Coats Group PLC (LSE:COA) shares are looking anything but threadbare after it boosted profits last year and said it was set to beat expectations in 2022.
Revenues at the industrial threads firm rose 29% to US$1.504bn, while operating profits jumped 74% to US$179mln.
Chief executive Rajiv Sharma said: "2021 was a strong year for Coats with sales and cash exceeding 2019 levels and operating profit close to 2019 levels. Sales growth accelerated through the year, notably in the final quarter driven by demand recovery and good market share gains in threads.
"This was due to flexing our global supply chain, proactive inventory management, strong supplier relationships, strong local leadership and teamwork."
It now expects its 2022 performance to be ahead of its previous forecasts.
With a number of projects in place to improve efficiency and margins, it also hopes to achieve incremental operating profit of US$50mln by 2024.
It is also on the look out for suitable acquisitions.
Its shares have climbed 14.94% to 67.7p.
Analysts at RBC have raised their price target from 95p to 100p.
2.20pm: Petra Diamonds in demand after upgrade
Petra Diamonds Limited (LSE:PDL, OTC:PDLMF) is sparkling after a broker upgrade.
Its shares are up 5.71% at 111p after analysts at Berenberg raised their price target on the business from 85p to 116p.
The company said last week it had closed sales for around 80% of the volume of its fourth tender cycle for 2022. Some 589,168 carats were sold for a total of US$110.5mln, at an average price of US$188 per carat.
12.19pm: Shares in t42 IoT Tracking Solutions slide after increased losses and hints at fundraising
Shares in t42 IoT Tracking Solutions plc, formerly Starcom PLC (AIM:STAR), are heading off course after its losses more than doubled and it hinted it might need to raise funds.
The company, which provides real-time tracking, analysis, monitoring and security services for the global container and freight market, said full year revenues fell by 16% to US$4.2mln and losses jumped from US$370,00 to US$973,000.
Chief executive Avi Hartmann said: "2021 was a year of transition for t42 with a new strategy, a new defined target market of the global shipping container market and a new name and brand to reflect our ambition to provide a comprehensive and unique solution for our customers."
But with the continuing impact of COVID-19 and supply chain issues, an expected improvement in revenues did not happen until the end of the year.
Meanwhile the company plans to focus on tracking products for the container and freight sectors, where it believes it has first mover advantage.
Chairman Michael Rosenberg said: "In considering the best way forward to capitalize on this we are examining alternative forms of finance for that industry sector opportunity, since we believe that the future lies in our ability to control the data provided by our technology.
"This could involve providing a very low up-front cost for our products but with increased monthly charges for usage.
"Clearly this will involve the need to fund such a strategy if we decide to proceed. Our objective is to test the market appetite for such an approach over the next few months."
As a result of all this, the company's shares have fallen 19.18% to 14.75p.
11.33am: N Brown falls sharply after cost pressures hit earnings
Investors are abandoning N Brown Group PLC (AIM:BWNG) after the home shopping group issued another disappointing update.
In January it said adjusted underlying earnings would be towards the lower end of its guidance range at between £93mln and £96mln for the year to the end of February.
Now it has confirmed it would meet those targets, with product revenue from its strategic brands including Simply Be and Jacamo up by around 9% over the year and total active customers ahead by about 3% at 2.9mln.
But it said earnings for the current financial year ending 4 March 2023 would be similar to the level reported in 2021.
That level was £86.5mln so it is anticipating a sharp drop from the 2022 figure.
It blamed rising inflation and global supply chain issues, and well as increased investment.
It said: "Proactive actions taken by management largely mitigated the operational impact of the global supply chain challenges during full year 2022, although a net drag to margin was experienced due to higher freight rates.
"Freight rates had been expected to moderate but are now assumed to continue at an elevated level for 2023. Additionally, we expect the well-publicised inflationary headwinds to affect our wider cost base. Although management actions are planned across all areas to mitigate the effect of these pressures, we expect a net increase in the cost to sales ratio in 2023 inclusive of continuing our strategic investments in areas such as brand marketing."
Its shares have lost 18.43% to 29.37p.
10.22am: Chemring climbs after forecasting better than expected profits
For some reason defence companies seem to be in demand at the moment.
And Chemring Group (LSE:CHG) is no exception, especially after it has just said its full year results are expected to beat City forecasts.
The company, whose Countermeasures & Energetics and Sensors & Information divisions supply the aerospace, defence and security markets, after it said both sectors had performed well since the start of the financial year.
It said: "Due to recent positive order intake, including Roke's award of an £8mln contract to supply electronic warfare equipment to the Swedish Ministry of Defence which is expected to be partially delivered in 2022, the board now expects the financial results for the current year to be slightly ahead of the current consensus of analyst expectations."
At the moment, analysts have pencilled in full year adjusted operating profit in the range of £61mln to £63.3mln, with a consensus of £62.2mln.
It added: "The group continues to successfully manage the ongoing post-COVID-19 challenges with its supply chain, labour availability and other inflationary pressures. The group has worked to pass through costs and to generate additional operational efficiencies, and as such does not expect there to be any material short-term financial impacts."
Chemring has seen its shares climb 6.68% to 348.3p after the update.
9.15am: Dotdigital warns of slower than expected growth
Dotdigital Group PLC (AIM:DOTD) has dropped sharply as it warned full year revenue growth would be slower than previous expectations during the current and future financial years.
Half year results for the digital marketing group showed a 17% rise in adjusted profits to £8.9mln, but the second six months had seen a slowdown in SMS messaging business.
It is also seeing a lag in US growth due to hiring difficulties.
It said: "As a result of the above, the board anticipates revenue for the full year to show growth in the range of 7 - 8%, slightly below current expectations. Whilst our operating margin at the half year is higher than normal levels, we expect this to be in the region of 20 - 22% margin by the end of the year as we accelerate our investment in our teams due to wage inflation and strengthen our international operations."
The news has seen its shares slump 46.24% to 80.1p.
8.43am: Image Scan Holdings in demand after snapping up a new industrial customer
Shares in Image Scan Holdings PLC (AIM:IGE) are looking brighter after it revealed a new deal.
The X-ray imaging specialist has won a contract to supply an industrial scanning system to a new customer, a global manufacturer in the field of automotive catalytic converters and diesel particulate filters.
The company said there was the potential over the next few years for further orders.
Executive chairman Bill Mawer said: "As the global use of petrol and diesel engines flattens out, increasing our penetration of the market that remains will allow us to maintain the valuable contribution of our industrial sales and service business. To bring a new customer on under pandemic travel restrictions, without the benefit of face-to-face presentations or demonstrations, is a great achievement."
Image Scan shares have jumped 15.39% to 2.25p.
Meanwhile consumer finance business Morses Club PLC (AIM:MCL) saw its shares slump last month after it warned full year profits would be 20% to 30% below forecasts of £7.5mln due to an increase in claims.
The firm has recovered some ground today after a new update. It said it had been trading strongly, and with complaints continuing at the same levels, its guidance remained unchanged.
It is up 9.77% to 14.05p, although before the February warning the shares stood at 42p.