Ann: Half Year Ended 31 December 2017 - Appendix 4D, page-4

good result I agree. I guess the positives were the strong global products revenue, the improvement in distribution result, and the continued v. successful progress of a well articulated strategic plan. The group's profit growth was mostly due to distribution with the revenue growth re-invested in higher expenses including marketing and R&D. They have long-signalled their intent to increase mktg/R&D expenses to 12+% of revenues, so that's not a surprise, and a continued v. positive indicator of that business' prospects. Indeed, given how strong the global products revenue was it's an interesting question whether they need more marketing spend.? The appropriateness of current / planned R&D expenditure is harder to gauge - much of the growth seems due to new product, so they need to keep developing. Overall impression - a well oiled machine doing very well.

The negatives. operating cash flow/working capital was weak - but they did a reasonable job of explaining this. New product lines essentially. So not really a concern. Product launch patterns seem to have flattered this half, next half unlikely to be as good.

Personally, I'm now out. A difficult decision, which I may regret, but valuation is high, my stake was not big enough to really count (and I couldn't justify buying more at or around current prices) and, despite BRG's many qualities, I think I can do better elsewhere with my money! GLAH