(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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Hotel Chocolat Group PLC - Royston, Hertfordshire-based chocolatier - Says revenue in second quarter ended December 26 up 37% annually and 63% from two years earlier. For first half, revenue is up 40% year-on-year and 56% from two years prior. Company adds: "Trading throughout the period has been encouraging and the board now expects trading to be marginally ahead of management's expectations for the current financial year."
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Henry Boot PLC - Sheffield, England-based construction and property development business - Expects pretax profit for 2021 to be materially ahead of market forecasts, placing consensus at GBP30.7 million. Says its three key markets all performed well in the year and it has a "robust" balance sheet. "Looking ahead, Henry Boot enters 2022 in good shape, with a robust balance sheet, strong momentum within the group's operations and a healthy store of opportunities secured in its three key markets, leaving the group confident of further progress in the year," the builder and property developer adds.
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Brickability Group PLC - Bridgend, Wales-based construction materials distributor - Expects adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of at least GBP32 million for year ending March 31. This would be ahead of current market expectations. Would represent sharp improvement from GBP17.5 million in financial 2021. Company adds: "The group's continued positive performance, despite the wider challenges and uncertainty caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and industry supply chain disruption, further demonstrates the strength, agility and operational efficiency of Brickability's diverse multi business strategy, as it continues to successfully navigate these pressures."
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Inland Homes PLC - Buckinghamshire, England-based housebuilder - Says appeal lodged against refusal of Spelthorne Borough Council to offer consent for a development in Staines has been "upheld" by the planning inspectorate. Inland is eyeing building 206 homes on a brownfield site in Staines town centre. "The scheme was originally refused by the Borough on 24 June 2021, despite a planning officer's recommendation for approval," Inland adds.
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Carr's Group PLC - agriculture machinery distributor and engineering firm - Says makes "positive start to the year" with performance in 20-week period ended January 15 " broadly in line with the board's expectations". Speciality Agriculture traded in line with expectations, while Agricultural Supplies division "is on track". However, Engineering traded behind expectations, though ahead of prior year. In addition, Carr's notes it is undertaking a strategic review. Its three divisions offer "limited opportunities to benefit from synergies". Carr's adds: "The board will update investors at the time of the group's interim results in April 2022."
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ProCook Group PLC - Waterwells, Gloucester-based direct-to-consumer kitchenware retailer - Says revenue in third quarter ended January 9 up 35% annually to GBP23.1 million, up 83% from two years earlier. Year to date, revenue is 35% higher at GBP55.2 million. ProCook adds: "Quarter four in FY21 was heavily impacted by the closure of the Retail estate due to Covid-19 restrictions. We anticipate, based on the latest government positioning around Covid-19, that our Retail shops will remain open throughout the remainder of this financial year. We remain well-stocked having invested in working capital to protect availability throughout this period of continued supply chain disruption. Our inbound supply pipeline remains strong and provides confidence that we are well positioned to meet customer demand in the months ahead."
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Eagle Eye Solutions Group PLC - London-based marketing solutions provider - Signs three-year contract with Neptune Retail Solutions, a retail marketing company, to provide digital promotion services with a "national US grocer". "This is Eagle Eye's third deal in the United States and the second joint client for NRS and Eagle Eye, following the signing of Southeastern Grocers in December 2019. This partnership enables NRS to offer its brand partners the ability to deliver a digitally connected experience across the shopping journey both at home and in-store from the shelf to the register (or till)," Eagle Eye says.
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Crossword Cybersecurity PLC - London-based cyber security and risk-focused technology commercialisation company - Expects to post total income growth of 43% to GBP2.3 million for 2021. "Further, the company is confident of achieving income growth of circa 75% in 2022, in line with market expectations," Crossword adds. Company says: "The 2022 income growth will be driven by growth in both cybersecurity consulting and product related income. Crossword expects to have continued traction with Rizikon, aiming for 1,000 users by the end of 2022, with the ongoing pursuit of the partnership campaigns."
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GRC International Group PLC - Cambridgeshire, England-based products and services for IT governance, risk management and compliance - Raises GBP2.8 million from placing of 7.9 million shares at 38 pence each. CEO Alan Calder says: "We are delighted with the support from investors, which has enabled us to raise sufficient capital to fully fund our immediate growth plans. With net proceeds of approximately GBP2.8 million we can now accelerate the planned investment in our SaaS and e-commerce platforms and take advantage of further investment opportunities that have been earmarked for later this year."
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Ten Lifestyle Group PLC - London-based lifestyle and travel service platform - Wins deal with "Japan's largest wealth management businesses". Ten says its digitally-enabled concierge services will be available to new corporate client's high-net-worth wealth management customers. Initially expected to be a small gig, meaning below GBP250,000, before rising to medium contract in next financial year. Ten defines medium deals as those between GBP250,000 and GBP2 million.
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Anexo Group PLC - Liverpool-based credit hire and legal services provider - Says revenue growth in 2021 exceeds forecasts, with pretax profit to be "significantly ahead of market expectations". "The strong performance has been underpinned by a number of factors, including strong growth in the motorcycle courier market, the withdrawal of competitors due to Covid and the implementation of the Civil Liability Act in May 2021," Anexo says. Adds that reopening of courts has been tailwind for legal division Bond Turner. Company adds: "The group continues to monitor developments in the legal action against Volkswagen AG. The group is actively engaged with approximately 15,000 claims. As previously announced, all costs associated with marketing and the processing of claims have been expensed as incurred; investment in case acquisition and development in 2021 totalled GBP800,000."
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Blancco Technology Group PLC - Bishop's Stotford, England-based provider of mobile device diagnostics - Expects full year results "to be above expectations". Says increasing industry focus on sustainability and governance have been "tailwinds". "Adjusted operating profit, adjusted Ebitda and cash are all expected to be comfortably above the board's expectations," company adds.
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Atlantic Lithium Ltd - lithium-focused exploration company - Reports further "high-grade infill drilling results" at Ewoyaa lithium asset in Ghana. "The ongoing infill drilling results received continue to confirm mineralisation grade and continuity where tested across the Ewoyaa deposit," CEO Vincent Mascolo says.
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Lekoil Ltd - London-based oil and gas exploration and production company with projects focused in Nigeria and West Africa - Says oil production at Otakikpo asset amounts to 4,530 barrels of oil per day in December. "Oil production in December was impacted by equipment interruption and repair," Lekoil warns.
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Hydrogen Utopia International PLC - London-based company specialising in turning non-recyclable mixed waste plastic into carbon-free fuels - Signs letter of intent with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd which will see Mitsubishi review technology and explore the commercial opportunities for developing waste plastic to hydrogen facilities. The facilities will incorporate Powerhouse Energy Group PLC's DMG technology in Japan. "Mitsubishi will have a period of one year to review the technology under the LOI, unless extended by mutual consent. Any decision to deploy the technology would be subject to further detailed agreement(s) between the parties," Hydrogen Utopia says.
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Pure Gold Mining Inc - Vancouver, Canada-based gold miner - Says "high-grade drill intercepts" returned from recent drilling of PureGold mine. Chief Executive Troy Fierro says: "These drill results also highlight the fantastic opportunities for increased head grades and resource expansion that we see in many of the mining areas currently under development for production in the next 6-12 months. As we continue to execute our plan to bring the PureGold Mine toward its full potential, definition drilling provides the critical information needed for precise planning while also highlighting opportunities for potential resource expansion and growth."
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Capital Ltd - mining services company - Expects 2021 revenue of USD226.8 million, up 685 from USD135.0 million and ahead of USD220 million to USD225 million guidance. "This is the second consecutive year Capital has delivered material growth in revenue, following 18% YoY growth in 2020," Capital says. "Q4 saw the strongest quarterly revenues in the group's history, and the momentum has continued into 2022 across all business units." Fourth quarter revenue jumps 92% to USD66.5 million from USD34.6 million.
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By Eric Cunha; ericcunha@alliancenews.com
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