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Ian Pollard – Clarkson #CKN belatedly admits problems
Clarkson CKN expects both first half and full year profits to be materially below those of last year after the first quarters financial performance fell below the boards expectations. Blame is put on a challenging environment in shipping and offshore capital markets, which caused transactions to be put back, lower freight rates hit the tanker market, and the impact of the lower dollar which is the main currency used by the groups banking and and broking businesses.
It seems unbelievable that only six weeks agree, the company was so full of confidence for the future that it increased its final dividend by 12% after a strong performance in the year to 31st December and following early signs of recovery in shipping markets. On that very same day, the 12th March the chairman proclaimed that it was well positioned for the future and there were early signs of recovery in the shipping market. Does the Board really expect shareholders to believe that two thirds of the way through the first quarter there was not the slightest sign that the company had been hit by serious problems, the disclosure of which which are more than likely to send the share price into a nose dive when markets open this morning.
It actually opens today’s update with the startling confession that during the first quarter it faced ‘certain headwinds’ .Explanations are called for as to why shareholders and markets have been kept in such ignorance.
Rotork ROR Order intake rose by 27% on an organic constant currency basis during the quarter to the 1st April and the order book ended the quarter, 18.6% higher than it started it. The increase was experienced across all divisions and revenues for the full year are now expected to show mid to high singe digit growth.
Morgan Advanced Materials MGAM anticipates that full year headline profit margins will be slightly ahead of last year and also announces its departure from the Composite and Defence Systems business.
Lok’n Store Group LOK Group like for like revenue rose by 8.3% in the half year to the 31st January leading to a rise of 21.3% in adjusted profit before tax. The interim dividend is to be increased by 11% to 3p per share. The company is expected to continue to grow strongly and positive momentum has continued into the second half.
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Ian Pollard – SFO Having Another Bash At Barclays
Barclays BARC has now been charged by the Serious Fraud Office with an additional charge to that which was brought against it in June 2017 but this time relating to the loan itself rather than simply an allegation of providing unlawful financial assistance in 2008. It will be interesting to see who comes out of it worst, Barclays or the SFO whose reputation for competent and skilful prosecuting is hardly of the highest.
Lok’ n Store Group LOK enjoyed strong trading during the first half year to the 31st January. January produced the highest ever levelof new monthly storage sales. First half like for like revenue rose by 6.9%, self storage occupancy as at 31st January was up by 6% and price per sq. foot let was up by 0.4% compared to year ago. Trading at the new stores which have been opened is claimed to have been excellent.
Sosander SOS delivered a strong performance in December and January with net revenue having exceeded management expectations. Over Xmas and the New Year there were multiple sell outs on a number of products, generating large waiting lists which have been satisfied by repeat orders.
Proteome Sciences PRM Unaudited revenues for the year to the 31st December rose by 18%, whilst at the same time, costs fell by 5% and the order book strengthened. Re organisation in the first half led to a stronger performance in the fourth quarter with robust and increasing demand. Despite that progress has been lower than management would have wished for and the company is still loss making although the loss is expected to hve been reduced from £ 2.9m to £ 2.1m.
Proxama PROX delivered a 75% rise in revenue during the year to the 31st December, accompanied by a significant reduction in costs led by a large fall from 60 to 23 in the number of employees. The directors expect to see a fall of at least 50% in costs for the full year. A new management team was appointed during the year giving the company a lean expert team with the right skills and the lowest ever cost base.
Proactis Holdings PHD expects to report a 123% rise in revenue for the six months to the 31st Januay and a rise of 183% in adjusted EBITDA. This surge follows the acquisition at the beginning of August of Perfect Commerce LLC which contributed 50% of the total revenue for the half year. The company is also on target to produce the £5m. of synergies expected for the full year.
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Computacenter Lags Behind in UK
Computacenter CCC has enjoyed buoyant market conditions in quarter one and believes that its 2017 performance will exceed current market expectations. Revenue in Germany was particularly strong with a rise of 32% in the quarter to the 24th April and France managing 6%. As seems to be happening so frequently this year, the UK lagged way behind with a fall of 1%. The company points out that these comparatives are made against a weak first half in 2016 and will return to a more normal state in the second half.
Petra Diamonds PDL. Production was flat during the third quarter, held back by unseasonable heavy rainfall in South Africa. Over the nine months to the 31st March however, the picture was brighter with production rising by 15% and Revenue by 27%. The volume of diamonds sold was up by 33%. Prices for rough diamonds rose by 2%, compared to the first half.
Fishing Republic FISH claims strong progress was made in 2016 as it sought to take advantage of the highly fragmented state of the fishing tackle market. Revenue rose by 41% and profit before tax by 32% in the year to 31st December. Website sales were up by 132% and in store sales by 82% or 16% on a like for like basis. Five new stores were opened during the year and there are more to come in 2017.
Lok’n store Group LOK is increasing its interim dividend by 12.4% after the first half year to 31st March produced strong trading and cash flow. Revenue rose by 4.5%, adjusted pre tax profit by 13.5% and net debt fell by 35% to £16.7m. Expansion continues with 4 more new stores set to open in 2017 and sites for a further four, already been identified.
FAIRFX Group FFX beat expectations in the year to 31st December. with turnover up by 27% and gross profit rising by 31.2%. The trading loss fell by 58%, ahead of expectations and a net profit was achieved in the 4th quarter. 2017 has got off to a strong start with first quarter turnover rising by 32.9%
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Fidessa Shareholders Benefit from Sterling Weakness
Fidessa Group FDSA claims solid growth for the year as a whole but then admits that most of it was due to the weakness of sterling rather than the success of the company and its management. At constant exchange rates revenue rose by 3% and profit before tax by a lowly 1% compared to the actual exchange rate figures of 12% and 25% respectively. The reality however is used to give shareholders a big present with an 11% rise in both the final and special dividends.
Firestone Diamonds FDI held its first diamond sale last week in Antwerp. All carats on offer, a total of 75,936, were sold at an average price of US$107 per carat, producing a total of US$8.14m. The highest price achieved for a single stone exceeded US$1m. The company describes the total as pleasing as the diamonds were recovered from lower quality ore areas. Over 90 companies viewed the diamonds and 38 were successful. A second auction is expected before the end of March.
Plastics Capital PLA Third quarter revenues were ahead of expectations following stronger than expected demand and trading condition remain generally good. Full year results however, are expected to be in line.
EG Solutions EGS Strong second half trading produced record revenues up by over 50% to £5.69m., compared to the first half total of £2.5m. The first half loss of £0.89m. was turned into positive EBITDA of over £2.m Several new contracts have been signed with major global companies in America, Asia and Europe.
Lok’nStore Group LOK First half trading in the self storage business remained solid with revenue up by 3.9% and self storage occupancy rose by 4.6%. Document storage revenue was up by 8%
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Pearson Gives Notification of Exit & Other Nonsense
Pearson PSON has brought out a new literacy programme which management has obviously not read. Had it done so they could have written their 9 month interim management statement in something like English instead of nonsense such as “some 3,600 Full Time Equivalent employees have been notified of exit.” – and this from a purveyor of higher education products, who seems to be surprised that its nine month sales have declined by7% although this is glossed over as due to retailer inventory corrections. Come off it. A slump in sales is still a slump in sales however you dress it up in fancy language. Pearson even claims that this is a good competitive performance even though sales are continuing to suffer from a further 3% fall and sales are trending lower than expected in North American higher education..
Fortunately the declining pound is there to rescue management to the extent that if current exchange rates persist, earnings per share are expected to increase by about 4.5p or some 8%. Saving weak management is not supposed to be the reason for allowing the pound to collapse.
Lok’n Store Group LOK claims that the year to 31st July was an exciting one which produced an impressive performance with more to come. Document storage more than doubled its profits and self storage performed strongly. The annual dividend is to be increased by 12.5%
Mortice Limited MORT has enjoyed another strong period of growth with year on year revenue for the first half, up by 57%, including contributions from its two acquisitions which have been performing well.
Image Scan Holdings IGE Sales for the year to the end of September have almost doubled with a rise from £1.7m to £3.3m and margins rising from 38% to 42%. Pretax trading profit for the year is expected to have risen over sixfold to £0.64m. As a sign of continuing success the outstanding year end order book has almost tripled from a year ago and now stands at £1.7m.
Tristel TSTL results for the year to the end of June are ahead of market expectations and the full year dividend is to be increased by 11%. Overseas sales rose by 22% and total turnover by 12%. Pretax profit and EBITDA before share based payments rose by 27% and 26% respectively. Tristel has no debt and there is £5.7m in the bank.
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St. Ives Impacted By Economic Uncertainty
St Ives plc SIV Despite trading during the 8th months to 1st April being 5% ahead of last year, St Ives has had to issue an urgent warning that underlying profit before tax for the current year is likely to be materially below expectations. The outlook for the final quarter has deteriorated due to economic uncertainty which has led to the cancellation and deferral of significant projects and the impact is likely to be felt throughout the whole of the next financial year.
Lok’n Store Group LOK claims its interims for the 6 months to 31st January are “great”, with record results ahead of expectations on all fronts. Profit before tax rose by 155% after like for like revenue grew by 8% and adjusted EBITDA by 13.1%. The interim dividend is being increased by 14.6%. As a sign that profit growth should continue in robust fashion, like for like occupancy rose by 2.4% and prices for occupied units by 3.3%.
Randall & Quilter RQIH turned 2014’s loss of £1.6m into a pre tax profit of £2.8m for the year to the end of December, whilst earnings per share came in at 4.2p compared to 2014’s loss per share of 6.3p. The turn round was due entirely to a significantly stronger second half which alone produced a trading profit of over £7m.
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