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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Elementis PLC - London-based speciality chemicals - Swings to profit in 2021, with pretax profit of $5.8 million, up from a loss of $68.8 million in 2020. Strong new business momentum, targeted pricing actions and volume recovery boost revenue by 17% in the year to $880 million from $751 million the year before. Dividends may be reinstated in the medium term, but remain suspended. For 2022, global supply chain issues and cost inflation are a concern, but it is off to ‘an encouraging start’.
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Synthomer PLC - Essex-based chemicals company - Profit before tax rockets in 2021 to £283.9 million from £20.3 million in 2020, as revenue is up 42% to £2.33 billion from £1.64 billion. Underlying pretax profit more than doubles to £420.1 million from £160.0 million. Profit is being used to make ‘major inorganic and organic investments’ to support further growth. In 2022 so far, nitrile latex demand is ‘subdued’ as Covid eases and inventories of medical gloves are high, while all other divisions have started 2022 well. Final dividend is 21.3 pence, over double that of 8.3p in 2020, for a total in 2021 of 30.0p, up from 11.6p the prior year.
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Glanbia PLC - Kilkenny, Ireland-based nutrition company - Revenue comes in ahead of expectations for 2021 at €4.20 billion, up 9.8% from €3.82 billion in 2020. Profit before tax rises 21% to €158.0 million from €131.1 million. Says performance was driven by strong global consumer demand. A final dividend of 17.53 cents is proposed, bringing the year’s total to 29.28 cents, up 10% on 2020, and launches new €50 million share buyback. Growth in revenue is expected for 2022, and says inflationary costs will be managed with higher sales prices.
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Galliford Try Holdings PLC - Uxbridge, England-based construction company - Pretax profit up to £7.1 million in first half ended December 31 from £4.1 million a year before. Revenue is up 10% to £594 million from £542 million in the prior year. Order book is up to £3.4 billion from £3.3 billion a year ago. The company boosts interim dividend by 83% to 2.2 pence from 1.2p the year before. Outlook for the rest of the year is positive, with 95% of projected revenue already secured.
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Empiric Student Property PLC - London-based owner and operator of student accommodation - Swings to profit in 2021, with a pretax profit of £29.2 million from a pretax loss of £24.0 million. Net rental inome drops 11% year-on-year to £32.9 million from £32.9 million, with total revenue down 6% to £56.0 million from £59.4 million. Dividends resume in fourth quarter, with payment of 2.5p, and targets fully covered and progressive dividends going forward, to increase as occupancy rates normalise. For the academic year starting in 2022, Empiric expects to come in at the top of its 85% to 95% target occupancy rate.
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Hutchmed (China) Ltd - Hong Kong-based biopharmaceutical company - Total revenue for 2021 is $356.1 million up 56% year-on-year from $228.0 million. Loss before tax of $215.7 million widens from $189.7 million in FY20. Momentum is continuing into 2022, and it held over $1 billion in cash on December 31. Christian Hogg retires as chief executive officer, after 22 years with the company and 15 years as CEO. Promotes Chief Scientific Officer Weiguo Su, a 17-year company veteran, to CEO. The changes are effective from Friday.
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AIB Group PLC - Dublin-based bank - Swings to pretax profit of €629 million in 2021 from a loss of €931 million. Net interest income drops 4% to €1.79 billion from €1.87 billion the prior year. Gross loans were down 2% to €56.5 billion from €59.4 billion. Recommends dividend of 4.5 pence per share for the year, with no dividend having been paid in 2021. AIB expects net interest income to be ‘stable’ in 2022.
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Hunting PLC - London-based energy services - In 2021, revenue drops 17% to $521.6 million from $626.0 million in 2020, but pretax loss from operations narrows to $85.5 million from $223.0 million. Second half of 2021 lifted by improved trading and recovering commodity prices, after first half hit by global reduction in activity in oil & gas. A final dividend of 4.0 cents will be paid out for the year, unchanged from 2020. As Covid-related operational issues ease in its first quarter, it predicts a ‘much improved’ 2022.
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