(Alliance News) - The following is a round-up of earnings reports by London-listed companies, issued on Tuesday and not separately reported by Alliance News:
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Chesnara PLC - Preston-based life and pensions firm - Pretax profit falls to GBP24.6 million in 2020 from GBP96.1 million in 2019. Insurance premium revenue increases 9.3% to GBP293.4 million from GBP268.3 million. Net investment return falls to GBP254.6 million from GBP1.09 billion. Increases final dividend 3.0% to 14.29 pence per share from 13.87p a year prior. Full year dividend also lifted 3.0%, to 21.94p per share from 21.30p. Says the pandemic has caused minimal permanent damage to the business model. Says three out of its four businesses have actually grown in terms of scale through the year. Does not provide specific forward-looking financial projections or guidance but says "there are several financial metrics and factors that provide a level of comfort regarding dividend sustainability".
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Allied Minds PLC - Boston, US-based intellectual property commercialisation company - Swings to pretax loss in 2020 of USD55.5 million from a USD50.3 million profit year before. Revenue sinks to USD480,000 from USD2.7 million. Posts loss on investments held at fair value of USD31.9 million, swinging from a gain of USD41.2 million. Paid a sole special dividend of 12.62 pence per share in February last year. Believes that the shareholder returns to date and completion of successful fundraisings throughout its portfolio, together with achieving portfolio company milestones, means that Allied Minds is well positioned to maximise returns for its shareholders.
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Catalyst Media Group PLC - London-based media investment company - Swings to pretax loss in six months to December 31 of GBP421,214 from a GBP320,930 profit a year prior. Revenue is unchanged at GBP1.5 million. Swings to loss from 'share of loss of equity-accounted associate' of GBP384,303 from a profit of GBP359,245 a year before. Says it did not receive any dividends from its investments, compared to GBP1.0 million a year prior. One of its investments is expected to return to profitability in the next financial year, while its other investments are expected to have a varied performance.
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LoopUp Group PLC - London-based cloud communications provider - Swings to pretax profit in 2020 of GBP5.7 million from GBP2.8 million loss a year prior. Revenue increases to GBP50.2 million from GBP42.5 million. Does not propose any dividend, unchanged from 2019. Says 2021 "is set to be a transitional year for the group as we migrate from a remote meetings business to a broader cloud platform for external and specialist communications".
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Dialight PLC - London-based industrial LED lighting technology and solutions - Pretax loss in 2020 narrows to GBP10.1 million from GBP12.5 million the year prior. Revenue falls 21% to GBP119.0 million from GBP151.0 million but cost of sales decreases also by 21%, to GBP85.0 million from GBP107.1 million. Distribution costs decrease to GBP20.8 million from GBP27.2 million. Does not propose a final dividend, unchanged from the year prior, as it conserves cash and preserves liquidity. "We are experiencing an increase in quoting activity early in the year and while the group will continue to be impacted by Covid-19 during 2021 and will take steps to mitigate to the extent possible, we see a range of profitable outcomes for the full year," says Chief Executive Fariyal Khanbabi.
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Nanoco Group PLC - Manchester-based quantum dots developer - Pretax loss in the first half ended January 31 widens 21% year-on-year to GBP2.3 million from GBP1.9 million. Revenue sinks to GBP1.0 million from GBP2.9 million a year prior. Continues to develop further commercial opportunities in the sensing and display sectors with "key players" in both industries and with a particular focus of the company's current activity on sensing markets. Is actively negotiating on some short-term opportunities for further development work with a number of customers and applications in the field of sensing.
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Animalcare Group PLC - York-based animal health business - Swings to pretax profit in 2020 of GBP199,000 from GBP1.6 million loss a year prior. Revenue falls 0.8% to GBP70.5 million from GBP71.1 million. Research & development expenses cut to GBP3.5 million from GBP4.1 million, while net other operating expenses slashed to GBP1.8 million from GBP4.8 million. Proposes final dividend of 2.0 pence per share, compared to nothing a year prior, putting its 2020 total payout at 4.0 pence per share. Says demand in the first quarter is showing positive signs with a marked increase in revenue compared to the same period in 2020. Confident in growth going forward.
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Central Asia Metals PLC - copper, zinc and lead explorer, operating in Kazakhstan and North Macedonia - Pretax profit in 2020 falls 12% to USD59.8 million from USD67.8 million a year prior. Revenue from continuing operations falls to USD170.3 million from USD180.8 million. Declares final dividend per share of 8 pence, compared to nothing a year prior. Annual payout increases to 14p per share from 6.5p. Production guidance for zinc in concentrate is between 23,000 and 25,000 tonnes in 2021; for lead in concentrate, between 30,000 and 32,000 tonnes; aond for copper, between 12,500 and 13,500 tonnes.
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MySale Group PLC - Australia, New Zealand and south east Asia-focused online retailer - Posts pretax loss for six months to December 31 of AUD1.0 million, or about GBP567,974, narrowing from AUD3.7 million a year prior. Revenue falls 11% to AUD63.8 million from AUD71.9 million a year before. Cost of sales decreases to AUD39.6 million from AUD47.5 million in 2019. There were no dividends paid in the period. Says current trading has continued to be profitable with earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation "expected to be significantly ahead of expectations".
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Itaconix PLC - London-based plant-based polymers firm - Pretax loss in 2020 widens 14% to USD1.6 million from USD1.4 million a year prior. Revenue more than doubles to USD3.3 million from USD1.3 million. Cost of sales soars to USD2.1 million from USD838,000. "Despite some emerging operational headwinds in the supply chain from secondary effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, we expect the commercial momentum in 2020 to progress in 2021, particularly as current customer products succeed in the market and major new customer products continue to launch in 2021," says Chief Executive John Shaw.
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K3 Business Technology Group PLC - Manchester-based enterprise software firm - Pretax loss for the year ended November 30, 2020 widens to GBP20.9 million from GBP776,000 the year prior. Revenue slips 2.6% to GBP48.8 million from GBP50.1 million a year before. Administrative expenses increase to GBP48.4 million from GBP28.8 million. Continues suspension of dividends "given the financial position of the group". Says trading so far in the new financial year has been in line with the same period last year. Remains confident in the plans for the future of the company and the repositioning strategy to focus on own-IP lead growth and SaaS in attractive markets.
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Pensana PLC - mineral explorer that recently changed name from Pensana Rare Earths - Pretax loss for six months to December 31 widens to USD2.6 million from USD2.0 million a year prior. Foreign currency exchange loss widens to USD621,652 from USD41,825. Has no revenues from operations. Did not declare a dividend. "The team has made significant progress over the period despite the ongoing challenges of Covid. With an LSE listing and a third placing...we were able to progress with the key metallurgical testing workstreams in Australia, complete the production of a [mixed rare earth carbonate], upgrade our mineral resource at Longonjo, initiate our Coola exploration programme and make a stepped changed in the company's direction by progressing key scoping studies into the Saltend refinery," says Pensana.
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By Greg Roxburgh; gregroxburgh@alliancenews.com
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