logo-loader

Small Cap Wrap - Gear4music, Live Company Group, LPA Group and more...

Published: 13:29 18 Mar 2020 GMT

Gear4music Holdings PLC - Small Cap Wrap - Gear4music, Live Company Group, LPA Group and more...

Dish of the day

No Joiners Today

Off the menu

No Leavers Tomorrow

 

Banquet Buffet

 

Gear4music (LON:G4M) 147.5p £30.9m

 “Further to the trading update on 23 January 2020, the Board confirms that it does not expect the Coronavirus outbreak to have an adverse impact on the Group's trading for the current financial year ending 31 March 2020, and as previously stated is confident results will be at least in line with the Board's expectations.

Supply chains are currently operating as normal, and we have pre-planned for some disruption by way of tactical forward purchasing. We are confident that we hold sufficient inventory to continue serving customers for several months, with additional stock on the way, and the financial resources to secure further inventory as necessary.”

The Group is taking all appropriate precautions to keep people safe while ensuring ongoing operations, and whilst we cannot predict the long-term impact of the outbreak, the Group has the benefit of an online business model and is appropriately positioned for the year ahead.

 

Live Company Group (LON:LVCG) 10.75p £8.6m

 Agreement with The Copyrights Group Limited, to produce a touring interactive experience based on the Paddington Bear brand.

Paddington Bear is an iconic fictional character in children's literature created by Michael Bond and illustrated by Peggy Fortnum.  First published in 1958, the Paddington books have sold more than 35 million copies worldwide and have been translated into over 40 different languages.  The hugely acclaimed Paddington Bear movie was released in 2014, with a second movie released in 2017 and, in 2019, it was announced Paddington will air on Nickelodeon's networks worldwide in 2020.

Under the terms of the agreement, BLI has been granted rights to produce and exhibit a themed trail of Paddington Bear building brick based models which will tour the UK, Ireland and the Channels Islands, with the first tour expected to launch later in 2020.  The agreement is for an initial period to the end of February 2023, with BLI paying a royalty fee based on the revenues generated from the themed tour.

 

LPA Group (LON:LPA) 71p £8.99m

Current trading remains in line with expectations and we have not, as yet, experienced any undue impact from Covid-19.

 

However, many of our customers and end markets such as aerospace and transport are now, or are expected to be in the future, negatively impacted by Covid-19, either directly or as a result of problems in the supply chain. Therefore, we do expect our business to be impacted to some degree in the second half of the year, and we are planning action to mitigate that impact.

 

At this stage it is too soon to quantify the extent to which our financial performance may be impaired, however, given the scale of the global financial crisis in response to the potential impact of Covid-19 on economic activity, we feel it is prudent to suspend payment of the final dividend, conserving cash resource as a precaution.

 

Botswana Diamonds (LON:BOD) 0.46p £3.1m

 The Company announced on 24th February 2020 that kimberlite, identified by visual inspection, was intersected at shallow depth in two out of the three holes (30 to 33m and 36 to 39m) on Marsfontein.  This kimberlite is believed to be associated with the high grade Marsfontein M1 kimberlite pipe and has been identified as 'high-interest'.  In response a bulk sampling campaign has commenced on site of the remnant kimberlite of the same type encountered in the drill samples. Treatment will be undertaken by Vutomi's mining contractor at a nearby diamond processing facility using two stage crushing, screening, pans, x-ray and grease recovery processes. 

 

A National Disaster in respect of Corona virus has been declared in South Africa. This will impact the scheduling of this project in the coming weeks.

 

 

Curtis Banks Group (LON:CBP) 198p £107m

One of the UK's leading SIPP providers, announced FYDec19 results.

Operating Revenue increased by 6% to £48.9m

Adjusted PBT increased by 11% to £13.4m 

Adjusted Operating Margin increased to 28.1% 

Gross organic growth in own SIPP numbers of 7% (2018: 9%) with total including third party administered now 76,541 (2018: 77,730) 

Assets under Administration increased by 17.3% to £29.1bn (2018: £24.8bn). Proposed final dividend of 6.50p making a full year payment of 9.00p an increase of 12.5%

"2020 began well with an improvement in the wider market, but the current COVID-19 outbreak has created uncertainty as to the outlook for the remainder of the financial year. It is clear that there will be a level of impact over the coming months, including operational disruption, but we have contingency plans in place for the business and the health of our employees and clients are our main priority." 

 

Empresaria Group (LON:EMR) 34.5p £16.9m

 The global specialist staffing group, reports its final results for the year ended 31 December 2019.

Diversified business delivering growth in net fee income to £74.5m.

+3%, +2% in constant currency. 37% growth in Offshore Recruitment Services sector

Decline in profits reflecting a challenging economic environment in certain key markets. PBT down 69% to £2.9m.

Impact from engineering business and Brexit uncertainty in the UK, alongside the weakening of the German automotive sector

Strong growth in other markets

Offshore Recruitment Services adjusted operating profit up 88%

Proposed dividend of 2.2p per share, an increase of 10% in line with progressive dividend policy

“While we are cognisant of the ongoing economic and market headwinds, particularly the outbreak of coronavirus, we are confident that the positive changes we have made in 2019 and the further changes and investments planned in 2020 leave us well positioned for the longer term.”

 

Strix Group (LON:KETL) 131.4p £250m

Solid performance during 2019 including a 3.3% growth in revenue driven by maintaining market value share in the regulated and less regulated markets at c.73% and c.34%  respectively and growth in the Chinese domestic market at c.49%. Adjusted gross profit margin excluding the effect of HaloSource increased to 42.3%.Adjusted profit before tax increased by 9.9% to £32.1m (2018: £29.2m) and adjusted EBITDA increased 5.5% to £38.3m, excluding the newly acquired HaloSource business. Construction contract for the new factory within Zengcheng district, China, signed on the 2 September 2019 for £13.9m. On target to be fully operational by Aug 21 & remains on budget at the previously guided £20m. The Group's manufacturing operations in China have recovered with a c.100% production capacity and operational supply chain which is sufficient to meet customer demand. The Group will continue to focus on a prudent allocation of capital and be vigilant about the broader implications of COVID-19 which will include daily monitoring of consumer and brand demand. As a result, the Group is working on several strategic initiatives, including new products and efficiency measures, to minimise the impact to full year forecasts."

 

Tribal Group (LON:TRB) 41p £83.2m

 FY Dec 19 results from the  provider of software and services to the international education management market .

· Adjusted Operating Profit (EBITDA) up 9% to £15.4m (2018: £14.1m), Adjusted Operating Profit after depreciation (EBITA) up 8% to £11.7m (2018:  £10.8m)

· Overall revenue down 2% at £78.2m (2018: £80.1m); SIS revenue increased 3%, Education Services fall mainly timing

Statutory Profit After Tax up 48% to £6.1m (2018: £4.1m) before inclusion of one-off platform dispute resolution costs of £9.1m, inclusion results in a final Statutory Loss After Tax of £3.0m

Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) increased by 7% to £42.3m (2018: £39.5m) representing 54% of revenue, 69% of software-related revenue

Net cash at end of year of £16.5m (2018: £20.0m). Progressive annual dividend payment with the Board recommending a 9% increase to 1.2p per share (2018: 1.1p);

“We do expect there to be a significant financial impact on the Group in the current year however at this time, due to the constantly changing situation globally we are currently unable to quantify, with any degree of certainty the impact on the Group.  We are monitoring the situation daily and will advise the market accordingly. We do though, remain positive about the medium and longer-term prospects for the Group.”

 

 

 

Boku  (LON:BOKU) 52.5p £134m

Multi-country launch of Direct Carrier Billing (DCB) and eWallet payment services for Pearl Abyss Corp, the Korean game developer, best known for the open-world MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-playing game) Black Desert.

 

The launch countries include Russia, Turkey, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore and alongside carrier billing will also include local eWallet payment services such as RabbitLinePay, GrabPay GCash, GoPay and OVO.

 

Synairgen (LON:SNG) 28p £30.6m

The respiratory drug discovery and development company, today announces that it has received expedited approvals from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and Health Research Authority (HRA) to conduct a trial of SNG001 (inhaled formulation of interferon-beta-1a) in COVID-19 patients to potentially assist with the global outbreak of the virus.   

 

 

 

 

Ariana Resources updates resource and reserve; realises long-term strategy

Joining Jonathan Jackson in the Proactive studio is Ariana Resources PLC (AIM:AAU) managing director Kerim Sener, who sits down to discuss the latest resource and reserve update for the Zenit Mining Operations in Western Türkiye. The update encompasses the Kiziltepe and Tavsan sectors, operated...

5 hours, 13 minutes ago