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(Alliance News) - The following is a round-up of updates by London-listed companies, issued on Thursday and not separately reported by Alliance News:
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Gym Group PLC - gym operator - Revenue for 2020 falls 47% to GBP80.5 million and swings to pretax loss of GBP47.2 million from GBP6.2 million profit in 2019. Says results reflect a year of "significant disruption", which saw its gyms forced to close for 45% of the trading days in the year due to the pandemic. Notes gyms in England expected to re-open on April 12 and those in Scotland to reopen on April 26. "We anticipate that when we re-open gyms in April 2021 we will be close to cash flow break-even and we will then grow membership, revenues and profitability from this point," company says.
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eve Sleep PLC - London-based direct-to-consumer mattress retailer - Reports revenue growth and narrowed loss for 2020, and strong start to new year. Revenue for 2020 rises 6% to GBP25.2 million, while pretax loss narrows to GBP2.4 million from GBP12.5 million. "The period was dominated by the pandemic, with heightened sales volatility in the early months of the year. Sales from May onwards grew strongly and have remained at elevated levels as a result of the trend to online ordering and the strength of the homewares market," company says. Adds that revenue in the first two months of 2021 was up 16%, representing an acceleration from the last quarter of 2020, where growth was held back by some supply constraints.
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Restore PLC - Redhill, England-based document management, commercial relocation and IT recycling business - Reports revenue of GBP182.7 million for 2020, down from GBP215.6 million in 2019, while pretax profit dives to GBP4.0 million from GBP24.8 million. "The business started well in 2020 with growth in the first quarter despite the emergence of Covid-19 in March. The second quarter saw significant disruption with our first half results reflecting strong cash generation and a profitable performance although down on 2019," company says. Expects a "strong return" to its established growth trajectory in 2021 and beyond, based on the the UK vaccine rollout and improving macroeconomic conditions. Adds that performance in January and February in line with board expectations, with revenue tracking at 90% of pre-pandemic levels. No dividend for year, versus 2.4p in 2019, though expects to reinstate payouts for 2021.
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AVI Japan Opportunity Trust PLC - Japan-focused investor - Net asset value per share total return minus 1.4% versus MSCI Japan Small Cap Return Index which returned 3.2%. NAV per share at end of 2020 108.90 pence versus 112.00p at end of 2019. "With the benefit of hindsight, 2020 was full of encouraging signs: the resilience of your holdings' business models during the pandemic; AVI's enhanced engagement efforts; continued evidence of changing corporate governance norms; and investor interest from both private and public equity institutions. All of these add to the mounting evidence in favour of owning a concentrated portfolio of lowly valued Japanese equities likely to benefit from the corporate governance revolution," says AVI.
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PipeHawk PLC - Aldershot, Hampshire-based provider of technology solutions to highways, automotive, rail and aerospace industries - Revenue for six months to December 31 GBP2.6 million, down 42% year-on-year, with the company swinging to a pretax loss of GBP336,000 from GBP111,000 profit. Says this was "very creditable" result given challenging conditions created by Brexit and Covid-19. "We believe that there is a significant overhang of orders waiting to be placed when the time is right," company says.
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FW Thorpe PLC - Worcestershire-based lighting systems firm - Revenue for six months to end of December GBP56.4 million, down 1.8% on a year ago. Pretax profit flat at GBP7.4 million, and interim dividend edges up 2.1% to 1.49p from 1.46p. "Despite the challenging economic backdrop, the group delivered a resilient performance, with revenue reducing only marginally at the half year compared with last year, and a pleasing marginal increase in profitability at an operating level," company says. Adds that, supported by a "healthy" order book, it should see a steady second-half performance better than expected at the start of the pandemic.
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Location Sciences PLC - London-based location verification company - Revenue for 2020 falls to GBP1.1 million from GBP1.2 million, though pretax loss slims to GBP1.4 million from GBP2.3 million as administrative expenses fall to GBP1.5 million from GBP2.5 million. Says business review continues, and board will make further announcements in due course. "The announcement of a business review is the right thing for us to do for shareholders given the ongoing uncertainty caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and together with the board, I will continue to explore options for the group and its products," says Chief Executive Mark Slade.
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John Lewis Of Hungerford PLC - specialist kitchen manufacturer and retailer - Publishes both results for 2020 financial year and interim results for current financial year. Revenue for financial year ended June 30, 2020 falls to GBP5.6 million from GBP8.3 million leading to widened pretax loss of GBP885,816 versus GBP220,025 in 2019. Interim results for six months to end of December, 2020, show revenue flat at GBP3.3 million and pretax loss slimming to GBP213,000 from GBP398,000. Says central scenario assumes no further delays to government's lockdown easing roadmap and that showrooms will be able to re-open fully on April 12. "Our central scenario reflects the strength of current trading and projects a profitable second half of the year. Under this scenario we also expect to enter the new financial year to June 2022 with an order book which will be higher than in recent years," company says.
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Audioboom Group PLC - podcast firm - 2020 revenue grows 20% to USD26.8 million, while pretax loss slims to GBP3.3 million from GBP7.5 million. "In 2020, the company recorded revenue growth that almost doubled the expected wider podcast industry growth, it proved its resilience to a global pandemic and in Q4 recorded its highest revenue quarter to date. The company continued to build on its strong operation and financial foundations and did so with an average headcount of 37 staff, making it an extremely efficient and focused organisation," company says. Says 2021 set to be "breakthrough" year for Audioboom and company has already signed advertising bookings representing more than 80% of current market expectations as to revenue for the full-year.
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Portmeirion Group PLC - homewares manufacturer based in Staffordshire, England - Revenue for 2020 falls 5.3% to GBP87.9 million from GBP92.8 million, which company says is "resilient" peformance given backdrop, and swings to pretax loss of GBP232,000 from profit of GBP7.1 million in 2019. Company takes GBP1.3 million in restructuring costs in 2020 versus just GBP688,000 the year before. Notes like-for-like sales down 5.8% in the second half after a declien of 20% in the first half. No dividends paid or proposed for 2020 but expects to resume payout in 2021, assuming a return to normalised trading. "We are encouraged to see our positive trading momentum from H2 2020 continue in Q1 2021 despite the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. We remain alert to further potential disruption in our key markets, but are confident of returning to growth in 2021," says Chief Executive Mike Raybould.
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Empresaria Group PLC - West Sussex-based staffing firm - Says revenue for 2020 falls 28% to GBP256.5 million and turns to pretax loss of GBP2.0 million from profit of GBP2.9 million in 2019. Says started 2020 strongly, but Covid-19 resulted in an "extremely challenging" year for the staffing industry. Resumes dividend with final payout of 1.0p proposed. "The increased level of national lockdowns and restrictions in several of our markets at the start of 2021 means we remain cautious on the immediate outlook, but believe we are well placed to take advantage as and when markets recover," company says.
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Capital Ltd - Africa-focused mining services firm - Revenue for 20202 rose 18% to USD135.0 million while pretax profit jumped to USD34.1 million from USD14.6 million. Books fair value gain on investments at fair value of USD13.6 million, versus loss of USD1.1 million the year before. "Capital's strategy proved resilient against the challenges of 2020 and our performance was outstanding," says Executive Chair Jamie Boyton. Total dividend for year 2.2 cents, up 57% on 1.4 cents the year before. Boyton adds: "We are highly encouraged for the year ahead given favourable operating conditions are continuing. The gold price, our principal commodity exposure, remains at elevated levels and equity markets continue to be supportive for capital raising activity, with fundraisings for Juniors and Intermediates experiencing a significant month-on-month uptick in activity during February, with the greatest number of large financings in recent history, a strong indicator of future demand."
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Independent Oil & Gas PLC - UK gas company targeting high returns - Reports pretax loss for 2020 of GBP19.3 million from profit of GBP15.0 million in 2019. Books GBP12.6 million impairment of oil & gas properties versus nil the year before, reflecting write down of the Harvey and Redwell assets following technical evaluation in 2020 of the data from the appraisal well and the decision in the fourth quarter to partially redetermine the P2085 licence. "We continue our strenuous efforts to deliver our core project in a safe, timely and cost-effective manner with a low carbon footprint. Over Q1 2021, with all major Phase 1 contracts in place or underway, we have undertaken a rigorous cost and schedule review, assessing progress against project budget and target timeline. This has reaffirmed our guidance on expected first gas by late Q3 2021, likely in September, to come initially from the Blythe hub fields," company says.
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JPEL Private Equity Ltd - investment company focused on private equity partnerships and direct investments in Europe, North America and Asia - Net asset value per share USD1.73 at end of December, up 7.5% from USD1.61 at end of June. Says will continued to review its cash balance and will determine the timing of the next mandatory redemption in due course. "The manager continues to engage in regular dialogue with the management and sponsors of its largest underlying positions and has been receiving regular updates on any potential and anticipated impact on underlying portfolio company operations. Based on these conversations and sponsor reports received to date, the board and manager believe that the company has experienced minimal impact from Covid-19 and the current environment continues to be favourable for realisations of well performing private equity assets," firm says.
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Genel Energy PLC - London-based oil company - Revenue for 2020 more than halves to USD159.7 million from USD377.2 million. Swings to heft pretax loss of USD416.7 million from profit of USD104.6 million in 2019 after taking impairments of USD323.2 million. "2020 was a uniquely challenging year for everyone. As for Genel, our continued progress and strong performance in 2020 has laid the foundation for a year of growth and operational catalysts in 2021," Chief Executive Bill Higgs says. Dividend for the year steady at 15 cents.
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By Lucy Heming; lucyheming@alliancenews.com
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