(Alliance News) - The following is a round-up of earnings updates by London-listed companies, issued on Tuesday and not separately reported by Alliance News:
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John Menzies PLC - aviation services firm with headquarters in Edinburgh - Revenue in six months ended June 30 down 34% year-on-year to GBP431.5 million from GBP649.9 million. Pretax loss widens to GBP80.1 million from GBP4.4 million a year earlier. "Results reflect the severe impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, particularly on the ground handling and into-plane fuelling services, with the European business most significantly affected," John Menzies said.
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ScS Group PLC - Sunderland-based furniture retailer - Revenue in year ended July 25 down 20% to GBP255.5 million from GBP317.4 million a year before. Swings to pretax loss of GBP3.1 million from GBP14.3 million profit. Says order intake down 4.2% annually pre-lockdown, plunged 93% during lockdown but climbed 92% between May 24 and July 25. Order intake up 46% annually on like-for-like basis in first nine weeks of new year.
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Animalcare Group PLC - York-based animal health firm - Revenue in six months to June 30 falls 4.4% to GBP34.5 million from GBP36.1 million a year earlier but Animalcare swings to GBP763,000 pretax profit from GBP1.8 million loss. Declares 2.0p dividend, flat year-on-year.
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Escape Hunt PLC - London-based escape room operator - Revenue in six months to June 30 falls 41% to GBP1.3 million from GBP2.2 million a year ago, but pretax loss narrows slightly to GBP3.1 million from GBP3.2 million. Administrative expenses fall 14% to GBP4.0 million. Escape Hunt's sites were closed from March 21 to the end of the interim period due to Covid-19 lockdowns.
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XLMedia PLC - Jersey-based performance marketing company - Revenue in six months to June 30 falls 35% year-on-year to USD27.7 million from USD42.5 million. Pretax profit almost wiped out to USD171,000 from USD13.8 million in year prior. XLMedia says results hurt by Covid-19 and traffic to its online casino websites drying up following a demotion on Google searches.
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Pelatro PLC- London-based marketing software firm - Revenue in six months to June 30 slips 16% year-on-year to USD2.3 million from USD2.7 million. Pretax loss widens to USD403,000 from USD262,000 in year prior but does post USD149,000 exceptional gain, compared to none a year earlier.
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Blancco Technology Group PLC - data erasure firm with a sales office in Hertfordshire - Revenue in year ended June 30 rises 9.4% to GBP33.4 million from GBP30.5 million. Blancco's pretax loss narrows to GBP179,000 from GBP375,000. Says trading has started "positively" in financial 2021.
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Gateley Holdings PLC - London-based legal and professional services firm - Revenue in year ended April 30 rises 6.1% to GBP109.8 million from GBP103.5 million. Pretax profit slips 6.9% to GBP14.8 million from GBP15.9 million. Profit hurt by GBP3.5 million in depreciation of right-of-use assets. Pays no dividend after 8p payout in year prior. Gateley had previously cancelled 2.9p interim payout.
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Ross Group PLC - London-based supply chain management and distribution company - Posts no revenue in six months to June 30, like in year prior, but pretax loss slims to GBP830,000 from GBP3.2 million.
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IronRidge Resources Ltd - Africa-focused minerals explorer - Pretax loss in year ended June 30 narrows to USD6.4 million from USD7.1 million. Administration and consulting expenses down 8.3% year-on-year to USD2.8 million and share-based payments down 23% to USD2.7 million.
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Alien Metals Ltd - minerals exploration and development in Western Australia and Mexico - Like in year prior, posts no revenue in six months to June 30. Pretax loss narrows to USD416,000 from USD595,000. Administrative expenses down 29% year-on-year to USD417,000.
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Chariot Oil & Gas Ltd - Atlantic margins-focused oil and gas company - Posts no revenue in six months to June 30, unchanged year-on-year. Pretax loss deepens to USD68.8 million from USD1.9 million. Posts total operating expenses of USD69.2 million from USD1.9 million in year prior, mostly due to a USD66.7 million impairment of exploration asset.
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United Oil & Gas PLC - oil and gas company with a portfolio of assets in Egypt, Italy, Jamaica, and the UK - Reports revenue of USD2.4 million in six months to June 30, against none a year earlier. Swings to pretax profit of USD1.8 million from USD756,408 loss. Swing to profit also helped by USD2.8 million fair value gain on derivative financial instruments. No such tailwind reported a year earlier.
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Ncondezi Energy Ltd - African power development company - Pretax loss in six months to June 30 narrows to USD1.2 million from USD1.3 million in year prior. Like last year, it posted no revenue, but finance expenses down 42% to USD222,000.
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Iofina PLC - US-focused iodine producer - Revenue falls 8.3% to USD15.7 million in six months to June 30, from USD14.5 million in year prior. But Iofina swings to pretax profit of USD1.3 million from USD300,360 loss as it reports no amortisation of convertible loan notes, having booked costs of USD821,649 a year earlier.
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Volvere PLC - turnaround investment firm - Revenue in six months to June 30 rises 28% to GBP13.0 million from GBP10.1 million. Pretax loss widens to GBP974,000 from GBP624,000 in year prior. Administrative expenses climb 38% to GBP1.9 million from GBP1.4 million.
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Pacific Horizon Investment Trust PLC - Asia-Pacific and Indian sub-continent-focused investor - Net asset value per share at July 31 year-end down 40% annually to 481.92 pence, from 344.50p. Proposes 0.25p per share dividend, having not proposed one in year prior.
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VPC Specialty Lending Investments PLC - asset-backed lender - Net asset value per share at June 30, end of first half, down 3.8% to 89.78p from 93.33p at the end of December. Leaves payout unchanged year-on-year at 4.00p. "While the macro backdrop for non-traditional credit has been volatile, VPC's risk mitigation measures, the resilience of the portfolio and its performance have been heartening. This performance has differentiated VSL from many of its peers in the investment trust sub-sector," the company says.
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By Eric Cunha; ericcunha@alliancenews.com
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