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07 Oct 19

LIBERUM: Ramsdens Holdings* - Positive trading update and an exceptional profit

Trading has been in line with the board's expectations, despite what is referred to as a challenging retail environment. The stores recently acquired from The Money Shop are said to be trading well, and acquisitions are still being appraised.

Companies: Ramsdens

07 Oct 19

Cenkos: Duke Royalty Ltd - Larger scale, more diversified and rising DPS!

Duke is raising £16.1-20.0m (gross) in new equity to enlarge and balance out its portfolio of royalty partners. The placing also unlocks new debt finance for investing, such that Duke could have 16+ royalty partners funded by £131-141m of invested capital, producing royalty income of c£17m+ pa. This income will be met with a stabilised cost base from FY20E, producing significant operating leverage, more material FCF and with it DPS increases for this top 5% yielding AIM stock

Companies: Duke Royalty

11 Oct 19

SAP founder/CEO steps down, Boeing partners with Porsche, Ford launches in-car VR

Bill McDermott stood down on Friday after a decade building up SAP as the world's leading enterprise software company, handing the task of completing its transition to cloud computing to new co-CEOs Jennifer Morgan and Christian Klein. SAP announced the management overhaul, with immediate effect, after rushing out third-quarter results that showed it gaining traction in its drive to offer a more streamlined range of services and boost profitability. The company’s stock has climbed 21% this year. It’s up 75% in the past five years, topping rival Oracle, which is up 46%, and the S&P 500′s 54% gain.

Companies: EVRH TRAK CPX CALL ECK IMMO LOOP NET SEE TCM TRCS QTX VRE

07 Oct 19

UK Housebuilding Sector in 3Q 2019: ‘And then there were 17’

Dame Agatha Christie (née Miller) published more than 80 books and plays; and the Guinness Book of World Records lists her as the best-selling novelist of all time with roughly two billion copies sold. ‘And then there were none’ was originally published in 1939, with an un-politically correct title; and it is still the world’s best-selling mystery (with more than 100 million sold). It is also number six on the list of best-selling books of all-time.

Companies: ABBY CSP WJG TW/ BWY PSN GLV BDEV RDW BKG BVS GFRD CRN GLE SPR

10 Oct 19

Strong earnings support transformation

Morses Club’s result for the six months to 31 August confirmed the group’s strong position to both build on its strength in the Home Collect Credit (HCC) market and ultimately benefit from the changes in customer behaviour by broadening the product range and acquiring further HCC loan books. The results showed strong progress in the digital offering, with close to 14% of HCC customers now signed up for the customer portal launched earlier this year, but also indicated that the level of investment needed to follow the changes in customer behaviour is significant, and will have a near-term negative impact on profitability. The level of investment needed in the industry is, however, also likely to result in more acquisition opportunities as other HCC lenders are unable to make the needed investment. We retain our 190p target price.

Companies: Morses Club

10 Oct 19

IQE - Optimising Asian operations

IQE has acquired the third-party shareholdings in its CSDC joint venture in Singapore for a nominal fee. This gives it control of the operation, which is currently loss making, enabling it to restructure the business and focus it on emerging sales opportunities in Asia for molecular beam epitaxy (MBE)-based products. Short term, the deal has a negative impact on earnings. We reduce our FY19 and FY20 EPS estimates by 8% and 5%, respectively.

Companies: IQE

10 Oct 19

XP Power - Q3 order intake encouraging

Despite a tough trading environment in Q3, XP Power saw improving order flow and a book-to-bill ratio of 1.04x for the quarter and management anticipates meeting its FY19 expectations. Helped by currency, our FY19 revenue forecast appears conservative but in the face of volatile trading conditions, we maintain our estimates.

Companies: XP Power

07 Oct 19

Treatt - Another good year despite citrus price deflation

Treatt has had another successful year: notwithstanding the decline in citrus prices, revenues were up 0.5%, or down 2% at constant currency. This demonstrates the transformation that has occurred at the company over the last few years, from a commodity trading house to a provider of value-added, technical flavour and fragrance solutions. While orange oil prices were down 50% and revenue from the citrus category was down 10%, Treatt’s broadened portfolio was able to withstand the decline by registering significant growth elsewhere, notably in tea, health & wellness and fruit & vegetables. Management’s outlook for FY20 is positive, despite citrus pricing continuing to have an adverse effect.

Companies: Treatt

11 Oct 19

Positive Trading Update

Dart Group has released a positive trading update indicating booking trends have continued to strengthen, boosted by later season bookings, and that the Board believes market expectations for FY20 PBT will be exceeded. There had been indications from other market players that demand had been strengthening in the later season and this announcement suggests Jet2 has been well positioned to capture the upside. Reiterate Buy.

Companies: Dart Group

11 Oct 19

Retail ready for a renaissance?

There have been few structural shifts in the property sector as profound as the one currently taking place in retail. Consumer spending patterns have drastically changed over the past five years, with online sales now accounting for 19.7% of all retail spend in the UK (August 2019, source: ONS), compared to 11.5% in August 2014. When you look at fashion retailing specifically, online sales accounted for 26.8% of consumer spend on clothing in 2018 (source: Mintel).

Companies: CAPC CAL HMSO INTU NRR SHB

09 Oct 19

Positive momentum: another £642m net inflow in Q2

Liontrust has seen another impressive quarter of net inflows, against an uncertain market backdrop of geo-political uncertainty. AuM grew by 4% with the majority of the £642m net inflow coming from the core UK Retail channel. The Neptune acquisition completed postperiod end, taking AuM to £17.4bn. We see upside as the Neptune fund range is marketed to Liontrust’s core clients. In our view, a 12x FY20e PER is undemanding for a resilient growth profile which sets it apart from peers.

Companies: Liontrust Asset Management

11 Oct 19

Retail ready for a renaissance?

Companies: CAPC CAL HMSO INTU NRR SHB

08 Oct 19

On the runway to recovery

Air partner is a leading international aviation services business. The Broking division (88% of gross profit) charters airliners for commercial, private and freight customers. The near term market backdrop is challenging but longer term prospects are positive, with passenger numbers set to double by 2037. Strength of relationships in the Broking business and a portfolio approach (no single product or market dominating) places Air Partner well to navigate short term challenges. Geographic diversification (recently opening offices in the US/Asia) offers potential for market share gains, whilst a plan to grow the Consulting & Training division (12% of gross profit) should smooth the earnings profile of the Group. We see significant recovery potential in Air Partner as the refreshed Board executes its strategy.

Companies: Air Partner

10 Oct 19

Cenkos: Falcon Oil & Gas Ltd - Drilling Commences

Yesterday, Falcon Oil & Gas announced the spudding of the Kyalla 117 N2-1 exploration well in the Beetaloo Sub-Basin, Australia. The Kyalla 117 N2-1 well is the first well in the Stage 2 drilling programme to evaluate the potential of the Kyalla shale liquids rich gas play, with Falcon and its partner, Origin Energy looking to build on the 6.6Tcf of gross 2C contingent resource already discovered within the Middle Velkerri B shale dry gas play during 2015/2016. Following the Stage 2 programme, the JV will look to achieve commercial production flow rates in the most prospective play(s) through the drilling and stimulation of two horizontal wells in 2020. With a largely carried work programme and a resource base far in excess of any of its peers we believe Falcon offers investors a low-risk, low cost entry point into an emerging world-class basin. We maintain our BUY recommendation and our 41p price target.

Companies: Falcon Oil & Gas

07 Oct 19

Cenkos: Angling Direct Plc - Continued Momentum

Angling continues to gain momentum in H1/20A as they report substantial growth in all areas of the business. This progress is testament to the continued growth capital invested in the business that has driven sales both in the UK and abroad. We believe Angling is on track to meet our full year forecasts as they continue to outperform the retail sector, leverage their competitive advantage and grow their geographic presence in the UK and Europe.

Companies: Angling Direct

14 Oct 19

Nina Amin joins Goldex as the platform looks to expand into India

14 Oct 19

H1: volatile crude prices impact results

While the renewables division pursues its development, the volatility in the oil markets has affected the oil & gas activities. H1 sales increased by 3% year on year, with management mentioning a wait-and-see stance from oil & gas operators. H2 looks more positive though, with Dietswell carrying out rig inspection work contracts awarded in H1.

Companies: Dietswell

14 Oct 19

A world leader in biodegradable plastic technology

The biodegradable industry is rapidly growing as the world looks urgently for viable solutions to deal with the enormous problem of plastic pollution. The current commercial options mainly consist of two product types. The first is Symphony’s d2w additive technology which is a market leader as a result of its low cost, and non-disruptive upgrade to normal plastic production. d2w makes ordinary plastics biodegradable by a process of oxidation in the open environment and then eventual biodegradation on land or in oceans. The other category is compostable plastics which are designed for moist compost conditions and collection systems. This product type is disruptive as a complete change of product processing is required and they can be up to three times more expensive than an ordinary plastic treated with d2w. Unlike d2w treated plastics, they are not recyclable with normal plastics and require significant land use for crop production. Compostable plastics require moisture to start the break-up process which will then lead to biodegradation if sufficient active microbes are available. The end point for both product types is the same, leaving only CO2, H2O and Biomass.

Companies: Symphony Environmental Technologies

14 Oct 19

Oil & Gas Daily Flow

Energean Oil & Gas (ENOG) – Disposal of Edison E&P North Sea Assets for up to US$280m | IGas Energy (IGas): IGas enters the execution phase at the Welton waterflood | Zenith Energy (ZEN): Production led growth strategy continues

Companies: ENOG IGAS ZEN

14 Oct 19

Blue Star Capital shifts focus to eSports as it invests in six new businesses

14 Oct 19

Investor Update: Iofina PLC on track to deliver record annual iodine output

14 Oct 19

Mastercard & Visa abandon Libra, Uber acquires grocery delivery business, Softbank reassess Vision Fund 2

Facebook Inc's ambitious efforts to establish a global digital currency called Libra suffered severe setbacks on Friday, as major payment companies including Mastercard and Visa Inc quit the group behind the project. The latest exodus leaves the Libra Association without any remaining major payments companies as members, meaning it can no longer count on a global player to help consumers turn their currency into Libra and facilitate transactions. Uber is buying a majority ownership stake of Cornershop, an online grocery delivery business serving Latin America in the latest step to diversify its revenue stream. The deal is expected to close in early 2020, according to a press release, with the current leadership at Cornershop continuing to lead the business and reporting to a board with majority Uber representation. Cornershop currently operates in Chile, Mexico, Peru and Toronto, according to the release. SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son is considering changing his Vision Fund investment strategy to concentrate on companies with clearer pathways to profitability and public offerings, according to people familiar with the matter. Son plans to slow the pace of investment for Vision Fund 2 compared with his first $100 billion Vision Fund, which has deployed about $80 billion in less than three years.

Companies: TRAK ARB CPX MMX QTX SEE TECH TEK TCM TRCS TRCS

14 Oct 19

Town Centre Securities - Accelerating portfolio repositioning

Against a challenging retail sector environment and ongoing economic uncertainty, Town Centre Securities (TCS) delivered a robust underlying performance in FY19 while continuing to re-position its portfolio for the long term. Earnings and NAV were lower than in FY18 but the fully covered DPS was maintained, now held or improved in each of the last 59 years. Already below 50%, TCS plans to reduce retail and leisure exposure further and continue to recycle capital into more attractive opportunities, including the group’s significant pipeline of development opportunities.

Companies: Town Centre Securities

14 Oct 19

VSA Morning Miner

Bacanora Lithium (BCN LN) has announced the receipt of final approval from the Chinese authorities with regard to the strategic investment and partnership with Ganfeng Lithium. The company has also announced that it has now received the £21.96mn in initial funding from Ganfeng which gives the lithium major a 29.99% interest in BCN along with a 22.5% interest at the project level. Whilst we viewed the initial announcement of the planned investment in June as a highly positive event and expected that the transaction would go through, today's announcement is a major milestone for the company nonetheless and represents a significant step towards derisking the final project and the construction financing.

Companies: Bacanora Lithium

14 Oct 19

Fund manager interview: Alasdair McKinnon, The Scottish Investment Trust

14 Oct 19

discoverIE Group - D&M driving good organic growth

In an uncertain trading environment, discoverIE generated 5% organic year-on-year revenue growth in H120 and 6% organic growth in Q220. The Design & Manufacturing (D&M) business is the key driver of revenue growth, resulting in 12% organic growth in Q220. Management believes the company is on track to meet its underlying earnings expectations for FY20; we maintain our forecasts.

Companies: Discoverie Group

14 Oct 19

Turkey has been the holiday destination in 2019

Passenger growth has continued moderating in Frankfurt, primarily on domestic destinations. In addition, Fraport’s other full-consolidated airports in both Greece and Brazil experienced falls while Lima did well in September. On the other hand, Antalya achieved very strong volume growth indeed.

Companies: Fraport AG Frankfurt Arprt Svcs Wrldwde

14 Oct 19

Faurecia to buy Continental out of the SAS joint-venture

SAS is a 50/50 joint-venture between the two companies that produces full cockpit modules and both supply it with various components. The cockpit modules then go directly to the production lines of the car producers.

Companies: Faurecia

14 Oct 19

GMP FirstEnergy ― UK Energy morning research package

Santos (STO AU) to buy ConocoPhillips’ (COP US) northern Australia interests | Energean Oil & Gas (ENOG LN) (not covered): Disposal of Edison E&P North Sea assets

Companies: STO ENOG COP

14 Oct 19

Continued strategic progress

1Spatial’s interim results highlight the continuing progress the group is making with its refocussed strategy. The group has narrowed its focus to the core sectors of Government, Utilities and Transport and is transitioning to a term licencing model, significantly improving revenue quality and visibility. Group revenue and adj. EBITDA in the period of £10.9m and £1.7m respectively leave the group well placed to meet our full year expectations. The outlook is positive with a strong pipeline and significant order backlog and we continue to see significant additional opportunities for profitable growth on the horizon.

Companies: 1Spatial