Shares in London started the day in positive territory although a government admission that no matter what flavour of Brexit is achieved growth will be lowered has dampened spirits. Click here for The Trader Nicole Elliott's latest thoughts on the markets.
IC TIP UPDATES:
Brewin Dolphin (BRW) gained £1.5bn in net inflows during the year to September, which together with £1.2bn of investment returns took funds under management up 7 per cent to £42.8bn. Discretionary funds gained the largest inflows, scoring a net £2.3bn, slightly offset by continued outflows from advisory services. Pre-tax profits were up a fifth, while management raised the interim dividend 9.3 per cent to 16.4p. Buy.
SafeCharge (SCH) said trading ahead of the December year-end has been strong, with processed volume for the full-year expected to be around $14bn, up more than 40 per cent on 2017. Revenues are expected to be above market expectations, at around $135-138m. Adjusted cash profits are expected to be in line with market expectations. The company has also appointed Hadar Michaelis as chief operational officer. The shares were up 2 per cent this morning; buy.
Weaker chrome prices took the varnish off a steady operational performance from Tharisa (THS) in the year to September, as the South African miner posted a 26 per cent drop in operating profit. Higher production held the top line in check, and gave management confidence to post a full-year dividend 4 cents, equivalent to 20.5 per cent of consolidated net profit after tax. That’s above a policy to pay out 15 per cent. We remain buyers.
Holiday website On The Beach (OTB) reported a 24.5 per cent increase in sales to £104m during the year to September, with pre-tax profit up 23.7 per cent to £26.1m. Chief executive Simon Cooper said the results were achieved despite the “exceptionally hot” summer weather in the UK and the Nordics which combined with the football World Cup, suppressed holiday demand. As a result, the company cut its marketing spend. Shares were up 5 per cent in early trading. Buy.
KEY STORIES:
Shares were flat in response to half-year results from RPC Group (RPC). Pre-tax profts were down 5 per cent on last year’s comparable period, while net cash flows from operating activities similarly fell 13 per cent. The results take place against a backdrop of uncertainty over the future of the company, which awaits offers for the group from Bain Capital and Apollo Global Management. Both entities have until 3 December to submit an offer for RPC.
OTHER COMPANY NEWS:
Findel (FDL) shares rose comfortably in early trading on the release of half-year numbers from the online retail and education supplies business. Revenues rose by 1.7 per cent over the first six months to £228m, after sales from Express Gifts - which trades online under the name “Studio” - managed to offset continued declines in the education business. Operating profits across both divisions were down, but a tight reining in on central costs and stable finance costs (net debt fell by £9m to £81m) meant adjusted pre-tax profits rose by 2.3 per cent to £11.6m.
A trading update from Senior (SNR) informed markets that the manufacturer has traded in line with management expectations for the 10 months to October. Its aerospace and flexonics divisions are trading positively, and the company expects new aerospace facilities in Malaysia and the US to open in second half of 2019 and first half of 2020 respectively. Growth in its flexonics business, however, has been hampered by “the anticipated decline in passenger vehicle”, according to the update. Shares were down around 3 per cent in morning trading.
Rotork (ROR) has announced the appointment of Ann Christin Gjerdseth Andersen and Tim Cobbold as non-executive directors of the company. As of 1 December 2018, both will sit on the audit, nomination and remuneration committees of the board.
In a first-quarter trading update, Softcat (SCT) said customer demand has remained strong across all segments and it has seen year-on-year growth in terms of revenues, gross profits and operating profits. Chief executive Graeme Watt said that “whilst there's still a long way to go”, the group is “exactly where we'd want to be at this stage”. He anticipates meeting full-year expectations. The shares were up by around 2 per cent this morning.
TI Fluid Systems (TIFS) has applied to list 489,277 ordinary shares at a price of 1p each. The company anticipates that the shares will be admitted to the London Stock Exchange at 8am on 3 December 2018. Hereafter, the issued capital of the company will amount to 519,901,503 ordinary shares.
