The following is a round-up of earnings and trading updates by London-listed companies, issued on Wednesday and not separately reported by Alliance News:
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Riverstone Credit Opportunities Income PLC - London-based energy infrastructure and energy transition credit investor - Net asset value was $1.06 per share at December 31, down from $1.08 at the same time one year prior. NAV total return for 2023 was positive 6.4%, following positive 14.5% the year before. Declares quarterly dividend of 2.5 US cents per share. Says it is pleased with its dynamic portfolio of investments, and with the current pipeline of new opportunities.
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UIL Ltd - Closed-end Bermuda-incorporated investment company - NAV total return for the six months to December 31 is positive 4.2%, following the negative 6.5% delivered the previous year. NAV per share at December 31 was 204.04p, down from 240.02p at the same time in 2022 but up 2.1% from 199.87p at June 30. Declares unchanged second quarterly dividend of 2.00p. Says economic outlook remains positively balanced with central banks expected to lower interest rates, and remains ‘cautiously optimistic’ about the outlook for its portfolio. Chair Peter Burrows, who took up his role in 2015, will retire from the board on March 31, to be replaced by Director Stuart Bridges.
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Hydro Hotel Eastbourne PLC - Eastbourne, England-based hotel operator - Pretax profit for the year to October 31 totals £310,407, down 30% from £445,211. Earnings per share fell to 39.32p from 56.12p. Turnover increased by 0.7% to £4.4 million, having increased by 58% to £4.4 million. Cost of sales increased 6.0% to £3.9 million from £3.7 million. Company says the ‘trading environment for the hotel and tourism industry continues to be challenging with the continuing cost of living crisis and high inflation impacting on operating costs and consumer demand,’ and that repair costs ‘significantly increased’ during the year. Company will pay an interim dividend of 12.0p per share, down from 23.0p. Directors do not propose paying a final dividend.
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KRM22 PLC - London-based technology and software investment company - Says it is executing on plan to increase value of annual recurring revenue to £10 million through developing new products. Says that as of Wednesday, ARR stands at £5.8 million, up from £4.6 million at December 31, 2022. Says growth comes from revived product suite including various multi-year contracts. Continues to ‘tightly’ manage costs and is working towards annual cost savings of around £1.2 million this year. Expects to report for 2023 around £5.2 million in revenue, up 21% from £4.3 million the year before.
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Mobeus Income & Growth 2 VCT PLC - venture capital trust - NAV at December 31 was 68.55p per share, down from 74.26p at September 30. Cumulative total return per share since inception is 221.55p, up from 221.26p, on an NAV basis. Investments during the quarter to December 31 include around £920,000 into Ozone Financial Technology Ltd, and around £470,000 into Huddl Mobility Ltd which trades as CitySwift.
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Shanta Gold Ltd - East Africa-focused gold producer - Saturn Resources Ltd, a subsidiary of ETC Holdings (Mauritius) Ltd which agreed in late December to acquire Shanta, updates on recommended cash takeover. Saturn says that Institutional Shareholder Services and Glass Lewis, ‘leading’ independent proxy advisory firms, are advising their institutional shareholder subscribers to vote in favour of the scheme of arrangement for the takeover.
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Software Circle PLC - Manchester-based printing and software company - Announces its takeover of ARC Technology Ltd, a Byfleet, England-based provider of software solutions for practice-based learning in higher education institutions, for total of £2.0 million in cash. Says it has paid an initial £1.1 million at completion, with deferred consideration of £300,000 to be paid next year, followed by £600,000 upon ‘the achievement of certain targets’. Expects acquisition to be cash flow generative and earnings enhancing within the first year. Adds that it is in discussions with three other acquisition targets with a collective turnover of around £4.1 million.
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