The following is a round-up of earnings by London-listed companies, issued on Wednesday and not separately reported by Alliance News:
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Fundsmith Emerging Equities Trust PLC - invests in consumer-oriented companies in developing countries - Net asset value per share ends 2021 at 1,512.9 pence, up from 1,460.2p at same point year prior. NAV total return over 2021 is 3.8%, outperforming benchmark - the MSCI Emerging & Frontier Markets Index - which shed 1.4%. Chair Martin Bralsford says: ‘The portfolio benefitted from its high weighting to India, despite currency weakness, with the top five contributors to performance all coming from the sub-continent. In addition, the underweight exposure to China also helped relative performance as 2021 saw a number of the concerns that our investment manager has about investing in China, including overseas listings, regulation, slower rates of economic growth and State interference, come to the fore.’ Does not propose final dividend, after paying out 2.0p year before.
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Target Healthcare REIT PLC - care homes property investor - Net asset value per share ends December 31 at 110.0 pence, up marginally from 110.5p six months earlier. EPRA NTA per share increased slightly to 110.8p from 110.4p. Notes portfolio market value increased by £186 million, or 27%, to £870.5 million from £684.8 million at the end of June, primarily driven by £171 million of acquisitions and development activity. Like for like portfolio valuation uplift of 2.2%. Contractual rent increases by 30% to £53.4 million from £41.2 million, including like for like rental growth of 2.8%. Interim dividend grows slightly to 3.38p from 3.36p. Chair Malcolm Naish says: ‘We remain confident in the demand for modern, purpose-built care homes in strategic locations. In particular, we believe that the portfolio’s long-term inflation linked income characteristics and clear social purpose provide investors with a unique and compelling investment proposition.’
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Town Centre Securities PLC - car park operator and property investor in Leeds, Manchester, Scotland, and London - EPRA NTA per share ends 2021 at 305 pence, up from 284p six months earlier. IFRS NAV per share grows to 313p from 292p over six-month period. Declares interim dividend of 2.5p, up from 1.75p year prior, which it says reflects ‘strong bounce back in earnings.’ Chair and Chief Executive Edward Ziff says: ‘We have seen a good recovery across all three segments of the business in the past six months with good momentum continuing into the early part of 2022. We also believe today’s results evidence the success of our new strategic direction, to reset and reinvigorate the business for the future.’ Notes like for like portfolio valuation up 2.4% from June 2021.
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Witan Investment Trust PLC - investment firm - Net asset value per share ends 2021 at 267.4 pence, rising from 236.0p at same point year prior. NAV total return in 2021 15.8%, underperforming its benchmark, which saw a 19.9% return. Annual dividend increases by 2.8% to 5.6 pence, which it notes is an unbroken run of increases since 1974.
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Advanced Medical Solutions Group PLC - Winsford-based surgical dressings - Pretax profit in 2021 rises to £22.0 million from £10.1 million in 2020. Revenue surges to £108.6 million from £86.8 million. Increases annual payout to 1.95 pence from 1.70p. Chief Executive Chris Meredith says: ‘I am delighted with AMS’ financial performance in 2021 which reflects the strength of our product portfolio, the quality of our staff and partners, the expansion of our commercial platform and the commitment of clinicians to use our tissue-healing technologies. Despite the pandemic continuing to present challenges, trading has started well in the new financial year and I remain confident that our commitment to innovation, investment in R&D and the expansion of our distribution network will deliver significant and robust long-term growth.’
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LSL Property Services PLC - Newcastle-based estate agency - Pretax profit in 2021 surges to £69.9 million from £20.9 million in 2020, as annual revenue grows to £326.8 million from £266.7 million. Proposes full-year dividend of 11.4 pence, after withholding shareholder payouts in 2020. Chief Executive David Stewart says: ‘Our strategy is on track and our core businesses are performing well. Following the COVID-19 led boom we expect housing and mortgage transactions in 2022 to be more in line with the levels we saw prior to the pandemic, with inflation and the pressure on household finances also having an impact. Geopolitical uncertainty adds further risk. These issues are expected to affect our Estate Agency Division in particular, and as always, we will be agile and respond to market conditions as necessary.’
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Centaur Media PLC - London-based business information, events and marketing provider - Swings to pretax profit of £1.4 million in 2021 from £2.6 million loss in 2020. Revenue rises to £39.1 million from £32.4 million. Proposes annual dividend of 1.0 pence, in line with policy of paying out minimum of 1p to shareholders. Chief Executive Sqag Mukerji says: ‘After the challenges of 2020, Centaur entered 2021 as a strong and resilient business. We launched our Margin Acceleration Plan - MAP23 - our strategy designed to drive profitable revenue growth, and I am pleased that Centaur has made strong progress in line with these objectives.’
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Gym Group PLC - Croydon-based low-cost gyms operator - Revenue for 2021 rises 32% to £106.0 million and pretax loss slims to £44.2 million from £47.2 million. Says it is seeing inflation in operating cost base which is expected to be 4% to 6% overall, driven notably by an increase in utility costs in the second half, and says these increases will not be fully offset in 2022. However, expects they will be offset in 2023 as full benefit of price rises starts to come through. ‘We are confident that our high margin, low-cost business model and our yield optimisation strategy will help to mitigate the impacts of the current inflationary environment,’ says Chief Executive Richard Darwin.
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Anpario PLC - manufacturer of natural sustainable feed additives for animal health, nutrition and biosecurity - Pretax profit in 2021 rises to £5.7 million from £5.4 million in 2020. Revenue grows to £33.4 million from £30.5 million. Proposes final dividend of 7.0 pence, taking its annual payout to 10.0p - an 11% rise from 9.0p the year prior. Chair Kate Allum says: ‘The company is maintaining the progress of last year, but we are acutely aware of the inflationary pressures and challenges in the food supply chain. Whilst we will monitor the effect of these issues and manage any potential impact on the business, we remain confident of continuing the profitable development of the group with further investments in our operations, product technology and global sales channels to deliver effective solutions to the animal production industry.’
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Gelion PLC - Anglo-Australian battery storage company - Pretax loss in six months to December 31 widens to £7.0 million from £1.2 million loss in same period year prior. Does not generate revenue from contracts after reporting £353,000 year before. Administrative expenses rises to £1.3 million from £565,000, while research & development expenditure grows slightly to £1.1 million. Costs rise after London IPO on November 30. Chair Steve Mahon says: ‘The past six months have been transformative for Gelion. Our fundraising and listing on the London Stock Exchange’s AIM market have provided the funds and platform to: accelerate the commercialisation of the company’s innovative energy storage technology; further develop our strategic partnerships to build and distribute our Endure batteries; establish a lithium-additive mobile energy division; and support investment into strategic hires in production, sales and research capacity.’
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eEnergy Group PLC - London-based energy efficiency-as-a-service provider - Pretax loss in six months to December 31 widens to £1.0 million from £888,000 loss in same period year prior. Revenue from contracts rises to £9.6 million from £6.8 million. Operating expenses rises to £5.9 million from £3.0 million. Contracted forward revenue ends 2021 at £18.3 million, tripling from £6.0 million year before. Chief Executive Harvey Sinclair says: ‘eEnergy has made robust progress over the last six months, having successfully integrated the teams at Beond and UtilityTeam, both of which are performing well and ahead of our expectations. Moreover, we are seeing strong momentum with our customers engaging with our newly rolled outsmart metering and energy efficiency as-a-service solutions.’
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PYX Resources Ltd - Sydney-based producer of zircon - Pretax loss in 2021 narrows to $4.5 million from $14.1 million in 2020. Revenue rises to $12.4 million from $9.0 million. Notes premium zircon revenue growth of 39% amid price and volume increase. Corporate & administrative expenses falls to $4.2 million from $7.7 million. Company adds: ‘2022 is projected to be another very strong commodity up-cycle. This represents a great opportunity for PYX to boost capacity and grow market share.’
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European Metals Holdings Ltd - mineral exploration and development company focused on Cinovec lithium-tin project in Czech Republic - Net attributable loss narrows to $1.9 million in six months to December 31 versus $2.3 million loss in same period year prior. Interim revenue flat year on year at $551,472. ‘Company continued to manage the advancement of the Cinovec lithium-tin project with a significant resource upgrade following an extensive drilling programme and very positive results returned from a life cycle environmental assessment conducted by Minviro, further highlighting the strong ESG credentials of the project. The macro conditions realtive to the project have been very strong for the period. Prices for the project’s two key metals, lithium and tin, continued to increase significantly.’
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Pharos Energy PLC - oil and gas exploration, development and production in Egypt, Vietnam and Israel - Revenue for 2021 falls to $134.1 million from $142.0 million in 2020, though the oil and gas exploration and production company swings to pretax profit of $38.6 million from loss of $241.1 million. ‘The key focus for 2022 is cash generation, through careful cost control, a rapid payback programme of drilling in Vietnam and in Egypt through our carry, which covers all but our own moderate corporate costs,’ says Chief Executive Jann Brown.
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