(Alliance News) - The following is a round-up of earnings of London-listed companies, issued on Thursday and not separately reported by Alliance News:
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IGas Energy PLC - oil and gas producer onshore in Britain - Swings sharply in half-year ended June 30 to GBP38.1 million pretax loss from a GBP648,000 profit a year before as revenue halves to GBP10.5 million from GBP21.2 million on lower oil prices and volumes, combined with a GBP34.6 million impairment recognised on oil and gas assets during the period due to lower oil price forecasts. Chief Executive Officer Stephen Bowler says: "Our core conventional business is the driver of our future diversification and we will continue to exploit the potential that exists in our core assets and ensure we continue to invest to protect that business as oil prices improve. We will also consider other new technologies that complement our existing business, as we move forward."
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Inspecs Group PLC - eyewear design house and manufacturer based in Bath - Swings to USD8.3 million pretax loss for the six months ended June 30 from a USD5.1 million profit a year before as revenue drops 45% to USD16.7 million from USD30.4 million. Performance ahead of budget in January and February but "global landscape for the eyewear sector changed dramatically due to Covid-19" with "most major markets" for its products starting to close along with distribution hubs for chains it supplies. Orders due to ship in March and later delayed or in some cases cancelled, hurting revenue and dragging it to a loss. CEO Robin Totterman says: "Although 2020 as a whole will be severely affected by Covid-19, current indications are that the second half of the year will see a continued improvement in the business performance over the first half. The group is now back to generating 'underlying Ebitda' and, notwithstanding the impacts of any new lockdowns, I am cautiously optimistic for the second half of the year and continue to look to the group's long-term future with confidence."
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Parity Group PLC - London-based recruitment and professional services firm - Pretax loss narrows to GBP383,000 in half-year ended June 30 from GBP541,000 loss a year before. Revenue falls 33% to GBP29.9 million from GBP44.5 million with net revenue after contract costs 29% lower at GBP5.3 million from GBP7.5 million. Parity explains "the reduction in net revenue year on year was offset by a GBP2.0 million reduction in operating costs before non-underlying items during the same period. The largest component of the reduction in operating costs is attributable to the realignment of the cost base with a GBP1.5 million saving against the same period in 2019." CEO Matthew Bayfield comments: "The company is now much closer to being where we set out to be when I became CEO eighteen months ago. We are leaner and more efficient, are clearer in our market position and have recruited a team who can deliver on the business plan, our prospects are good."
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Modern Water PLC - London-based wastewater firm - Suffers widened GBP819,000 pretax loss for six months ended June 30 versus GBP635,000 loss a year before as revenue drops by more than GBP1 million to GBP733,000 from GBP1.9 million and no finance income is recorded compared to GBP265,000 finance income the year before. Chair Gerard Brandon says: "The company business model in 2020 has moved to a collaboration, cooperation and partnership business model resulting in a high volume, high margin recurring revenue strategy. The increased order levels, seen in H1, are currently being prepared for shipping in H2 2020."
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Judges Scientific PLC - London-based scientific instrument sector investor - Reports 38% drop in pretax profit for six months ended June 30 to GBP4.3 million from GBP6.9 million a year before as revenue falls 7.0% to GBP37.4 million from GBP40.2 million and adjusting items rise to GBP2.1 million from GBP1.5 million. Declares 16.5 pence per share interim dividend, up 10% from 15.0p a year before. Lushani Kodituwakku, founder and CEO of Luminii Consulting, to join board on Thursday as an independent non-executive director. Chair Alex Hambro: "Whilst uncertainty does remain, the board's belief in the long-term fundamentals of the group remain unchanged, with its robust business model and its exposure to long-term secular growth drivers."
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Live Co Group PLC - Surrey-based events firm - Loss widens considerably to GBP5.4 million in half-year ended June 30 from GBP1.1 million loss the year before. This in large part due to GBP4.0 million exceptional items charge compared to just GBP251,400 a year before, including GBP3.5 million impairment of associate and intangible assets. Live Co explains that "directors have considered the carrying value of goodwill, investments and the share of net assets of associates in light of the impact of Covid-19, together with the effects of the measures taken to contain it in the markets in which the group operates and have determined the impairment". Chair David Ciclitira says: "We have successfully maintained the relationships with our key partners and begun to build new properties for the significant demand in 2021 and beyond. We have introduced new senior management, which I expect to assist the group in its profitable growth in forthcoming years."
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Billington Holdings PLC - structural steel and construction safety solutions specialist headquartered in Barnsley - Records more than GBP2.0 million drop in pretax profit to GBP614,000 in the six months ended June 30 from GBP2.7 million a year before, as revenue, excluding movements in work in progress, fell 30% to GBP33.9 million from GBP48.4 million. Revenue drop results from delayed and cancelled projects due to Covid-19 pandemic. Declares no interim dividend, unchanged from year before, having skipped a final dividend for 2019 to conserve cash. CEO Mark Smith says: "We have seen a significant impact on our first half revenue, however with all group operations having now returned to near full capacity and with the majority of projects having restarted, we look forward to the remainder of the year with cautious optimism. We anticipate improved group financial performance in the second half of the year, before hopefully moving to more normal trading conditions in 2021 assuming the economy stabilises and commences its recovery from the pandemic."
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Coro Energy PLC - Southeast Asian focused energy company - Loss for six months ended June 30 widens slightly to USD4.9 million from USD4.7 million a year before, as finance expense increases to USD2.9 million from USD1.7 million, more than offsetting reduction in general and administrative expenses to USD1.9 million from USD2.9 million. No revenue recorded in period as still in development phase. Unveils revised Southeast Asian strategy which will include renewables and other low-carbon energy sources, plus related technologies. Select opportunities already under review. Continues to prioritise divestment of non-core Italian operations.
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Tandem Group PLC - sports, leisure and mobility equipment retailer and designer - Pretax profit for six months ended June 30 rises sharply to GBP1.4 million from GBP370,000 a year before. Revenue increases to GBP16.9 million from GBP16.0 million and operating expenses fall to GBP4.1 million from GBP4.3 million, while finance costs shrink to GBP69,000 from GBP210,000. Doubles interim dividend to 3.12 pence per share from 1.56p per share. Chair Steve Grant: "Our outlook for the remainder of 2020 continues to be broadly positive, although at this stage it remains difficult to confidently forecast the full year result. Despite the FOB challenges, domestic demand remains encouraging." FOB refers to free-on-board. For Tandem, this is stock shipped directly from the Far East, as opposed to its domestic business, in which Tandem warehouses stock in the UK prior to despatch to customers. Tandem says a shift in mix from FOB to domestic helped improve is gross profit margin in the first half to 32.8% from 30.6%.
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Frenkel Topping Group PLC - financial advisor and wealth manager based in Manchester - Interim profit for six months to June 30 falls 12% to GBP483,000 from GBP546,000 a year before. Revenue increases to GBP4.4 million from GBP4.1 million, but takes GBP197,000 in extra costs for reorganisation and mergers & acquisitions. Maintains interim dividend at 0.32 pence. CEO Richard Fraser says: "The second half of the year has begun positively and trading remains strong and in line with management's expectations. The board is confident of our future and that we have the right culture, resources and expertise to continue to grow our business organically, execute our roll-up strategy and become the market leader in providing a full service offering to clients and claimants in PI and Clin Neg."
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Rosslyn Data Technologies PLC - cloud-based enterprise data analytics platform provider based in London - Reports widened GBP1.9 million pretax loss for financial year ended April 30, compared to GBP1.7 million loss a year before. Revenue slightly higher at GBP7.1 million from GBP7.0 million but depreciation and amortisation climbs to GBP1.7 million from GBP1.0 million. CEO Roger Bullen: "We are entering an exciting phase of investment for the group with a strong, growing product set and a reinvigorated sales and marketing team. This will allow us to develop stronger partnerships with new and existing clients, adding greater value to their procurement functions, and ultimately driving the group to sustainable profitability."
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Oriole Resources PLC - exploration company with operations in Senegal and Cameroon - Swings to GBP167,000 pretax profit for half-year ended June 30 from GBP748,000 loss a year before. This results from GBP595,000 in other gains compared to GBP9,000 in such losses a year before, plus administration expenses being cut to GBP416,000 from GBP584,000. CEO Tim Livesey says: "Covid-19 seems likely to provide ongoing uncertainty for the global economy for the remainder of the year and well into 2021, driving a rise in the gold price to [USD2,000 per ounce] and fuelling interest in our sector and our own projects. Irrespective of this global backdrop, we continue to be a results-led exploration company, aiming to fund our activities through a mixture of asset disposals, capital raises and rigorous control of costs."
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Cambridge Cognition Holdings PLC - Cambridge-based neuroscience technology firm - Half-year loss for six months ended June 30 narrows considerably to GBP428,000 from GBP1.7 million a year before as revenue climbs 36% to GBP3.0 million from GBP2.2 million and administrative expenses trimmed to GBP2.9 million from GBP3.5 million. CEO Matthew Stork comments: "Although a number of clinical trials were delayed because of Covid-19, the financial impact was more than compensated for by the new contract wins. Together with the equity fundraising in March, the order growth has enabled us to improve our cash position and we are well placed to continue to grow through the rest of the year and on towards profitability."
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By Anna Farley; annafarley@alliancenews.com
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