(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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DP Eurasia NV - master franchisee of the Domino's Pizza brand in Turkey, Russia, Azerbaijan and Georgia - Group system sales in six months to June 30 up 3.0% year on year to TRY664.7 million, about USD96.92 million, from TRY645.4 million. System sales up 14% in Turkey but down 15% in Russia. Sales up to March 15 - before Covid-19 lockdowns - sales up 20% year on year. From March 16 to June 30, sales down 8.7%. Online system sales in first half up 28% year on year. Total stores up to 754 from 736. "Through our experience during the first wave of the pandemic, we feel more comfortable that a full shut down of our stores in the future would be a very remote possibility. Assuming that we are not faced with significantly worse operational constraints, the group remains confident in its near-term plans for business continuity and cash flow as well as its overall prospects in the longer term," Chief Executive Aslan Saranga said.
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Alliance Pharma PLC - licenses the rights to 90 pharmaceutical and consumer products - Covid-19 hurt first half, with prescription medicines business sales down but consumer healthcare products have continued to be robust. Group see-through revenue for six months to June 30 down 7% year on year at GBP65.3 million. Based on trading in the year to date, the board expects revenue and underlying profit before tax for the full year to be in line with market expectations. Expects further recovery in trading in second half of year.
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Judges Scientific PLC - London-based scientific instrument sector investor - Organic sales in the first half were down 12% year on year. Organic order intake for the 6 months to 30 June was down 17% year on year. The organic order book, at 30 June, was "still satisfactory", Judges said, and represented 10.8 weeks of budgeted revenue against 13.2 weeks at the same point the year before. Judges noted, however, it operated profitably in each of the first six months of this year and generated positive operating cash-flow for the period. As a result, it was able to maintain a robust balance sheet with solid liquidity. Judges notes, despite encouraging signs, it "remains to be seen where and when demand, deliveries and installations will return to normal levels".
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Bloomsbury Publishing PLC - London-based fiction and non-fiction publisher - Seen "strong" trading in first four months of financial year - ended June 30 - with sales growth of 18% year on year. Total revenue in the four-month period was GBP49.5 million versus GBP42.1 million the year before. Print revenues were 9% above last year's sales and consumer division revenues were 28% ahead of last year, with strong print and e-book sales. "Our good May and June performance in particular were unexpected, and historically demand for books has been resilient in times of economic downturns. However, our customers are unclear about what is to follow. Our outlook in the next eight months therefore remains uncertain as the pandemic continues," Bloomsbury said.
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Midwich Group PLC - audio visual distributor - Revenue for six months to June 30 expected down 4% year on year, with a decline in underlying sales of around 22%. Midwich said it has taken actions to reduce operating expenditure meaning it expects be profitable in the first half, but at a level "significantly below" the same period last year. The company said the market conditions for its products and services are likely to remain significantly impacted by the development of the pandemic for the remainder of 2020, but believes it is well placed for future growth.
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Collagen Solutions PLC - developer and manufacturer of biomaterials - Performed "well", and recently finalised a number of contracts, including the Novabone supply agreement announced and a new supply agreement with an existing client for a long-term supply with larger contracted volumes. With the new contract in place, the company now has orders or contracted revenue for financial 2021, together with revenue already recognised through the first three months of the financial year, worth about GBP4.3 million, which is more than double the previous year.
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Kape Technologies PLC - London-headquartered digital security and privacy software business - Traded "strongly" in the first half, in line with internal expectations. Kape benefitted from higher demand for its privacy-based software solutions due to increased remote working and a full six months of contribution from PIA. First half - the six months to June 30 - revenue expected to be double to USD59.0 million from USD29.9 million. Adjusted Ebitda to be about USD16.1 million versus USD5.8 million the year before. Full year revenue expected between USD120 million to USD123 million.
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JKX Oil & Gas PLC - UK-based hydrocarbon exploration and production company - Ukrainian subsidiary Poltava Petroleum Co granted a new special permit for the Zaplavska field - for oil and gas production for a period of 20 years. This permit covers a total area of 173 square kilometres. The previous licence was valid until 2019.
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KRM22 PLC - software investment company - First half hurt by Covid-19 but progress has been made with two new customer wins and cost and debt reduction. June 30 annual recurring revenue of GBP4.0 million, but seen slowed business activity and extended sales cycles as customers and prospects have transitioned to home working and with the increased operational burden resulting from market volatility.
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Bidstack Group PLC - native in-game advertising firm - Revenue for six months to June 30 expected to be about GBP275,000 versus GBP27,000 the year before. Remains confident that it is making material progress in its approach to building a strong foundation on which to grow and create value for shareholders.
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Panoply Holdings PLC - IT service management company - Revenue for 12 months to March 31 expected at GBP31.5 million versus GBP22.1 million the year before. Adjusted Ebitda expected in line with market expectations. First-quarter performance was a "record", with revenue of GBP10.1 million and adjusted Ebitda of GBP1.7 million. "This performance has been achieved through the group's position as an alternative digital transformation provider to the UK public services sector at a time when the increased value provided by challengers has been acknowledged at senior ministerial level," Panoply said. As a result, the company expects full-year revenue and adjusted Ebitda significantly above current market expectations.
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Ergomed PLC - clinical development organisation - Had "excellent" first half, and now expects 2020 adjusted Ebitda materially ahead of current market expectations. First-half revenue up 15% year on year at GBP40.3 million. Overall growth in revenue driven by continued demand for its services across the integrated business, despite the global Covid-19 pandemic. "The continuing sales growth, healthy order book and financing capability position Ergomed firmly for further growth," the company added.
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GSTechnologies Ltd - data infrastructure, storage, and technology services firm - Expects hit from restrictions put in place due to Covid-19. However, the company has been able to access certain support from the government of Singapore including salary subsidies, together with the waiving of foreign worker levies, which will mitigate to a certain extent the impact of the pandemic. Singapore announced a stringent set of preventive lockdown measures initially from April 7 to May 4, but was subsequently extended to June 1. The country moved into Phase 2 of reopening on June 19 but subsidiary EMS Wiring Systems is still unable to be fully operational, and won't be until Phase 3 is triggered in the coming weeks, but has noted a gradual increase in activity.
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By Paul McGowan; paulmcgowan@alliancenews.com
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