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Severn Trent Pleased to Escape North America
Severn Trent plc SVT Not every company admits to being pleased at having to announce the sale of part of its business especially if that business is a strong one but Severn Trent is an exception as it announces the sale of its North American business. Even more strange the Chief Eexecutive admits that under Severn Trent’s management the North American business would not have been able to grow and flourish as it will under new management. Do I detect a great cheer from Severn Trents long suffering users, that at last the message may have begun to get home.
SuperGroup plc SGP enjoyed a super year for the 12 months to the 29th April with like for like retail sales growing by 12.7% and revenue up by 27.4%. Underlying profit before tax rose by 18.4% and the full year ordinary dividend is to be increased by 20.7% to 28p. For 2018 underlying profit before tax is expected to be in line with market expectations.
Trakm8 Holdings TRAK with new orders up by 37% on a year ago, shareholders may have something to look forward to after a dismal year to the end of March which saw profit before tax plummet by 77%, basic earnings per share by 66% and the disappearance of the final dividend. As is usual in these circumstances management seeks refuge and comfort in jargon, with strong new contract and extensions momentum and pipeline and opportunity. Back on planet earth revenues in the first two months of of the new financial year are up 10% on the first two months of last year. The Executive Chairman is confident of achieving a much improved performance in the current year
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BT Admits The Cost of Bad Management
BT Group BT.A airs its dirty washing in public after describing the year to the end of March as a challenging one, made worse by headwinds in the UK public sector. It is still managing to increase its final dividend by 10% despite a 19% fall in reported profit before tax, which slumped even more in quarter 4 with a fall of 48%. Reported basic earnings per share were also down by 33% for the year and 49% for quarter 4. And that is not the end of the bad news. Revenue for the current year is expected to be broadly flat and dividend growth will fail to reach the anticipated 10%.
To add to its list of excuses there were further headwinds from the international corporate market and the self inflicted in house disasters created by BT management itself, including hefty fines and avoidable problems in Italy. Management has learned lessons, it humbly claims. A bit late in the day perhaps but we shall see. The lack of heads rolling around on the boardroom and executive canteen floors may be regarded by some as a cause for concern.
Stobart Group STOB is proposing a 50% increase in dividends for the year to 28th February with a final payment of 4.5p per share. The year produced a statutory loss of £8m after deduction of non underlying items of £ 35.4m. On an underlying basis, profit before tax rose by 48.9% and basic earnings per share by 62.4%.
On The Beach Group OTB is paying a maiden interim dividend of 0.9p for the half year to 31st March, after a 7.3% increase in revenue led to a 33.8% surge in profit before tax. Adjusted earnings per share rose by 27.1% and net debt fell by some two thirds to £2.3m. The group describes this as a solid performance, strengthening towards the end of the half year and continuing to grow in the second half.
United Carpets UCG has announced a special dividend of 1p per share which will be paid on the 25th May
Supergroup SGP The year to 29th April produced good sales and profit growth, with revenue ahead by 27.2%. Profit for the year is ecpected to be in line with expectations at £86-87m
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Quoted Micro 2 January 2017
ISDX/NEX
Business incubator Milamber Ventures (MLVP) is acquiring The League of Angels, an angel network set up by Barney Battles, a Milamber director. There is a subsidiary called The China 68 Club that offers access to Chinese family offices. The business made a small profit last year and since April it has referred work to Milamber worth £200,000. Milamber is paying £150,000 in shares at 15p each. Battles will own 21.6% of Milamber. In the six months to September 2016, Milamber increased its revenues from £34,000 to £224,000, while the loss rose from £54,000 to £196,000.
Residential property developer Via Developments (VIA1) has found buyers for all eight apartments in its Canal Street development in Manchester and non-refundable deposits of £375,000 have been received. The apartments should be completed in the second quarter of 2017. The gross development value of the project is £2.2m. Revised plans have been submitted for the Plymouth Grove development in Manchester and planning applications for the Napier Street site in Luton, the place in the UK where house prices have been strongest over the past year, should be determined in the next few months.
African Potash (AFPO) has revised its bridge loan agreement with Katrina Clayton, the wife of the company‘s finance director. This agreement provided finance of £150,000 and this will be increased to £900,000, in return for a fee of £7,500, because it failed to raise additional cash through share issues. If the shares cease to be traded on ISDX/NEX or a regulated market then African Potash will be in default. The lender can also appoint a director to the company. There was a $2m cash outflow from operating activities in the year to June 2016, plus $873,000 of capital investment. There were limited revenues from fertiliser trading. Net debt was $706,000 at the end of June 2016.
Globe Capital Ltd (GCAP) had £5,000 left in the bank at the end of September 2016. There was a cash outflow of £91,000 over the previous nine months, while £100,000 was raised from issuing shares. The only investment is a 25% stake in online menswear retailer Sterling Craig.
AIM
It is not just TLA Worldwide (TLA) that has used the Christmas and New Year period to put out bad news, although none was quite as blatant and late in the day as TLA. Legal and debt management services provider Fairpoint (FRP) used the period between Christmas and New Year to report the departure of chief executive Chris Moat, although he will continue to assist in the closure of the debt management business. The share price has fallen by two-thirds since its profit warning on 9 December. Hargreave Hale has been trimming its stake from above 14% to 12.2%. 1Spatial (SPA) has parted company with its chief executive Marcus Hanke. This follows the disposal of the Avisen and Storage Fusion businesses. 1Spatial had warned that contracts were going to fall into 2017 and therefore it will make a 2016 loss.
Intercede (IGP) is raising around £5m from the issue of £4.5m of convertible loan notes and a £500,000 subscription at 57p a share – although this requires shareholder approval – compared with a market price of 57.5p. The identity and digital security services provider is not generating enough cash to make the required investment in its products and a move into the consumer market. Full year revenues will be less than the £11m reported for 2015-16. Interim revenues halved to £2.8m and the pre-tax loss soared from £432,000 to £3.67m. The cash pile fell from £5.29m to £1.38m in the six months to September 2016 so most of this cash has probably already gone. The convertibles last for five years and have an annual interest charge of 8%. The conversion price is just over 68.8p a share.
B2B gaming services provider Nektan (NKTN) has raised £2.275m at 27.5p a share and is offering shareholders the chance to subscribe for £500,000 at the same share price. That was a 15% discount to the market price but it has since fallen to 27p – compared with the November 2014 flotation price of 236p. In the year to June 2016, revenues jumped from £528,000 to £5.78m but the loss still increased from £8.12m to £10.5m. The cash outflow, before a rise in trade payables, was £6.18m. Conversion of loans means that Nektan’s stake in US business ReSpin has been raised from 50% to 85%.
It has not just been bad news between Christmas and New Year. Windar Photonics (WPHO) has revealed a number of new orders for its LiDAR wind sensors for use on wind turbines. An Indian power producer and the Indian National Institute of Wind Energy have ordered sensors, with the power producer ordering an initial five units with an option for a further 35 units. On top of this there are orders for seven units from Canada – a repeat order – and South Korea – the first order in that country. Windar has already said that its 2016 revenues will be between €1.5m and €2m – slightly below expectations. Before Christmas, Windar raised £491,000 at 94p a share. The share price has since fallen back to 77p.
Commercial property investor Summit Germany Ltd (SMTG) is paying a third interim dividend of 1.02 cents a share – the same as the previous quarterly dividend. The ex-dividend date is 5 January and forms to receive the dividend in pence need to be completed by 4 January. The exchange rate for the previous quarterly dividend was 0.8815p to one Euro, so the current exchange rate suggests that the sterling equivalent will be lower in this quarter. Summit has sold an empty office building in Hamburg for €14m.
Facilities management and security services provider Mortice Ltd (MORT) is generating more than three-quarters of its revenues from repeat business. In the six months to September 2016, revenues were 79% ahead at $91.1m. Much of that growth comes from a full contribution from the UK operations but the Indian business grew 22% and still accounts for 63% of revenues. Underlying pre-tax profit has jumped from $300,000 to $2/6m. Net debt was $14.6m but since then £2.3m has been raised at 75p a share. Trading continues to be strong.
Kodal Minerals (KOD) says that the latest samples at the Bougouni lithium project show high grade lithium mineralization of up to 2.03% lithium oxide. A total of 18 holes have been drilled and the results of analysis are expected by the end of January.
Stanley Gibbons (SGB) lost £6.18m in the first half, compared with a £1.11m profit in the comparative period after revenues slumped from £29.4m to £20.2m. Net debt was £16.5m at the end of September 2016. The US-based ecommerce business has been closed after an investment of £10m. A new coin joint venture has been set up by Baldwin with coin auctioneer St James’s, following a number of management departures.
Redcentric (RCN) has issued options to finance director Peter Brotherton and chief operating officer Mo Siddiqi. Brotherton has 161,905 options at nil cost and Siddiqi has 257,143 options at no cost, while Siddiqi has 250,000 at 84p each. These options are dependent on diluted earnings per share growth between March 2016 and March 2019. The compound annual growth rate required is not specified but the figures for the year to March 2016 have already been restated downwards. Siddiqi also has 250,000 options at 84p each that have no performance criteria. The current share price is 91p.
Grapheme NanoChem (GRPH) has gained its first commercial order for PlatDrill synthetic-based drilling mud in China. The initial order of 4,000 barrels of PlatDrill will be used for two shale gas wells in south west China and will generate revenues of $360,000. There could be more than 300 wells drilled in China each year over a five year period.
Mobile financial services provider Vipera (VIP) is increasing its stake in Codd & Date, which deploys Vipera’s technology services with customers, from 51% to 80.7%. In fact, the part of the business that focuses on Vipera’s Motif software will be split out and become a wholly-owned business. The enlarged group will move into larger premises in Milan More Info. Vipera is issuing 21.4 million shares and six million warrants exercisable at 5p each to pay for the additional stake.
CPP Group (CPP) is paying SSP £2.5m for terminating the contract to build an IT platform.
Fire and emergency services resource manager AssetCo (ASTO) is still attempting to renew its main contract in Abu Dhabi, which was due for renewal on 17 November. The contract will continue on existing terms until the new one is agreed. There should be further news concerning a one year extension at the end of January. Trading is in line with expectations.
Positive news from Providence Resources (PANR) concerning its VOBM4 well. Drilling of the Wilcox sandstone suggests that there is a potentially highly productive hydrocarbon zone at shallower depths.
Igas Energy (IGAS) is still trying to negotiate a capital restructuring and a strategic investor is interested in injecting funds into the business. There is around $32m left in the bank but net debt is significant enough for IGas to be on the verge of breaking its leverage covenant.
Circle Oil (COP) has lost its AIM quotation because trading in the shares had been suspended for six months and management says that the shares are unlikely to have any value. The International Finance Corporation and associates have waived debt repayments and deferred interest payments until 26 January.
MAIN MARKET
Derriston Capital (DERR) joined the standard list on 29 September. Medical products and devices are the proposed areas where an acquisition is likely to come from. Derriston (www.derristoncapital.co.uk), whose investors include Nigel Wray, former Domino’s Pizza boss Stephen Hemsley and Primary Health Properties boss Harry Hyman, raised £2.275m at 10p a share to go with the £56,000 previously raised. Derriston was valued at £2.5m when it floated. The standard list shell more than doubled in value in the first couple of days of trading but ended the week at 17.5p.
Andrew Hore
Mothercare Impacted By Unseasonable Weather.
Mothercare MTC Senior management seems not to understand one of the basic facts of life about the UK, namely that it does not have a climate, it has weather and for much of the year its weather is unseasonable, thoughtlessly providing mini heat waves in February, snow in May and year round excuses for management’s failures.
So MTC goes unthinkingly into the excuses drawer and plucks out unseasonable weather as having impacted it during the quarter to 9th July, when UK sales fell by 2.1% although on a like for like basis they rose by 1.2% after allowing for closures. International sales in actual currencies rose by 5.1% and worldwide sales by 2.7%, after an increase of 2.3% in space. As for the future, MTC says that its vision is clear, except of course when it is foggy in summer.
Supergroup SGP is paying a a final special dividend of 20p per share, on top of the full ordinary dividend of 23.2p after a year of significant progress in which revenue rose by 21%, underlying profit before tax by 16.3% and basic earnings per share by 21.8%. The company exudes with confidence for the future.
Dart DTG is increasing its final dividend from 2.25p. per share to 3.10p making an increase for the full year of 33%. Profiut before tax soared by 159%, basic earnings per share by 169% and group operating profit by 216%
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Talk Talk “On-Net Adds Flat” & Other Tripe
Talk Talk Telecom TALK wins today’s prize for gibberish with a claim that on-net adds flat. RGU growth + 148k . Quarterly churn ( presumably from the dairy division) is the lowest ever at 1.3% and the company is now a trusted value champion. Presumably it was previously either untrusted or not a champion. When will these people who run some of Britains best known companies wake up to how much damage they do to themselves and their companies with this sort of tripe. ( at least for those of us from the North of England who recognise a good piece of tripe when we see one.)
As for the understandable bit of the preliminary results, TALK enjoyed a strong bounce back in quarter 4 and there are strong opportunities for growth across all products. Corporate revenue for the year to 31st March fell back by 2.9% whilst Data revenue rose by 40%. Statutory profit before tax fell from £32m to £14m because of exceptionals and earnings per share plummeted from 7.8p to a miserly 0.2p. Obviously after a bit of a nightmare year the shareholders have to be persuaded not to ask too many questions and the dividend is being increased by 15%.
ITV plc ITV has made a good start to the year with external revenue up by 14% and ITV Studios revenue surging by 44% in the first quarter to the end of March. Viewing share was up by 3% and good group profit growth is expected for the first half.
Stobart Group STOB appears to have turned the corner in the year to the end of February, with a rise of 98% in underlying profit before tax and last years loss of £9.4m having been turned into a profit of £10m on a like for like basis. Basic earnings per share have nearly doubled from 2.6p to 5p and like for like revenue has risen by 8.6%. All five divisions produced improved profitability. The final dividend is held at 4p.
Southend airport which is still misleadingly named as London Southend airport was named by Which as Britain’s best airport.
Supergroup SGP enjoyed robust trading during its 4th quarter, helping full year group sales to rise by 21% and retail sales by 24.5%. Wholesale revenue was up by 13.7% for the full year but the strength of the second half was sown with a rise of 19.6%
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