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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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Pittards PLC - leather goods manufacturer - Expects to report revenue of GBP15.2 million for 2020, with revenue of GBP8.6 million for the second half, up 30% on the first half. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation performance was positive during the second half, company adds. "Customer orders began to rise towards the end of the year, and we started 2021 with an order book stronger than the beginning of the previous 2 years. The ongoing uncertainty associated with the pandemic remains, but the directors consider that there is more opportunity than risk as we look ahead," says Pittards.
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Dekel Agri-Vision PLC - West African-focused agriculture company - Reports that recent trend of double-digit increases in monthly crude palm oil production, sales and prices at its 100%-owned Ayenouan project in Ivory Coast continued in January. Says production up 52% to 3,269 tonnes, sales up 20% to 2,538 tonnes and realised prices up 28% to EUR796 per tonne compared to January 2020, marking "excellent start" to the new year.
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Ingenta PLC - Oxford-based publishing software developer - Expects to report revenue of around GBP10.1 million for 2020, down slightly from GBP10.9 million in 2019, and adjusted Ebitda of GBP1.2 million versus GBP1.3 million in 2019. Confirms it expects to pay a dividend of at least 1.5 pence for 2020. "2020 has been a challenging year but I'm pleased with the resilience the group has shown across all our products and services. Although sales activity has been hampered by general economic uncertainty, Ingenta has managed to confirm several new deals which will enhance recurring revenue over the coming years," says Chief Executive Scott Winner.
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Aseana Properties Ltd - property developer in both Malaysia and Vietnam - Says proposal to demerge 50% of its assets can no longer take place as a result of failure to secure the required approval from the banking syndicates who had lent the funds for the construction of two of the company's investments. These investments are a hospital in Vietnam and a hotel and shopping mall in Sandakan. "The directors will now continue their focus on selling all of the company's assets including The RuMa Hotel & Residences in Kuala Lumpur and the remaining plot of land in Kota Kinabalu which were set to be demerged," company says.
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Synectics PLC - Sheffield, England-based provider of security systems - Receives letter of intent following competitive tender process to enter into a multi-million pound contract for a large innovative, cloud-based surveillance control system to be installed in London commencing later this year. The precise scope and terms of the contract are currently being finalised and a further announcement will be made in due course.
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Safestyle UK PLC - Bradford-based retailer and manufacturer of PVCu replacement windows - Expects 2020 revenue to be in excess of GBP113 million, with revenue in the second half up 15% year-on-year. Full-year underlying pretax loss expected to be around GBP4.7 million, being fully attributable to the cessation of operations during the first national lockdown in the first half. Adds that group returned to profit for second half in line with expectations. "Given the group's strong order book and installation pipeline, the board expects to make good progress in 2021," company says.
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Starcom PLC - remote tracking systems firm, headquartered in Jersey - Says results for 2020 reflect "the global impact of Covid-19 on the company." Says preliminary accounts show 2020 revenue of around USD5 million, versus USD6.8 million in 2019, and an adjusted loss before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation of USD350,000, against earnings of USD296,000 the year before. "Margins were impacted by costs of amortisation and high logistics and shipment costs as a result of the pandemic, as capacity was reduced. As announced previously, due to the disruption caused by the pandemic, many of the company's customers were unable to place orders and make payments as expected in 2020. The final results for FY2020 will therefore include appropriate provisions in respect of delays in payments by some customers who could not meet their obligations to Starcom," company says.
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Blue Star Capital PLC - investment company with a focus on esports, payments, technology and its applications within media and gaming - Says investee Leaf Mobile Inc completes acquisition of East Side Games Inc for CAD159 million. Further, Leaf recently completed a public offering for shares raising gross proceeds of CAD23 million. Following this, Leaf received approval to list its shares on the Toronto Stock Exchange, and is delisting from the TSX Venture Exchange. Blue Star Chief Executive Derek Lew says: "We would like to congratulate Leaf on the completion of its acquisition of East Side Games Inc and their subsequent approval to move to the TSX. Following the acquisition, Leaf will be one of the leading, publicly traded mobile game companies in Canada, its progress highlights Blue Star's ability to identify promising investments with potential for growth."
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AdEPT Technology Group PLC - information technology provider based in London - Says trading in third quarter, which ended December, remained "resilient" and in line with management expectations, with total revenue for the quarter higher than the average achieved in the two quarters in the period ended September 30.
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Argo Blockchain PLC - UK-based cryptocurrency miner - Enters into non-binding letter of intent with DPN LLC of New York, setting out the terms for Argo to acquire 320 acres of land in West Texas with access of up to 800 megawatts of electrical power. Argo intends to build a new 200 megawatt mining facility there in the next 12 months. The overall price of the acquisition will be USD17.5 million, satisfied by the issue to DPN of Argo shares. "We are incredibly excited about this proposed acquisition. It gives Argo tremendous control over its mining operations, as well as significant capacity for expansion," says Chief Executive Peter Wall.
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Immotion Group PLC - entertainment and educational virtual reality firm - Signs contract to provide a new Undersea Explorer VR Theatre at Clearwater Marine Aquarium in Florida, US. This is expected to open in March 2021. Adds that trading at its operational US aquarium partner sites is "encouraging" for the time of year and given the overall trading environment, while other US non-aquarium partner sites are trading as expected given the restrictions in place. "Whilst the UK LBE business (including our own ImmotionVR entertainment centres) is sadly still closed, we are hopeful that as progress is made with the UK vaccination programme, we will benefit at least from a strong summer of trading and would hope that we may even see some earlier easing of restrictions," company says.
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Toople PLC - Letchworth Garden City, England-based telecom services provider - Wins five year contract to provide a unified telecoms solution to a specialist engineering firm that designs and manufactures mercury and LED UV curing systems for the printing, coating and converting industries. The unnamed firm is based in the UK, but has global reach, Toople says, with subsidiaries in Europe and North America.
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PRS REIT PLC - real estate investment trust focusing on new-build family homes for the private rental market - Declares dividend of 1.0 pence in respect of the second quarter period. The company continues to target a minimum total dividend of 4.0p per share for the current financial year ending June 30. EPRA net asset value per share at December 31 was 96.1p, up from 95.1p on June 30.
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Proactis Holdings PLC - Wetherby-based cash management software company - Signs three-year contract with an oil and gas services business in North America. "This contract win represents a strategically important milestone for the company, being the first new customer in North America to sign up under the group's new go-to market strategy," Proactis says. The customer, which provides coil tubing needs to oil drilling companies across six locations in North America, has selected Proactis to deliver its sourcing and supplier management requirements.
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Bacanora Lithium PLC - lithium explorer - Commences initial site activities at Sonora lithium project, Mexico. The company has engaged a local specialist ecological services company based in Sonora to begin initial site works. "This milestone follows the company's successful USD65 million fundraise last week, which, in combination with existing cash and the undrawn portions of its debt financing facility, will finance Bacanora's 50% share of the capital cost required for stage 1 of the project," says Bacanora.
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By Lucy Heming;Â lucyheming@alliancenews.com
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