TRADING UPDATES: Michelmersh Brick, Mattioli Woods on-track for growth

(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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Michelmersh Brick Holdings PLC - West Sussex-based brick maker - For the first half of 2022, expects revenue to be at least GBP33 million, reflecting a 10% year-on-year increase. Alongside its forward order book, the company remains on track to meet annual expectations

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Mattioli Woods PLC - Leicester, England-based asset manager - For the year ended May 31, revenue grows 70% from GBP62.6 million the year before, with profit on-track to meet management expectations. As at May 31, client assets totalling GBP14.9 billion, up from GBP12.1 billion the prior year. Looking ahead, trading in the current financial year reflect further growth ahead of management expectations, however inflationary pressure is expected to affect profit margin in the near term.

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Avingtrans PLC - provides components and systems for the energy, medical and industrial sectors - Expects performance for the year ended May 31 to be in line with market expectations, with a cash position at the end of May in excess of GBP16 million, compared to GBP23 million the same date in 2021. Order and prospect pipeline also remains strong.

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abrdn New Dawn Investment Trust PLC - investor in companies in the Asia-Pacific region - For the year ended April 30, net asset value total return is minus 11%, compared to the benchmark MSCI All Countries Asia Pacific ex Japan Index, which made a negative return of 9.2%. As at the end of April, net asset value per share drops 12% to 325.17 pence from 369.97p the same date a year before. Keeps annual dividend at 4.30 pence per share.

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Physiomics PLC - oncology consultancy based in Oxford, England - For the year ended June 30, expects total income and post tax profit to be in line with market expectations, driven by the signing of new of follow-on investments with Merck KGaA, Numab Therapeutics and Bicycle Therapeutics.

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Griffin Mining Ltd - operator of the Caijiaying zinc-gold mine in China - For the second quarter of 2022, gold concentrate production drops annually to 3,504 ounces from 4,080 ounces, while silver output dips to 79,246 ounces from 81,098 ounces the same period a year before. Meanwhile, Griffin achieves record zinc output at 13,189 tonnes from 11,645 tonnes a year prior, in addition to a record figure of more mined at 338,790 tonnes from 277,112 tonnes.

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DX Group PLC - Slough, England-based parcel freight, secure courier and logistics company - For the year ended July 2, expected trading for the period to be significantly ahead of management expectations, with revenue on-track to be GBP425 million, an 11% increase from GBP382.1 million. A reason for the stronger performance was DX Freight, where revenue increased 15% annually, while DX Express revenue rose 7%.

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Argo Blockchain PLC - London-based cryptocurrency miner - Mines 179 bitcoin or bitcoin equivalent in June, up from 124 in May, as a result of an increase in total hashrate capacity and greater uptime at the Helios facility. Based on daily foreign exchange rates and cryptocurrency prices during the months, mining revenue in June rose to GBP3.4 million from GBP3.1 million in May.

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Artemis Alpha Trust PLC - investor in listed and unlisted companies - For the year ended April 30, net asset value total return was minus 22%, compared to the FTSE All-Share index, which returned 8.7%. As at April 30, net asset value per share drops 23% to 367.65 pence from 476.17p the same date a year prior. Dividend per share increases 5.7% to 5.60 pence from 5.30p the prior year.

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Novacyt SA - Surrey-based biotechnology group focused on clinical diagnostics - For the first half of 2022, revenue declines 68% to GBP16.5 million from GBP52.2 million the same period a year before, driven mainly by a faster than expected fall in Covid-19 related revenue. Looking ahead, should the rate of decline to Covid-related revenue persist, Novacyt expects revenue for 2022 as a whole to be GBP25 million, down from the company's former guidance range of GBP35 million to GBP45 million. This would deliver a loss before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of GBP11 million.

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Echo Energy PLC - London-based energy company focused on Latin America - For the first six months of 2022, net production reaches aggregate of 261,290 barrels of oil equivalent, driven by a successful upgrade to the compressor, leading to substantial output increases to production from the Oceano field. Also, company and joint venture partners agree on plan to materially increase production at Santa Cruz Sur, which includes increasing production from the project over a six-month period expected to start in the third quarter of 2022. Production is expected to be increased by 40% over current levels.

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Peel Hunt Ltd - London-based investment bank - For the first quarter ended June 30, revenue reaches GBP22.8 million, as a result of market wide capital markets activity remaining at low levels.

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Time Finance PLC - Bath, England-headquartered funding solutions provider - For the year ended May 31, pretax profit is set to decline 45% to GBP1.1 million from GBP2.0 million,reflecting the goodwill write-off of a non-core brokerage as well as restructuring costs. Revenue meanwhile is expected to drop 2% to GBP23.6 million from GBP24.2 million, despite the own-book gross lending portfolio increasing 19% annually to GBP137.8 million from GBP115.7 million.

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Sabien Technology Group PLC - London-based boiler efficiency products company - For the year ended June 30, revenue drops 14% to GBP830,000 from GBP970,000, noting a challenging supply chain environment.

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CAP-XX Ltd - Sydney-based maker of ultra-thin prismatic and cylindrical supercapacitors - For the year ended June 30, revenue and adjusted loss before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation are set to be in line with expectations. Total revenue is on-track to increase 31% year-on-year to AUD5.6 million, while adjusted Lbitda will stand at AUD699,000. Looking ahead, expects to see continued growth in product sales for its current financial year, as a result of rising customer demand for DMF and DMT products and cylindrical supercapacitors in Malaysia.

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Caledonia Investments PLC - FTSE 250-listed investment trust - net asset value per share as at June 30 stands at 4,884 pence versus 5,032p at March 31, while the NAV total return for the three-month period is 1.3%, due to a stronger performance in the trust's Funds and Private Capital parts of its portfolio.

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By Dayo Laniyan; dayolaniyan@alliancenews.com

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