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James Cropper jumps after upbeat outlook

Last updated: 15:37 21 Jun 2022 BST, First published: 09:00 21 Jun 2022 BST

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Paper and advanced materials business James Cropper plc (AIM:CRPR) is in demand after a positive full year performance.

Revenues rose by 33% to £104.9mln with pretax profit up by 62% to £2.8mln, helped by a record performance from its technical fibre products division.

Chairman Mark Cropper said: "The challenges have continued with the tail end of the pandemic, not so long ago joined by the onset of the Ukraine war. Both have led to dramatic rises in input costs, in particular in relation to energy

"I am pleased to report the group has responded with mitigating actions at every step and as a result our revenues are back to pre-pandemic levels, profits have risen and demand remains high across all divisions...

"Looking forward the outlook remains positive across the group."

The results have helped push its shares 7.82% higher to 1040.5p.

2.57pm: IntegraFin falls on continuing VAT spat

A spat with the VAT man has seen shares in IntegraFin Holdings PLC (LSE:IHP) lose a chunk of their value.

HMRC had previously decided that the firm's subsidiary Integrated Application Development Pty Ltd would see its membership of a UK VAT group terminated with effect from 4 July 2016.

After a review the Revenue has upheld its original decision, meaning the subsidiary's services would be subject to reverse-charge VAT.

So from 2016 to 2021, it would owe £7.9mln in VAT and for this year, another £1.9mln. There would then be a potential ongoing annual VAT charge.

The company said it continued to contest the HMRC findings, adding it now intended "to require a review by an HMRC officer not previously involved with the matter."

Its shares have fallen 4.16% to 234.8p.

12.34pm: Van Elle on the move after Transpennine rail contract

Perhaps not the best day to be talking about being involved with the railways, but engineering group Van Elle Holdings PLC (AIM:VANL) has not been put off.

The contractor has announced it has been awarded to the piling framework for the West of Leeds section of the Transpennine Route Upgrade programme.

Chief executive Mark Cutler said: "We are very excited to be supporting the TRU West upgrade, which represents a complex array of projects that suit our breadth of expertise in the rail sector, while working in a collaborative environment which allows us to provide early engineering advice and cost effective solutions for this transformative infrastructure programme."

Van Elle shares have accelerated 4.42% to 40.2p.

11.18am: Morses Club slumps by a fifth after increased complaints set to hit results

Consumer credit firm Morses Club PLC (AIM:MCL) has seen its shares tumble after a warning on trading after increased complaints.

The company said its home collected credit division had seen a recent rise in complaints submitted by claims management companies.

It said: "Claim volumes are now back at the levels previously reported in February, and it is anticipated that if these levels of claims are sustained, the cost of these complaints could adversely impact the company's trading performance in the first half of the current financial year ending 25 February 2023."

Its shares are down 20.19% at 8.3p.

10.41am: Oxford BioDynamics makes flagship blood test available in the UK

The flagship clinical blood test product from Oxford BioDynamics PLC (AIM:OBD) is now available to private physicians in the UK after its launch in the US earlier this year.

The biotechnology company said its Checkpoint inhibitor Response Test predicts the likelihood of a cancer patient's response to a widely used class of therapeutics - immune checkpoint inhibitors.

The company said ICIs - which are some of the most highly priced medicines in the world - are estimated to be ineffective for up to 70% of patients treated. The bestselling ICI in the UK has a list price of £84,000 per patient course for the drug alone.

It said the UK's NHS and private healthcare systems could save significant amounts, estimated to be close to £1bn, by avoiding or reducing the administration rate of ineffective treatments, through straightforward personalised testing. Savings for the US healthcare system could amount to more than $10bn .

The company's chief executive Jon Burrows said: "We have already seen in the US that a simple blood test, such as the CiRT, that can predict the patient response to ICIs, could quickly become an essential tool for clinicians. We are proud to make this now available to UK patients, as well. While initially this is only available to private healthcare providers, we aim to widen availability through the NHS, as well."

Its shares are uup 8% at 17.55p.

9.52am: Pelatro lifted by telecoms tie-up

Pelatro PLC (AIM:PTRO) has been lifted by a tie-up with a large global telecoms company.

The software specialist said it had been selected to provide a proof of concept for its mViva campaign management solution.

It said the proof of concept was expected to be in place for about six months, adding: " Whilst there can be no certainty that the company will be successful with this POC, it has historically been a successful approach for new contract wins for Pelatro with other similar telco groups."

If successful, mViva is expected to be rolled out to all the firm's operating companies which would lead to revenues of around US$4mln a year from 2023.

Managing director Subash Menon said, "This is a transformative step for us. Pelatro has been focusing on recurring revenue for the past couple of years and this win could materially change the current annual recurring revenue run rate. Further, it would add a marquee customer to our impressive list."

Pelatro shares have put on 4.64% to 28.52p.

9am: Midatech Pharma boosted by European news on key product

Midatech Pharma PLC (AIM:MTPH) is in demand after a positive European approval for a key product.

The biotechnology company said that the European Medicines Agency had granted orphan medicinal product designation for its development programme of MTX110 for the treatment of glioma

Midatech has been developing MTX110 for the treatment of recurrent glioblastoma ("rGBM") in adult patients and diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma ("DIPG") and medulloblastoma in paediatric patients.

The EMA designation is intended to offer a range of incentives that facilitate development of the medicine, such as protocol development assistance, reduction in fees and market exclusivity upon successful approval of the drug.

Midatech's Dmitry Zamoryakhin said: "Both rGBM and DIPG are devastating and incurable cancers marked by short survival rates and universal recurrence. Receiving Orphan designation for MTX110 is an important milestone for the development of the drug, as it demonstrates the need for novel and effective treatment options for these fatal diseases and highlights a potential benefit that the development of MTX110 might bring to patients."

Midatech is up 17.14% at 10.25p.

Elsewhere K3 Capital Group PLC (AIM:K3C) is climbing after the group, a specialist advisor to small and medium sized businesses, said full year results would be comfortably ahead of market expectaations.

It said revenues would rise around 43% to £67.5mln, with adjusted earnings up 24% to £19.5mln.

The market has pencilled in £63.5mln of revenue and £18.2mln of earnings.

Chief executive John Rigby said: "This financial year has seen the group further deliver on its strategy to grow both organically, through selective complementary acquisitions and also through launching new service lines that can be leveraged across our SME client base...

"We anticipate another year of growth across all divisions, supplemented with an attractive pipeline of M&A opportunities." 

Its shares have jumped 10.64% to 260p.

 

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