27th Nov 2024 17:17
(Alliance News) - The following is a round-up of earnings for London-listed companies, issued on Tuesday and not separately reported by Alliance News:
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Samuel Heath & Sons PLC - Birmingham-based shower and bathroom accessory manufacturer - Pretax profit grows 1.4% during the six months that ended September 30 to GBP439,000 from GBP433,000 the year before, as cost of sales reduce by 4.8% to GBP4.1 million from GBP4.3 million and selling & distribution costs decrease 5.1% to GBP1.9 million from GBP2.0 million. The expense improvement reflects "labour savings and lower utility costs, as well as lower advertising and trade show costs". Revenue, however, falls 3.9% to GBP7.5 million from GBP7.8 million last year, due to a final delivery within a "large London contract" boosting the prior year's results. The group declares an interim dividend of 4.5 pence per share, unchanged year-on-year. Chair Anthony Buttanshaw says: "Concerns about the UK government's budget, combined with anticipation of the US election result, contributed to a marked slowdown in order intake, which has been evident in the market for several months. With both major events now concluded, we are hopeful that projects that have been on hold will now resume, though this may take several months to reach us in the form of confirmed orders."
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Shearwater Group PLC - London-headquartered cybersecurity services provider - Widens its pretax loss to GBP2.1 million from GBP1.4 million the year before during the six months that ended September 30, due to foreign exchange gains last year. Revenue rose 7.3% to GBP11.3 million from GBP10.5 million last year, driven by growth in its services business, while cost of sales was up 19% at GBP8.8 million from GBP7.3 million. Total operating costs increased 2.2% to GBP4.6 million from GBP4.5 million. Chief Executive Officer Phil Higgins says: "We have achieved significant multi-year wins across our services division, strengthened relationships with global blue-chip clients and enhanced our products across our software business. This momentum has continues into the second half, as highlighted by the contract wins post period-end." The group has secured a USD12.8 million contract in its second half, which will span five years with an unnamed "leading global mobile telecommunications company". It expects around USD3.5 million in revenue to fall within the current financial year.
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Sosandar PLC - Chesire, England-based online women's fashion brand - Narrows its pretax loss to GBP659,000 during the six months that ended September 30, from GBP1.3 million the year before. The group is transitioning away from promotional sales, which resulted in cost of sales reducing 48% to GBP6.1 million from GBP9.9 million, and administrative expenses decreasing 22% to GBP10.7 million from GBP13.3 million. Revenue also falls 31% to GBP16.2 million from GBP22.2 million last year as a result. Co-Chief Executive Officers Ali Hall and Julie Lavington say: "Trading in the second half of the financial year to date has been encouraging, across all our channels, as we head into peak season." Sosandar says second-half trading is in line with full-year market expectations, citing a company-compiled consensus of GBP40.5 million in revenue, which would be a 13% fall from GBP46.3 million last year, and pretax profit of GBP1.0 million, compared to a loss of GPB332,000 the year before.
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essensys PLC - London-based provider of software and cloud services for the flexible workspace industry - Pretax loss narrows to GBP5.5 million during its financial year that ended July 31, from GBP15.5 million the year before. This is primarily due to administrative expenses decreasing 31% to GBP19.1 million from GBP26.2 million last year; restructuring expenses reducing to GBP207,000 from GBP2.6 million, and the group's expected credit loss provision falling to GBP308,000 from GBP1.0 million. Turnover falls 4.4% to GBP24.2 million from GBP25.3 million, and its adjusted loss before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation narrows to GBP900,000 from GBP6.3 million. Chief Executive Officer Mark Furness says: "This is a robust outcome in market conditions which continue to be challenging, with delays to sales cycles and lower capex budgets constraining the activity of our customers. We remain on track to deliver positive Ebitda in financial 2025."
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Mercia Asset Management PLC - alternative asset manager focused on regional UK small and medium enterprises - Pretax profit grew 53% during the six months that ended September 30 to GBP2.4 million from GBP1.4 million last year, while revenue rose 18% to GBP17.9 million from GBP15.0 million. Assets under management were GBP1.84 billion at September 30, up 23% year-on-year from GBP1.46 billion, while net assets per share were 43.4 pence on September 30, down 4.3% from 45.3p last year. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation increases 28% to GBP3.7 million from GBP2.8 million. Chief Executive Officer Mark Payton says: "Mercia has delivered another strong first half performance, with our higher funds under management driving revenue and Ebitda growth. I am pleased to say that none of the tax changes announced in the government's Autumn Budget will curtail Mercia's growth ambitions." Mercia declares an interim dividend of 0.37 pence, up 5.6% year-on-year from 0.35p.
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Value & Indexed Property Income Trust PLC - investor in UK commercial property - Net asset value per share on September 30 was 210.2 pence, down 0.6% from 211.4p on March 31. It swings to a pretax profit of GBP7.7 million during the six months that ended September 30, from a loss of GBP4.6 million the year before. This is primarily due to its swing to unrealised gains of GBP939,000 on held-at-fair-value investments, from a losses of GBP7.4 million last year. Value & Indexed declares an interim dividend of 6.8p, up 6.1% year-on-year from 6.4p.
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By Emily Parsons, Alliance News reporter
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