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(Alliance News) - The following is a round-up of updates by London-listed companies, issued on Wednesday and not separately reported by Alliance News:
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Vertu Motors PLC - Gateshead, England-based used car dealers company - Revenue for the financial year to the end of February is GBP2.55 billion, compared to GBP3.06 billion the year before, as like-for-like volume sales of vehicles fall to 121,527 from 166,432. Pretax profit multiplies to GBP22.4 million from GBP7.3 million, as operating expenses reduce to GBP269.4 million from GBP317.6 million. Looking ahead, Vertu reports strong start to new financial year with trading profit at a record level in the two months to April. Adjusted pretax profit in the two months totals GBP19.2 million compared to GBP14.8 million in the same months in 2019. Vertu Motors expects to deliver an adjusted pretax profit for the year ending February 2022 in the range of GBP24.0 million to GBP28.0 million, versus GBP24.6 million in financial 2021.
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Irish Continental Group PLC - Dublin-based shipping and transport company - Says revenue for the four months to April 30 is EUR89.3 million, an increase of 0.4% compared with last year but a 13% decrease on 2019. By division, Ferries recorded revenue of EUR37.1 million, a 9.4% decrease on a year earlier due to the continued restrictions on non-essential passenger travel imposed by governments across Europe in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Total revenue recorded in the Container & Terminal division amounted to EUR56.4 million, a 12% increase on a year prior, driven by greater capacity and higher volumes.
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Mears Group PLC - Brockworth, England-based housing and social care provider - Says it has made significant strategic progress last year, with revenue resilient, down 9% on a continuing basis to GBP805.8 million in 2020 from GBP881.5 million the year before. Mears said it returned to profitability in the second half, delivering a GBP4.8 million adjusted pretax profit versus a GBP8.2 million loss in the first half. For all of 2020, Mears posts a pretax loss of GBP15.2 million, swinging from a pretax profit of GBP20.3 million in 2019. The company declares no dividend for the year after 3.65p per share was paid for 2019. Mears says it is comfortable with current market consensus expectations for revenue and adjusted pretax profit for 2021.
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London Security PLC - Elland, England-based fire protection company - Reports revenue of GBP152.7 million for 2020, an increase from GBP146.9 million in 2019. Pretax profit totals GBP24.6 million, 2.2% higher than GBP24.0 million reported for 2019 amid improved performance from its service business in continental Europe. London Security declares dividend of GBP0.60 per share for the year, reduced from GBP0.80 for 2019. Looking ahead, the company considers that it is well placed to navigate through the impact of the Covid-19 outbreak and capitalise on the rebound in the economy created by the vaccine programmes as they gain momentum through 2021.
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Redde Northgate PLC - Darlington, England-based commercial vehicle hire business - Says underlying revenue - excluding vehicle sales - was 51% higher in the financial year that ended April 30, and total revenue - including vehicle sales - was 43% higher year-on-year. The increase in revenue is primarily due to the inclusion of Redde since the merger in February 2020, as well as LCV rental and sales growth. Going forward, Redde said it now expects underlying pretax profit for the year to April 30, 2022, to be moderately above the top end of the current range of analyst estimates and not less than GBP92 million, up from GBP59.0 million reported for the year to April 2020.
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Ocean Wilsons Holdings Ltd - Bermudian investment company, operating through Wilson Sons Ltd - Says Wilson Sons earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization in the first quarter of 2021 was USD43.6 million, an increase of 21% against a year earlier. Container terminal results were boosted by import volumes in the first quarter, with some positive domestic economic activity in the quarter and an improvement in the mix of containers handled. Quarterly profit after tax increased to USD4.6 million. Excluding foreign exchange movements, Wilson Sons would show a profit after tax of USD8.8 million.
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PetroTal Corp - Texas-based oil & gas development and production company - Says the 7D well on Bretana oil field in Peru has been successfully drilled and completed. It flows at an initial rate of 3,700 barrels of oil per day during its first 10 days of production and averages 4,550 barrels of oil per day during the past three days. PetroTal says the 7D well was drilled and completed in 33 days for a cost of USD8.6 million, 7%, under the USD9.2 million estimate.
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Synairgen PLC - Southampton, England-based drug discovery and biotechnology company - Reports "exceptional" progress over 2020, with its broad-spectrum antiviral taking centre stage as a possible treatment for Covid-19. Pretax loss for 2020 widens, however, to GBP17.7 million from GBP4.8 million the year before, as research & development expenditure jumps to GBP15.5 million form GBP3.5 million. Other administrative expenses grow to GBP2.2 million from GBP1.4 million year-on-year.
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Uniphar PLC - Irish healthcare services business - Holds annual general meeting, where Chair Maurice Pratt notes that the company delivered a strong financial performance in 2020, outperforming expectations. Strong momentum has continued into 2021, and the company has traded well, pivoting quickly to respond to the changes and challenges caused by Covid-19. Uniphar remains confident of delivering its current year plan as well as its medium-term guidance, Pratt says.
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Global Resources Investment Trust PLC - investment fund specialising in the natural resources industry - Reports net loss before finance costs and tax of GBP284,000 for the six months to the end of June 2020, compared to GBP826,000 a year before. The trust says its half-year was "immensely frustrating" because the approach made by the Australian mining company, Terracom Ltd, was not able to be progressed. The uncertainty surrounding the company's future resulted in the inability to publish the 2019 annual report and the suspension of trading in the company's shares.
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JPMorgan Multi-Asset Growth & Income PLC - investment firm - Achieves a positive total return of 4.1% on its net asset value, an underperformance of 0.7 percentage point against the company's benchmark, which comprises the Libor one-month sterling rate of 0.3% plus 4.5% per annum. Since March 1 to May 10 the company's NAV total return increased 4.6%, ahead of the company's new reference, which rose by 3.4% over the same period. The trust reports NAV per share of 102.5p as at the end of February, down slightly from 102.7p the year ago. "The year ahead should hopefully prove less volatile for global stock markets than the last financial year," the company notes in its statement Wednesday.
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Albion Development VCT - Briston, England-based venture capital trust - Reports unaudited net asset value as at March 31 of GBP86.88 million or 84.07p per share, an increase of 2.0% since the end of 2020. After accounting for the dividend of 2.06p per share to be paid on May 28, the NAV is 82.01p per share. During the first quarter, the trusts says it did not buy back any shares.
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Gresham House PLC - London-based asset manager - Holds AGM, at which Non-Executive Chair Anthony Townsend says trading is in line with market expectations. "We continue to invest in growing the business sustainably as we scale our platform and remain focused on prioritising the safety and wellbeing of our staff," says Townsend. "It has been an exciting start to the year with the launch of our first sustainable investment report, demonstrating our commitment to sustainability at the core of our business."
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Dunedin Enterprise Investment Trust PLC - Edinburg-based private equity finance provider - Reports unaudited net asset value per share as at March 31 of 428.1p, up 3.4% from 413.9p at the end of 2020. This also represents a total return per share of 3.4% during the quarter. The share price has increased by 1.8% to 342p from 336p in the first quarter. The share price total return for the quarter also was 1.8%. This compares to an increase in the FTSE Small Cap Index of 16% over the same period. The share price discount to net asset value as at March 31 was 20%. A final dividend of 2.0p per share will be paid to shareholders on May 19.
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Savills PLC - London-based real estate services provider - Says its Less Transactional businesses have continued to perform well, with progressive recovery in a number of transactional markets becoming evident. For the year to date, Savills said it has traded better than anticipated and comfortably ahead of the prior equivalent period. Also notes that at its AGM held earlier on Wednesday, 21% of votes were cast against resolution 2, the advisory vote on the implementation of the company's 2020 remuneration policy. The company said it understands that shareholders' primary concern was its decision to take into account a wider number of operational and strategic performance metrics than the profit targets set prior to the pandemic. Savills says it will engage with its leading shareholders over the coming months.
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Cenkos Securities PLC - London-based securities services provider - Tells AGM that it has continued to trade well, in line with expectations. "We are currently working on several transactions for our clients and the pipeline for the rest of the year gives us grounds for optimism," Cenkos says in its statement Wednesday. The company maintains a strong balance sheet and financial resources well in excess of its regulatory requirements.
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FBD Holdings PLC - Irish insurance company - Chief Executive Toms O'Midheach tells AGM that FBD's underwriting performance in 2021 to date has been in line with expectations. Gross written premium has held up well in a "very competitive" market, for Private Motor in particular. Average premium has reduced by 3% overall with Private Motor average premium down by approximately 5%. "Overall, we remain confident in the underlying profitability, future growth prospects, capital strength of the business and in our ability to continue to provide excellent service to our customers," says O'Midheach.
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GCP Student Living PLC - real estate investment trust focused on student accommodation in and around London - Reports a 4.5% increase in net tangible assets to 179.07p as at the end of March from 171.38p reported on December 31. "The portfolio experienced a strong NAV performance this quarter driven primarily by strengthening investment markets for student accommodation with a high number of transactions, including in London, being completed," says Chair David Hunter. As at the end of March, the valuation of the company's portfolio was GBP1.06 billion. At that date the portfolio comprised eleven operational assets with 4,100 beds. The valuation net initial yield on the operational portfolio was 4.4%.
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Schroder Income Growth Fund PLC - UK-based investment company - During the six-month period to the end of February, the company's net asset value total return was 16%, compared to 12% for the FTSE All-Share Index. The share price outperformed the NAV, showing a total return of 20% as the discount narrowed from 2.4% at the start of the financial year on September 1, 2020, to a premium of 1.0% at the end of February. During the half-year, the company paid two interim dividends for the year ending August amounting to 5.00p per share, unchanged year-on-year. NAV improved to 278.18p from 276.09p the year before and 246.71p at the end of August 2020.
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By Evelina Grecenko; evelinagrecenko@alliancenews.com
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