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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Zinc Media Group PLC - Edinburgh, Scotland-based television, brand and audio production group - Pretax loss for first half of 2023 was £1.6 million, narrows from £1.8 million last year. Says this is mainly due to costs relating to its acquisition of The Edge in the second half of 2022. For example administrative expenses increased 65% to £3.3 million. Group revenue increases 68% to £18.1 million from £10.8 million. Content production revenue more than quadruples to £7.1 million, driven by revenue from the acquisition, which also caused gross margins to increase to 41% from 33%. TV revenue increases 20% to £11.0 million thanks to strong performances from the Red Sauce, Supercollider, Rex and Tern labels. Zinc expects improved profitability in the current half year, in line with market expectations, ‘as television production is typically weighted to the summer and autumn months.’
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Graft Polymer (UK) PLC - London-based developer and producer of polymer modification, biological supplements and nano-drug delivery systems - Pretax loss widens in the first half to £1.1 million from £815,000 the year before. Revenue decreased 27% to £240,000 from £331,000 ‘as we transitioned to our expanded bespoke production in Slovenia.’ Administrative expenses increase 35% to £1.1 million. Cash at June 30 totalled £522,000, down from £3.0 million one year prior. Says completion of and investment in ‘state of the art’ machinery at new plant in Slovenia has doubled its production capacity. Adds that outlook is positive due to its ‘healthy pipeline,’ and commits to an ongoing focus on sales for the rest of this year and through 2024.
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Great Western Mining Corp PLC - Dublin-based, US-focused mineral exploration and development company - Half-year pretax loss was €527,985 compared with €448,652 year on year. Finance income was negative €529,857 compared with €448,860. Cash balance at June 30 was €410,661, down from €1.2 million at the same time one year prior. Says it is confident in the outlook of its exploration work and gold and silver projects. Executive Chair Brian Hall says copper holdings ‘offer exciting upside’ and ‘with the right partner, commercial development will unlock significant long-term value.’ Company expects to commence production of gold and silver concentrates during the second half.
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Pires Investments PLC - London-based technology investor with a focus on artificial intelligence - Net asset value at June 30 was 4 pence per share, down 6.5% from 4.28p at December 31. Says it is now trading at a 67.5% discount to its NAV. Pretax loss for the half year ended June 30 was £512,000 compared with a £992,000 profit the year before. Investments at June 30 totalled £8.8 million, down from £9.0 million. Says it is overall encouraged by the progress made by its investees and the outlook for their sectors, and expects to see additional realisations or liquidity events in the coming months.
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Xeros Technology Group PLC - Rotherham, England-based laundry technology developer - Pretax loss narrows in first half to £2.7 million from £4.2 million the year prior. Revenue increases to £113,000 from £40,000. Administrative expenses fell to £2.8 million from £4.2 million. Reports significant progress and building commercial momentum in all areas. First revenue for its Filtration division expected in 2024, with multiple licensing agreements in place ‘covering all major global washing machine brands.’ Net cash outflow from operations contracts to £2.9 million from £3.9 million. Expects month on month earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation and cash breakeven during the second half of 2024.
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450 PLC - London-based acquisition vehicle eyeing content, media and technology sectors, formerly named Marwyn Acquisition Co PLC - Half-year pretax loss widens to £788,000 from £359,000. Company does not yet generate revenue, and administrative expenses more than doubled to £904,746. Says it remains ‘excited’ by potential opportunities in the media and technology sectors, citing tailwinds in the technology sector and changes in consumer habits. Cash balance at June 30 was £4.1 million, down from £4.8 million at the same time a year prior.
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