(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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Zegona Communications PLC - acquires businesses in European telecommunications, media and technology sector - Posts pretax profit of EUR14.0 million in 2020, falling 67% from EUR42.1 million in 2019. Finance income plummets to EUR3.8 million from EUR38.2 million. "The principal reason for the movement compared to 2019 was that 2019 included a EUR28 million gain on the investment in Euskaltel and EUR10 million dividend from Euskaltel before it was accounted for as an associate," explains Zegona. Investee Euskaltel is a telecommunications provider in the North of Spain. Zegona to pay 4.6p per share to shareholders for 2020, down 8.0% from 5.0p for 2019. Zegona is the leading shareholder in Euskaltel and has two board seats. Euskaltel "expects significant further growth in 2021, both in terms of customer numbers and revenue".
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Aquila European Renewables Income Fund PLC - renewable energy infrastructure investor - Reports net asset value per share at December 31 of 99.96 euro cents, down 2.7% from 102.7 cents a year prior. Net assets double to EUR316.9 million from EUR158.9 million. Declares dividend of 4.0 cents per share for 2020, up from 1.5 cents for 2019 and in line with its dividend target of 4.0 cents. Aims to increase dividend target to 5.0 cents per share in 2021. Says its investment strategy is unchanged, and it will continue to invest in renewable energy projects in Europe and the UK. Notes continuing uncertainty caused by Covid-19.
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RBG Holdings PLC - London-based law firm - Post pretax profit for 2020 of GBP7.7 million, up 1.3% from GBP7.6 million the year prior. Revenue increases 13% to GBP22.4 million from GBP19.9 million. Personnel costs increase to GBP17.9 million from GBP11.5 million. Pays dividend of 3 pence per share for year. "Based on current outlook, we expect to pay up to 60 per cent of retained earnings in the 2021 financial year by way of dividend," says RBG. "The business will benefit from life post-Brexit and post-Covid as businesses return to normality. Our litigation finance business, LionFish is now established, and we expect the number of cases it invests in to grow, with the first return expected in the first half. With a strong pipeline of deals, and increased interest in [mergers & acquisitions] in 2021, Convex Capital is expected to perform well," says RBG. Convex Capital is a specialist provider of sell-side only M&A advice to UK, US and European entrepreneurs.
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Flowtech Fluidpower PLC - Cheshire, England-based valves and hydraulic components maker - Posts pretax loss for 2020 of GBP2.1 million, swinging from a GBP4.7 million profit a year prior. Revenue falls 15% to GBP95.1 million from GBP112.4 million. "With hindsight, there are areas that we could have improved on, particularly around the pace with which we have been able to extract cost from our order, pick and drop activities, that will be essential to our future success...However, we end 2020 having made progress in creating the platform that will ensure our future growth," says Flowtech. Does not declare dividend, but says it remains "keen to reintroduce a final payment for the financial year 2021, and thereafter adopt a balanced approach to dividend policy". "We have been encouraged by our performance over the past quarter, with both revenue and margins trending slightly above our expectations. The combination of Brexit and Covid-19, and in particular the current challenged nature of global supply chains, continue to make underlying trading difficult to interpret. What is clear is there has been a continued upward trend in our 'resellers' business, and evidence of restocking in our OEM customers," says Flowtech. Says if current trading continue, company could exit 2021 with similar revenue to 2019.
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MaxCyte Inc - Maryland-based cell and gene therapies firm - Posts net loss of USD11.8 million in 2020, narrowing 8.5% from USD12.9 million the year prior. Revenue increases 21% to USD26.2 million from USD21.6 million. Says it has never declared or paid common stock dividends and has no plans to do so in the foreseeable future. "We expect strong revenue growth in 2021, driven by the continuing progress of our existing strategic partners into and through the clinic and subsequent generation of increased milestone revenues. We are also confident that throughout the coming year we will continue to build our customer base and continue to secure further high-value licensing agreements, driving ongoing growth. The strategic partnership pipeline coming into 2021 is the largest that the company has experienced to date," says MaxCyte.
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discoverIE Group PLC - Guildford-based designer, manufacturer and supplier of customised electronics - Says trading momentum in the final two months of the year, to March 31, has continued to strengthen, and the company now expects underlying earnings for the full year to be above the upper end of market expectations. Says sales in the second half were 9% ahead of the first half with a return to organic growth of 1% in the last two months of the year. Sales for the full year were 3% lower, down 6% organically. "The strong order book and momentum provide a solid base for sustained organic sales growth whilst further investing in growth initiatives," says company.
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Filta Group Holdings PLC - AIM-listed provider of fryer management - Swings to pretax loss of GBP866,231 in 2020 from a GBP936,284 profit a year prior. Revenue falls 34% to GBP16.4 million from GBP24.9 million. Does not declare a final dividend, compared to 1.0p per share a year before. Says that "provided the progress that has been made in the first quarter of the year continues, it fully expects to be able to resume the payment of dividends in respect of 2021". Says that the upward trend in business levels that the company saw in the second half of 2020 has continued into the current year, with the numbers of new customers in both of its markets, the UK and North America, being particularly encouraging. "With the lockdown restrictions expected to be lifted further over the next two to three months and with the vaccination programmes progressing well in the UK and US, the board is confident that the progress that we have seen in the first quarter will continue through the year and, moreover, that the group is emerging from a highly challenging time much stronger operationally and in robust financial health," says Filta.
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IQ-AI Ltd - medical software company with headquarters in Jersey - Posts pretax loss for 2020 of GBP717,534, widening from GBP638,654 in 2019. Administrative expenses increase 5.4% to GBP933,462 from GBP885,757. Revenue falls 6.4% to GBP255,314 from GBP272,867. Declares no dividend for 2020, unchanged from 2019. Says the top priority going forward is to "increase in sales and distribution of its advanced imaging solutions".
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J Smart & Co (Contractors) PLC - Edinburgh-based construction contractor - Posts pretax profit for the first half to end-January of GBP890,000, widening from GBP265,000 a year before. Revenue falls 38% to GBP5.8 million from GBP9.3 million. Cost of sales halve to GBP5.3 million from GBP10.0 million. Announces an interim dividend of 0.95p per share, flat with the year prior. "We have substantially less work in hand in contracting than the same time last year. It is by no means certain that new contracting work will be secured this financial year due to general delays caused by the coronavirus pandemic," says J Smart. Says it is difficult to give accurate guidance due to uncertainties, but the company does not expect underlying profit to increase this financial year.
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By Greg Roxburgh; gregroxburgh@alliancenews.com
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