The next focusIR Investor Webinar takes places on 14th May with guest speakers from Blue Whale Growth Fund, Taseko Mines, Kavango Resources and CQS Natural Resources fund. Please register here.
Eco Animal Health has announced the disposal of its treatment for equine parasitic infections, ECOmectin® Horsepaste, to its long-term Italian manufacturing partner, ACME Drugs S.r.l. ACME will acquire all ECOmectin® Horsepaste intellectual property, manufacturing and inventory, distribution and marketing.
Our Fair Value range remains 137p-146p which contrasts with the current share price, suggesting that the potential contribution to earnings from the product development pipeline deserves far closer attention.
https://www.equitydevelopment.co.uk/research/disposal-of-non-core-equine-treatment-operation-for-1.3m
Mark Bartlett, CEO, and Clare Foster, CFO, of Strix Group plc (AIM: KETL) held an Investor Presentation covering their Full Year results. Management discussed the pace of recovery within Kettle Controls, the rationalisation that is ongoing within Consumer Goods, and the strong growth at Billi and Laica. They also examined their progress in paying down debt and the temporary pause in the dividend. Questions from investors were answered at the end.
Link to video:
https://www.equitydevelopment.co.uk/research/investor-presentation-qa-video-with-management-team-fy23-results
New research note out from Equity Dev reviewing the potential for BEG to push top line revenues towards c £200m pa in next 3-5 years and reaffirming their 175p/share fair value.
Free access to read note / hear summary at:
https://www.equitydevelopment.co.uk/research/strategic-growth-targeting-200m-revenues-by-fy27
Ultimate Products, the owner of a number of leading homeware brands including Salter (the UK's oldest houseware brand, est.1760) and Beldray (est.1872), will be conducting a live investor presentation following the release of their Interim Results for the period to 31st January 2024.
The event will take place at 9.45am on Friday 12th April.
The online presentation will be hosting by Andrew Gossage (CEO) & Chris Dent (CFO) and is open to all existing & potential shareholders. Questions can be submitted during the presentation and will be addressed at the end.
Link to register: https://www.equitydevelopment.co.uk/news-and-events/ultimateproducts-investor-presentation-12april2024
Mark Bartlett, CEO, and Clare Foster, CFO, of Strix Group plc answered a series of questions following publication of FY23 results for the 12 months ended 31st December 2023. Subjects ranged from growth in kettle controls to the dividend and Billi, as well as the outlook for the company. The interview is available to see below.
In a separate video, the team conducted an Investor Presentation where they discussed highlights of the period, provided a Financial review, and went into detail on performance and prospects for each of the Group's business categories.
Both videos have been divided into chapters for ease of viewing: https://www.equitydevelopment.co.uk/research/investor-presentation-video-/-qa-with-management-team-fy23-results
Carl Herberger, CEO, and Phil Richards, CFO, of Corero Network Security plc (AIM: CNS) held an Investor Presentation covering their Full Year results.
Management ran viewers through highlights of the period and progress made in 2023, with a detailed look at the investment case including the significant addressable market and Corero's competitive advantage. The team provided a financial overview, discussed strategy and outlook, and answered a range of questions from investors.
The full investor presentation has been divided into chapters, as below:
0:00:10 About Corero
0:01:32 FY23 – a year of ongoing progress
0:03:59 Investment case
0:12:23 Financial summary
0:15:44 Strategy & Outlook
0:19:49 Questions & Answers
Link: https://www.equitydevelopment.co.uk/research/corero-network-security-investor-presentation-fy23-results-march-2024
Loungers is an award winning, uniquely positioned all day café-bar group that has grown revenues an impressive 22.5% CAGR FY16-FY23. Comprising of Lounges, Cosy Club and Brightside, the 257-site group still has huge scope to grow towards its conservative ambition of over 650 sites.
Loungers is profitable with improving margins and we forecast will generate over £100m free cashflow (pre-expansion capex) FY24E-FY26E. This, we estimate, will fully fund c.100 new site openings over the next three years driving 16% CAGR in Revenues, 18% CAGR in Adj. EBITDA and 20% CAGR in Adj. EPS FY23-FY26E.
This high growth is not reflected in the group’s valuation, in our view. We initiate coverage with a Fair Value of 360p, based on 8.0x cal 2025 EV/Adj. EBITDA.
Link to research note: https://www.equitydevelopment.co.uk/research/delivering-self-funded-growth-all-day-long
Positives emerged, particularly in H2, as the recovery commenced within the kettle controls market.
Billi was the architect of the revenue improvement, with LAICA also delivering a double-digit increase in the top line. Margins improved, notwithstanding a change in the mix.
Encouragingly, investor concerns on debt were allayed with the careful management of cash, and latterly as bankers raised the net debt/EBITDA covenant to 2.75x. With further emphasis on costs and cash conservation and a likelihood that its markets will begin to deliver more meaningful recovery in H2, none of this good news looks factored into the current valuation.
The focus is shifting from survival to recovery and as such, we increase our fair value / share to 173p (149p).
Link to research report: https://www.equitydevelopment.co.uk/research/billi-drives-top-line-growth
For FY23, Corero delivered double digit annualised recurring revenue (‘ARR’) growth; we see this momentum continuing into FY24E and have upgraded our forecasts accordingly.
The retirement of all debt, including an inter-company loan, leaves the balance sheet ungeared and clean of FX movements which made reported margins historically volatile.
We see normalised EBITDA margins of 10%+ going forward and potentially rising further. The growth in revenues leaves the stock trading on a forward rating of only 1.8x EV/Sales. This stock has both defensive and growth qualities which should support a higher rating going forward and we reiterate our fair value of 14p price/share.
Link to new research report: https://www.equitydevelopment.co.uk/research/debt-free-with-growing-margins-we-upgrade
Adam Holland (CEO) and Will Wilkins (Group Finance Director) of Mpac Group conducted an Investor Presentation covering their FY Results for the period ended 31 Dec 2023.
After a short video ("Innovation Unleashed"), management ran viewers through highlights of the period including strong financial performance, returning the Group to revenue and profit growth, and positive net cash. The team updated investors on progress towards strategic objectives and discussed the Group's ambitions, as well as providing a detailed financial review and answering questions in a wide-ranging Q&A session.
The full video is available below, divided into chapters:
0:00:03 Mpac corporate video ("Innovation Unleased")
0:06:49 About Mpac, including case studies (Adam Holland, CEO)
0:21:22 Financials (Will Wilkins, Group FD)
0:30:53 Ambition & Strategy
0:39:38 Summary & Outlook
0:40:35 Questions & Answers
Full video here: https://www.equitydevelopment.co.uk/research/mpac-group-investor-presentation-fy-results-march-2024
For the year ended 31 March 2024, Eco Animal Health reports progress in both the second half and Q4, underpinned by demand for the Group’s proprietary Aivlosin® antibacterial treatment for gastrointestinal and respiratory diseases in pigs and poultry. The Group reports sustained demand for Aivlosin® across the territories it targets, which we note are worldwide: China, Japan and SE Asia, the Americas and Europe. The Group expects FY24 revenue to be in line with a market consensus estimate of £88.7m.
Following the November Capital Markets event we reviewed the contribution to valuation of the product development pipeline, particularly in light of the strong track record established by Aivlosin® . Our resulting Fair Value range was 137p - 146p. This contrasts with the current share price, and suggests that the potential contribution to earnings of the product development pipeline deserves far closer attention.
Link to research note: https://www.equitydevelopment.co.uk/research/sustained-demand-and-continuing-progress
Detailed new research report here: https://www.equitydevelopment.co.uk/research/going-for-growth-fy23-results-ahead-on-all-metrics
For the year to 31 December 2023, Mpac Group reported results which were ahead on all key metrics.
Revenue of £114.2m, +17%YoY, was 7% above ED outlook and EBITDA (adj.) of £10.7m, 12% above our outlook, a 9.4% margin (FY22: 7.0%). The closing order book of £72.5m was up 8%YoY, backed by record £118.5m order intake, an impressive +41%YoY.
Mpac achieved its initial goal of a return to normalised operations and has established a firm platform for growth. Accordingly, the Group has launched a new five-year roadmap with an ambition to broadly double revenue from their existing businesses.
We have raised our Fair Value from 485p/share to 530p/share with the prospect of FY25 adj. EBITDA c.40% above FY23.
We are pleased to host the senior management of Strix Group plc, the global leader in the design, manufacture and supply of kettle safety controls and other complementary water temperature management components, for an Investor Presentation covering the company's Preliminary Results for the twelve month period ended 31 December 2023.
The online presentation will be hosted by Mark Bartlett, CEO, and Clare Foster, CFO.
This event will take place at 2.00pm on Tuesday 2nd April. The webinar is open to all existing and potential shareholders, and you may register below.
Questions can be submitted during the presentation to be addressed at the end.
Link to sign up: https://www.equitydevelopment.co.uk/news-and-events/strix-investorpresentation-2april2024
We are pleased to host the senior management of Corero Network Security plc (AIM: CNS), a leading provider of distributed denial of service ("DDoS") protection solutions, for an Investor Presentation covering their Full Year results for the period ended 31st December 2023.
The online presentation will be hosted by Carl Herberger, Chief Executive Officer, and Phil Richards, Chief Financial Officer.
This event will take place at 10.00am on Wednesday 27th March. The webinar is open to all existing and potential shareholders, and questions can be submitted during the presentation to be addressed at the end.
You may register at the link: https://www.equitydevelopment.co.uk/news-and-events/corero-investor-presentation-27march2024
Link here: https://www.equitydevelopment.co.uk/research/eenergy-investor-presentation-7-march-2024
We hosted an Investor Presentation with eEnergy. Harvey Sinclair (Chief Executive Officer) and Crispin Goldsmith (Chief Financial Officer) provided viewers with an update following the disposal of the Energy Management division.
The team discussed their simplified business model, the strengthened balance sheet, and details of the new £40m facility with NatWest to provide firepower to enhance growth and increase their recurring income stream. Management also answered a range of questions from the viewing audience.
The full video has been divided into chapters as below:
0:00:03 Introduction & summary of key points
0:03:09 Energy Management Division sale
0:05:20 New, simplified eEnergy business model
0:09:00 Market landscape
0:12:33 Balance sheet transformed to fund growth
0:13:49 £40m NatWest facility overview
0:15:36 Operational gearing driving margin improvements
0:16:17 Moving forward
0:19:10 Questions & Answers
Report available from Equity Development: https://www.equitydevelopment.co.uk/research/guidance-beaten-in-fy23-and-unchanged-for-fy24
Hunting delivered EBITDA of US$103m, ahead of revised guidance and the inferred year-end expectation, representing a 98% y-o-y uplift (and 11.1% margin, +380bp). Significant contract awards boosted Subsea and OCTG activities in particular, but top line progress was also accompanied by good cost control to deliver the full year outturn. A record year-end order book position leaves the company well-placed to deliver further progress in FY24, where guidance is unchanged.
At the headline level, Hunting delivered group revenue growth of 28% and margin progress (ie gross +90bp to 24.5% and EBITDA +390bp to 11.1%), feeding into a fivefold increase in pre-tax profit with EPS up over four times in FY23. The full year dividend rose by 11% to 10c per share, covered twice by earnings.
Against our selected peer group average, Hunting’s P/E and EV/EBITDA multiples sit on discounts of 25-30% and 20-25% respectively. Taking a simple average of our P/E and DCF based analyses generates an unchanged fair value per share of 407p.
New research report available here: https://www.equitydevelopment.co.uk/research/new-40m-facility-to-drive-growth-in-energy-services
eEnergy has announced (1st March) a new £40m project funding facility, which will support the Group’s public sector customers with their energy transition projects over coming years. It is an innovative arrangement, which will see eEnergy retain an interest in the economics of each completed project, enhancing margins and driving growth in Energy Services revenue.
A brief year-end trading update indicated that trading in the 6-months to Dec ‘23 was impacted by balance sheet constraints (prior to the c.£30m disposal of the Energy Management division). This had already been signalled in January and we update our forecasts accordingly.
The disposal of Energy Management leaves the Group in a strong net cash position and wholly focused on its high growth Energy Services business. Our confidence in growth prospects is strengthened by the new project funding facility. We therefore reiterate our Fair Value/ Share estimate of 13p, before factoring in potential contingent consideration from the Energy Management disposal, which could be material (£8m to £10m on management estimates).
EEnergy (AIM: EAAS), the net zero energy services provider, is pleased to conduct an online Investor Presentation on Thursday 7th March at 3.00pm.
Harvey Sinclair (Chief Executive Officer) and Crispin Goldsmith (Chief Financial Officer) will provide an investor update following the disposal of the Energy Management division.
Management will answer questions submitted by viewers. The webinar is open to all existing and potential shareholders, and registration is free.
You can sign up to register at the link: https://www.equitydevelopment.co.uk/news-and-events/eenergy-investor-presentation-7march2024
Strong FY23 results from Hunting plc with revs up 28% to $929.1m, GM at 25% (from 24%), EBITDA +98% to $103m, Total divs of 10c (9c).
Encouragingly, the order book rose 19% to $565.2m which the CEO says ‘provides confidence in our near and longer-term outlook’
"Small cap experts with 21 years of dividend growth"
Athelney Trust (ATY) is a Main Market listed investment trust with a portfolio which is focused on small (£50-230m market cap) UK companies. All investments are liquid, either fully LSE listed or via a trading facility on AIM or AQSE.
Although the strategy is total return, the portfolio is deliberately weighted towards assets with strong income generation characteristics. This supports ATY’s commitment to progressive distributions, reflected in its membership of the AIC’s ‘Dividend Heroes’, a short list of investment companies that increased distributions for at least 20 consecutive years.
The shares trade at a c 10% discount to 204.7p NAV/share (31 January 2024) and ATY agreed a 9.8p/share dividend in FY23 equivalent to a 5.3% yield. The underlying portfolio is also well diversified by company and sector, invested in entities in sound financial condition and well positioned competitively.
We see the portfolio as well placed to benefit as market sentiment towards UK smaller companies and investment trusts progressively improves. We would consequently expect the trust’s NAV to appreciate, along with the existing high discount of its shares to NAV diminishing.
Link to report: https://www.equitydevelopment.co.uk/research/small-cap-experts-with-21-years-of-dividend-growth