TRADING UPDATES: Polar Capital and Hargreave Hale beat benchmarks

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

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Polar Capital Global Healthcare Trust PLC - investment firm focused on capital growth by investing in a portfolio of healthcare stocks across all healthcare sectors - For the year ended September 30, net asset value total return is 19.5%, compared to the benchmark index, the MSCI ACWI Health Care Index, which returns 13.4%. As at September 30, NAV per share increases 19% year-on-year to 318.07 pence from 268.11p. Declares total dividend of 2.00p per share, in line with year before.

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Hargreave Hale AIM VCT PLC - investment firm - As at September 30, net asset value per share rises 36% to 100.39 pence from 73.66p the same date a year before. NAV total return for the annual period of 42.3%, compared to a 30.8% return from the FTSE AIM All-Share index total return. Declares dividend of 4.40 pence, down 12% from 5.00p the year before.

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Focusrite PLC - High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire-based music and audio products company - During the first quarter ended November 30, says demand remains strong and revenue is in-line with management expectations. With the settlement of recent acquisitions and cross-business initiatives, such factors are expected to have a positive effect in the latter part of the 2022 financial year and 2023. However, company is still experiencing supply constraints due to a shortage of components and supply chain tightness.

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UK SPAC PLC - cash shell formerly known as Mountfield Group - For the six months ended September 30, pretax loss widens to GBP261,273 from GBP117,722 a year before, as the company continued to negotiate a deal on the reverse takeover of Hellenic Dynamics SA.

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Mattioli Woods PLC - Leicester-based asset manager - For the six months ended November 30, net inflows in the group's investment and asset management services and the number of new clients on-boarded are ahead of the prior year, with organic revenue growth for the period at 10%. The two recent acquisitions of Maven Capital Partners and Ludlow Wealth Management are trading ahead of budget for the year to date. For the current financial year, the trading outlook remains in line with management expectations.

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Pantheon Resources PLC - oil & gas explorer with assets in Alaska and Texas - Receives formal approval for the plan of operations at Theta West and Talitha from the State of Alaska, Department of Mineral Resources. In addition, company has contracted the services of Nordic-Calista No 3 rig, for use on two new wells.

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Ridgecrest PLC - cash shell - For the six months ended September 30, pretax loss widens to GBP206,000 from GBP90,000 the same period a year before, due to the generation of no revenue compared to GBP3.1 million, following the liquidation of the company's Australian subsidiaries, which was completed in January.

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Symphony Environmental Technologies PLC - Borehamwood, England-based plastic technologies company - For 2021, expects operating loss to widen to GBP800,000 from GBP390,000 the year before, on revenue which remained flat at GBP9.8 million, as growth in sales of the d2w and d2p masterbatch offset a decline in finished good sales, particularly for personal protective equipment and gloves.

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JPMorgan Indian Investment Trust PLC - investor in Indian companies - For the year ended September 30, net asset value total return is 43.2%, lagging behind the MSCI Indian Index, which returned 46.8%. NAV per share as at September 30 rises 43% year-on-year to 983.7 pence from 687.1p.

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Downing ONE VCT - investment company - As at September 30, net asset value per share increases 8.9% year-on-year to 61.3 pence from 56.3p.

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By Dayo Laniyan; dayolaniyan@alliancenews.com

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