Member Info for rivaldo

Nice coverage in yesterday's press:

Https://www.expressandstar.com/news/business/2023/02/28/sales-improve-for-walsall-castings-group-chamberlin/

"Sales improve for Walsall castings group Chamberlin
Published: Feb 28, 2023

Revenue was up 32 per cent in its latest financial half year for Walsall-based castings and engineering group Chamberlin.

The £10.5 million for the six months to the end on November compared to £8m a year earlier.

It made an underlying pre-tax loss of £300,000 for the period which its aims to address through price increases and cost savings.

Chairman, Keith Butler-Wheelhouse, said: “All operating businesses within the group are now operationally profitable, with new opportunities for growth continuing to emerge, the most significant being the newly reinvigorated Petrel."

Petrel in Birmingham, which makes lighting products, has strong orders.

New contracts won by Chamberlin and Hill Castings in Chuckery Road are starting in the second half of the year and Russell Ductile Castings in S****horpe also has strong order books.

Chamberlin said it was entering a “period of continuous growth with all businesses profitable” in January.

Talks are underway for a proposed sale and leaseback transaction of its Walsall freehold property with an offer made worth £2.2m. The sale would include a proportion of any funds to be used to further reduce the company’s pension fund deficit.

Petrel's new management team, led by divisional managing director Mark Pemberton, has overseen a substantial increase in operating performance. The team are now seeking to build on this strong base and have developed a strategy for Petrel that will involve entry into new export markets and sectors such as pharmaceutical and oil and gas."

SUR are newly tipped on the AIM Prospector web site - you can download the article for free:

Https://www.aimprospector.co.uk/product/34

Conclusion:

"A full year contribution from December 2021 acquisition CorEnergy will help and there is a wave of legislative/regulatory change that will increase demand for Sureserve's services.

While shares of this type typically do not attract a high rating, Sureserve has an excellent record, customer base and balance sheet.

The market valuation for the business appears mean bordering on outright wrong."

Managed to buy some more here at 82p just now on the brief dip to 80p-85p!

WH Ireland now forecast historic 5.8p EPS, rising to 6.7p EPS this year and 8.4p EPS next year.

The current £3.5m cash pile - which is 50% of the m/cap - should continue to staedily rise from here subject to the acquisition of presumably earnings-enhancing acquisitions.

The order book is "buoyant", recurring revenues are over 40%, and:

"The buoyant level of the current order book and trading momentum underpin the prospects for 2023 and gives the Directors increasing confidence for 2023"

Cenkos say Buy and forecast a P/E of 6.9 for next year. They conclude as follows:

"Current trading and outlook. Chamberlin has successfully managed the current inflationary pressures through price ups and additional cost savings, and is now well positioned to benefit from industry tailwinds (eg the easing in supply of
semiconductor chips in the automotive sector). The Group’s use of technology continues to increase, increasing efficiency, whilst investing in plant and machinery to increase capacity. Greater investment provides the opportunity to widen the Group’s market presence as management look to introduce new products and services (eg warranty, inspection, and maintenance)."

"Investment case.

Chamberlin continues to make solid progress and is in a position of strength with recent strategic decisions continuing to come into fruition. The Group continues on its path to recovery with each of the businesses now operating profitably, a position the Group has not found itself in for an extended period of time. Chamberlin continues to take proactive steps to increase capacity and enter new markets.

The Group trades on a FY24E Adj P/E of 6.9x, which we believe offers attractive value, despite the economic headwinds. We reaffirm our Buy rating."

Chrysos announced their H1'23 results last week. They read rather well. Good to see the Morila unit being redeployed quickly and a mention for CAPD's MSA Labs:

Https://wcsecure.weblink.com.au/pdf/C79/02635227.pdf

Extracts:

• For MSALABS we are currently installing units in both East and West Canada
• Chrysos is also working with MSALABS to redeploy the Morila facility unit to a new location within Mali

"Outlook

Demand for Chrysos’ PhotonAssayTM technology remains robust and its sales pipeline continues to grow. The Group’s deployment schedule extends into 2025 and is underpinned by annuity-style revenue from contracts with strategic customers across key global mining regions. Leveraging operations teams across Africa, Australia and North America, Chrysos is on track for 21 deployed units by the end of FY23. As the business continues to execute its unit clustering strategy, it expects unit costs for co-located deployments to decrease.

Chrysos remains on track to deliver on its Prospectus forecasts for FY23:
• Total Revenue of $26.6m
• Pro forma EBITDA of $3.2m
• Expansion of the deployed unit base to 21 units

The business is well-positioned for sustained growth through FY23 and beyond, with a strong cash balance and increased debt available."

A little consolidation phase now, hopefully before the next move up in the run up to the results on 29th March.

Encouraging news:

Https://inspiredenergy.co.uk/inspired-plc-named-number-one-by-cornwall-insight/

" 24th February 2023

Inspired PLC has been named the number one Industrial & Commercial (I&C) energy advisor in the most recent Cornwall Insight annual TPI (Third Party Intermediary) Index report for 2022. Inspired was ranked above 110 other UK consultancies.

The report rated consultancies on the number of contracts and meters they negotiate per year, their annual billed volume, the number of staff they employ, and the revenue attributed to the business.

Chief Commercial Officer of Inspired, David ****shott on, commented:

“Despite many challenges over the past 12 months, I’m proud to see that Inspired PLC has once again secured the number one spot for the I&C sector in this year’s Cornwall Insight report. This achievement has confirmed our position as the market leader in the UK.”

Cornwall Insight’s report was launched in 2014 as an independently researched analysis and review of the market for consultants and the services they offer. The Cornwall Index report has placed Inspired as the UK’s number one I&C advisor since 2018.

Inspired offer support and solutions to UK organisations to meet their utilities challenges and help them navigate challenging energy markets. Our experienced experts have helped thousands of businesses secure cost and carbon savings across their site portfolio.

With market price increases and decarbonisation pressures to meet the UK’s 2050 net zero goal, Inspired can help your business achieve its energy and sustainability goals."

after another rise today of 4p so far.

FNX handled the mobile interactivity and text-to-win competition at the 2023 Arenacross British Championship at Wembley Arena last week:

Https://www.fonix.com/blog/fonix-power-mobile-interactivity-for-arenacross-2023/

Rising nicely after another rise yesterday - already up 10p today. Tipped somewhere, or maybe stakebuilding at the lows?

Rising nicely again - looks like new all-time highs now.

Metis20, being slightly pedantic the year end trading update was on 2nd March last year, not the 3rd. Which means there's hopefully even less time to go!

Berenberg retain their Buy and 250p valuation:

Https://citywire.com/funds-insider/news/expert-view-associated-british-foods-central-asia-metals-bunzl-trainline-centralnic/a2410372

"Berenberg backs Centralnic to repeat 2022 performance

Berenberg remains ‘bullish’ on IT services group Centralnic (CNIC), which is confident the strong performance it delivered last year can be extended into 2023.

Analyst Bharath Nagaraj retained his ‘buy’ recommendation and target price of 250p on the stock, which softened 1.4%, or 2p, to 137.5p yesterday.

The group reported an ‘excellent’ full-year with 60% organic top-line growth year-on-year and ‘a near doubling of free cashflow’.

‘While it is still early days in full-year 2023, the group remains confident about another year of robust growth and shareholder returns,’ said Nagaraj.

‘This confidence in the group’s cash-generating ability has prompted management to announce a maiden dividend of 1p for full-year 2022, which follows the group’s maiden share buyback towards the end of last year.’

While Nagaraj said his growth expectations for 2023 are ‘modest’ there is still ‘scope for upgrades’.

‘The group has achieved a 35% organic top-line growth compound annual growth rate over the past three years and the new management team is focused on disciplined capital allocation,’ he said. ‘Hence, we continue to be bullish about CentralNic, especially considering its undemanding valuation of 8.5 times price/earnings.’"

Felicitations to KAPE's independent directors, who have now correctly concluded:

"the Offer materially undervalues Kape and its future prospects"

Over to Unikmind et al to produce a much weightier offer?

The CEO's outlook statement says it all:

"The Group continues to go from strength to strength and is performing in line with market expectations.

The Board believes that Chamberlin is now entering a period of continuous growth with all businesses profitable in January 2023 for the first time in many years and supporting the Board's expectations that Group profits in FY 2023 will be second half weighted"

And:

"All operating businesses within the Group are now operationally profitable, with new opportunities for growth continuing to emerge, the most significant being the newly reinvigorated Petrel"

The H2 headline numbers should therefore better reflect the turnaround, particularly given price rises and cost savings enacted during H1.

Debt is up, but it's great to see confirmation that CMH's property is under offer for £2.2m.

Https://www.touchstar.co.uk/blog/silver-mushroom

"Premium Homeware Retailer Selects TouchStar for Hardware Refresh
27 February 2023

UK-based rugged mobile computing providers, TouchStar Technologies, is pleased to announce that Silver Mushroom, the family run, premium online kitchen and homeware retailer has selected TouchStar for a mobile computer refresh. The upgrade will see the business upgrade their existing picking operations with the latest, rugged devices for real time stock visibility and control.

Based in Preston, Lancashire, Silver Mushroom offer carefully curated selections of quality homeware items ranging from well-known names to more niche brands. Established in 2011, the award-winning business has experienced tremendous growth in demand, which subsequently led them to opening their own third-party fulfilment centre, CK Fulfilment in 2022."

"Tony Barnes, Operations Director at Silver Mushroom comments, “We selected TouchStar to support us with the upgrade due to their experience and solid reputation within the industry. We were looking for a more robust and user-friendly device to replace our existing devices which were prone to damage. Not only were they able to help us select the right hardware, but the support they provided in getting us up and running has been exceptional”.

The technology rollout recommended by TouchStar was Zebra’s TC21 handheld touch computer. Rugged and fit for purpose, the TC21 is lightweight, easy to carry and easy to operate. Always connected, the device is perfect for the company’s scan intensive picking operation, significantly reducing downtime and ensuring the company’s picking operation is more productive and cost effective.

Peter Marsh, Sales Director for TouchStar comments, “With over three decades of experience supporting the rollout for mobile computing solutions for warehouse environments, we were thrilled to have the opportunity of working with Silver Mushroom. We feel that that in the TC21, we will be delivering a fit for purpose device that will deliver real operational benefits to the business. We look forward to supporting another successful hardware upgrade with Silver Mushroom”.

FIPP issued two important news items on 30th January which haven't been noted here before.

Firstly, (which was also RNS'd) Alusid announced a successful collaboration with Imerys, a world leader in specialty minerals to make floor tiles:

Https://www.frontierip.co.uk/portfolio-companies/alusid-extends-product-range-in-collaboration-with-world-leader-imerys/

"Over the past few months, Alusid and Imerys have run two parallel trials to make products using Imerys by-products: the floor tiles, and another to make larger items such as coffee tables and worktops. Both were successful, and the floor tiles are now attracting commercial interest, including from a leading retailer. Frontier IP holds a 38.9 per cent equity stake in the Company.

Imerys generated €4.4 billion in revenues during 2021 and employs 16,300 people."

Secondly, Celerum apponted a new CEO with an impressive CEO. This comments reads rather well:

Https://www.frontierip.co.uk/portfolio-companies/celerum-appoints-chief-executive-officer/

"Celerum is at an important stage of development. The Company launched its first commercial product, Truck Logistics System (TLS), earlier this year to cut road haulage costs, carbon emissions and delivery times for small to medium-sized truck fleets, which is now winning customers. The first was Colin Lawson Transport, a haulage firm based in Aberdeen, operating 75 trucks and about 150 trailers. Frontier IP holds a 33.8 per cent equity stake in the Company.

Other potential applications for the technology are in the maritime, energy, and telecommunication sectors where positive use cases have already been identified."

"Whilst our platform is industry agnostic, we have won customers from the fleet management industry, which is worth $27 billion a year globally. Our platform is unique in this market, and I am expecting to see a great deal of interest. We know that this market is intensely competitive, where every marginal gain is important, and we believe our software can give customers an important edge in efficiency and productivity gains, cutting costs and making their operations greener."

Berenberg had a 250p valuation here even before today's results - haven't seen anything from them yet.

Zeus have a 214p DCF valuation per today's research update, and that's based on "conservative" forecasts.

Google's removal of support for third party cookies in its Chrome browser by the end of this year should also lead to further turbo-charging of demand for CNIC's tech, as Apple's updates to its operating system has done from early 2021.

And the large fall in interest payable this year due to (1) new facilities and (2) reduced debt will help the bottom line nicely.

I'm happy to hold and add more. The current valuation on a P/E of barely 8 is far too low imho.

Good news for CAPD as Golden Rim announce a "significant" drilling programme at Kada:

Https://cdn-api.markitdigital.com/apiman-gateway/ASX/asx-research/1.0/file/2924-02636788-3A613726?access_token=83ff96335c2d45a094df02a206a39ff4

"Golden Rim commences 3,500m Diamond Drilling program at Kada Oxide Gold Project
West African gold explorer Golden Rim Resources Ltd (ASX: GMR; Golden Rim or Company) is pleased to announce it has commenced a 3,500m diamond drilling (DD) program at its flagship Kada Gold Project (Kada) in Guinea.

Highlights
• Extensive diamond drill program to investigate the structural controls and confirm mineralisation widths of Kada’s Massan and Bereko prospects.
• Diamond drilling program is anticipated to take approx. two months with first results expected early April 2023.
• Further results from the current 10,000m reverse circulation (RC) drilling program are expected early March 2023"

A VERY interesting comment from Zeus Capital in thheir update today:

"The company expects to surpass 2023 expectations".

They've "conservatively" left their forecasts unchanged for the moment, but this comment is revealing from the house broker since it's not explicitly stated in the results AFACS.

Today's Telegraph indicates there could be legislative penalties "as Britain explores a crackdown on brake and tyre wear emissions".

Which is of course good news for SCE as its brakes produce far less brake dust than conventional brakes:

Https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/02/26/drivers-could-hit-new-tyre-tax-new-crackdown-emissions/

"Ministers have hired advisers to explore how to address harmful emissions that experts say are more harmful than diesel fumes.

The Department for Transport has asked consultancy Arup to “develop recommendations on how to better assess and control these emissions which will persist after a transition to zero tailpipe emission vehicles”, according to a Government filing.

Although the Whitehall officials this weekend insisted that Arup’s work was not designed to inform tax policy, it is being seen as one of the strongest signals yet that a tyre tax is coming down the road."

Lovely - a surprise maiden 1p dividend :o))

The results are miles ahead of Edison's upgraded forecasts and even slightly ahead of Zeus's more recently upgraded forecasts in terms of EBITDA and EPS.

Adjusted 20.01c EPS puts CNIC on a historic P/E of just 8.4.

Most importantly, the outlook statement is as positive as ever - "we are confident of another successful year".

Net cash flows from operating activities are a whopping $77.5m, and EBITDA margins have increased beautifully to 48% from 39%.

Some might not like the familiar adjustments from the headline numbers, but imo it's the cash flows and the performance of the core business which is all-important, and these are outstanding, together with the huge recurring income.

Per an article in yesterday's Times, Canaccord Genuity have analysed 17,000 stocks to identify companies at "depressed valuations" yet which are "high quality" assets without debt, a record of success etc, and would therefore be the top takeover targets for private equity.

The Times published a table of the top twenty biggest target companies (the table isn't available online) - RNWH were one of the top 20:

Https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/pets-at-home-can-be-pandemic-winner-that-keeps-on-giving-cz8crl76v