The following is a round-up of updates by London-listed companies, issued on Friday and not separately reported by Alliance News:
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Gfinity PLC - London-based e-sports and gaming services firm - Revenue in six months to December 31 jumps 26% £4.1 million from £3.3 million. Pretax loss, however, widens to £1.9 million from £1.5 million. ‘The sector opportunity remains strong, reflecting a continued trend towards video gaming, both playing and watching, as the entertainment pastime of a new generation. Within this space, directors believe that the greatest opportunity lies in creating technology and products that engage all fans of competitive gaming, not only the elite 1% at the top of the professional pyramid. Gfinity’s expertise, audience, relationships and proprietary technology means that it is well positioned to take advantage of this opportunity,’ company says.
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Pensana PLC - rare earths explorer - Warns will need ‘additional immediate term funding’ to settle amounts due to suppliers. Will also need ‘further subsequent additional funding’ to meet planned expenditure commitments. Posts interim results, which show pretax loss in the half-year to December 31 widens to $4.2 million, from $4.1 million a year earlier. It is in pre-production phase, so is not yet generating revenue from its operations.
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Star Phoenix Group Ltd - oil and gas company focused on Trinidad and Indonesia - Reports no revenue in six months to December 31, unchanged from a year prior. Pretax loss narrows to $242,916 from $591,468. General and administration expenses fall 60% to $233,149 from $585,637.
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Vaalco Energy Inc - Houston, Texas-based company engaged in hydrocarbon exploration - Says crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids sales in fourth quarter of 2022 improves to $96.6 million from $56.4 million a year earlier. Operating income, however, falls 6.3% to $24.2 million from $25.9 million. Total operating costs jump to $72.4 million from $30.5 million. For the whole of 2022, Crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids sales improve to $354.3 million from $199.1 million. Operating income jumps to $171.3 million from $79.1 million. For 2023, expects net revenue interest production between 15,300–18,600 barrels of oil equivalent per day, up from 10,217 in 2022. For first quarter of 2022, lifts dividend by 92% to $0.0625 per share.
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abrdn Asia Focus PLC - investment firm focused on Asian small caps - Net asset value per share at January 31 half-year end rises 14% to 299.2 pence from 263.0p at end of July. Net asset value total return for half-year is 3.0%, falling short of MSCI AC Asia ex Japan Small Cap Index total return of 3.8%. ‘Considering the current fragile state of the global economy, our view is that Asia is in a better position than many Western economies. For the most part, government finances and corporate balance sheets in the region are in good health. The wider macroeconomic risks (whether inflation or geopolitics related) persist, but one of the benefits of this trust’s small-cap emphasis is that it allows for a portfolio that is more geared to Asia’s domestic growth story,’ abrdn Asia Focus says.
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Sancus Lending Group Ltd - alternative finance provider - Revenue in 2022 rises 11% to £10.0 million from £9.0 million in 2021. Pretax loss widens to £14.0 million, however, from £10.4 million. Reports goodwill impairment of £8.6 million. Did not report any a year prior. ‘After 18 months in my post as CEO, the turnaround of the business is on track and we are confident of our ability to deliver profitability. The business has undergone considerable restructuring and simplification during my tenure and we continue to be exclusively focussed on residential property lending in the development and bridging space, a market which remains underserved and offers significant growth possibilities,’ CEO Rory Mepham says.
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Argo Group Ltd - alternative investment manager - Revenue in 2022 declines 42% to $2.5 million from $4.4 million. Swings to pretax loss of $3.4 million from $298,000 profit. ‘The last financial year has been very difficult especially for emerging markets that experienced huge outflows closed to $100 billion. Increasing interest rates to combat inflation has been the dominant global theme with the USA leading the way,’ Chief Executive Kyriakos Rialas says. Net assets shrink to $19.6 million, from $23.1 million a year earlier.
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Abingdon Health PLC - York-based lateral flow test manufacturer - Says ‘successfully’ transitions from Covid-19-related work. Revenue in six months to December 31 falls 35% to £1.1 million from £1.7 million a year earlier. Pretax loss, however, narrows to £2.4 million from £5.7 million. Administrative expenses fall 30% to £2.6 million from £3.7 million. In addition, it reports exceptional income of £305,000, against none a year earlier. ‘Our dedicated lateral flow [contract development & manufacturing organisation] service continues to gain traction with a number of new customers onboarded in recent months. Importantly, all of our CDMO activities are non-Covid-19 and are spread across a range of sectors including clinical and animal health. We believe our fully integrated CDMO service is offering customers a straightforward solution to bring their products to market in the most cost-effective and efficient manner,’ Chief Executive Chris Yates says.
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