(Alliance News) - The following is a round-up of updates by London-listed companies, issued on Wednesday and not separately reported by Alliance News:
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Velocity Composites PLC - supplier of advanced composite material kits - Revenue for half-year to April 30 falls to GBP4.4 million from GBP9.5 million year-on-year, and pretax loss widens to GBP1.1 million from GBP685,000. Says it continued to see Covid-19 impacted production rates suppressing demand from key customers, while customer site closures over the Christmas period "particularly impacted" December 2020 performance. "Although December 2020 saw particularly impacted demand rates with prolonged customer site closures, this was partially offset by a successful March 2021," it notes. Reports "significant progress" since period end with three of its largest customers. "With the pipeline expected to continue to improve as travel restrictions are eased, the board is now cautiously optimistic as to the prospects for an improved second half performance in FY21 and into FY22," firm says.
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Inland Homes PLC - Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire-based house builder and brownfield developer - Revenue for half-year to March 31 rises to GBP78.0 million from GBP59.6 million, and pretax loss slims to GBP5.8 million from GBP7.2 million. Gross development value of the group's portfolio up by 3.2% at GBP3.2 billion. EPRA net asset value per share slips to 97.80 pence from 103.96 at end of September due to "market valuation fluctuations in the underlying land portfolio of GBP8.3m." Says full-year outlook unchanged. "The fundamental shortage of quality new homes in the South and South East of England remains. The market for consented land with planning permission and the demand for houses built by Inland Homes remains strong and I look forward to reporting on the further progress made during the second half of our financial year," company says.
Separately, subsidiary Inland ZDP PLC reports accrued capital entitlement per ZDP share of 167.0p at end of March, up from 161.9p at end of September.
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Mercantile Ports & Logistics Ltd - Indian port and logistics facility developer and operator - Granted extension for filing 2020 audited accounts until September 30. Says audit expected to be concluded soon, noting that Covid-19 situation in India has caused disruption. Expects to report turnover of GBP750,000 for 2020 and had cash and cash equivalents of GBP3.9 million at 2020-end, falling to GBP1.7 million at the end of May 2021. "Whilst Covid-19 has also had an impact on the current year, the company has been able to make significant progress, signing new contracts in February and also earlier this month, with revenues expected to ramp up from now through to the end of the year and beyond," it says.
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Guild Esports PLC - e-sports business headquartered in London - Revenue for half-year to March 31 is GBP368,990 versus nil a year ago, while pretax loss widens to GBP4.3 million from GBP394,620. This is reflects investment in teams, Guild Academy, content creation and corporate infrastructure, firm says. Administrative expenses grow to GBP4.4 million from GBP394,711. "The company expects to generate significant sponsorship revenues from the second half of 2021, arising from four partnership deals including two multi-year, multi-million-pound deals announced previously," it says. To date, has signed signed four sponsorship deals with an aggregate minimum contracted revenue of GBP7.5 million.
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Henderson Opportunities Trust PLC - aims to achieve capital growth in excess of the FTSE All-Share index from a portfolio of UK investments - Reports net asset value per share of 1,624.5p at end of April, up from 1,046.3p at end of October. NAV total return for six-month period 57% versus benchmark, the FTSE All-Share, returning 29%. "The period was dominated by positive Covid vaccination news in early November. This led to many of the companies held that are more exposed to fluctuations in the broader UK economy performing well. This recovery in cyclical stocks came at a time when some of the earlier-stage companies in the portfolio continued to make steady progress towards commercialisation and also performed well," firm says.
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Cambria Africa PLC - Zimbabwe-focused investment company - Revenue for half-year to February 28 USD526,000, down 60% year-on-year from USD1.3 million. However, pretax profit grows to USD134,000 from USD112,000. Cost of sales shrink to USD78,000 from USD655,000 and operating costs fall to USD358,000 from USD555,000. Net asset value per share 1.19 cents at end of February, down 10% on a year ago. "Since the close of FY 2020 on 31 August 2020, NAV has improved marginally during HY 2021 by USD45,000 on the back of asset sales and operating profit. Unlike FY 2020 this improvement in NAV was not impacted by translation losses and hyperinflationary accounting as asset sales were in USD and the exchange rate and inflation rates stabilized," firm notes.
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Wishbone Gold PLC - precious metals trading and exploration company with assets in Australia - Revenue for 2020 slumps to USD1.4 million from USD10.8 million, though pretax loss slims to USD822,229 from USD1.6 million. Says revenue fall due to Covid crisis and the grounding of Emirates. "In March 2020 Emirates airlines, the lifeblood of Dubai, grounded all but a few of its fleet of nearly 300 planes. Overnight the thriving nexus of trade in Dubai from across the world stopped as if it had never existed. For us at Wishbone this cut off our supply of traded gold arriving on daily flights from African capitals and once our stocks were sold it was over," firm says. However, it restructured and took firm "back to its exploration roots in Australia". Sees "great things" for 2021 and beyond.
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JPMorgan Russian Securities PLC - Russia-focused investment trust - Net asset value total return for six-months to April 30 is 25%, underperforming benchmark which grows 32%. "The company's total return to shareholders was 23.0%, taking into account the stock price movement and dividend paid over the period. The positive returns are very welcome with asset values returning nearer to pre-Covid-19 levels," firm notes. Net asset value per share at end of April 30 756.0p, up from 613.4p at end of October.
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Puma VCT 11 PLC - venture capital trust - Net asset value per share 93.09p at end of February after adding back 21p of dividends paid, versus 92.85p a year ago. The recent exit of Pure Cremation will enable the company to pay a special dividend, to be declared later this summer. "The objective of the board remains to balance the maximising of shareholder returns with the desire to achieve an orderly winding up of the company's assets as soon as possible," it says. Firm realised GBP3.0 million from Pure Cremation exit.
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Puma VCT 12 PLC - venture capital trust - Net asset value per share 100.81p at end of February after adding back 9p of dividends paid, up from 88.20p a year ago. Also plans to pay a special dividend following recent exit of Pure Cremation, though says its payout to be "substantial". Firm realised GBP4.5 million from Pure Cremation exit. "We have worked closely to support the companies in our qualifying portfolio during the pandemic and the picture for the VCT is a lot more positive than could perhaps have been expected. That said, the repeated lockdowns will inevitably affect the timing of exits. So, whilst the company was launched with an anticipated life of five to six years, it is likely that the liquidation process may take place at a later date than originally envisaged," it says.
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Puma VCT 13 PLC - venture capital trust - Net asset value per share 125.77p at end of February, up from 100.33p a year before. Says this reflects a strong performance across a "broad range of the company's qualifying investments", and adds this is encouraging given market conditions. Realised GBP5.0 million from Pure Cremation exit, and expects "substantial portion" of proceeds to be paid out as a dividend towards end of 2021. "Notwithstanding the considerable uncertainty arising from the Covid-19 pandemic and the unprecedented policy measures put in place to contain it, we do look to the future with confidence," it says.
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Apollon Formularies PLC - London-based medical cannabis company - Pretax profit for 2020 GBP330,000 after loss of GBP2.2 million the year before. In 2019 it booked loss of GBP2.0 million from loans advanced to subsidiaries written-off, which was not repeated in 2020. "As we look towards the next financial year, the challenges we faced during 2020 remind us of the robustness and resilience of Apollon's business. In what is a relatively new industry, we bring investors an established, revenue generating, seed to patient company, complete with a full suite of licences and extensive data on our medical cannabis formulations," it says.
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Deepverge PLC - Ireland-based clinical research company - Revenue for 2020 surges to GBP4.5 million from just GBP823,000 in 2019, though pretax loss widens to GBP2.9 million from GBP2.4 million. Administrative costs jump to GBP4.6 million from GBP3.0 million. Says performed better than expected with first profitable quarter on earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation basis in the final three months of 2020, before costs of the Modern Water acquisition. 2020 has "set the standard" for 2021. "The board provided guidance for 2021 revenue of GBP10m in January 2021 and remains well on track and expects the business will continue to grow across all divisions in the group," it says.
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Aminex PLC - oil and gas explorer focused on Tanzania - Revenue for 2020 rises to USD384,000 from USD357,000, and pretax loss narrows to USD4.0 million from USD15.2 million. Impairment against exploration and evaluation assets shrinks to USD690,000 from USD10.9 million. Notes pandemic continuing to impact oil and gas industry, though says it still made significant progress in 2020. "I remain optimistic about your company's future as we have valuable assets in Tanzania. We have the financing to advance the Ntorya project and an outstanding partner in APT, which will help drive real growth in-country. We believe that Tanzania's gas sector is unlocking, with the government working hard to deliver prosperity for its citizens," it says.
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Conduity Capital PLC - cash shell - Pretax loss for 2020 GBP90,000, narrowing from GBP1.7 million for 2019. This reflects drop in administrative expenses. Since becoming a cash shell in October, board has held talks with a number of different businesses. "The board continues to explore a range of alternative structures and investment strategies focused on creating value for its existing shareholders," it says.
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Windar Photonics PLC - London-based developer of wind sensors for electricity generating wind turbines - Revenue for 2020 EUR1.3 million, up from EUR1.2 million in 2019. Pretax loss narrows to EUR1.6 million from EUR3.3 million. "Despite a positive start the year with the receipt of the first volume order from the OEM market for the company's LiDAR wind sensor, the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic had a significant impact on the ability of the company to deliver orders during the year," firm says, though nonetheless delivers 13% revenue growth in 2020. Expects to see "substantial" revenue increase in 2021. Firm says: "Positively, the total order inflow in 2020 has been encouraging at EUR2.9 million which approximately represents the annual break even fix point in the group. Given the order back-log carried into 2021, orders received and expected new orders the board believes the group is in a good position moving forward."
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KR1 PLC - investment company focused on blockchain sector - Net asset value per share 28.97p at end of 2020, compared with just 5.72p at end of 2019. Digital asset markets moved in an encouraging way, picking up towards the end of the year after "facing extreme turmoil" in the early stages of the pandemic. "The company's investment team has, again in 2020, delivered to shareholders truly exceptional performance, further extending their outstanding track record of shareholder returns since the company's establishment in 2016," it says.
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China Nonferrous Gold Ltd - Cayman Islands-based mineral exploration and development company - 2020 revenue rises to USD64.5 million from USD49.2 million, with pretax loss slimming to USD5.5 million from USD21.5 million. "Following the first successful normal production work in 2019, the Company has progressed well in several important aspects, with the Pakrut gold mine entering formal production and achieving full operational capacity in 2020," firm says, adding Pakrut acheived production targets for the year. "The company is continuing to enhance its production capacity. Whilst improving production, the company is also focusing on perfecting and improving the smelting process by reducing production costs, increasing recovery rates and improving competitiveness," company says.
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By Lucy Heming;Â lucyheming@alliancenews.com
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