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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Sanderson Design Group PLC - Buckinghamshire-based interior furnishings company - For the year ended January 31, pretax profit more than doubles to £10.4 million from £4.9 million the year before, on revenue which grows 20% to £112.2 million from £93.8 million, and edging above pre-virus figure of £111.5 million. Revenue growth is driven by the receding effect of Covid-19 and double digit growth in brand product and manufacturing sales. Reinstates dividend with final payout of 2.75 pence per share, giving total dividend of 3.50p. ‘Trading in the first three months of the current financial year has performed in line with our expectations, with continued demand for manufacturing and strong brand sales,’ says Chair Dianne Thompson.
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HSS Hire Group PLC - Manchester-based equipment rental firm - For the year ended January 1, swings to pretax profit of £6.1 million from loss of £29.6 million the year before, as revenue climbs 21% year-on-year to £303.3 million from £250.1 million, on strong growth from Rental and Services. Looking ahead, for the first quarter of the 2022 financial year, revenue rises 13% while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation is in line with management expectations.
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Schroder Japan Growth Fund PLC - seeks growth via investing in Japanese stocks - For the six months ended January 31, reports net asset value total return of 1.0%, outperforming the benchmark index which made a negative return of 0.6%. As at January 31, net asset value per share increases 4.6% at 230.61 pence, from 221.61p the same date the year before. Declares no interim dividend, in line with prior year.
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Argo Blockchain PLC - London-based cryptocurrency miner - For 2021, pretax profit hikes to £39.3 million from £1.4 million, on revenue which rose sharply to £74.2 million from £19.0 million, attributed to a significant increase in the company’s hashrate to 1,605 petahash from 645 petahash, and higher Bitcoin prices in 2021. Despite a pullback in the equity market across most sectors due to the Ukraine war and inflation concerns in the first quarter of 2022, bitcoin prices remain flat over the period.
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Keystone Law Group PLC - London-headquartered law firm - For the year ended January 31, pretax profit rises 55% to £8.4 million from £5.4 million, driven by a 27% year-on-year increase in revenue to £69.6 million from £55.0 million, due to a bounce bank in the legal market, with strong activity levels and increased demand. Declares final ordinary dividend of 11.2 pence per share, bringing the total payout to 15.7p, up 51% from 10.4p the prior year. Also declares special payout of 10p. Looking ahead, current financial year has started well, and the company says it is well placed for another strong annual performance.
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Braime Group PLC - Leeds-based manufacture of metal presswork and material handling components - For 2021, pretax profit dips to £1.1 million from £1.2 million the year before, mainly as a result of exceptional costs, derived from extensive repairs to the chain cell area of its Hunslet Road property. This is in spite of revenue growing 11% to £36.4 million from £32.8 million on higher demand from customers for commercial vehicle components, and material handling components. Declares second dividend of 8.20 pence per share, bringing total payout to 12.45p, up from 11.8p the prior year. Looking ahead, first quarter of 2022 has started positively, with sales running well ahead of the same period a year before.
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Beximco Pharmaceuticals Ltd - Bangladesh-based generic pharmaceutical products and active pharmaceutical ingredients maker - For the third quarter ended March 31, post tax profit drops 27% to BDT1.07 billion, around £9.4 million, from BDT1.47 billion the same period a year prior, as a result of non-recurring vaccine income derived from the third quarter of 2021. This is in spite of a 22% rise in revenue to BDT8.96 billion from BDT7.36 billion. For the nine month period, post tax profit rises 14% to BDT4.20 billion, on revenue which grows 19% year-on-year to BDT25.93 billion. ‘This has been underpinned by positive operational developments such as the receipt of sublicenses to produce generic versions of molnupiravir and Paxlovid from the United Nations-backed Medicines Patent Pool and the ongoing integration of Sanofi Bangladesh, which has now been renamed Synovia Pharma PLC,’ says Managing Director Nazmul Hassan.
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Checkit PLC - Cambridge-based workflow management firm - For the year ended January 31, pretax loss widens to £7.1 million from £5.3 million, as revenue edges upward to £13.3 million from £13.2 million, driven by a 43% rise in annual recurring revenue run rate at £8.2 million, on new customers wins. Looking ahead, Checkit’s trading since the start of the new financial year has progressed in line with management expectations.
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Novacyt SA - Surrey-based biotechnology group focused on clinical diagnostics - For 2021, sinks to pretax loss of £9.8 million from profit of £165.2 million the year before, on revenue which declines 65% to £95.8 million from £277.2 million, as during the year the company shifted sharply from large, centralised contracts and more into independent testing, as Covid products continue to form a large section of total revenue. Looking ahead, should Covid revenue decline continue, company expects revenue for 2022 to range from £35 million to £45 million, but the company believes it can reach annual revenue in excess of £100 million in five years.
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DP Aircraft I Ltd - Guernsey-based aircraft leasing company - For 2021, pretax loss narrows to $21.9 million from $155.1 million the year before, due to the lack of impairment charges on aircraft, more than offsetting a 79% plunge in total income to $18.3 million from $88.6 million. Net asset value per share as at December 31 is 17.37 US cents, down from 27.81 cents the prior year.
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