The following is a round-up of updates by London-listed companies, issued on Thursday and not separately reported by Alliance News:
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RM PLC - Abingdon, England-based supplier of technology and resources to the education sector - Expects to report revenue for year ended November 30 of £196 million, down 8.5% from £214.2 million. ‘The Assessment division continues to grow, with increased revenue and profitability reflecting the emerging opportunities in the global digital assessment market. As anticipated, the Technology division has returned to profitability in the second half. TTS International performed well in the year with TTS UK held back in a more challenged UK market and the company remains excited by the opportunities for its TTS product range across its geographic markets,’ it says. Says closure of Consortium business ‘progressing to plan’. It adds: ‘Consortium ceased taking new customer orders in the first week of December and options to transfer to TTS or sell the remaining stock are progressing. As previously guided, the accounts for the year ended 30 November 2023 are expected to show a material write-off of the carrying value of Consortium and its related assets as a non-cash item, and include an additional provision for exit costs. There is no cash impact from the closure in FY23.’
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Sutton Harbour Group PLC - Plymouth, England-based waterfront regeneration specialist - Revenue in six months to September 30 totals £4.4 million, largely unmoved on-year. Swings to pretax loss of £119,000 from £223,000 profit. Financial expenses surge to £928,000 from £463,000. Executive Chair Philip Beinhaker says: ‘In the period under review and into recent months, the company has delivered the construction work and full occupation of two major projects in Sutton Harbour, both which have already added to the quality of the local built environment and are the first significant developments in more than a decade around Sutton Harbour. The company is committed to continuing with its development programme to ensure the future quality and sustainability of the area and delivery of medium to long-term value for investors.’
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Worsley Investors Ltd - investor focused on ‘undervalued securities’ and currently realising real estate assets - Net asset value per share slips 3.0% to 42.59 pence at September 30 half-year end, from 43.92p at end of March. Says negative 3.0% net asset value total return undershoots 1.4% expansion from FTSE All Share Index.
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Gore Street Energy Storage Fund PLC - investor in utility-scale energy storage projects - Net asset value per share at September 30 half-year end declines 2.3% to 112.9 pence from 115.6p at end of March. ‘I am pleased to report that the company’s strategy, enabled by the active role of the investment manager, despite difficult stock market conditions, has allowed the business to continue to meet its objectives,’ says Alex O’Cinneide, chief executive of firm’s investment manager. ‘This positive trajectory is reflected in portfolio performance, which maintained the highest revenue on both a per MW and absolute basis among our listed peers during the period whilst being the cost leader on capital cost per MW/MWh fully installed.’ Dividends paid during period increase to 3.5p from 3.0p a year prior.
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STS Global Income & Growth Trust PLC - has a ‘balanced portfolio constructed from global equities’ - Net asset value per share cum income at half-year ended September 30 down slightly to 220.09p from 220.37p at end of March. Ex income, it is down 216.67p from 218.37p. Lifts dividend to 3.05p per share from 2.90p a year prior. NAV total return amounts to 0.7%, topping Lipper Global - Equity Global Income Index’s 0.5% rise. In November, it agreed a tie-up with Troy Income & Growth Trust PLC. The combination will be implemented through a scheme of reconstruction. Troy Income is to be liquidated and its assets transferred to STS. STS shares will then be issued to Troy Income shareholders. Troy Income shareholders will also be given the option of a 100% cash exit.
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Miton UK MicroCap Trust PLC - investor in small cap companies - Net asset value per share at October 31 half-year end reduces 16% to 54.10 pence from 64.20p at end of March. ‘Over the last three years, UK stock market sentiment has remained weak. But even so, as the globalisation trend has faded, it is noteworthy that UK large caps, typically capital-intensive businesses paying out a stream of good and growing dividends, have now started to outperform nearly all other comparators. Whilst UK large caps have now started to generate premium returns, the usual pattern of UK microcap outperformance has not been evident over the last three years,’ Chair Ashe Windham says. ‘The key point is that market sentiment can change dramatically, as it did after March 2020 when UK quoted microcaps, and this trust in particular, generated very strong returns. Against this background, UK microcaps appear overdue for a period of major performance catch-up.’
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JPMorgan Asia Growth & Income PLC - investor in Asia-Pacific firms - Net asset value per share at September 30 full-year end increases 2.2% to 378.8 pence from 370.6p 12 months earlier. Lifts fourth-quarter dividend by 2.7% on-year to 3.8p per share from 3.7p. Total dividend amounts to 15.7p, down from 16.5p.
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Star Energy Group PLC - onshore energy company - Says on track to deliver its full-year production target of around 2,090 barrels of oil equivalent per day. ‘Uptime across the portfolio has remained strong with good results from workovers at Singleton and a rolling programme of well optimisation and stimulation that has yielded additional production equal to 50 boepd over this year,’ it adds.
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