The following is a round-up of updates by London-listed companies, issued on Wednesday and not separately reported by Alliance News:
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Judges Scientific PLC - London-based acquirer of scientific-instrument companies - Revenue in six months ended June 30 increases 32% on-year to £61.3 million from £46.4 million. Pretax profit, however, falls 79% to £800,000 from £3.9 million a year earlier. Hurting its bottom line, the company reports costs related to amortisation of acquired intangible assets surge to £6.1 million from £2.3 million. It also books a £5.5 million hit from contingent consideration costs measured at fair value, against none a year prior. An earn-out for the acquisition of Geotek Holding Ltd and Geotek Coring Ltd was achieved in full. Earn-out was partially satisfied through issue of shares, and Judges Scientific’s share price was higher at the date of the issue than it was when the acquisition deal was sealed, hence why the company books the one-off hit. Adjusted pretax profit, without the one-off items, rises by a third to £12.8 million from £9.6 million. Chair Alex Hambro says: ‘During the period all the measures of organic performance were again beaten, with results bolstered by the contribution from Geotek. While we have not yet returned to a pre-pandemic trading environment and we continue to operate in a challenging world, we have seen improving prospects across our markets. We are well configured moving forwards, strengthened by a reinforced executive team and a solid order book, with a strong second half anticipated for the group.’ Judges declares a 27 pence per share interim payout, up from 22p a year prior.
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LBG Media PLC - Manchester, England-based digital media and youth content publisher - The Ladbible and Sportbible owner says revenue in the half-year ended June 30 improves 10% to £27.2 million from £24.8 million a year earlier. LBG’s pretax loss narrows to £1.2 million from £1.9 million. ‘During the period, the group delivered a strong performance, growing its global audience and content views, and is on track to meet full year market expectations,’ LBG says. It expects to meet market expectations for the full year. LBG is predicted to achieve revenue of £69.3 million, and adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of £19.3 million.
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Adnams PLC - Suffolk, England-based brewery - Revenue in the six months to June 30 slips 0.3% year-on-year to £30.0 million from £30.1 million. Pretax loss widens to £3.1 million from £1.0 million, as operating costs increase by 5.6% to £32.5 million. Adnams reports ‘continued pressure on input prices and reduced demand particularly in quarter one of the year’. It adds: ‘The UK economy remains a challenge for brewing and hospitality.’ The second quarter was a better one, it says, amid ‘lighter evenings and warmer weather’.
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Advanced Medical Solutions Group PLC - Cheshire, England-based surgical dressings company - Revenue in first six months of 2023 is up 8.2% to £63.1 million from £58.3 million a year prior but pretax profit declines 4.6% to £11.8 million from £12.3 million. Administration costs increase 16% to £25.0 million from £21.6 million.
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Sancus Lending Group Ltd - alternative finance provider - First-half loss widens despite the company starting 2023 with ‘cautious optimism’. Revenue in the six months to June 30 improves 12% to £5.4 million from £4.8 million. However, its pretax loss widens to £3.3 million from £2.0 million. It reports a £202,000 loss on the disposal of a subsidiary, compared to no such costs a year prior. In addition, it takes a £799,000 hit from provision for expected credit losses, against none a year earlier. Sancus says new loan facilities written fall to £83 million from £86 million. CEO Rory Mepham says: ‘We started 2023 cautiously but with cause for optimism. However the uncertainty in residential real estate markets in the jurisdictions in which we operate, together with the impact of inflation and rising interest rates, has led to a slow down in loan origination in H1 2023 as we became more selective from both a credit and loan pricing perspective.’
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KCR Residential REIT PLC - residential-focused real estate investment trust - Revenue in year ended June 30 rises 23% to £1.6 million from £1.3 million and pretax loss narrows to £166,136 from £342,081. Net asset value per share, however, falls 1.2% to 32.42 pence at June 30, from 32.82 the year prior. KCR adds: ‘Whilst the near-term focus remains on improving the operational performance of the existing assets and containing or reducing costs, the group is continuing to investigate the purchase of residential property assets that are capable of supporting an increasing income yield. It may be necessary for the group to raise more capital in order to achieve this objective.’
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Shanta Gold Ltd - East Africa-focused gold producer, developer and explorer - Revenue in six months to June 30 rises 70% to $88.3 million from $51.9 million a year earlier, helped by a 55% rise in gold output and improved prices. Production rises to 44,771 ounces from 28,947 a year earlier. The average realised price from gold sales rises 3.6% to $1,938 an ounce from $1,870. Shanta swings to a pretax profit of $22.7 million from a loss of $874,000. ‘Today we have delivered another set of record-breaking results, reflecting the huge effort from the team at Shanta over the first half of 2023,’ Chief Executive Officer Eric Zurrin says. It maintains its interim dividend at 0.10 pence per share. It affirms output guidance of 90,000 to 98,000 ounces for 2023, which would at worst be a 38% rise from 2021’s 65,209 ounces.
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