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Ian Pollard: Cloud Cuckoo Land Is Never Empty
2018 was quite a good year for the self important types who could not resist making fools of themselves in the full gaze of the public. The overall group winner of the year award must go to company directors and CEOs who have provided us with endless hours of amusement as they have literally tied themselves in knots trying to convince us that the absolutely disastrous results which their companies have produced under their grossly incompetent leadership are really a good thing.
The examples are legion but a favourite is the self deluded belief that the continuing collapse in sales has been a blessing in disguise, because it led to a sharp fall in costs which enabled the company to increase its dividend.
But for the mindless contribution from the country’s boardrooms, breakfast time business news would never be the same.
Shortly before Xmas Government ministers woke up to the opportunities they were missing and the votes they were losing, with their failure to take advantage of the Gatwick airport drone scandal. There was the Essex police making a ham fisted attempt at policing Essex and arresting innocent citizens in the process, when Ministers woke up and discovered there was at last a major scandal in the country for which they had no responsibility whatsoever. What a golden opportunity. Essex police are incompetent, they screamed. Essex police are making a mess of it they brayed, even, Essex police should be removed from the investigation and Ministers be put in charge.
Now hang on a bit. Ministers put in charge of a major investigation which the police had made a mess of? Ministers? These are the people, who brought you Brexit. These are the people who wanted customs posts in the Irish Sea, the uprooting of expats who had built new lives all over Europe and of Europeans who had been happily settled in the UK for years.Turn the south of England into a lorry park? Certainly sir. That shouldn’t be a problem They could not resist jumping on a bandwagon they would fall off at the first jolt. – all for a bit of self serving political advantage. They could not run a whelk stall, never mind Brexit and they claim they should be handed such responsibility.
Fortunately cloud cuckoo land is never empty.
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Ian Pollard: Stagecoach Pleased With Operating Loss of £6.2m (Unadjusted)
Stagecoach Group plc SGC is pleased to report positive half-year financial results, ahead of expectations, at least according to the Chief Executive, David Griffiths. These included a total unadjusted operating loss of £6.2m compared to a profit of £114.8m profit for 2018, which may lead the more cynical to comment that some people are easily pleased. Virgin Rail did produce a strong profit in the six months to the 27th October but a statutory loss of 5.5p per share compares with last years first half earnings per share of 13.6p. Not surprisingly the interim dividend remain unchanged. Encouraging results have been delivered at the UK regional bus business, together with high customer satisfaction. The above forecast rail earnings have enabled increased expectations for full-year adjusted earnings per share.
Wood Group plc WG has been awarded a $43 million (USD) contract by a large-cap midstream US company to construct 80 miles of steel pipeline in west Texas. This is a strategic pipeline for the US and a milestone project for the company.
Versarian plc VRS is delighted to have entered into an MOU with a subsidiary of a subsidiary of China Railway Group Limited (“CRG”).one of the world’s largest construction and engineering contractors. The cooperation is intended to explore the applications for graphene, which are specific to CTCE’s needs. IT is envisaged that CTCE will provide funding for any manufacturing venture in a structure to be agreed.
Image Scan Holdings IGE after rapid growth in both sales and profits between 2015 and 2017 the year to the 30th September proved to be a disaster. Sales fell from £5m to £3.5 and profit before tax slumped from £480,000 to £90,000 as the company was impacted by exceptional costs associated with the an aborted acquisition and a decline in portable X-ray orders .However the order pipeline is strong, the team has been strengthened and research and development has been refocused with the aim of returning to the growth of previous years.
Brave Bison Grp plc BBSN reports it is on track for a year of real progress in 2018. Trading is ahead of management expectations with an improved financial performance, revenues growing and full-year EBITDA3 positive for the first time since the Group came to market in 2013, as well as expectations of cash flow being positive. In October the company was named as the world‘s second-biggest digital media publisher for views and consistently in the top 10 during 2018. The shares are so far responding well in early trading this morning.
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Ian Pollard: Yourgene Health – Rapid Expansion in Asia, India, Middle East & Africa
Yourgene Health plc YGEN “We are making excellent commercial progress”, claims newly appointed CEO Lyn Rees after revenues for the six months to the 30th September climbed by 45% and gross profit was up by 49%. The implementation of a further £1m annualised cost reduction program helped to bring the loss before tax down by 35%. Significant commercial progress was achieved during the half year, including the addition of new laboratories in Africa and Asia and the signing of a 3-year agreement with one of India’s leading diagnostics groups to offer mass-population non-invasive prenatal testing (“NIPT”) screening. Existing markets in India, the Middle East, Africa and South East Asia are being rapidly expanded.
ULS Technology plc ULS continued to increase its market share and grow revenue and profits during the half year to the 30th September, despite housing market transactions being lower year-on-year. ULS continued to out perform the market. Revenue inceased by 3%, underlying profit before tax by 6% and adjusted basic earnings per share by 7%. The interim dividend is increased by 4%.
Plastics Capital PLA reports continued strong organic revenue growth across the Group for the half year to the 30th September. Profit before tax and earnings per share both grew strongly by 75.4% and 67.9% respectively on revenue up by 11.4%. The company is now feeling the full effect of Sterling’s devaluation in 2016. Order books are healthy and good sales growth is expcted to continue for the foreseeable future.
Egdon Resources plc EGD reports a production update from the Ceres field which represents a material step up in both production and cash flow for Egdon. Gas sales net to Egdon for November are expected to be in excess of £235,000. Gas production from Ceres averaged 1.16 million cubic feet of gas per day (193 barrels of oil equivalent per day). following the installation of a new flow meter.
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Ian Pollard – Singles Day at Primark
Alibaba invented Singles Day as a shopping celebration for the unattached as opposed to the romanticism of Valentines Day. It is now the world’s biggest online sales event, exceeding the combined totals of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Yesterday saw sales hit a record $1bn in 85 seconds and the total spend for the day came in at $30.8bn, a 27% rise on last year. UK High streets were probably closed for the day unable to think of anything to celebrate and Primark no doubt steadfastly maintaining that online sales damaged its business.
PS; I remember when Archie Norman became boss of ASDA, he introduced a singles night, so that the unattached could exchange erotic glances with each over the frozen peas. It was in the nineties on a Thursday night and was very well attended. Oh for the sound of trolleys gently bumping into each other.
Diageo DGE has agreed to sell nineteen brands to Sazerac for $550 million. The net proceeds of approximately £340 million, after tax and transaction costs, will be returned to shareholders through a share repurchase. Completion is expected early in 2019.
Babcock International Group BAB confirms that it strongly refutes the contents of a report issued by Boatman Capital which so far has ensured that it remain anonymous and untraceable. The report included many false and malicious statements and the Group is continuing to seek to discover the identities of those behind Boatman Capital. Babcock is currently delivering 128 contracts for the UK Government. Underlying earnings are in line with expectations and the outlook is confirmed for the financial year ending 31 March 2019.
Amur Minerals AMC admits that the completion of the Pre Feasibility Study has taken longer than initially expected and that the delay has caused concern. The release of the PFS is now scheduled for Q1 2019. AMC believes that the additional time taken to address points which are of interest to a number of potential partners has greatly enhanced the quality of the content of the Pre Feasibility Study and allowed for the creation a document that more readily meets their expectations.
Sirius Minerals SXX announces a significant milestone for it in the completion of its major construction procurement programme to support its stage 2 senior debt financing process. Final lender commitment letters are expected to be received in December and January and the Company is targeting quarter 1 2019 for the financial close of stage 2 financing.
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Ian Pollard: ABF – A Headline A Day
Associated British Foods ABF Yesterdays headline trumpeted that Primark blamed three periods of unseasonable weather for sales sliding by 2.1% over the year to the 15th September. But today a new day has dawned and brought with it new headlines as the media stands on its head and proclaims that today’s truth is that Primark has in fact delivered a strong performance with sales rising by 1%. Like for like sales in the UK rose by 1.2% where its share of the clothing market grew significantly. Despite suffering in Europe where sales were weak and fell by 4.7%, total sales including those from fifteen new stores in nine countries, grew by 5%
Perhaps George Weston the CEO got it right when he calmly headlined that it had been another year of progress, with strong profits, not only from Primark but from each of its other world beating divisions, grocery, agriculture and ingredients, with only sugar letting the side down. Adjusted profit before tax rose by 5% and earnings per share by 6% whilst the final dividend is increased by a healthy 10% in line with the promises of a strong profit performance made in Septembers update.
Marks & Spencer Group MKS waved its magicians wand and produced a 7.1% increase in profit before tax after revenue which fell by 3.1% in the half year to the 29th September. The company is now going through the first phase of it transformation programme which includes the closure of over 100 stores and the introduction of a” new, very determined and energetic management team” which indicates that the previous management team must have been regarded as somewhat lacking in these qualities. The store closures had their effect on revenue with Clothing & Home down 2.7%, Food down by 0.2% or 2.9% on a like-for-like basis, reflecting tough trading. Looking at the level of their food prices perhaps there is little wonder that trading was tough.
Persimmon PSN “All gone” is the word from Persimmon which admits that at the end of its third quarter on the 6th November it is fully sold up for the current year and forward sales beyond 2018 are 9% up on a year ago. Sales prices remain firm and consumer confidence is described as being resilient.
Dairy Crest Group DCG claims delivery of a good performance in the half year to the 30th September, driven by its two largest brands, Cathedral City and Clover. Profit before tax fell by 88% and basic earnings per share by 89%. Revenue rose by 2% and the interim dividend is to be increased by the same amountBeachfront Houses & Apartments For Sale in Greece http://www.hiddengreece.net
Ian Pollard: LPA – A Blockbuster Of A Gallop; Record Output; Record Orders & A Bonanza
LPA Group plc LPA reports that he last financial year was exceptionally strong and something of a blockbuster which it finished at a gallop with record output. The new financial year then started with a record order book and a major contract win the award of the contract for the upgrade of the lighting on London’s Central and Waterloo & City lines rolling stock. The contract is worth 4m. to 2023 and also has an ongoing through-life support contract to 2043. The rail market remains very buoyant, with huge commitments by Government attracting massive inward investment which potentially promises a bonanza. Despite 2018’s strong performance the current financial year is expected to see a return to more regular levels of activity.
Hiscox plc HSX has enjoyed strong growth during the 9 months to the 30th September with gross written premiums rising by 14.3%. As markets remain challenging however, this is expected to moderate over the remainder of the year. The results were impacted by catastrophes in the US and the Far East as well as by a number of larger individual claims. Plans for Brexit are well advanced and have always assumed a worst-case scenario ‘hard Brexit’ and for that the company is prepared, irrespective of the outcome of the government’s negotiations. So much for the relevance of politicians.
Totally plc TLY The first half of the current year has been a transformational period for the group with interim results showing turnover rising to over 40,000,000 from 3,530,000 last year. In excess of £10m new business and renewed contracts have been announced since the previous results announcement on the10 July. The Chancellor’s announcement of an increase in NHS funding of £20.5 billion over a 5 year period will no doubt help the transformation continue.
WANdisco WAND has secured a contract with the leading information and communications technology provider in China. The contract is valued at $1 million part of which will be recurring. The company says that the Chinese market represents a significant untapped opportunity.
Versarien VRS Yesterday signed a Framework Agreement with the Qingdao Municipal Bureau of Commerce in Shandong Province, China, covering cooperation between the parties in the fields of graphene research, development and industrialisation. Qingdao, is a major city in Shandong Province, China, with a population of over nine million people and is one of the major areas of graphite production in China.
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Ian Pollard: Barclays Grovels Again
Barclays Bank PLC BARC yet another British Bank bites the dust and grovels before the US department of Justice as it is forced to agree to a huge settlement to try and escape the consequences of its past dishonesty. The bank claims a strong financial third quarter performance and earnings per share over the first nine months came in at 21.6p.excluding litigation and conduct charges. Group expenses fell by 3% and profit before tax rose by 23% to £5.3bn.excluding litigation and conduct charges. Including those thumping costs and charges of £2.4bn., third quarter profit before tax was down on Q3 2017 when they only amounted to £0.8m. The group intends to pay a dividend of 6.5p per share for 2018.One could be left with the impression that huge settlements for past dishonesty are regarded as one of the acceptable risks of life in British Banking.
Fresnillo plc FRES After a strong third quarter, gold production continues to beat expectations and guidance is once again being revised upwards. Year to date silver production increased 8.5% compared to 2017 but.third quarter silver production was not as high as anticipated. Guidance for total silver production for the full year has been revised downwards to 62.0 – 64.5 moz as against previous guidance of 64.5 – 67.5 moz.
Metro Bank plc MTRO set out with the intention of bringing a breath of fresh air into British banking and that it has certainly done. Having started life with one branch n 2010 it has now opened its 60th and added 303,000 new customers so far this year, taking the total to 1.5m.The first nine months of the current year produced a strong performance, with profit tripling to £39.2m and underlying basic earnings per share soaring by 179%. It was duly rewarded for its efforts and came second for overall service quality in both personal and business banking in a CMA survey, And it was not asked to pay even a penny to the US Department of Justice.
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Ian Pollard: Convatec CEO Departs Immediately
ConvaTec Group plc CTEC expects a material negative impact on revenue in the fourth quarter, of between $18 – $23 million following a change in inventory policy by one of its biggest customers. Advanced Wound Care also produced a disappointing result with reported revenue falling 0.8% to $146.8 million. Expectations for full year organic revenue growth are that it will now be flat to 1.0%, compared to up by 2.5% to 3.0% previously.The Chief Executive is another one to fall on his sword and has informed the Board that he wishes to retire. He will step down immediately and also cease to be a Director.
Superdry SDRY has been forced to admit that it has suffered not only from widely reported weaker consumer confidence across its key markets but also from widespread unseasonably hot weather as well during both the summer and autumn. Secondly historic foreign exchange hedging mechanisms that Superdry had put in place have not provided the same degree of protection as expected and will lead to around £8m in additional foreign exchange costs over the year. Full-year profit will now be heavily influenced by its performance in the second half. The CEO proclaims that the company is not immune to the challenges of hot weather. Note that blame is put entirely on external factors and no responsibility appears to be being allocated to management even for the foreign exchange debacle.
Purplebricks Group PURP has agreed to enter the German market by taking a stake in Axel Springer, the leading German online estate agent. The new company to be formed will acquire a 25.9% holding in Homeday.which for the year ended 31 December 2017, enjoyed the singular achievement of making a loss of 3.2m. Euro on revenue of 3.5m. Purplebricks explains that the combination of the three companies will significantly strengthen Homeday’s growth potential.
Cake Box Holdings CBOX After strong trading during the six months to the 30th September, revenue for the period is expected to show a rise of 40% and it is expected that profits for the full year will be ahead of current market expectations. A record number of new franchise stores have been opened with more in the pipeline for the second half,
Ixico IXI updates that revenue for the year to the end of September rose by 32% and total income by 25%. Following May’s oversubscribed placing, net cash rose from £2.4m to £7.9m.
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Ian Pollard: HSBC Pays The Penalty – Yet Again
HSBC has had to cave in and pay yet another huge penalty to fend off claims in the US of widespread fraud and corruption. It took the benighted bank some ten years until 1916 before it had the grace to cough up and agree to pay compensation to US customers to whom it brought financial misery and in many cases deliberately made homeless. The bank has now been forced to pay a huge $765 million settlement to the US Department of Justice but still will not admit to any wrongdoing, which raises the rather major question, as to why in that case it has agreed to make the payment. Banks are not particularly noted for their generosity.
The bank paid up rather than try to defend itself against allegations that it misled investors, misrepresented the quality of securities, hurt people and abused their trust, caused major losses by investors and contributed to a crisis of foreclosures. The amount involved at $24bn was not chicken feed but this is the worlds bank so nobody has actually been sent to prison. The bank claims that it has put things right by strengthening its internal controls but in the same breath it admits that it is still completing the turn-around of its US operations. Twelve years after the event and it has still not got its act together!
Page Group plc PAGE saw third quarter gross profit rise by 19.7%, the highest quarterly growth rate since 2011. The increase ranged from virtually nil (0.8%) in the UK, to 30% in the Americas and 27.7% in Asia Pacific. operating profit for 2018 is expected to be marginally ahead of consensus
Sanderson Group plc SND updates that trading results for the year to the end of September are significantly ahead of 2017, but also slightly ahead of current market expectations. Group revenue rose by nearly 50% and operating profit by 30% to over £5 million compared to 2017’s: £3.90 million. Sales orders in the second half of the year were strong and on a like-for-like basis, the order book at he year end was up by over 9%..jpg)
Iofina plc IOF produced the largest quarterly total of crystalline iodine in its history with a total of 172.3 metric tonnes for the third quarter, an increase of 37.8% over the third quarter of 2017. The company expects the positive momentum which it is currently experiencing will significantly increase Group revenue and profits from those attained in the first half.”
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Ian Pollard – Amino Commits to 10% Dividend Hike Despite Intense Headwinds
Amino Technologies plc AMO goes straight for the jargon box as it seeks reasons in advance for the full year results due in November. An intensification of external macroeconomic headwinds have been the main problem. These have resulted in lower than anticipated orders, higher than expected component price increases in the second half, as well as orders delayed because of instability in the economies of certain emerging markets. Planned trade tariffs in the US, have created confusion among customers, it is claimed, even before they have had any impact on the companies products. Shareholders will no doubt be delighted that all this gloom and despondency has not prevented Amino from maintaining its commitment to an increase of at least 10% in the final dividend.
Sopheon plc SPE updates that the third quarter which is usually the quietest of the year, produced a record performance which saw revenue break through the $30m dollar level. Sales activity for the remainder of the year is robust and full year results are expected to exceed current market expectations.
Angling Direct plc ANG enjoyed another highly successful period in the six months to the 31st July. Group revenue rose by 55.8%, gross profit by 52.6% and earnings per share from a loss of 0.33p to a positive 1.44p. The online business increased by an exceptional 60% and In August and September like for like store sales were up by 15.4% and 12% respectively.
eassyHotel plc EZH describes its year to the 30th September as a transformational one, with a strong performance across the portfolio.Total systems sales for the year rose by 25% and as at the end of the year the total owned hotel portfolio increased by 42%. Five new owned hotels with 610 rooms and four new franchised hotels with 297 rooms brought the total network to 33 hotels and 3,068 rooms.
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