TRADING UPDATES: Bank of Georgia drops buffer; Sureserve nabs contract

(Alliance News) - The following is a round-up of updates by London-listed companies, issued on Thursday and not separately reported by Alliance News:

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International Public Partnerships Ltd - London-based infrastructure investor - Raises GBP135 million through issue of 81.8 million shares. "The proceeds will be used to pay down the cash drawn portion of the company's corporate debt facility and to provide additional resources for the company's approved near-term transactions," company says. Chair Michael Gerrard adds: "We are delighted to have support from our existing and new investors for this capital raise. We believe this demonstrates the attractiveness of INPP's robust long-term inflation-linked returns, in the current market. The proceeds from this capital raise will be used to repay our corporate debt facility and to fund the near-term investments in our growing pipeline."

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Bank of Georgia Group PLC - Tbilisi, Georgia-based lender - Confirms no longer utilising any regulatory capital buffers. The Bank no longer has any regulatory restriction on making any capital distributions. "It is the bank board's intention to change its dividend declaration policy to a semi-annual one, with the first interim dividend payment to be considered in the second half of 2021, on the back of 1H 2021 performance," lender adds. CET1 capital requirement ends June at 11.1%, expects requirement in December 2023 to be 12.2%. Bank adds: "Throughout the pandemic, and the consequent significant reduction in economic activity, Bank of Georgia has delivered strong operating performance, with good operating income, well-managed costs, and robust asset quality. This has led to consistently delivering return on equity in excess of 20% over the last four quarters, and maintaining capital adequacy ratios comfortably above our minimum regulatory requirements."

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LSL Property Services PLC - Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England-based estate agency - Sells 32% stake in property searches and services provider TM Group Ltd to Dye & Durham Ltd for GBP29.3 million on a cash-free, debt-free basis. "The sale of LSL's investment in LMS further simplifies the group structure, providing additional capital for deployment into opportunities to accelerate the group's growth strategy, in particular financial services," company adds.

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Bacanora Lithium PLC - developer of Sonora lithium project in Mexico - Ganfeng International Trading Ltd gets necessary approvals and notices from authorities in China to satisfy the outbound direct investment pre-condition in Bacanora. Still waiting on diligence pre-condition.

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Animalcare Group PLC - York-based animal health business - Shareholder Ecuphar Invest NV sells 13.9 million shares in company at 285 pence each, representing entire stake. Shares closed at 301.00p on Thursday. "The placing shares sold, which comprise about 23% of the company's existing share capital, have been acquired by a number of new and existing institutional and other shareholders," company adds. Chris Cardon, who is the seller's representative on the board, has resigned from the board with immediate effect.

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Secure Trust Bank PLC - Solihull, West Midlands-based retail bank - Sells remaining portfolio of SME asset finance agreements and equipment to Haydock Finance Ltd. "STB ceased originating this type of asset finance business in 2018, running its lending balances down further from GBP10.4 million at December 31. The sale is in line with STB's strategy of focusing on the areas of the business that have the strongest prospects for delivering sustainable and profitable medium- to long-term growth," bank explains.

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Essensys PLC - London-based software for flexible workspace operators - Proposes placing of 11.0 million shares at 285 pence each, hoping to raise GBP31.3 million. Will also offer additional 701,755 shares for subscription to raise extra GBP2.0 million. "The company intends to use the net proceeds of the fundraising to take advantage of the significant opportunities presented by the growing flexible workspace industry by accelerating its proven go-to-market strategy and product development," company explains.

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Odyssean Investment Trust PLC - invests in smaller companies outside the FTSE 250 index - Raises GBP5.8 million through issue of 3.7 million shares at 158 pence. "The net proceeds of the issue will be invested in accordance with OIT's investment policy," company explains.

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Water Intelligence PLC - Palm Springs, California-based water leak detection company - Reacquires two major franchises in Las Vegas and Phoenix in company's American Leak Detection subsidiary. "Today's set of acquisitions is the largest that the group has executed to date and reinforces its strong growth trajectory both financially and operationally," company says. Adds: "Financially, the acquisition will be earnings enhancing for shareholders. The combined purchase price of USD10.3 million will be paid over four years and includes all assets to conduct operations including trucks and equipment. Given the group's available cash reserves and bank facilities, the group has sufficient capital to fund the acquisitions and execute on its growth objectives."

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Sureserve Group PLC - Basildon, Essex-based compliance and energy services focused on UK public sector - Two of its wholly owned subsidiaries, K&T Heating Services Ltd and Aaron Services Ltd, secures long-term gas servicing, repair, installation and electrical testing contract with a new client, PA Housing. "The contract term is capped at 8 years, commencing on August 1, 2021, and is expected to generate a combined sales revenue of GBP36 million over the entirety of the contract term. PA Housing are a large registered provider of social housing who own and manage more than 23,000 homes across the Midlands, London and South East," company says.

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Cadence Minerals PLC - London-based investor in mineral resource projects - Investee Macarthur Minerals enters into a term sheet with rail haulage service provider Pacific National, for transport by rail of up to 400,000 tonnes per annum of iron ore between Kalgoorlie and Esperance. The deal will support a potential direct shipment ore export pathway, company explains. "The company's plans to pursue commencement of mining, production and export of a DSO product at Ularring Lake Giles iron project at the earliest available opportunity are being advanced. With suitable rolling stock anticipated to be available from the first quarter of 2022, the company aims to complete the balance of its transport solution as quickly as possible," company adds.

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EverArc Holdings Ltd - investment vehicle - Enters into definitive agreement to acquire Perimeter Solutions. Follows on heels of deal with SK Invictus Holdings Sarl to acquire 100% of SK Invictus Intermediate Sarl, parent company of manufacturer of firefighting products and lubricant additives Perimeter Solutions.

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Samuel Heath & Sons PLC - shower and bathroom accessory manufacturer - Pretax profit in year to March 31 falls to GBP620,000 versus GBP1.4 million the year before. Annual revenue slips to GBP11.5 million from GBP13.9 million. Reinstates final dividend, paying 6.875p. "There is no doubt that in the UK market some people are using saved money on their own homes. That is only one part of our sales. It is very important to us that the US market continues to recover. It appears that that process in Europe will take that much longer and of course we have other factors there as well. So once more it is very difficult to see the future, although we are trading satisfactorily now," Chair Sam Heath says.

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By Paul McGowan; paulmcgowan@alliancenews.com

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