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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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Arbuthnot Banking Group PLC - London-based private and commercial banking - Operating income for 2020 totals GBP72.5 million, flat on 2019. However, company swings to pretax loss of GBP1.1 million from GBP7.0 million profit after taking a GBP2.8 million impairment loss on financial assets, versus just GBP876,000 a year before. In addition, the company registered GBP678,000 in 'other' income for 2020, a sharp reduction from GBP5.6 million in 2019. During the year, it paid a 21p special dividend in lieu of the 2019 dividend that was cancelled following guidance from the PRA. "Given the impact the pandemic has had on the group's earnings, the board is not recommending a final dividend for the year of 2020, but will assess the dividend strategy of the group, as profitability is restored, in 2021," Arbuthnot says.
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Valeura Energy Inc - Canada-based company engaged in the exploration, development and production of petroleum and natural gas in Turkey - Says 2020 average production 650 barrels of oil equivalent per day, broadly stable on the 660 barrels per day reported for 2019. Revenue for year falls 16% to USD8.5 million due to lower realised gas prices, while pretax loss deepens to USD20.2 million from USD4.3 million. Takes impairment charge of USD13.4 million relating to removal of the property, plant and equipment associated with the company's deep, tight gas assets in the Thrace Basin. Sean Guest, president & chief executive, says: "The sale of our conventional gas business is progressing and has now obtained all but one remaining government consent to complete the transaction. Both Valeura and the Buyer remain committed to the deal, with confidence on both sides stemming from a solid ongoing production performance which has delivered average full year volumes that are virtually unchanged from the prior year."
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Robinson PLC - Chesterfield-based plastic and paperboard packaging manufacturer - Revenue for 2020 rises 6% to GBP37.2 million and pretax profit increases to GBP1.8 million from GBP1.5 million. Gross margin for year at 23%, strengthening from 21% in 2019. "The impact of Covid-19 was marginally beneficial to revenue and profit in 2020. The additional demand for some products offset the additional costs of operating our factories safely," company notes. Declares final dividend of 3.0p, bringing full-year payout to 8.5p, versus 2.5p the year before. "The pace of recovery from the pandemic across geographies and short-term spikes in resin prices are likely to create substantial uncertainty and volatility in the market in 2021. Despite this uncertainty, we remain committed to delivering above-market profitable growth and our target of 6-8% adjusted operating margin," Chair Alan Raleigh says.
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Atalaya Mining PLC - Cyprus-based copper producer - Revenue for 2020 up 35% to EUR252.8 million from EUR187.9 million the year before, but pretax profit falls to EUR31.7 million from EUR36.9 million. Despite the challenging year, Atalaya met production guidance with copper production of 55,890 tonnes, up from 44,950 tonnes in 2019. As previously announced, production for 2021 is expected to be around 52,000 to 54,000 tonnes of copper.
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Secure Trust Bank PLC - retail and commercial banking compan - Operating income for 2020 broadly stable at GBP166.1 million from GBP165.5 million in 2019, but pretax profit drops to GBP20.1 million from GBP38.7 million. Net impairment charge on loans and advances to customers GBP51.2 million for 2020 versus GBP32.6 million for 2019. Says year started well, with strong first quarter, though initial UK lockdown resulted in a contraction of the balance sheet in the mid-part of the year. Proposes final dividend of 44p, after no interim dividend, up from 20p in 2019. "These results provide the group with a strong platform from which to take advantage of economic recovery and return to lending growth," the bank says.
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Starcom PLC - remote tracking systems firm, headquartered in Jersey - Revenue for 2020 falls 26% to USD5.0 million from USD6.8 million in 2019, and operating loss deepens to USD1.8 million from USD706,000. "The gross margin for the year was 33%, compared with 41% for 2019. This was due to lower sales revenues and the impact of increases in the cost of raw materials, shipment and logistics as experienced across the industry due to the pandemic," company notes. Says cautiously optimistic the level of activity is start to rise. "We are therefore quite confident that revenues will increase in the second half of this year. With the solid technology we have kept at the forefront of our business and client relationships that have been maintained throughout the tough period, we will be ready and are well positioned to meet customer demand when it hopefully increases in the second half of 2021 as markets gradually return to some normality," says Starcom.
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Ebiquity PLC - marketing and media consultancy - Revenue for 2020 falls to GBP55.9 million from GBP68.1 million in 2019, though pretax loss slims to GBP3.9 million from GBP5.7 million. Administrative expenses fall to GBP27.7 million from GBP36.7 million. Notes that second-half revenue increased by 9% from the first, though full-year revenue down 18% overall versus 2019. "Although 2020 was an exceptionally difficult year for many businesses, including Ebiquity, the outlook for 2021 is more positive, and it is expected to be a year of recovery, albeit not immediately to the activity levels of 2019. There are early signs of economic activity, including advertising expenditure, returning to more normalised levels during 2021, although this depends on the success of vaccine programmes and other measures in continuing to reduce the global impact of Covid-19," says Ebiquity.
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Biome Technologies PLC - Southampton, England-based developer of biodegradable natural polymers and radio frequency systems - Revenue for 2020 falls to GBP5.7 million from GBP7.0 million in 2019, while pretax loss widens to GBP1.7 million from GBP1.0 million. "Both businesses operated against the ongoing backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdowns, which, whilst hindering our efforts to diversify the RF Technologies division's customer base, demonstrated the resilience of the bioplastics market and the strength of Biome's offering and relevance to this rapidly expanding compostable materials market," company says, noting that the Bioplastics division's sales grew to a record GBP4.9 million, up 65% on 2019. Bioplastics represented 86% of group revenues in the year. Adds that trading in first quarter of 2021 in line with internal expectations and outlook for the year remains unchanged.
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One Heritage Group PLC - residential developer focused on the north west of England - Reports revenue of GBP191,127 in six months to end of December, up sharply from just GBP4,919 a year ago. Pretax loss widens to GBP226,986 from GBP157,510. Administration expenses surge to GBP401,214 from GBP154,995, reflecting increasing number of employees, averaging 11 during the period versus 3 a year ago, and professional fees increasing as the group grows. "With the Group's developments all in their infancy, we are not expecting any of our projects to be completed until Q4 2021 at the earliest, so our core strategic focus for 2021 is to make as much progress as we can with each development programme," company says. The company listed on the London Stock Exchange in December 2020.
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By Lucy Heming; lucyheming@alliancenews.com
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