The following is a round-up of updates by London-listed companies, issued on Wednesday and not separately reported by Alliance News:
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Cobra Resources PLC - Wudinna gold project in South Australia - In the six months to June 30, reports no revenue, and pretax loss narrows to £226,953 from £842,631 a year before. Operating loss is broadly flat year-on-year, with a loss on derecognition of financial liability of £610,005 recorded in the prior year. Will focus on containing exploration activities heading into the second half. ‘This will involve further historic drillhole re-analysis for rare earths at the Thompson and Anderson prospects, followed by the execution of a 2,000 metre RC drilling programme at the Clarke prospect. Exploration success to date should enable an update to the company’s 211,000 ounce gold mineral resource and a maiden rare earth resource estimate before year-end,’ says Chair Greg Hancock.
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Hostmore PLC - restaurant chain owner - In the six months ended July 3, pretax loss widens to £17.1 million from £11.2 million year-on-year. Revenue jumps to £98.5 from £39.9 million. However, underlying administrative expenses jump to £70.2 million from £50.9 million. In the 10 weeks since the period-end, says like-for-like revenue is 14% behind the comparable period in financial 2019. This is due to weaker consumer demand, and other disrupting factors like rail strikes and heat waves. ‘Trading conditions are expected to remain challenging, exacerbated by inflationary pressure on the consumer and the risk of higher utilities supply pricing. The group’s focus remains on continuing to mitigate the impact of these as far as possible,’ it says.
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Eight Capital Partners PLC - technology and media-focused investment firm - In the first half of 2022, pretax loss widens to £506,000 from £98,000 from 2021 as a whole. Says there is no comparative figure for the first half of 2021, because ‘the two periods cannot be realistically compared’. Is also company’s first interim report since listing. Revenue falls to £58,000 from £772,000 across the same comparatives. Records net liabilities of £326,000 at the end of June compared to net assets of £191,000 at the end of December. ‘We are in the closing stages of finalising the company’s circular to shareholders in respect of seeking a waiver of obligations under Rule 9 of the City Code on Takeovers & Mergers to enable certain existing debts to be converted into equity in ECP. This will open the door to creating a much larger and more robust balance sheet and a company that we believe will quickly grow to be far more interesting to investors,’ it explains.
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Zephyr Energy PLC - oil & gas exploration and development in US Rocky Mountains - In the six months to June 30, revenue jumps to $25.9 million from $917,000 year-on-year. This was driven ‘almost entirely’ by its hydrocarbon production from the Williston assets, where it sold 1,729 barrels of oil equivalent per day. Swings to pretax profit of $17.4 million from loss of $968,000. It reiterates previous production guidance of 500,000 to 550,000 boe for the year, and annual non-operated revenue of $35 to $45 million at Williston. ‘The rest of this year promises to be an equally important time for our shareholders as we commence the extended production test on our State 16-2LN-CC well and kick off the proposed three well drill programme on the Paradox project. In addition, we plan to complete and fully integrate the acquisition of the infrastructure asset package in order to substantially reduce the forecast expenditure needed to bring our Paradox gas production to market,’ says Chief Executive Colin Harrington.
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JP Morgan Mid Cap Investment Trust PLC - invests in FTSE 250 companies - In the year ended June 30, net asset value total return is negative 30%, significantly underperforming the equivalent return of negative 16% in FTSE 250 Index excluding investment trusts. Share price discount to NAV widens to 14% from 2.1% year-on-year, resulting in a ‘very disappointing’ share price return of negative 38%. NAV per share drops to 988.8 pence at June 30, from 1,450.6p a year before. Cites macroeconomic disruptions, as well as its portfolio’s bias to consumer discretionary sectors as behind the poor results. ‘A combination of a general derating of ’growth’ stocks (reflecting anticipated higher rates of inflation and the impact of higher interest rates on the valuation of future cashflows) and general concerns about the trading outlook for consumer stocks, led to significant declines in the share prices of a number of these larger holdings,’ it explains. Maintains final dividend of 21.5p, resulting in total payout of 29.5p, unchanged year-on-year. Says it is focused on taking advantage of historically attractive valuations, and sees ‘grounds for optimism’ looking ahead.
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MyHealthChecked PLC - Cardiff-based healthcare company - In the six months ended June 30, revenue nearly triples to £9.8 million from £3.3 million a year prior. Swings to pretax profit of £1.0 million from loss of BP269,000 year-on-year. Notes distribution of FlowFlex Covid-19 lateral flow test kits into top two pharmacy retailers, with 6.4 million tests delivered to the market during the period. Also notes launch of self-funded portfolio DNA tests, and of DNA at-home wellness test range on Amazon.com Inc. ‘We are filled with optimism and energy for the remainder of the year, where we will see our commercial, digital and product teams continue to strengthen, and deliver the builds and rollout plans that will underpin further growth,’ says Chair Adam Reynolds.
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Ingenta PLC - Oxford, England-based provider of software and services to the publishing industry - In the six months ended June 30, revenue edges up to £5.3 million from £5.1 million year-on-year, as pretax profit rises to £536,000 from £374,000. Revenue growth is led by its Commercial division, which expanded the Vista as a service product via the customer base. Says 89% of revenue is now recurring, up from 85% a year prior. Raises interim dividend to 1.2p from 1p. ‘The group aims to sustain revenue growth by increasing the uptake of our service offering to existing customers within the core Commercial and Content divisions. In combination with this, there is an active pipeline of sales opportunities in both traditional and adjacent vertical markets,’ says Chair Martyn Rose. Anticipates results for full year to be ahead of current market expectations, with underlying positive momentum to continue into 2023.
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Henderson High Income Trust PLC - pure income trust investing in dividend-paying UK companies - In the six months to June 30, net asset value total return is negative 6.1%, in line with its benchmark index - a composite of 80% of the FTSE All-Share Index (total return) and 20% of the ICE BofAML. NAV per share falls to 162.2p at June 30, from 177.9p at the end of December. Swings to gross loss on revenue and capital of £16.8 million from gain of £24.9 million a year prior. Says previously announced third interim dividend of 2.53p will be paid on October 28. ‘Undoubtedly the next several months will prove a very challenging time for both consumers and companies. However, UK companies are generally in good financial health having repaired balance sheets during the pandemic and the valuation of the UK market continues to look relatively attractive in a global context,’ says Chair Jeremy Rigg.
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