(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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Speedy Hire PLC - Merseyside, England-based tool, equipment and plant hire - Says revenue for financial year ended March 31 falls 11% to GBP363.6 million, and pretax profit slumps 41% to GBP12.3 million. Says pleased with results as revenue recovered in second half following pandemic-hit first half. Dividend doubles to 1.40p from 0.70p following strong second half performance and "robust" balance sheet. "I am pleased to report results that are ahead of our expectations in what has been an exceptionally challenging year for customers and colleagues alike. The resilient performance of our business during this unprecedented period is testament to the strength of our model, hard work of all my colleagues and strong operational delivery," firm says. Adds that start to new financial year encouraging, with revenue in April and May around 2% of same period in 2019.
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Hurricane Energy PLC - UK-based oil and gas company - Reports pretax loss of USD571.1 million for 2020, widening dramatically from USD1.8 million in 2019. Chunky loss due to impairment charges of USD567.1 million in respect of the Lancaster field and the company's exploration assets. Revenue for year USD180.1 million, up from USD170.3 million. Notes approval and implementation of proposed financial restructuring is outside of company's control, meaning there is "a material uncertainty" which may cast "significant doubt" over the company's ability to continue as a going concern. "As at the date of this report, more than 75% of bondholders (by value) had acceded to a lock-up agreement which incorporates general undertakings to support the proposed financial restructuring," it says.
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NAHL Group PLC - Northamptonshire-based legal services provider - Revenue falls 20% to GBP40.9 million for 2020, but pretax loss narrows to GBP223,000 from GBP2.3 million. Firm says this is due to lower exceptional costs in Personal Injury and an impairment charge of GBP5.3 million recognised in respect of the Residential Property division in 2019. Into new year, firm says continued to be impacted by pandemic in January though revenue for first four months of 2021 in line with board expectations. Expects return to pre-pandemic trends in its markets during 2022, and expects profit in 2021 to exceed 2022. "In light of on-going consolidation in the market for residential property services, the board has decided to investigate a potential sale of its repositioned and profitable Residential Property business," company adds.
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IXICO PLC - London-based data analytics company - Revenue for half-year to March 31 rises to GBP4.9 million from GBP4.6 million, and pretax profit grows to GBP635,00 from GBP493,000. Says order book as at March 31 GBP19.0 million, compared with GBP15.3 million at half year-end. "Looking forward to the second half of the year, we retain our focus on the business fundamentals of winning new contracts, across a diverse client base and an increasing breadth of neuroscience indications," company says.
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Helical PLC - London-based property investor - EPRA net tangible asset value per share 533p at end of March, up from 524p a year ago. Among highlights during year is letting London office building, Kaleidoscope, to social media app TikTok, with the letting achieving annual rent of GBP7.6 million. Company proposes final dividend of 7.40p per share, bringing total for year to 10.10p, up 16% on year before and returning to pre-pandemic level. "With our see-through LTV at 22.6%, we have considerable firepower at our disposal and our main focus is now on identifying and acquiring new projects," says Chief Executive Gerald Kaye.
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Cellular Goods PLC - UK-based provider of premium consumer products based on lab-made cannabinoids - Reports pretax loss of GBP2.1 million for half-year to February 28, widened from GBP142,747 a year ago, as a direct result of higher administrative expenses. No revenue reported for either period. Says on track for roll-out of the first consumer product range in autumn 2021, starting with the launch of three skincare products followed by a 'movement' product range for the after-sport recovery market in spring 2022. "The most significant milestone we achieved in the first half was our heavily oversubscribed flotation on the London Stock Exchange which has provided us with a strong foundation and public profile to become the leading and front of mind brand for consumer cannabinoid products," says Chief Executive Alexis Abraham.
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BMO UK High Income Trust PLC - invests for dividend income plus prospects for capital growth - Says net asset value total return per share for the year was 37%, beating benchmark's 27%. NAV per both ordinary share and 'B' share rises to 99.25p at end of year from 76.66p a year ago. "Your manager guided the portfolio well through the uncertainty of the past year and the board is confident that sound stewardship will continue in the hopefully more benign circumstances that we now enjoy," firm says.
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CEPS PLC - Bath, England-based investment company focussed on the industrial sector - Revenue for 2020 GBP14.0 million, down from GBP21.8 million in 2019, but pretax loss slims to GBP645,000 from GBP2.3 million. "It is the board's very clear view that the survivors from the last 15 months will prosper as they will have proved themselves to be nimble, resourceful and resilient. We are certain that, because of the extensive corporate activity of the past year involving our companies and the extensive re-engineering of the businesses from the "bottom up", they are all in a much better place," company says.
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Tiger Royalties & Investments PLC - London-based royalties and proactive investments group - Says net asset value per share falls 26% to 0.23p at 2020 year-end from 0.31p at end of 2019. "Although natural resource markets recovered during the second half of 2020, the decrease in NAV has resulted in the main due to additional shares being issued in September 2020 to recapitalise the company," company says.
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Warehouse REIT PLC - real estate investment trust focused on warehouse assets - EPRA net tangible assets per share 135.1p at March-end, up from 109.5p at end of 2020. Says rent collection is strong, with 98.6% of rent due for year collected as at May 24. Dividend per year 6.2p, in line with the year before. "The board members have a strong belief that your chosen asset class will continue to generate attractive returns, underpinned by permanent structural and societal shifts. We intend to judiciously deploy further capital, while successful asset management will drive both rental growth and meaningful upside opportunities in underexploited areas of the portfolio," company says.
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Lowland Investment Co PLC - Janus Henderson-managed growth and income trust investing mainly in UK equities - NAV total return for six months to March 31 33.0%, outperforming benchmark's total return of 19%. NAV per share 1,350p at end of March, up from 985p a year ago. Dividend steady at 30.0p. "It is a pleasure to report that, after a period of disappointing performance, the portfolio bounced back in the first half of the year," company says. Says encouraging trend has continued since end of March, with NAV having increased by 7.9% compared to benchmark's 5.1%.
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Calnex Solutions PLC - provider of test and measurement solutions for the telecommunications sector - Revenue for financial year ended March 31 rises 31% to GBP18.0 million and pretax profit rises 22% to GBP3.6 million. Revenue rise due to "robust" trading performance, firm says, and exceeds initial expectations for the year. Recognises that recent year was "exceptional year in a number of respects", including the early pull through of orders, though remains confident. "We anticipate that results in FY22 will be consistent with FY21, representing further growth when taking into account the impact of Covid-19 on FY21 through accelerated revenues and travel savings," company says.
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Iofina PLC - iodine production in US state of Oklahoma - Revenue for 2020 rises 1.5% to USD29.7 million while pretax profit more-than-doubles to USD1.3 million from USD552,425. Says sharp jump in profit due to finance expense falling to USD1.7 million from USD2.7 million. "Following a brief slowdown in the second half of the year as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and its effects on the global economy, we have been particularly encouraged to see the strong state of the iodine market and its recovery in Q1'21, with prices having bounced back to roughly where they were this time last year," says President & CEO Tom Becker. Post year-end, reports record revenue for first quarter and notes that while extreme weather hit crystalline iodine production in the quarter, operations have seen normalised.
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By Lucy Heming;Â lucyheming@alliancenews.com
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