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HB Markets Daily Smallcap Newsflash featuring 2 ergo, Alterian, ANT , Clyde Process Solutions , Earthport and Johnson Services Group

1st Sep 2010, 8:49 am


2 ergo (RGO, 57.5p, £18.82m) Trading statement for the year ending August 2010 confirms results in-line with expectations and the following year will benefit from the investments made. With losses still anticipated for this year and PBT of £3.4m and 7.9p EPS next year the group has a lot to deliver – for the time being we drop the recommendation to a HOLD. (Julian Tolley)

Alterian (ALN, 187.5p, £15.22m) has announced the acquisition of Intrepid Consultant, an international social media analytics and market research consultancy, for a total consideration of $11.5m. Initial consideration is of $3.5m cash plus the issue of 361,427 shares with a potential $7.35m relating to performance to March 2013 with another $0.65m available for personal bonuses. The operation has offices in Seattle, London and Ho Chi Minh City. To December 2009 the operation generated pre-tax profits of some £0.3m - which the group expects to enhance EPS in the year. We still see some upside to around the 15x PER with only a modest boost in the year to March 2011 from this acquisition. We maintain the BUY recommendation with a 214p price target. (Julian Tolley)

ANT (ANTP, 25p, £6.07m) Interims to June 2010 saw revenues relatively flat at £2.11m (£2.01m) with a gross profit of £1.80m (£1.68m), a margin of 85.2% (83.5%) with lower admin costs of £1.15m (£1.42m), flat R&D at £1.17m (£1.16m) leaving the adjusted loss before tax reduced at £0.48m (£0.83m). The group ended the period with net cash and equivalents of some £4.61m (£5.05m at the year end). Unit shipments were relatively flat at 1.5m units (1.6m) but the mix of revenues shifted to professional services with £0.7m (£0.4m) while the royalty revenues fell marginally to £1.4m (£1.6m). Our valuation remains a SPECULATIVE BUY as the group is well positioned for the surge in hybrid broadcast which addresses the problems of over the air capacity by adding broadband. (Julian Tolley)

Clyde Process Solutions (CPSP, 55.5p, £22.41m)
6 month trading to the end of August has been in line with management expectations. At the end of July the order book stood at £24.2m (£20.5m at the February year end), driven by orders secured in the food, metals chemicals and petrochemicals markets. The group has expanded its presence in the US, UK China and Brazil to enhance the pipeline of opportunities. Forecasts for the year ending February 2011 look for 7.1p EPS putting the group on a 7.8x prospective PER. At 60p we rated the group a hold but feel there is sufficient upside to return the group to a BUY with a 63p price target or 9x. (Julian Tolley)

Earthport (EPO, 11.5p, £15.41m), the global payments utility business,  now offers is payment services via epDirect™, a provider of simple to use online interface enabling payments to be made to more than 200 countries in the world for a flat per-transaction fee. The latter broadens the group’s distribution base. We retain our HOLD recommendation. (Amisha Chohan)

Johnson Services Group (JSG, 16.25p, £40.52m), the textile services and facilities management business, reports interims to 30 June 2010 are in line with FY expectations.  A 17% increase in adjusted PBT to £6.2m (H109: £5.3m) and a 29% increase in adjusted EPS to 1.8p (H109: 1.4p) on a 4% revenue decline to £113.0m (H109: £117.1m) highlights a good performance despite the tough market conditions.  The 8% increase in the interim DPS to 0.27p demonstrates the group’s confidence in profitability and cash generation going forward. Net debt reduced to £64.6m – the business remains highly geared, but with an interest cover of 4.4x, the current level of debt is manageable. The Textile Rental division continues to be very strong and Stalbridge in particular has returned to healthy levels of profitability. Following the investment in GreenEarth, cost reductions and focus on more successful location will drive profitability growth in the Drycleaning division in H2. The fragility of the UK economy does not bode well for the business. The stock rated on a 2010 PER of 4.4x with a yield of 4.9% given the high level of gearing. Assuming 4p of EPS in 2011, the stock is rated on 4x. We believe a discount to the sector is warranted, but not this extent. We therefore reiterate our BUY recommendation, but reduce our target price to 19.2p – equivalent to 4.8x 2011 earnings. (Amisha Chohan)


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