UK EARNINGS SUMMARY: City of London optimistic, East Imperial sales up

Mon, 13th Sep 2021 15:45

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

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City of London Investment Group PLC - London-based specialist asset manager focused on closed-end funds - Pretax profit in the year ended June 30 more than doubles to GBP22.2 million from GBP9.4 million, as revenue climbs to GBP52.5 million from GBP31.7 million. Net outflows are USD752 million in the period, influenced by client rebalancing and market gains. Confirms final dividend of 22 pence, up from 20 pence last year, meaning total payout is up to 33 pence from 30 pence. Chair Barry Aling says: "While it may be unrealistic to expect markets to continue their sharp climb over the last year, the recovery in economic activity should ensure that any correction will be a 'soft landing' rather than a full-blown bear market. Given the more diversified revenue base now enjoyed by the group, as highlighted earlier, we are therefore cautiously optimistic for the year ahead and believe we are prepared to manage any headwinds that may arise."

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East Imperial PLC - London-based alcohol mixer beverage company with Asian and African influences - Says revenue rises 60% year-on-year in the first-half of 2021, with momentum carrying over into second-half. Loss widens to GBP307,402 from GBP292,384 but sees robust demand in key markets as momentum from the first-half continues into the second-half. Expects to benefit from seasonal sales in the fourth quarter, predicting continued recovery in the company's key markets, specifically in New Zealand, Europe and the US. Chief Executive Tony Burt says: "This progress gives me confidence that we'll deliver significant sales growth in 2021 and in the years ahead."

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Verici Dx PLC - Cardiff-based developer of advanced clinical diagnostics for organ transplant - Pretax loss in the six months to June 30 widens to USD2.8 million from USD84,023 million and generates no revenue. Administrative expenses soar to USD2.7 million from USD56,500. Declares no interim dividend. "Cash balance as at 30 June 2021 was USD14.5 million [compared to USD7.7 million at December 31], representing a total cash outflow of USD3.4 million and a foreign exchange gain of USD200,000," says Chief Executive Sara Barrington. "Given our strong cash balance, we will continue to look for any licensing opportunities for complementary technologies that could expand our platform." Additionally, Verici Dx appoints neurology and organ transplant doctor Lorenzo Gallon as Chair of Science Advisory Board.

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Brandshield Systems PLC - London-based cybersecurity software producer interested in brand protection and online threat hunting - Pretax loss in six months to June 30 widens to USD1.8 million from USD554,461 year-on-year, as administrative expenses rise to USD2.8 million from USD1.5 million. Interim revenue climbs marginally to USD1.8 million from USD1.5 million. Declares no dividend. "With the successful listing on AIM now behind us, our team has been able to fully focus on building out our sales footprint and further expanding our market reach," says Chief Executive Yoav Keren. "The strong customer traction experienced already this year is not only representative of the demand for cybersecurity solutions across the market, but also the quality of our solutions."

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Spectral MD Holdings Ltd - London and Dallas-based predictive analytics company that develops proprietary AI algorithms and optical technology - Swings to pretax loss of USD878,072 in first half of 2021, from USD1.7 million profit. Revenue drops slightly to USD7.0 million from USD7.1 million. Spectral does note plan t pay a dividend for the period, in line with the year before. Chief Executive Wensheng Fan says: "We have exceeded the commercial milestones we set for the company in our admission document, which we believe will position the company for success in the important and growing wound care market â€¦ the company is positioned to achieve milestones that are foundational for our planned regulatory approvals and commercialization plans in 2022 and 2023."

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Water Intelligence PLC - London-based leak detection and water remediation company - Pretax profit in the six months to June 30 grows 92% year-on-year to USD3.8 million from USD2.0 million. Revenue climbs 44% to USD24.7 million from USD17.1 million. Declares no interim dividend and plans to focus on "build and buy" growth strategy. Chair Patrick DeSouza says: "Given our robust sales and distribution footprint for water infrastructure solutions across the US and in the UK, Australia and Canada, we are seeing an increasing number of opportunities for acquisitions and partnerships that enable us to build a platform company or a "One Stop Shop" as we have termed in our annual reports."

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VH Global Sustainable Energy Opportunities PLC - London-based sustainable energy infrastructure assets investor - Reports net asset value per share of 96.7p at June 30, coupled with first-half pretax loss of GBP3.4 million and revenue loss of GBP1.9m. Chair Bernard Bulkin says: "As economies around the world move towards a net-zero carbon future, the company is well positioned to be a leader in driving the energy transition and make a positive impact on the environment as well as local communities around the globe."

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Xpediator PLC - UK and Europe-based freight management company - Pretax profit in the first-half of 2021 is GBP2.3 million, compared to GBP302,000 a year prior. Pretax profit for full-year 2020 was GBP3.9million. Interim revenue grows to GBP126.6 million from GBP99.6 million, while interim dividend is up 11% at 0.50 pence from 0.45 pence. The company notes a "healthy pipeline of potential acquisitions" in the second half.

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IQGeo Group PLC - Cambridge-based productivity and collaboration software developer for telecoms and utility network industries - Pretax loss narrows to GBP959,000 from GBP1.7 million in six months to June 30, as revenue climbs to GBP6.4 million from GBP4.7 million. Recurring revenue growth is 58%, representing 40% of first-half. Chief Executive Richard Petti says: "Direct sales of our software through our enterprise and SMB [Small and Medium Business] teams remains strong with particularly encouraging growth from our new SMB unit, delivering an exceptional number of new logos in the first half. We are making steady progress in geographic market expansion having established new channel, technology and integration partners to support our market growth objectives in all our regional markets."

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Blackbird PLC - Wimbledon, London-based patented cloud video editing platform - pretax loss in the first-half widens to GBP1.2 million from GBP942,025 year-on-year, while revenue rises to GBP866,644 from GBP713,843. Chair Andrew Bentley says: "We continue to make good progress against our strategy and have made a meaningful start to the second half of the year. The recent direct deals with Univision, Athletes Unlimited and CBS Sports Digital show that our sector focus continues to bear fruit with a strong order book and revenue of USD1.6 million secured for the year which is up 31% against the comparative at June 30 2020 (GBP1.3 million)".

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Curzon Energy PLC - investor and developer in US based natural gas projects - Pretax loss narrows to USD345,886 in the six months to June 30 from USD367,000 a year prior. No plans to introduce any dividends due to focus on development strategy. Chair John McGoldrick says: "The company's near-term goal remains focused on exploring ongoing opportunities associated with the company's historic Coos Bay coal bed methane project, as well as completing due diligence, covering a potential transaction with Poseidon Enhanced Technologies. The company believes that in light of a recent resurgence in US natural gas prices that the company's historic assets continue to have value, and as such it progressing ongoing discussions regarding a farm-in or sale of these assets."

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Greencoat Renewables PLC - Dublin-based investor in euro-dominated assets - Net asset value per share rises to 101.1 Euro cents at June 30 from 101.0 at December 31. "The overall outlook for the company remains positive, with good dividend cover, appropriate gearing, and the ability to pursue a strong near and medium term pipeline of opportunities in both Ireland and Europe," says Chair Ronan Murphy.

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Surface Transforms PLC - Liverpool-based â€‹â€‹carbon fibre reinforced ceramic brake discs maker - Interim revenue rises to GBP1.2 million from GBP902,000 a year prior, while pretax loss widens to GBP2.2 million from GBP1.5 million. "The company now expects to enter a period of high growth, partially, but not solely based on a lifetime value OEM order book of circa GBP70 million," Chair David Bundred says.

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Dianomi PLC - London-based digital advertiser - Says revenue in the first half of 2021 is up 34% to GBP17.4 million from GBP13.0 million, but swings to a pretax loss of GBP1.7 million compared to GBP683,000 profit a year prior. Blames lower traffic volumes for swing to loss but notes "strong pipeline of new publishers" as the company enters the second-half.

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Touchstar PLC - Glasgow-based mobile data supplier - First-half revenue falls year-on-year to GBP2.9 million from GBP3.2 million, as well as pretax profit which falls to GBP52,000 from GBP130,000. Touchstar still expects full year results to be above market expectations "despite continued uncertainty".

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Union Jack Oil PLC - UK-focused onshore conventional oil and gas company - Interim revenue rises to GBP241,467 from GBP62,933 a year prior, as pretax loss narrows to GBP833,446 from GBP885,300. ""The period covered in this Half Yearly Report has seen important progress made at our three key project interests, namely, Wressle, West Newton and Biscathorpe plus the addition of an attractive royalty revenue stream," says Chair David Bramhill. "Developments at our three material projects where we have meaningful economic interests have generated a steady stream of encouraging news flow, which we expect will be continued based on current activities."

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By Josie O'Brien; josieobrien@alliancenews.com