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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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Helios Underwriting PLC - London-based investment vehicle, which acquires and consolidates underwriting capacity at Lloyd's - Revenue for six months to June 30 GBP27.4 million, up from GBP23.3 million a year ago. Pretax loss widens to GBP480,000 from GBP108,000 as operating expenses rise to GBP11.4 million from GBP7.0 million. "Whilst these interim results have yet to reflect the improvement in syndicate profitability following cumulative rate increases of an average of 51% since January 2018, Helios' strategy to generate growth and shareholder returns is firmly on track," says Chief Executive Nigel Hanbury. Underwriting profit for period GBP1.1 million, vast improvement on GBP154,000 a year ago. CEO adds: "The improvement in underwriting conditions over 4 years will provide a platform for better prospects for underwriting margins over the next few years, and we are confident of a strong performance in the remainder of the year."
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Rutherford Health PLC - Hereford, England-based cancer care centre provider - Revenue for financial year to February 28 rises to GBP7.3 million from GBP5.6 million the year before, while pretax loss widens to GBP32.4 million from GBP29.3 million. Administrative expenses rise to GBP30.8 million from GBP26.1 million. Reports 45% growth in patient numbers across all services to despite reduction in referrals due to the pandemic, to 328 from 225. Says hit from Covid has been difficult, given high fixed cost base, but it managed costs carefully and maintained pre-virus revenue trends. "We intend to further develop our diagnostics business, in partnership with Equitix, Philips and NHS Trusts. We are currently in discussion with multiple NHS Trusts to provide Community Diagnostic Hubs and managed services, which will not only provide access to high-quality essential services for many NHS patients around the UK, but will also significantly diversify the group's revenues," it says.
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IronRidge Resources Ltd - minerals exploration company with projects in Chad, Ghana and the Ivory Coast - Pretax loss for financial year ended June 30 AUD4.6 million, slimmed from AUD6.4 million the year before. Takes AUD1.0 million exploration write-off versus AUD131,386 the year before, but share based payments fall to AUD1.0 million from AUD2.7 million. Has cash and cash equivalents of AUD19.1 million at year-end, up sharply from AUD7.3 million a year ago. "This year has been highly successful for IronRidge, culminating in the transformative post period end agreement with Piedmont Lithium to fully fund the company's Ewoyaa Lithium Project through to production," says Chief Executive Vincent Mascolo. Adds firm has "great optimism" for year ahead.
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PetroNeft Resources PLC - part-owner and operator of two licences in the west Siberian oil basin - Revenue for first half of 2021 USD2.5 million, up sharply from USD1.0 million a year ago. Pretax loss narrows to USD1.8 million from USD2.2 million. Gross production rises by a quarter to 1,967 barrels of oil per day. "Operational results in both assets through 2021 to date have been very encouraging and provide further confidence in the potential of the company's assets to drive forward shareholder value. It is also pleasing to see that this improvement in the group's operational performance is reflected in an improving share price," company says.
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MC Mining Ltd - coal miner focused on South Africa - Revenue for financial year to June 30 grows to USD20.7 million from USD17.2 million the year prior. Pretax loss narrows to USD12.1 million from USD12.9 million. The Uitkomst colliery produced 490,100 tonnes of run of mine coal in the year, up 14%, and sold 292,261 tonnes. In order to meet working capital requirements, firm is mulling several alternative strategies to raise additional funding, including the issue of equity for cash, further debt funding and the sale of a minority stake in the subsidiary companies holding the Makhado Project.
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JPMorgan Global Growth & Income PLC - invests in companies around the world - Net asset value per share at end of June 432.3p, up from 338.9p a year ago. Net asset value total return 32% and share price return 33% - both outperforming benchmark, the MSCI AC World Index expressed in sterling, which rises 25%. "This outperformance was the result of positive stock selection," it says. Says intended dividend for 2022 financial year represents increase of 29% over the 13.16p for the recently ended year.
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Capital Metals PLC - London-based mineral sands explorer - Pretax loss for financial year to March 31 USD7.9 million, widened from USD1.0 million the year before. Books USD5.5 million as cost of acquiring listing and USD1.1 million as a share based payments charge, neither of which it recorded costs for a year ago. Was readmitted to trading on AIM in January. Says it has made positive progress towards the major milestones of Environmental Impact Assessment and Industrial Mining Licence approval, which it expects to be complete in the fourth quarter. "As stated in the company's admission document, and in common with many exploration and evaluation entities, the group will need to raise further funds within the next 12 months, in order to meet its expected expenditures, and progress the group into the next phase of definitive feasibility, and then into construction and finally into production," it says.
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Aurora Investment Trust PLC - investment trust managed by Phoenix Asset Management Partners - Net asset value per share 230.90 pence at the end of June, up from 213.39p at the end of December. Total return for six month period 6.7%, while share price total return is 12% - a mixed performance versus benchmark, FTSE All-Share index, which returns 11%. Says first six months of year did not see significant investment activity as it remained comfortable with portfolio. "From a contribution perspective, Frasers contributed 50% of the NAV rise in the first half year with Lloyds and Dignity also significant contributors," it says.
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Panther Securities PLC - property investor - Net asset value per share 527p at June 30, up from 488p at December 31. Revenue for six months to June 30 falls to GBP6.4 million from GBP6.8 million a year ago, but swings to pretax profit of GBP11.6 million from loss of GBP10.3 million. Boosted by GBP14.3 million fair value gain on derivative financial liabilities after loss of GBP3.8 million a year ago. Hopes to be able to maintain dividend and will look to pay interim dividend for year to December 31 of 6p.
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Boston International Holdings PLC - special purpose acquisitions company - Pretax loss for half-year to June 30 GBP187,000, widened from GBP173,000 a year ago. Makes no revenue in either period. "Following withdrawing from the acquisition of Alexanders Discount Ltd, an invoice factoring company based in Southeast England, listing of the company's ordinary shares on the Official List was restored on 9 March 2021 and the directors have continued to actively review potential acquisition opportunities for the company expanding its search for an appropriate acquisition target, to alternative sectors in addition to the forex market," it says
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NFT Investments PLC - invests in non-fungible tokens - Pretax loss in first half of 2021 is GBP2.1 million, wider than the GBP39,704 booked in the ten months to December 2020. After Aquis IPO in April, says it has "significant capital" to deploy into market. "The NFT industry is growing rapidly, and the company sees significant opportunities to create value for investors as the company believes that the NFT opportunity is the first example of blockchain monetising at scale and that NFTs are the future of digital ownership and commerce," it says, adding it is well placed to take advantage of "recent correction" in the blockchain and digital assets sectors.
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Rockpool Acquisitions PLC - Northern Ireland-based special purpose acquisition vehicle - Records no revenue for financial year to March 31 versus GBP30,000 the year before. Swings to pretax loss of GBP36,077 from profit of GBP33,858. Administrative expenses grow to GBP129,235 from GBP95,547. "The board of Rockpool has previously indicated to the market that it wanted to progress with the completion of the acquisition of Greenview pursuant to the exercise of the option, but, for various reasons, including a lack of funds available to pay the associated costs, it has not been possible to do so to date. The board is currently considering whether and when to progress the acquisition of Greenview, or to abandon it in favour of seeking an alternative transaction," it says. Adds that cash position is "tight", but directors and creditors are supportive as it explores funding options.
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Reabold Resources PLC - investor in upstream oil and gas projects - Revenue in six months to June 30 GBP560,000, dipping from GBP570,000 a year ago. Pretax loss widens to GBP1.4 million from GBP508,000. Administration expenses rise to GBP954,000 from GBP153,000. "Having secured funding to significantly progress activity across our portfolio in 2021, we look forward to an exciting year ahead and beyond," company says.
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Apollon Formularies PLC - medical cannabis pharmaceutical company - Pretax loss for six months to June 30 GBP1.7 million, widened from GBP390,452 a year ago. Records no revenue in either period, and books GBP1.3 million share based payment for reverse acquisition in the recent period, versus nothing a year ago. Listed on London's Aquis Growth market in the period. "We continue to deliver on our strategy to become the premier global medical cannabis company with a number of key milestones achieved in the six months ended 30 June 2021," it says.
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Pineapple Power Corp PLC - special purpose acquisition company - Pretax loss for first half ended June 30 widens to GBP238,798 from GBP35,748. "The period under review was extremely busy and productive and focused on the search and identification of a suitable reverse takeover candidate which culminated in the identification of BVP Investments Ltd," it says. Reverse takeover process underway and hopes to advance deal during next few months.
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CVC Credit Partners European Opportunities Ltd - invests in European senior secured loans and other sub-investment grade corporate credit - Net asset value total return for half-year to June 30 8.3% for euro shares and 8.7% for sterling shares - both comparing favourably with company's medium-term average annualised total return target of 8%. Believes portfolio is well-placed to deliver this 8% target return. "Despite the strong rally in credit markets, there continues to be a large pipeline of opportunities that are being monitored," it adds.
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ADM Energy PLC - natural resources investing company with an existing asset base in Nigeria - Revenue for six months to June 30 GBP785,000, versus nothing in the same period a year ago and GBP799,000 achieved throughout the whole of 2020. Pretax loss widens to GBP1.5 million from GBP975,000. This reflects administrative expenses rising to GBP1.2 million from GBP938,000 and taking GBP1.1 million of operating costs, versus nothing a year ago. "ADM continued to make progress on its strategy to build a multi-asset portfolio by targeting projects with highly attractive risk-reward profiles," it says. The half-year marks first full period since company consolidated its position in OML 113 in Nigeria, increasing ADM's profit interest to 9.2% from 5%, and resulting in a significantly higher rate of net production.
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Black Sea Property PLC - property developer in Bulgaria - Net asset value at end of 2020 1.23 cents, down from 1.27 a year ago. Revenue in year EUR955,157, up from EUR671,030 the year before, but pretax profit shrinks to EUR341,771 from EUR4.5 million. Only books EUR262,596 revaluation gain on investment properties, versus EUR4.6 million the year before. "The directors are taking cautious measures to diminish and manage the cash flow and cost base of the company and are confident that the business is well equipped to withstand this near-term uncertainty," it says.
In separate trading update also released on Thursday, says trend for high domestic demand in the hospitality segment continued - but expected occupancy levels were hit by Covid restrictions on travel. Nonetheless, Camping South Beach notched occupancy level of 75% in July and 82% in August. "The Bulgarian tourist segment in 2021 was mainly driven by domestic travel. CSB benefits from the increased trends within the Bulgarian hospitality market towards camping holidays in local markets which allow for social distancing while holidaying within the country," it says.
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Eurasia Mining PLC - UK-based mining & mineral exploration company - Sales in six months to June 30 jump to GBP425,965 from GBP48,012 a year ago, and pretax loss widens to GBP1.5 million from GBP1.3 million. This reflects step-up in administrative costs to GBP1.2 million from GBP585,537. Highlights of period include agreeing joint venture with Rosgeo. Chair Christian Schaffalitzky adds: "In May we received a proposal for the potential acquisition of substantially all of the company's assets and the board decided to focus on this potential asset sale. Since then, we have seen additional interest from other parties." Is fully funded to fulfil commitments with Rosgeo venture.
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URU Metals Ltd - exploration and development firm - Net loss for financial year to March 31 slims to USD651,000 from USD732,000, reflecting a fall in administrative expenses. "The company looks forward to updating the market with positive news flow emanating from the upcoming drilling program, as well as receiving a granted Mining Right from the DMRE," it says.
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By Lucy Heming;Â lucyheming@alliancenews.com
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