(Alliance News) - The following is a round-up of updates by London-listed companies, issued on Thursday and not separately reported by Alliance News:
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City of London Group PLC - London-based investment company - Pretax loss in the six months that ended September 30 widens by 24% to GBP7.2 million from GBP5.8 million a year earlier. Net interest income multiplies to GBP2.6 million from GBP678,000. Staff costs widen by 30% to GBP5.7 million from GBP4.4 million, while other operating expenses widen by 64% to GBP3.6 million from GBP2.2 million. Does not declare an interim dividend, unchanged from a year earlier. Chair Philip Jenks says, referring to its subsidiary Recognise Bank: "While we do not underestimate the ongoing challenges that small to medium-sized enterprises and their customers face from the current economic conditions, the board believes Recognise Bank is in a good position to weather the storm clouds and capitalise on the opportunities we foresee."
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National Grid Electricity Distribution (South West) PLC - Subsidiary of the London-based electricity and gas utility; known as Western Power - Pretax profit in the six months that ended September 30 is GBP59.1 million, down 18% from GBP71.9 million a year earlier. Revenue is GBP215.1 million, up 13% from GBP190.6 million. Operating expenses widen by 35% to GBP121.6 million from GBP90.0 million, alongside interest payable and similar charges by 54% to GBP47.9 million from GBP31.2 million. Does not declare an interim dividend, unchanged from a year ago. Cash and cash equivalents on September 30 are negative GBP8.7 million, swinging from positive GBP4.6 million a year earlier. Chief Financial Officer Darren Pettifer says: "The directors of the company have concluded that the company has sufficient resources available to enable it to continue in existence for the foreseeable future."
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Centamin PLC - Gold mining company focused on the Arabian-Nubian Shield - Secures USD150 million senior secured sustainability-linked revolving credit facility from a syndicate of four banks. These banks are BMO Capital Markets, HSBC Bank PLC, ING Bank and Nedbank Ltd. Says it will be used for financial capital and flexibility for general corporate purposes. Interest margin ranges between 3.5% to 4.5% with a margin ratchet mechanism based on total net debt to earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation. Says the RCF is expandable to USD200 million. Chief Executive Officer Martin Horgan says: "As we continue to position Centamin for growth, the introduction of debt provides greater financial capacity and flexibility to fund the identified opportunities across our portfolio as we seek to become a multi-asset, multi-jurisdictional gold producer...The sustainability targets linked to this facility align with our ongoing environmental, social and governance priorities and will track tangible progress in reducing our environmental footprint and strengthening our social license to operate."
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Pires Investments PLC - London-based investment company focusing on next-generation technology - Enters two-year GBP1.2 million unsecured loan facility with a group of investors with 7.5% interest rate per year. Warrants over 47.8 million new shares are issued to the group of investors which will vest if Pires Investments' volume-weighted average price over five consecutive trading days exceeds 5.16 pence within the three-year exercisable period of the warrants. The warrant exercise price is 4.00p, representing a 60% premium on closing mid-market price of 2.5p per share on Wednesday. Says the board believes it is important to ensure that it has a number of financing options available to progress its investment strategy, particularly when current market conditions are "attractive" for investment for Pires Investments. Director Nicholas Lee says: "This facility provides us with flexibility and the ability to continue to actively pursue our investment strategy at an opportune time when attractive businesses are struggling to secure funding thereby providing us with excellent opportunities for investment."
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Ediston Property Investment Co PLC- London-based property investment company - Net asset value per share on September 30 is 94.86p, up 5.8% from 89.69p a year earlier. NAV total return for the financial year that ended September 30 is 11.5%. Total dividend is 5.00p, up 13% from 4.42p a year earlier. Pretax profit is GBP21.5 million, up 26% from GBP17.1 million. Revenue is down 5.7% to GBP16.4 million from GBP17.4 million, as investment properties sales swing to a loss of GBP3.0 million from a gain of GBP1.2 million. Chair William Hill says: "The board is confident that the company will be able to emerge from the current turbulence in a strong position to reap the benefits of better times ahead."
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By Greg Rosenvinge, Alliance News reporter
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