The following is a round-up of earnings updates by London-listed companies, issued on Friday and not separately reported by Alliance News:
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Dignity PLC - Birmingham, England-based funeral services provider - Swings to 2022 pretax loss of £328.6 million from profit of £32.0 million in 2021. Revenue also falls to £323.1 million from £353.7 million. Notes number of deaths in the UK fell to 639,000 in 2022 from 664,000 in 2021 according to figures from the Office for National Statistics. Says it was impacted by a number of factors, including ‘proactive changes in pricing strategy, a trend towards lower-priced funerals and a variety of cost pressures’. This is despite ‘higher-than-average need’ for its services following the Covid-19 pandemic. Chief Executive Officer Kate Davidson says: ‘Throughout a challenging year we have remained focussed on our long-term aims and have confidence that our strategy will deliver sustainable growth and the highest standards of care and service to our customers.’
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HealthBeacon PLC - Dublin-based devices and software developer for managing critical and chronic medications - Pretax loss in 2022 widens to €13.3 million from €8.2 million, despite revenue ticking up to €2.3 million from €2.2 million. This is because operating expenses other than impairments rose to €13.5 million from €7.8 million. Expects significant near-term revenue growth with the launch of speciality pharmacy distribution in second quarter of 2023 gaining momentum into first quarter of 2024. Chief Executive Officer Jim Joyce says: ‘We have confronted several challenges in building out our delivery infrastructure in the US. However, I’m pleased to report that we will soon be in a position to deploy our highly effective medical adherence tool at scale to exploit the Speciality Pharmacy opportunity we have worked so hard to engineer. Following a challenging 2022, my colleagues and I look forward with confidence to the next 12 months.’
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Restaurant Group PLC - London-based operator of around 400 restaurants and pub restaurants across the UK - Reports pretax loss for financial year that ended January 1 was £86.8 million, widening from £35.2 million a year earlier. Revenue falls to £883.0 million from £636.6 million, but cost of sales widen more significantly to £883.5 million from £571.9 million. Chair Ken Hanna says: ‘2022 was a challenging year for the casual dining sector as the industry ’recovered’ from the Covid-19 lockdowns in the previous two years and the travel industry started to rebuild passenger volumes [...] Whilst it is early days, the group’s trading performance in the first eight weeks of the current financial year has been very encouraging. The management team have developed a clear plan to deliver significant Ebitda margin accretion over a three-year time horizon and the board continues to consider long-term strategic options.’
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Amala Foods PLC - Jersey-based food technology firm - Pretax loss for financial year that ended March 31, 2022 was £1.1 million, narrowing from £2.5 million a year earlier. Impairment falls to £204,656 from £1.8 million, while administrative expenses fall to £357,656 from £603,313. Reports no revenue, as the directors consider the company to be a cash shell. Chair Jonathan Morley-Kirk says: ‘The new financial year opened with new optimism for the company despite the global pandemic continuing to have a significant impact to daily life and business in the Philippines where its new early-stage plant-based business was located [...] [Amala Foods] commenced a research and development phase within a purpose-built facility and was able to create several beta products during the period that were tested with a select number of restaurants with a view to further research and product development. Whilst the early indications were encouraging it was evident that the company would require significant further funding to progress to the stage of full commerciality with the potential for profitability [...] It is my sincere hope that after a challenging couple of the years, that a path to generate value for shareholders will be realised.’
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