(Alliance News) - The following is a round-up of updates by London-listed companies, issued on Tuesday and not separately reported by Alliance News:
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Topps Tiles PLC - Leicester-based tile retailer - Revenue in year ended September 26 falls 12% to GBP192.8 million from GBP219.2 million. Swings to pretax loss of GBP9.8 million from GBP12.5 million profit. Topps Tiles declares no dividend, after a 3.4 pence total dividend in financial 2019. Retail like-for-like revenue down 13% after a 0.6% climb in prior year. Says in first eight weeks of new year, retail like-for-likes up 20%.
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Ince Group PLC - Legal and professional services - Revenue in the six months ended September 30 rises 6.3% year-on-year to GBP48.2 million from GBP45.3 million. Swings to pretax profit of GBP1.8 million from GBP312,000 loss. Says performance was "strong performance given the impact of Covid-19".
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Custodian REIT PLC - commercial real estate investor - Net asset value per share at September 30, end of first half, down 8.7% year-on-year to 95.2p from 104.3p. Swings to negative NAV total return of 3.7% from positive 0.5% a year earlier. Declares total interim dividend of 2.0p per share, down 40% from 3.325p a year earlier but a third higher than the 1.5p minimum announced in April. Property portfolio value decreases to GBP532.3 million from GBP559.8 million at the end of March.
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Lindsell Train Investment PLC - investment trust with stakes in blue-chip firms such as Diageo PLC and Nintendo Co Ltd - Net asset value per share at September 30, end of first-half, up 3.4% year-on-year to GBP1,112.04 from GBP1,075.11. Reports NAV total return of 21%, beating benchmark's 2.0%.
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Honye Financial Services Ltd - Cayman Islands-based company seeking acquisitions in financial services and financial technology - Pretax loss in year ended July 31 narrows to GBP427,385 from GBP678,195 from date of incorporation on April 2018 to July 2019. Administrative expenses fall 40%. "We are optimistic but will approach any prospective companies to invest in or acquire with renewed caution," Honye says.
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Mercia Asset Management PLC - regionally-focused asset manager - Revenue in six months to September 30 rose 51% year-on-year to GBP8.4 million from GBP5.5 million. Pretax profit surges to GBP8.0 million from GBP2.1 million a year earlier. Total assets under management jump 78% to GBP872 million from GBP490 million a year earlier. Declares maiden interim dividend of 0.1p per share.
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Gooch & Housego PLC - Somerset-based optical components and systems maker - Revenue in year ended September 30 falls 5.5% to GBP122.1 million from GBP129.1 million. Pretax profit down 9.4% to GBP5.4 million from GBP6.0 million. Decides against interim payout, "in light of the increased global economic uncertainty" after 11.5p dividend in first half of financial 2019. "FY2020 profits were affected by temporary disruption to manufacturing and lower demand in some subsectors due to the COVID-19 pandemic," Chief Executive Officer Mark Webster says.
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Bilby PLC - London-headquartered gas heating, electrical and building services firm - Revenue in the six months to September 30 down 21% year-on-year to GBP23.4 million from GBP29.8 million. Swings to pretax loss of GBP192,000 from GBP711,000 profit. Says second quarter revenue was 54% higher than in quarter one, showing work was deferred and not lost amid Covid-19.
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Iomart Group PLC - cloud computing firm - Revenue in six months ended September 30 rises 2.1% annually to GBP56.3 million from GBP55.1 million. Pretax profit falls 28% GBP6.0 million from GBP8.4 million. Administrative expenses up 11% to GBP27.6 million from GBP25.0 million. Revenue rises reflects "contribution from the two smaller acquisitions made in the final month of the last financial year offsets some small decline in organic revenues, reflecting the impact of Covid-19 on discretionary on-premise projects together with a reduction in revenues from some legacy areas," Iomart says.
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OPG Power Ventures PLC - Indian power plant operator - Revenue in six months ended September 30 falls 54% to GBP36.1 million from GBP78.4 million a year earlier. Pretax profit rises 32% year-on-year to GBP12.8 million from GBP9.7 million. "I am proud to say that OPG is coming out from the COVID-19 pandemic as a stronger and more resilient company," Chair Arvind Gupta says.
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Corcel PLC - London-based natural resource exploration and development company - Pretax loss in year ended June 30 narrows to GBP1.5 million from GBP2.6 million and like last year, generates no revenue. Separately adds it will buy out remaining 50% interest in Weirs Drove Development Ltd for GBP900,000. Now 100% owner of Burwell battery storage project. "The company thanks Tim Dobson and Christian Yates for their significant efforts originating and maturing the Burwell Project. As future shareholders of Corcel, the board is also delighted to maintain Tim and Christian's support with both indicating that they are available to the company to assist with the funding of Burwell and origination of other sites as required," Corcel says, Dobson held 40% Burwell stake, while Yates had a 10% interest.
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By Eric Cunha; ericcunha@alliancenews.com
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