The following is a round-up of earning and trading updates by London-listed companies, issued on Tuesday and not separately reported by Alliance News:
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ActiveOps PLC - Reading, England-based management process automation software provider for back-office operations - In the six months to September 30, swings to pretax profit of £104,000 from a loss of £606,000 a year prior. Revenue climbs 6.3% to £13.1 million from £12.3 million. Cost of sales decrease 8.4% to £2.1 million from £2.3 million. Looking ahead, says it is confident in an annual recurring revenue growth rate by year-end and delivery of revenue and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation in line with its own expectations. Chief Executive Officer Richard Jeffery says: ‘We are well set for the future and have made a robust start to the second half of the year, with three significant expansions with existing banking customers, closed so far. The breadth and increasing sophistication of our offering, geographic reach, and new pricing tiers, all provide us with confidence in a strong H2 performance and beyond.’
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Aeorema Communications PLC - London-based live events agency - In the financial year that ended on June 30, pretax profit climbs 24% to £1.0 million from £843,564 a year prior. Hailing ‘strong demand from clients to return to in-person events,’ revenue jumps 66% to £20.2 million from £12.2 million. Cost of sales increase 73% to £15.9 million from £9.2 million, while administrative expenses increase 49% to £3.2 million from £2.2 million. Proposes final dividend of 3p per share, up 50% from 2p a year prior. Chair Mike Hale says: ‘I have never been so positive about the future of Aeorema. Cheerful Twentyfirst is robust and ever growing, Eventful is thriving and, under the new leadership of Andre Shahrdar in our US office, we believe we can achieve great things in North America.’
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Cake Box Holdings PLC - Enfield, England-based chain of fresh cream cake shops - In the six months to September 30, pretax profit grows 18% to £2.4 million from £2.0 million a year prior. Revenue climbs to £18.0 million from £16.8 million. Cost of sales increase 2.9% to £9.0 million from £8.8 million, while administrative expenses increase 8.8% to £6.5 million from £5.9 million. Looking ahead, says trading has continued positively after the half-year, noting that total franchise sales in October were 5.1% ahead year-on-year, with online sales up 13%. Anticipates to deliver full-year results in line with market expectations. CEO Sukh Chamdal says: ‘While we are mindful of the ongoing macro-economic uncertainty, customer demand remains robust, demonstrating Cake Box’s enduring appeal.’
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Caledonia Mining Corp PLC - Zimbabwe-focused gold producer - In three months to September 30, pretax profit falls 33% to $9.5 million from $14.2 million a year ago. Revenue grows 15% to $41.2 million from $35.8 million. Production costs increase 29% to $20.5 million from $15.8 million, while depreciation costs are 64% higher at $4.4 million compared to $2.7 million. Notes that the quarter was affected by negative contribution from the Bilboes oxide mine prior to being placed on care and maintenance, where it says monthly costs will decrease to around $200,000 from $1.0 million. Gold production in the quarter at Blanket mine grows 3.1% to 21,772 ounces from 21,120 a year prior. Looking ahead, aims to maintain output target at Blanket mine at the targeted range of 75,000 to 80,000 ounces for 2023. CEO Mark Learmonth says: ‘We continue to work on a revised feasibility study for the sulphide project at Bilboes which will consider updated commercial assumptions and will inform the most judicious way to commercialise the project with the objective of providing the best returns for investors. I look forward to providing an update on our progress in due course.’
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Castings PLC - Brownhills, England-based iron casting and machining firm - In the six months to September 30, pretax profit climbs 38% to £10.3 million from £7.5 million a year prior. Revenue jumps 30% to £111.3 million from £85.6 million. Cost of sales increase 32% to £90.0 million from £68.3 million, while administrative expenses increase 23% to £9.3 million from £7.5 million. Declares interim dividend of 4.13p, up 7.6% from 3.84p a year prior. Looking ahead, Castings says: ‘The long-term demand schedules continue to reflect the high build rates that the heavy truck original equipment manufacturers require to satisfy their order books. We expect production and supply efficiencies to improve with the short-term outsourcing of foundry parts and the continued focus on the engineering of the new parts that have been introduced in the machine shop. Management believes that the company will trade marginally ahead of market expectations.’
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Revolution Beauty Group PLC - London-based cosmetics retailer - In the six months to August 31, turns to pretax profit of £366,000 from a loss of £13.7 million a year prior. Revenue climbs 20% to £90.4 million from £75.3 million, while cost of sales increase 3.7% to £45.7 million from £44.1 million. Marketing and distribution costs decrease 15% to £22.8 million from £27.0 million. General administrative expenses, however, increase 34% to £22.3 million from £16.7 million. Looking ahead, company says: ‘The strength of the Revolution brand and the beauty markets in which we operate underpins our global growth ambitions.’ Adds it made a good start to the second financial half of current financial year 2024, with revenue and adjusted Ebitda in line with internal forecasts. Upgrades guidance for financial 2024, now expects Ebitda to be at least in the double-digit millions compared to a previous guidance of high single digit millions. For financial 2023 that ended February 28, Revolution Beauty had posted an adjusted Ebitda loss of £7.5 million.
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