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(Alliance News) - The following is a round-up of updates by London-listed companies, issued on Monday and not separately reported by Alliance News:
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Journeo PLC - Ashby-de-la-Zouch, England-based information systems and transport technical services firm - Revenue in the six months to June 30 increases to GBP7.2 million from GBP6.8 million a year ago, as it has secured important contract wins. Journeo says it continues to make investments in research & development and new website design to improve communications, drive future sales and provide platform for marketing initiatives. Pretax profit for the first half of 2021 rises to GBP166,000 from GBP88,000 year-on-year.
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SimiGon Ltd - Orlando, Florida-based simulation and training solutions provider - Revenue for the six months to June 30 increases by 40% to USD1.9 million from USD1.4 million in the first half of 2020. The company reports increased progress of SimiGon's performance obligations on the C-130 virtual maintenance training solution program. Pretax loss narrows to USD658,000 from USD1.2 million a year before.
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Chesterfield Resources PLC - mineral exploration company with projects in Cyprus and Canada - For the six months that ended June 30, reports pretax loss of GBP433,538, widened from GBP257,465 a year earlier. Net cash balance as at the end of June is GBP1.5 million, up from GBP316,478 a year prior. Chesterfield says the highlight for the period was in June, with the acquisition of a large and prospective new copper exploration project in Labrador, Canada, called Adeline. Around 250 copper showings have been identified in the basin, at surface or very close to surface. In Cyprus, meanwhile, Chesterfield started a new diamond drilling campaign, which has been extended and is still in progress.
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AfriTin Mining Ltd - Guernsey-based tech-metals mining company - Posts revenue for the six months to August 31 of GBP5.1 million, an increase of almost five-fold over the GBP1.1 million generated a year earlier. Pretax loss narrows to GBP504,274 from GBP1.0 million a year ago. AfriTin says 313 tonnes of tin concentrate shipped to offtake partner, Thaisarco, during the six-month period, exceeding production targets at the Uis tin mine in Namibia. Going forward, AfriTin says it is looking for the potential additional revenue streams and consolidation of its tech-metal exposure.
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Cornerstone FS PLC - Newry, Northern Ireland-based cloud-based provider of payments - Reports total revenue of GBP837,000 for the six months to the end of June compared to GBP872,000 posted for the first half of 2020. The company says it added 209 new clients during the half-year, up from 133 a year before. Cornerstone FS reports pretax loss of GBP1.2 million, widened from GBP542,401 a year prior as administrated expenses rise to GBP1.5 million from GBP776,094 year-on-year. Cornerstone FS says it has expanded into the Middle East with the opening of an office in Dubai. The new office will be led by Robert O'Brien who has joined Cornerstone as general manager Asia Pacific & Middle East. O'Brien was previously at Vorto Trading Ltd.
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Caerus Mineral Resources PLC - London-based exploration & resource development company - Reports pretax loss of GBP415,553 for the six months to the end of June compared to GBP41,844 loss a year earlier. Caerus reports no revenue for either year as it develops its assets in Cyprus. "Our dual programme of developing of hard-rock copper-gold resources and building a resource of metal-bearing surface material within dumps, stockpiles and tailings has quickly gathered momentum. This activity has been bolstered by the acquisition of prospective licences, many of which host broadly defined copper-gold resources and have already shown indicated some prospective targets for future exploration," says Chief Executive Martyn Churchouse.
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i3 Energy PLC - oil & gas company with assets in UK and Canada - Declares an interim dividend of GBP2.20 million or 0.2 pence per share. Including the 0.16p per share special dividend announced in July, total dividends of 0.36p per share have been declared during 2021 year to date. Turning to interim results, i3 says maiden revenue for the six months to June 30 totals GBP26.5 million. Pretax loss of GBP7.9 million is reported for the first half of 2021 versus a GBP6.8 million loss a year earlier. This is due to production costs of GBP14.0 million posted for the first half versus no such costs a year before. Also, administrative expenses rise to GBP6.8 million from GBP1.8 million year-on-year.
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Challenger Energy Group PLC - Isle of Man-based oil & gas company - Says a focussed work program since August 2020, when the company assumed control of its portfolio of mature producing Trinidadian oilfields, has enabled natural reservoir decline to be mitigated and increased revenue to be achieved. For calendar 2020, Challenger reports net petroleum revenue of USD1.4 million versus none in 2019. Pretax loss, however, widens to USD14.0 million from USD4.6 million. This is due to a jump in administrative expenses to USD9.8 million from USD4.6 million in 2019. In addition, Challenger records USD2.4 million of goodwill impairment versus no such charge the year before.
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Sancus Lending Group Ltd - London-based loan agency formerly known as GLI Finance Ltd - Completes a number of re-organisational initiatives which it says now enable the business to focus on its strategy to be a leading alternative lender in the residential lending space. Reports revenue for the six months to June 30 of GBP5.0 million, down from GBP5.5 million in the first half of 2020. New loan facilities written at GBP53 million for the first half of 2021 against GBP50 million for the full year 2020. Pretax loss, meanwhile, narrows to GBP4.2 million from GBP6.5 million a year before.
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Merchants Trust PLC - invests mainly in higher-yielding large UK companies - Net asset value grows in the first half of 2021, due to a combination of the rising stock market, outperformance from the investment portfolio, and the impact of financial gearing, which amplifies returns in either direction. NAV per share as at July 31 is 529.3p, compared to 373.8p a year before. Merchants Trust declares a second quarterly dividend of 6.8p per share.
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Bushveld Minerals Ltd - Johannesburg-based vanadium producer and energy storage solutions provider - Reports revenue of USD47.0 million for the six months to June 30, a 9% increase from a prior year's USD43.1 million, supported by an improved average realised price of USD29.24 per kilogram of vanadium, up from USD24.20 a year before. The company, however, reports lower sales volumes in the first half of 2021, at 1,608 metric tonnes of vanadium versus 1,765 tonnes sold a year earlier. Bushveld production in the half-year totalled 1,574 tonnes of vanadium, a 5.2% decrease from 1,649 tonnes of vanadium produced a year earlier. This was a result of unplanned stoppages, a 35-day planned maintenance shutdown during the first quarter of 2021 and the unprotected industrial action at Vametco in April. The company's first-half pretax loss widened to USD 22.7 million from USD10.7 million year-on-year.
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Trident Royalties PLC - London-based mining royalty and streaming company - Reports royalty related revenue of USD77,000 for the six months to June 30 compared to USD949,000 posted for the first half of 2020. Pretax loss widens to USD1.1 million from USD414,000 year-on-year. Trident says the revenue and profit have suffered due to reduced production on its paying tenements. The company notes however that it has maintained cost and balance sheet discipline and is expecting to see better results in the second half of the year as production returns. The company says it continues to review a compelling pipeline of assets spanning various geographies and mining commodities, prioritising paying or near paying royalty opportunities. Trident also says Apollo Consolidated Ltd reports positive progress at the Lake Rebecca gold project in Western Australia. Trident holds a 1.5% net smelter return gold royalty over the entirety of the project. Following Apollo's release of the April mineral resource estimate update for over 1.1 million ounces of gold, ongoing drilling has continued to generate significant gold intersections whilst technical evaluation studies progress, Trident says.
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Acceler8 Ventures PLC - Jersey-based acquisitions company - Reports pretax loss of GBP157,000 for the six months to June 30, reflecting operating expenses incurred during its admission to London Main Market in July. Since admission, Acceler8 says it has continued to pursue its investment and acquisition strategy and is currently assessing both domestic and international opportunities within its chosen sectors.
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Minds + Machines Group Ltd - London-based domains owner - Reports narrowed pretax loss of USD778,000 for the six months to June 30 compared to USD1.3 million posted a year prior. During the half-year, the company gets shareholder approval for its agreement to sell the majority of the Registry Business to Registry Services LLC, an affiliate of GoDaddy Inc, for USD120 million plus adjustments for working capital that transferred with certain subsidiaries. The sale was completed effective August 11. "We are now in the process of delivering the transition services agreed with GoDaddy Registry and disposing of, or otherwise winding down, our RSP Business. Whilst the transition services are being provided on a cost recovery basis, the company's ongoing administrative and other public company costs will result in operating losses for the group going forward," says CEO Tony Farrow.
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Life Settlement Assets PLC - London-based investment firm which manages portfolios of whole and fractional interests in life settlement policies issued by life insurance companies - Says total maturities during the six months to June 30 were USD25.8 million, doubled from USD12.2 million reported a year ago. NAV per share as at June 30 stood at USD2.13 versus USD2.01 as at the end of 2020. The price of the company's shares at the end of June was USD1.60, representing a 25% discount to NAV. "The strengthening of our portfolio through successful acquisitions of portfolios of fractional policies, and through protecting our interests where appropriate, have resulted in a continued improvement in the breadth and quality of our asset base," says Chair Michael Baines.
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Dolphin Capital Investors Ltd - investor focusing on residential resort sector - Sterling NAV per share as at June 30 stands at 15p versus 16p as at the end of 2020, a 7.6% decrease. The NAV reduction is principally due to operational, finance, corporate and management expenses. The reduction also mainly reflects the 5.0% depreciation of the euro versus the sterling during the period.
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By Evelina Grecenko; evelinagrecenko@alliancenews.com
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