15th May 2025 15:18
(Alliance News) - 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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Michelmersh Brick Holdings PLC - West Sussex, England-based bricks manufacturer - Provides trading update ahead of Thursday's annual general meeting. Says full year expectations are unchanged, and it anticipates stable despatch volumes for the remainder of the financial year. Remains watchful of the "pricing environment and customer demand dynamics" particularly in important renovation, maintenance and improvement markets. The medium-term demand fundamentals across UK and Benelux markets remain "highly supportive and we are well positioned for market recovery once we hit that inflection point," the firm adds. Since reporting full-year results in March, the firm says it has continued to experience "supportive" order intake to maintain a well-balanced forward order book, underpinned by robust demand from across end markets. "We have been pleased with the response to our required mid-single digit price increases from the beginning of April to offset cost increases from the start of the year, which we believe reflects the strength of our customer relationships," it adds.
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M&C Saatchi PLC - London-based advertising agency - announces trading update for the first quarter ended March 31, ahead of Thursday's annual general meeting. Says like-for-like net revenue for the first quarter is broadly in line with last year, reflecting continued strength in the UAE and Europe as well as Issues and Media specialisms, offsetting ongoing macro volatility in Australia and the UK. On track to deliver GBP3 million of annualised cost savings. Chief Executive Zaid Al-Qassab describes trading performance as "resilient". He remains confident in achieving market expectations this year. "Although the global macro and geopolitical situation remains volatile, we have not seen any significant change in client spending in the quarter," he adds.
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DSW Capital PLC - provider of professional services via the Dow Schofield Watts and DR Solicitors brands - expects to report forecast-topping earnings. DSW expects to report network revenue for the year ended March 31 of GBP25.8 million, a record, jumping 61% from GBP16.0 million. It will be an outcome "ahead of market expectations". Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation are expected to have surged to GBP1.8 million from GBP600,000, an outcome also ahead of forecasts. "The global economic disruption may create a more challenging M&A market in the year ahead, but we are committed to turning those challenges into opportunities in recruitment, which slowed in FY25 due to the abnormally high activity levels. Our reliance on M&A revenues, however, is much reduced by the addition of DR Solicitors with its more predictable revenues, and we have a more balanced business as we enter FY26," Chief Executive Officer Shru Morris says.
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Helium One Global Ltd - Tanzania-focused helium exploration company - Provides update on 50%-owned Galactica-Pegasus helium development project in Colorado. Says the Jackson-2 well flowed naturally during drilling and at total depth. As expected, no water was encountered during drilling of the Lyons Formation with wireline logs confirming the penetrated Lyons Sandstone Formation to be "high-quality and gas saturated". Notes the flow rate since total depth has increased to over 250 thousand cubic feet per day. Early samples return helium concentration of up to 1.2% and 78% carbon dioxide. "Understanding the flow potential and reservoir gas composition in this part of the field is key to defining the helium-CO2 development going forward," company says.
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Secure Trust Bank PLC - Solihull, England-based retail bank - Says net lending rose 11% to GBP3.73 billion in the three months to March 31 from GBP3.37 billion a year prior. Business Finance and Consumer Finance net lending balances grew by 4.9% and 1.8% respectively. This reflected strong pipeline conversion from the prior quarter Secure Trust notes it is "within reach" of its GBP4 billion net lending ambition in the near term. Customer deposits grew by 15% to GBP3.37 billion from GBP2.92 billion a year ago. The bank says trading is in line with management expectations. Chief Executive Officer David McCreadie says the firm is "on track to deliver the previously announced GBP8 million of annualised cost savings from Project Fusion by the end of this year. We are looking ahead with confidence."
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Costain Group PLC - London-based construction and engineering firm - confirms that trading for year-to-date is in line with board expectations. Remains on track to meet its 4.5% adjusted operating margin run rate target during 2025 and continues to expect its 2025 full year net cash position to be in line with current market expectations of around GBP180 million. In 2025, the group remains "busy" bidding further new work across all sectors and broadening its customer mix. Costain says it "remains confident in the group's strategy and growth prospects."
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Filtronic PLC - Durham, England-based maker of products for aerospace, defence, space and telecommunications industries - announces a new contract win to develop and supply advanced filter and diplexer assemblies to Airbus SE for the supply of additional satellites to Eutelsat OneWeb. The contract, which will see Filtronic deliver flight sets for payload integration in calendar 2026, will support the expansion of the Eutelsat OneWeb Low Earth Orbit satellite constellation. The initial contract is of a "significant value" with potential order flow expected for the remainder of the constellation rollout.
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By Jeremy Cutler, Alliance News reporter
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