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(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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FireAngel Safety Technology Group PLC - developer and supplier of home safety products - In the first half of 2023, pretax loss widens to GBP4.0 million from GBP1.7 million the previous year. Revenue drops 16% to GBP21.5 million from GBP25.6 million, with 11% revenue growth in the UK offset by a 63% decline in international revenue. Explains that supply chain issues in 2022 affected the company significantly, with lower production and intermittent supply to end customers, and says that this loss of momentum continued into this year and negatively impacted its interim results. Says its immediate focus is on addressing the issues associated with these challenges. Non-Executive Chair Andrew Blazye says: "The significant headwinds facing the company are being addressed, the benefits of which will start to bear fruit in 2024."
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Hermes Pacific Investments PLC - London-headquartered investment company - In the year ended March 31, pretax loss narrows to GBP62,000 from GBP105,000 the previous year. Records revenue of GBP21,000, compared to none the year prior, through the rental of its residential property acquired in May 2022. This income helped improve its loss, the company explains. Notes that during the year it adopted a new investment policy, primarily focusing on the property sector. Looking forward, company is optimistic regarding the underlying strength and resilience of the sector.
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EKF Diagnostics Holdings PLC - Cardiff-headquartered medical diagnostics company - Says its performance in the first half of 2023 was in line with expectations but swings to a pretax loss. Swings to a pretax loss of GBP26,000 in the six months ended June 30 from a profit of GBP4.1 million the previous year as revenue drops 28% to GBP26.9 million from GBP37.5 million. However, excluding all Covid-related revenue, revenue climbs 6.8% to GBP24.9 million from GBP23.3 million. Looking forward, EKF reaffirms its full-year guidance. It expects to deliver revenue of GBP53 million and adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation around GBP10 million. In 2022, revenue totalled GBP66.6 million and adjusted Ebitda of GPB14.9 million.
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Bushveld Minerals Ltd - South Africa-focused vanadium producer and energy storage solutions provider - In the first half of 2023, swings to a pretax loss of USD9.9 million from a profit of GBP1.8 million the year prior. Swings to loss as other mine operating costs more than double to USD2.7 million from GBP1.3 million; finance costs jump 36% to USD7.3 million from USD5.4 million; and records other losses of USD3.4 million compared to just USD136,000 the year prior. More positively, revenue climbs to USD78.4 million from USD76.2 million. Explains that during the half there were operational challenges at the Vametco and Vanchem facilities in South Africa. Says that the focus for the rest of 2023 is to ensure that both facilities achieve operations targets and their performances improve.
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Arkle Resources PLC - Ireland-focused gold and zinc explorer - In the six months ended June 30, swings to a pretax loss of EUR33,000 from a profit of EUR21,000 the previous year. Swings to loss as administrative expenses increase to EUR150,000 from EUR139,000. Says it will shortly start a drilling programme at its Donegal gold licence in Ireland. Adds that, given the "poor market perception" of Irish zinc and gold interest, decides to look at opportunities outside of Ireland. "In the first instance we are looking at lithium projects. In June 2022, we announced the award of licences in Zimbabwe. However, there are difficulties there with title, so the work is paused at present. In another jurisdiction, we are progressing the acquisition of two licence blocks which may contain lithium, although no previous exploration for this mineral has been carried out on these blocks. The board has also examined a number of proposals in gold, base metals and rare earths. None have progressed passed due diligence. The programme to find new opportunities is ongoing," the company says.
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Dillistone Group PLC - Basingstoke, England-based supplier of software and services to recruiters - In the first half of 2023, narrows pretax loss to GBP46,000 from GBP274,000 the year prior. Revenue remains stable at GBP2.8 million. Recurring revenue represents 91% of total revenue in the half, up from 88% in 2022. Consequently, expects to deliver full-year profit in line with market expectations, which it does not specify. "The recruitment sector has had a turbulent time in recent months, and this has unquestionably impacted upon demand for our services. To be able to report improved performance despite these market conditions is particularly pleasing and we are confident that the Group has exciting times ahead of it, especially when we see improvement in our recruitment and search customer bases," Non-Executive Chair Giles Fearnley says.
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By Heather Rydings, Alliance News senior economics reporter
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