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Walker Greenbank Hikes Interim Dividend by 25.5%
Walker Greenbank WGB benefited from three factors which helped sales to increase by 29% in the half year to the 31st July, enabling the interim dividend to be increased by 25.5%. The first was a strong contribution from Clarke & Clarke, acquired in October 2016 and which produced sales of £10.3m out of a total of £54 million. The second was a 17.9% increase in licensing income and the third was a strong export performance which helped to offset a weaker UK. Despite this, statutory operating profit fell by some 10% due to acquisition costs but underlying operating profit rose by 52.8% and adjusted earnings per share by 39.4%.
Gooch & Housego GHH ended its financial year on the 30th September with a record order book, up by 29% in constant currency terms and on a like for like basis. Strong demand was seen throughout the year in the industrial and telecommunications sectors. About a third of the company’s business now relates to Aerospace and Defence.
Image Scan Holdings IGE has had such a busy September that the update given at the end of August is already out of date. Completion of orders which were due for delivery later in the year has been accelerated as has factory acceptance of other orders. The result is that sales for the year to 30th September are now expected to be £5 million compared to August’s estimate of £4.5million whilst profit before tax is expected to be well up at £450,000 as against August’s estimate of £250,000. The year end order book is also said to be strong.
Lightwave RF plc. LWRF anticipates that revenue for the year to 30th September will have more than doubled from 2016’s £1.44m Gross margins are also expected to have materially increased from last years 32.5%. Even so losses before tax are expected to be broadly in line with the £0.84m. loss for 2016
Redhall Group RHL expects results for the year to 30th September will now be materially below expectations due to client delays, especially relating to work on Hinckley Point C. The delays are not anticipated to continue and a strong performance is expected for 2018.
Villas & houses for sale in Greece – visit; http://www.hiddengreece.net
Brand CEO Alan Green talks markets, Gooch & Housego (GHH), Andalas Egy (ADL) & IG Group (IGG) on TipTV Finance Channel
Brand CEO Alan Green talks markets, Gooch & Housego (GHH), Andalas Egy (ADL) & IG Group (IGG) with Zak Mir on the TipTV Finance Channel.
McCarthy & Stone – Divi Raised 80% As Profits Slump
McCarthy & Stone MCS blames the referendum for its poor performance in the 6 month to 28th February but doesn’t even attempt to explain why it should have been so badly affected. On the face of it, the ludicrous explanation makes it look as if management is scrabbling round trying to find excuses for its own weakness. Revenue for the half year fell by 5%, completions were down by 6% and profit before tax slumped by 25%. Net debt surged nearly fivefold. Management is however, perhaps wisely, determined to look after shareholders and is maintaining its “progressive” dividend policy with a rise in the interim dividend of 80%.
The total order book over the last 5 weeks is now down only 1% on a year ago which the company describes as ( please try not to laugh at this ) “an increase in sales momentum”.
HSS Hire Group HSS is basically a tool hire business but it looks like management took its eye off the ball so that its core business in 2016 lacked both growth and momentum. The aim for 2017 is to try and restore that momentum. Revenue for the year to 31st December grew by 9.6% but on a statutory basis last years operating profit of £6.8m was turned into a loss of £2.7m and the reported loss before tax rose by some 25%, reflecting, the company says, a year of investment. As is proper in these circumstances, the dividend remained unchanged at 57p per share.
Gooch & Housego GHH reports good trading in the 6 months to 31st March, helped by positive market conditions and favourable currency movements. The order book is now 70% up on a year ago but this is reduced to 17.2% without the benefit of currency movements.
Telford Homes TEF has gone into built to rent in a big way. Now there is only one reason a housebuilder will do that, namely that building to sell has become less profitable. A stark warning if ever there was one, for the house building industry. record revenue and profits are forecast for the year to 31st March and profit before tax is expected to be slightly ahead of market expectations. The non prime London market remains robust. Taken as a whole, this is definately not the sort of news expected from housebuilders. And if buyers are leaving the housing market how long will it be before investors start doing the same. Hands up any one who knows what a de -risked forward sale is ? Its a rental ! You have been warned.
Villas & Houses For Sale in Greece; http://www.hiddengreece
Metro Bank – Providing A Service, Does Pay
Metro Bank MTRO Cheeky little Metro Bank is giving the big bad banks a lesson in growth and has now moved into profit for each quarter of the second half. Profit before tax in quarter 3 was a tiny £0.6m, increasing to £1.5m in quarter 4. Losses for the full year shrank from £46.4m in 2015 to £11.7m. Asset growth came in at 64%, lending and deposit growth were both at record levels with rises 56% and 66% respectively, whilst revenue was up by 62%. Somebody must love its policy of actually trying to provide a service to its customers.
Barratt Developments BDEV Despite a fall of 5.8% in completions and revenue down by 3.2% in the six months to 31st December, Barratt claims it was a strong half year with profit before tax up by 8.8% and shareholders rewarded with a rise of 21.7% in the interim dividend. Total forward sales orders now stand at record levels after a rise of 17%. The one statistic which is omitted for some strange reason, is the increase in the average selling price. I wonder why.
Lloyds Banking Group LLOY is increasing its final ordinary dividend by 13% and maintaining last year’s special dividend of 0.5p meaning an overall rise for the year of 11%. Statutory 2016 profit before tax rose by 158% to £4.2b and earnings per share by 263%, whilst operating costs were reduced by 3%.
Gooch & Housego GHH good trading conditions during the first four months of the current financial year enabled GHH to see its order book up by 64.9% as at 31st January compared to last year, although on a like for like basis, excluding foreign exchange movements and acquisitions, the figure comes in at a more modest 19.4%. So far trading for the full year is expected to be in line but there does seem to be a hint of optimism in today’s trading update as a result of continuing good market conditions.
Hotel Chocolat HOTC produced strong growth in both sales and profitability in the 6 months to 25th December. Profit before tax rose by 28% on reported revenue up by 14% and the net cash position was transformed with a positive balance of £16.1m compared to debt of £1m at the end of the previous year.
Blue Prism Group PRSM now expects full year revenue will be materially ahead of current market expectations following the positive trading momentum evidenced at the end of last year, continuing into the current year.
Villas & Houses For Sale in Greece; http://www.hiddengreece.net
Quoted Micro 5 December 2016
ISDX
Kent-based brewer Shepherd Neame (SHEP) has acquired Village Green Restaurants, the operator of five freehold pub restaurants in the Maidstone and Ashford area, for £11.85m. The business made an operating profit of £900,000 on revenues of £6.6m in the year to October 2016. The cash for the acquisition has come from an extended credit facility.
IMC Exploration (IMCP) says that it is evaluating approaches from mining companies concerning IMC’s ten base metal licences in Ireland. IMC has already secured Koza as partner for its gold licences. IMC’s full year loss was slightly lower at £418,000. There was less than £4,000 in the bank at the end of June 2016.
Walls & Futures REIT (WAFR) floated on 29 November at 100p a share and ended the week at 100.5p (98p/103p). The residential property investor raised just over £1m in an offer for subscription and is capitalised at £3.3m. The REIT has acquired the assets of the Walls & Futures London Growth Fund and the additional cash will be used to invest in development and redevelopment assets in cities and towns around the UK. The focus is the private renting and social housing sectors.
Hearing and mobility products retailer DHAIS (DHAP) has been hit by a further decline in its mobility business. Three mobility stores have been sold and two others closed, leaving ten stores. The hearing aid division is the main focus. In the year to June 2016, revenues fell from £10.6m to £9.86m, while the loss increased from £186,000 to £295,000. There is £216,000 in the bank and cash was generated in the period but it went towards the regular repayment of an interest free loan from a hearing aid manufacturer. A notional interest charge is recognised on this loan, which is why there is positive cash flow despite the loss.
Welney (WENP) is still seeking a new direction and talking to potential funders and recipients of investment. There was £52 in the bank at the end of June 2016. Management admits it will need more cash this year and that is why the accounts are prepared on a going concern basis. The directors are not taking fees for the time being and loan note holders have agreed not to ask for them to be redeemed for at least the next 12 months. The investment in Nasdaq-listed Green Automotive Co has performed poorly and is illiquid.
Exploration company NQ Minerals (NQMI) has appointed Daniel Stewart as its broker as part of a proposed move to the standard list.
AIM
A strong second half meant that enterprise software provider Sanderson (SND) grew its full year revenues by 11% to £21.3m and ended the year with a strong order book. New customer orders were 18% of revenues – a higher level than normal. There was additional investment in development and support but underlying pre-tax profit still improved from £2.91m to £3.44m. There is £4.34m in the bank. The retail, manufacturing and logistics operations all have stronger order books than normal. A 2016-17 profit of £3.7m is forecast.
Park Group (PKG) made a relatively small interim loss. The consumer and corporate gift voucher and prepaid card business is still highly seasonal with the Christmas savings business maintaining its importance. New product launches will continue to reduce the importance, though, as will the acquisition of Fisher Moy International, which brings with it some large corporate clients. An increase in full year profit from £11.9m to £12.7m is forecast.
A strong performance in the industrials division of Gooch & Housego (GHH) offset flatter performances elsewhere. Acquisitions masked an underlying decline in defence and electronics and revenues also fell in the he much smaller life sciences division, which requires acquisitions itself in order to build its scale. Pre-tax profit was slightly better than expected at £14.2m. Despite spending on acquisitions, there is still net cash of £11.7m and the total dividend has been raised by 10% to 9p a share. The order book is worth £52.8m but it covers more than one year. A full year profit of £15.5m is forecast.
Active Energy (AEG) has received a $6m, five year unsecured loan facility to finance the construction of a reference plant for its CoalSwitch technology. The North American plant will have an annual capacity o 35,000 tonnes. This plant could generate revenues of $6.3m a year. CoalSwitch technology can use low value wood, pulp and saw-mill by-products to produce a biomass fuel that can be mixed with coal, or replace coal, in coal-fired power stations. The interest rate on the loan is 8%.
Billing and customer relationship software provider Cerillion (CER) reported annualised revenues 6% ahead at £14.8m but the mix of revenues changed with software revenues one-fifth higher. Underlying pre-tax profit edged ahead to £2.3m. The total dividend is 3.9p a share. A $2.8m (£2.4m) contract has been won in the Americas, which is the second phase of an existing contract. Cerillion should be able to achieve a pre-tax profit of £2.7m this year with scope to expand the customer base outside of the mobile sector in the next few years.
TechFinancials (TECH) will receive a $1.02m dividend from its 51%-owned joint venture DragonFinancials. The dividend relates to the nine months to September 2016. This cash inflow should make it more likely that TechFinancials will restart paying its won dividends. TechFinancials had already said that its 2016 profit will be ahead of market expectations. House broker Northland forecasts a 0.42 cents a share dividend for the 2016 financial year and a decision will be made in early 2017. That level of dividend would be more than two times covered by forecast earnings.
Premier African Minerals (PREM) has increased the open pit mineral resource estimate at the RHA tungsten mine in Zimbabwe to 20.9 million tonnes at a grade of 2.34kg/t. The maiden mineral resource estimate for the underground mine is 1.3 million tonnes at a grade of 4.25kg/t. The mine could last 40 years. Premier owns 49% of RHA.
MAIN MARKET
There was an organic sales decline of 7% in the first half at electronic components manufacturer distributor Acal (ACL) but better margins and acquisitions helped earnings per share grow by 10%. Order levels were stronger in the second quarter and this augurs well for the second half.
Bluebird Merchant (BMV) is acquiring 100% of the Batangas gold project, where it previously held a 25% stake. Bluebird is issuing 1.25 million shares and it will pay a 1% royalty in return for taking full control of the project in the Philippines, which has a JORC resource of 445,000 ounces of gold and gold equivalent. The deal also means that Bluebird will have access to $20m of tax losses.
Opera Investments (OPRA)has reassured investors that the plan to acquire the Omweru and Lubando gold projects from Kibo Mining (KIBO) continues to make progress and a fundraising should happen in the New Year. The deal was first announced in September.
Andrew Hore
Tesco Blows A Trumpet or Two
Tesco TSCO blows a fanfare of trumpets over today’s interim results and when one considers that over the past two years prices have fallen by over 6%, it is perhaps right to do so. It claims significant progress in the first half with positive like for like sales and volume growth in all regions. UK and International sales volume grew by 2.1% and3.3% respectively. Operating profit rose by 38% and net debt fell by 49.3% year on year. On the statutory basis profit before tax was down by 28.3% but for the full year Tesco expects it will turn in an operating profit of £1.2bn before exceptionals.
Topps Tiles TPT claims record sales for the year to the 1st October despite a slowdown in the fourth quarter caused by weaker market conditions and the decision to exit from low margin wood flooring. These reduced like for like sales by 1.9%. leaving a rise for the quarter of 1.4% compared to the headier rises of the first three quarters. For the full year a healthy like for like rise of 4.2% is anticipated.
Gooch & Housego GHH is enjoying a positive trading environment in its second half, which has produced a robust order book standing 10.5% higher than it was a year ago, excluding recent acquisitions, which makes the company well placed for further growth.
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Last Gasp For Herencia ?
Herencia HER has raised a further $150,000 as part of its struggle to keep going pending the hoped for sale of its 70% interest in Paguanta. The new funding is to be paid in two tranches but if the second one is not forthcoming, then Herencia will have to cease trading on the 16th June. The proposed sale transaction is proceeding well but due diligence is still in progress and there can be no gaurantees. A new long stop date of the 4th July has been agreed for satisfaction or waiver of all conditions and completion of the sale.
RWS Holdings RWS claims an excellent 6 months to the 31st March and is increasing its interim dividend by 12% to 1.15p. Despite a substantial adverse impact from foreign currency movements sales rose by 25% and adjusted profit before tax by 28.7%, including a 5 month contribution from Corporate Translations Inc. Trading in the first two months of the second half has continued to be strong.
Iomart IOM proposes to increase its final dividend by 26%, after rises of 21% and 24% respectively in profit before tax and basic earnings per share for the year to 31st March.trading since the end of the year has remained good and the CEO sees the long term future as being bigger than ever.
Gooch & Housego GHH is increasing its interim dividend as its first half performance turns out to have been as expected i.e bad, with flat sales and statutory profit before tax and basic earnings per share, both down by a third. Shareholders , it appears need not worry however, as the order book is robust and up by a third on a year ago and the company is well positioned to benefit from improving market conditions. The second half should show an improvement.
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Taxpayer Subsidy Keeps Barratt Shareholders Happy
Barratt Developments (BDEV) admits, that like all the house builders, one of the two main factors keeping its shareholders happy, is the government subsidy to first time buyers. But elections have to be won one way or another, so the government is hardly likely to try and restore a bit of sense to the market, by ending it.
The interim dividend for the half year to 30th December is to be increased by 25% after a 19% rise in revenue and surges of over 40% in both profit before tax and basic earnings per share. One calming factor is that net private reservations per active site at 0.71, are flat on a year ago.
Tristel (TSTL) is raising its interim dividend by 95% to 1.14p after a 36% rise in profit before tax and a modest 8% rise in revenue. The company produces infection prevention and contamination control products for both humans and animals. Its shares have more than doubled in the past 9 months having risen from 70p to 145p
Grafenia (GRA) fears that its full year results will be significantly below current market expectations. Trading has become more challenging, its markets have never been more competitive and prices are suffering from downward pressure ( i.e. falling, to you and me) The downward pressure was not just on its prices as its share price went into freefall yesterday, collapsing 29% to 6.75p and having been over 20p as recently as the end of September
Gooch & Housego (GHH) expects first half profits will be materially below last years record level because of mixed market conditions