Despite a boost to sterling from continued polling suggesting a Conservative victory in next week's general election, London traders remain wary of further ructions in global trade and the main equity indices are mixed mid-morning. Click here for The Trader Nicole Elliott's latest thoughts on the markets.
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Shares in Character Group (CCT) have dropped 6 per cent this morning, after the group’s full-year results showed a 4 per cent drop in pre-tax profits. Dividends and share buybacks also reduced the net cash position to £6.5m from £15.6m at the same point last year. Management believes the UK toy market declined by as much as 15 per cent over the last two years, and the Scandinavian toy market has yet to recover fully from the collapse of Top Toy - formerly its largest toy retailer. Sell.
Amidst relentless competitive and cost pressures across its sector, Impax Asset Management’s (IPX) focus on the transition to a sustainable economy continues to provide the active manager shelter. During the 12 months to September – a period marked by “unprecedented concern globally about environmental issues and rapidly expanding opportunities”, in the words of chairman Keith Falconer – net inflows came to £1.4bn, and have since expanded by a further £0.5bn in the first two months of the current year. Buy.
Primary Healthcare Properties (PHP) has forward funded a £8.4m purpose built medical centre in Eastbourne, East Sussex. The property will provide modern facilities for two merged GP practices and is expected to be fully-let to 25 years following completion. Buy.
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The share price of M&C Saatchi (SAA) was down 44 per cent in early trading after the advertising agency revealed adjustments amounting to £11.6 due to accounting errors, while it also announced that full-year profits will be “significantly lower than expected at the time of the interim results”, with the underlying pre-tax figure coming in between 22 to 27 per cent below 2018 on a like for like basis. Under review.
VP’s (VP.) revenue fell by 3 per cent to £186.6m in the first half of the 2020 financial year, whilst adjusted pre-tax profit remained flat at £25.9m. Amid softer UK markets in commercial construction and civil engineering, capital investment in the rental fleet was reduced by 28 per cent to £26.6m. This boosted the operating profit margin by 0.7 percentage points to 16 per cent. Return on average capital employed held firm at 14.5 per cent and is above the group’s cost of capital. There have been no further developments regarding the ongoing CMA investigation.
Vodafone (VOD) has announced a collaboration between its business division and Amazon Web Services, which will make Amazon’s ‘Wavelength” service available to developers, allowing them to build 5G-enabled applications. The move forms part of Vodafone Business’s strategy to “partner with world-leading technology providers”. The group said this will enable new technologies such as high-definition games on mobile devices and allowing mobile robots and drones to navigate safely and securely.
Investment bank Numis (NUM) has held its final dividend at 6.5p per share, despite another rocky year for its markets. In the 12 months to September, revenues dipped 18 per cent, EPS collapsed by almost two-thirds, while the cash pile declined by a quarter as the firm continued with its share purchase programme. However, the start to the current financial year has been described as “encouraging”.
Aim-listed venture capital firm Augmentum Fintech (AUGM) saw its net asset value rise 2.4 per cent per share in the six months to September. However, the group’s shares are off in early trading after a recent knockdown fundraising by peer-to-peer lender Zopa – until recently Augmentum’s largest single holding – sparked a 47 per cent write-down in the stake. The remainder of the group’s portfolio companies either increased or held their value in the period.
