Half-year results for boutique investment group Shore Capital (SGR) were somewhat flattered by the sale of several radio spectrum licences in Germany for net revenues of €12.5m (£9.2m). That's unlikely to concern shareholders, however, as the group announced plans to return the proceeds of that deal to investors in a £10m payout, equivalent to around 41p a share.
And although Shore will skip this year's half-year dividend, there is huge potential in its 32 remaining regional spectrum licences, which should "deliver very significant gains in due course".
Elsewhere, the group is making inroads with major corporate clients, which executive chairman Howard Shore says are increasingly seeing the value of broking advice from smaller outfits. This point was underlined by new mandates from blue chips Wm Morrison (MRW) and AG Barr (BAG), as well as the group's role on the €92m flotation of Applegreen (APGN), the largest listing on Aim in the period.
However, total capital markets work dropped in the period, with subdued activity in the months leading up to the UK general election resulting in the division's pre-tax profit nearly halving to £3.1m.
Analysts at RBC Capital are forecasting full-year adjusted earnings per share of 30.2p, up from 20.8p in 2014.
SHORE CAPITAL (SGR) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 418p | MARKET VALUE: | £101m | |
| TOUCH: | 415-420p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 430p | LOW: 408p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 1.2%* | PE RATIO: | 14 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 277p | NET CASH: | £28.2m | |
| Half-year to 30 Jun | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 22.5 | 4.96 | 12.4 | 5 |
| 2015 | 25.9 | 9.55 | 20.8 | nil |
| % change | +15 | +92 | +68 | - |
Ex-div:- Payment:- *Excludes proposed £10m return to shareholders due in Q4 2015, or 41p a share | ||||
