The following is a round-up of updates by London-listed companies, issued on Tuesday and not separately reported by Alliance News:
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Gresham House PLC - asset manger - Ends 2021 with £6.5 billion assets under management versus £4.0 billion at same point year prior. Net core income rises 51% to £61.6 million from £40.8 million, leading to 67% dividend rise to 10.0 pence from 6.0p. Chief Executive Tony Dalwood says: ‘Throughout 2021 we made exceptional progress on the delivery of our GH25 five-year strategy and are reporting outstanding growth in AUM, profitability and revenue. We are focused on private assets which exhibit long-term superior investment returns alongside sustainability characteristics.’ Confident of further growth throughout 2022.
Separately, acquires Burlington RE Property Management Ltd, an Irish independent commercial property asset and development management company, for an initial consideration of €1.8 million. Burlington Real Estate manages or advises assets of €340 million as at December 31, which will bring pro forma assets managed or advised by Gresham House in Ireland to about €750 million as at December 31. Will pay for deal through subscription of 73,177 Burlington shares at £8.42 each.
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Sancus Lending Group Ltd - Guernsey-based alternative property finance - Expects revenue for 2021 to be £9.0 million, slipping from £10.9 million in 2020, and is ‘slightly’ below prior expectations. Also expects net operating loss of £10.3 million, narrowed from £14.5 million in 2020. Blames fall in revenue on 17% drop in loan book to £141 million and from ‘the knock-on impact of Covid on new loans written, delayed loan closures, and therefore reduction in associated transactional fees.’
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Litigation Capital Management Ltd - Sydney-based litigation financing - Improves to pretax profit of A$4.0 million, about $2.9 million, in six months to December 31 versus A$1.4 million loss in same period year prior. Litigation service revenue surges to A$19.3 million from A$7.5 million. Chief Executive Patrick Moloney says period saw ‘great progress’. Adds: ‘As conditions normalise and with the core executive team now in place in our London office, LCM is now in a stronger position to grow both divisions, enabling us to access greater amounts of capital and facilitate the expansion of our portfolio of investments. The countercyclical nature of our industry suggests that economic and market conditions at present, represent a growing opportunity for the Company which will be realised over the long-term. We look to the second half and beyond with optimism and confidence.’
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KRM22 PLC - London-based technology and software investment company focused on risk management for capital markets - Launches first two KRM22 risk products that Trading Technologies International Inc is integrating into the TT platform. ‘In the second quarter of 2022, TT will launch KRM22 Limits Manager, a limit management system designed by KRM22 to combat time-consuming and potentially error-prone pre-trade risk processes by automating, maintaining and tracking trading limits within an easy-to-use application within the TT Software-as-a-Service platform,’ company says. Notes other product will launch in third quarter.
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Redcentric PLC - Harrogate, North Yorkshire-based IT managed services - Acquires entire issued share capital of 7 Elements Ltd, a provider of security testing, incident response management and bespoke security consultancy services for an initial £2.0 million in cash. Deal could reach maximum of £2.4 million based on the future performance of the business. ‘7 Elements works closely with customers to assess security threats, identify weaknesses and deliver tailored solutions to protect customers. The acquisition therefore significantly enhances the Redcentric service portfolio with additional capability within the increasingly important security market. In addition, 7 Elements has a strong customer base, across a range of industries and sectors, which will be able to benefit from the combined Redcentric and 7 Elements offering,’ company says.
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Rotala PLC - bus operations at Heathrow airport and in West Midlands and North West - Improves to pretax profit of £295,000 in year to November 30 from £4.8 million loss in same period year prior. Annual revenue surges to £96.5 million from £78.1 million. Declares special dividend of 1.0 pence after withholding shareholder payouts while receiving government support during pandemic.
Separately, signs new banking facilities with principal banker HSBC Bank PLC. New facility includes revolving commercial facility up to £17 million and mortgage facility of £5.8 million. Company adds: ‘The [UK] Department for Transport has recently announced the extension of its Bus Recovery Grant scheme, which was originally due to expire in early April 2022, with a further £150 million package under the same scheme covering the period up to October 2022. The company welcomes this additional funding which reflects the gradual return of the bus industry to normal operating conditions. Rotala’s passenger volumes continue to increase steadily and are currently at approximately 80% of their pre-Covid levels. The board expects passenger volumes will continue to recover and that the new BRG package will aid that recovery.’
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Malin Corp PLC - Dublin-based investor in life sciences companies - Says estimated intrinsic equity value per share ends 2021 at €8.70, but slips to €7.50 on March 11. Chief Executive Darragh Lyons says: ‘2021 was a year of strong progress for Malin with two significant investee company divestments completed at an aggregate premium to pre-transaction book values of over 90%, the repayment in full of our outstanding EIB debt balance of €45 million and the return of over €95 million of excess capital to our shareholders.’
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Live Co Group PLC - Surrey, England-based live events, entertainment and sports events company - Notes tickets for BRICKLIVE in the Park, its first live show post the pandemic, go on-sale Tuesday. The show will take place in Battersea Park in August 2022.
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Applied Graphene Materials PLC - graphene materials maker with headquarters in Redcar, Cleveland - Signs exclusive distribution agreement with Taiwan-headquartered Rayoung Chemtech Inc. ‘The partnership will extend AGM’s commercial reach directly into the region’s liquid resins, coatings, composites and polymers sectors,’ company explains.
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Berkeley Energia Ltd - clean energy company focused on bringing wholly owned Salamanca project in Spain into production - Improves to pretax profit of $3.0 million from steep $32.6 million loss in same period year prior. Exploration & evaluation costs slip to $2.2 million from $2.6 million. Fair value movement on financial liabilities sees $4.2 million gain versus $22.0 million loss year before. Does not generate revenue in either period.
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President Energy PLC - Leeds-based oil & gas company focused on Latin America - Sees first material sales of oil from Louisiana ‘for many months,’ with one barge load planned of between 5,000 to 5,500 barrels of oil expected shipped this week. Says price of Louisiana crude remains ‘robust’. ‘With low opex and the continued use of ample tax losses, President anticipates significant net cash generation in the context of its Louisiana operations,’ company adds. Also notes approval from the regulatory authorities in Argentina to export approximately 19,000 barrels of oil being part of its Argentine production this month at or around international prices.
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Pembridge Resources PLC - London-based copper-focused mining company - ‘Encouraged’ by results from drilling of 14 of the 22 holes that it drilled as part of its 2021 drilling programme at Minto mine. Notes Hole 21EXP003, at Minto North, sees 1.58% coppers over 28 metres including 3.50% copper over 9 metres and Hole 21SDME‐001, at Minto East, finds 1.83% copper over 20 metres including 3.07% coppers over 5 metres. Chief Executive Gati Al-Jebouri says results show there is ‘a lot of potential to find further high-grade copper and precious metal.’ Adds: ‘They give a strong start for the planned 2022 exploration programme, which I believe will confirm my expectations of a much longer Minto life of mine to the currently confirmed remaining 7 years.’
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Thor Mining PLC - Australia-based metal exploration and developer with projects in US and Australia - Pretax loss in six months to December 31 widens to £783,000 from £397,000 loss in same period year prior. Corporate expenses rises to £347,000 from £331,000 and share-based payment expenses grows to £245,000 from £106,000. Also notes £204,000 loss on fair value of financial assets during first half. Does not generate revenue in either period. Managing Director Nicole Galloway Warland says: ‘Commodity prices have performed well during the period and forecasts are favourable that these conditions will continue further into 2022. With a strong pipeline of news flow expected for the coming months, and project milestones across the portfolio, we look forward to providing further updates on our progress in due course.’
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Sovereign Metals Ltd - Perth, Australia-based rutile miner in Malawi - Pretax loss in six months to December 31 widens to $7.7 million from $2.0 million in same period year prior. Exploration & evaluation expenses rises to $4.2 million from $1.3 million, and share based payment expenses grows to $2.2 million from $184,090. Total income drops to $40,187 from $154,305. ‘Sovereign is aiming to develop an environmentally and socially sustainable large-scale operation to supply highly sought-after natural rutile and graphite to global markets. Kasiya [project] has excellent surrounding infrastructure including bitumen roads, a high-quality rail line connecting to the deep-water port of Nacala on the Indian Ocean and hydro-sourced grid power,’ company explains.
Separately, notes ‘spectacular’ rutile drill results see mineralised footprint increase by 28% to 165,000 square kilometres.
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Firering Strategic Minerals PLC - Cyprus-incorporated operator of Atex lithium-tantalum mine project in Ivory Coast - Signs sale & purchase agreement with AIM-listed Altus Strategies PLC for the purchase of a 100% interest in the Toura nickel-cobalt licence application located in western Cote d’Ivoire. Will pay €15,000 in cash for the project on top of a gross revenue royalty of up to 1.0% on nickel and cobalt sales from the project.
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