development and exploration interests spread across four
continents. Proven and probable reserves stand at 294 mmboe, with a further 1,093 mmboe in contingent reserves, as exploration success,
notably in Ghana and Uganda, has delivered value. First oil from the former in December 2010 has complemented production from the historic
production base - the North Sea, West Africa and South Asia - the African assets largely emanating from the 2004 acquisition of Energy Africa.
Geographic constraints with regard to the latter (1,300 km inland) necessitates considerable investment in infrastucture and is thus unlikely
to achieve full production prior to 2015. Considerable success on the exploration front, continues to attract, but has also heightened market
expectations.
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UTV Media
UTV has evolved from a simple television business to become a significant owner of a well diversified portfolio of leading media assets in
Ireland and the UK. Today, UTV owns one of the best performing independent ITV1 franchises (the Northern Ireland franchise), offering
advertisers unique access to the all-Ireland television advertising market. In UK commercial radio, the group owns talkSPORT, the leading
talk radio station which offers advertisers unique access to a sought after ABC1 audience. In Irish radio, it has developed an Island of Ireland
portfolio of stations, FM104, Q102, LMFM, U105, Live 95, 96FM and C103 which allows it to offer advertisers a quasi-national advertising
proposition better than its competitors. Outside of television and radio, UTV has several interests in new media, including an ISP and a
web development company.
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United Drug
United Drug's core business was the wholesaling and distribution of pharmaceutical products in Ireland where it currently enjoys an over 50%
market share. From this, it has diversified over the years to a position where it now operates through three divisions, namely Healthcare Supply
Chain (Wholesale, pre-Wholesale, Medical & Scientific), Contract Sales and Marketing Services (contract sales in the UK [70% market share]
and US) and Packaging and Specialty (packaging in the UK, EU and US plus specialist vaccine services). More recently, the company has
entered a JV with the US healthcare provider Medco Health Solutions for the development of a home healthcare offering in the growing UK market.
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William Hill
William Hill is the leading retail bookmaker in the UK market with over 2,377 shops. The group has a wide geographical spread and benefits
from having a larger proportion of its shops in the London market, an area where the average spend is higher. The group controls of 28% of
the UK retail market in terms of shop numbers. The group has been quite successful with gaming machines in its retail estate, with over 8,800
deployed. c.75% of its machine estate is supplied by Inspired Gaming, while the remaining 25% is supplied by Global Draw. In addition to
the group's retail business it has also developed a good online proposition, across sports betting, casino, poker, bingo and games. The
company's strategy is to expand internationally via its online business particularly into Europe. The company currently has customers in over
175 countries but it is focusing on countries where it can become market leader. The majority of its online revenues, c.75%, are derived from
the UK market.
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