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14 Sep 20

Interims highlight robust underlying performance

Whilst headline H1 revenue growth of 23% is eye-catching, for us the most comforting factor is the robust performance of the underlying business in the most challenging of circumstances. Sales of the Primestore MTM sample collection device contributed £6.5m, meaning the core business was -8% in the period, well ahead of internal expectations. Highlights include strong performances from BhB, DiaSpect Tm and the Clinical Chemistry portfolio, all of which grew revenues in the period. Whilst there were challenges in certain geographies, this is a very creditable performance and testament to the strength and defensiveness of the core business. We make no further change to our forecasts at this stage, having upgraded regularly in recent months. Given we have only included firm orders for Primestore up until the end of this month, we remain confident further upgrades are likely for the rest of this year and into next. In the meantime, latent growth potential in the core business is building with, inter alia, Chinese approval of Quo-Test, strong momentum with DiaSpect Tm, the Trellus health investment and a variety of contract manufacturing orders in the Central Lab/Life Sciences segment adding to the medium term growth outlook. Given the continuing scope for upgrades, we continue to see upside potential in the shares – EKF remains one of our Best Ideas for 2020 (up 66% YTD).

Companies: EKF Diagnostics Holdings Plc

11 Sep 20

Games Workshop Group - Exceptional start to FY21

Games Workshop’s (GAW) Q121 trading update was well ahead of expectations, indicating that the previously flagged strong post-lockdown demand has continued, helped by a major product re-release in the period. We upgrade our FY21e PBT forecast by 37% to £115.9m, reflecting higher revenue growth, c 12% versus 2% previously, and a higher operating margin pre-royalties of c 35% versus 27% previously. On our new forecasts the P/E for FY21 is 35.2x. The EV/sales multiple of 10.6x is a premium to GAW’s previous highest multiple.

Companies: Games Workshop Group Plc

14 Sep 20

Cenkos: Seeing Machines Ltd - DMS kit on Qualcomm platform

Seeing Machines has announced plans to deliver a fully supported, integrated Driver Monitoring System (DMS) kit to the global automotive industry. This will be in the form of embedded software (e-DMS) for the Qualcomm® SnapdragonTM Automotive Development Platform (ADP) from Qualcomm Technologies. The kit is expected to be available before the end of this calendar year for use by select automotive Tier 1 suppliers and OEMs and will support a full stack Seeing Machines DMS solution on the Snapdragon™ ADP targeting integration into either infotainment or centralized ADAS systems, and includes an optimized DMS reference camera, ADP interface board and the company's FOVIO and Occula software.

Companies: Seeing Machines Ltd.

17 Sep 20

Cenkos: Duke Royalty Ltd - Improving trading – increasing cash receipts

FY20A results largely reflect a period prior to the Covid-19 lockdown, yet show Duke entering a more challenging FY21E with momentum. Yesterday's trading update demonstrated another notable rise in quarterly cash receipts for Q2/21, as royalty partner trading continues to improve. As some partners' forbearance measures will expire this month, Q3/21 receipts should continue this upwardly momentum. This opens the door to a return to cash dividends at some future point. Today, Duke also confirms it is now seeking new royalty partners, alongside follow-ons.

Companies: Duke Royalty

14 Sep 20

Major contract win

Surface Transforms has announced a major contract win with a manufacturer of EVs. Lifetime revenue is estimated to be £27.5m. Our 2021e revenue forecast is lifted by c.80% and 2022e by c.120%. The improved OEM order book brings better visibility and stability to revenues. To fulfil the order, significant investments will be made in headcount, but the Group should now report a net profit in 2021e against our previous forecast for a loss. Additional working capital and capex are also required but the cash position should improve materially in time. The award demonstrates the performance, weight and environmental benefits of carbon ceramic discs when fitted to EVs. More orders from this customer and others should flow. We showed in our recent initiation note, Release the brakes, 19 August 2020, that the market opportunity for carbon ceramic discs is large, irrespective of whether for ICEs, EVs or hybrids. The Group is on-track to becoming a volume supplier to the industry. With increased estimates our valuation is lifted to 45p from 40p.

Companies: Surface Transforms Plc

15 Sep 20

EUS growth drives record revenue and profit

The Interims are as flagged in the July update; global lockdowns helped End User Spend (EUS) over the platform rise by 59% YoY to £743m. Encouragingly, the H1 revenue growth closely matched that rise; increasing 50% YoY, to a record £4.8m. With operational gearing in the platform, group profitability continues to rise rapidly as revenue grows; H1 adj. EBITDA of £1.1m, more than double the whole of FY 2019 earnings. The major deals delayed in FY 2019 also arrived in H1, for Platform and Bango Marketplace; notably, the purchase of a controlling stake in Audiens by Korean tech giant, NHN, assisting management focus while retaining a 40% stake in a business set to be boosted by funding and IP from its new parent. Operating activities were cash positive and capex was more than covered by an NHN investment, lifting net cash to £4.2m. This is an exciting year, with deals signed in H1 expected to help EUS reach £2bn in 2020 and leaving BGO on track to meet our FY forecasts of strong revenue growth and material profitability.

Companies: Bango Plc

16 Sep 20

Interims show strong performance in core business

RBG Holdings had H1 revenues of £12.0m, up 17% against H1’19, of which £11.7m came from the Group’s law firm, RBL. On a LfL basis (excl. £2m of discretionary gains from litigation assets in H1’19), Group revenues were up c.46% YoY. EBITDA of £2.6m offers still-compelling margins of 22%. Transaction delays in Convex and a period of investment in LionFish held back ST performance for these higher margin divisions, yet pipelines remain healthy for Convex. Management is bullish on its ability in H2 to divest litigation assets in order to fund new investment, and in line with strategy. Continued uncertainty over timings around Convex transactions completing, and COVID headwinds, means we keep forecasts withdrawn, however suggest an intrinsic value of 90p is comfortably achievable for the shares.

Companies: RBG Holdings Plc

11 Sep 20

Hurricane Energy - Technical review update; H1 2020 results

Technical review update; H1 2020 results

Companies: Hurricane Energy Plc

18 Sep 20

Cenkos: Trinity Exploration Production P

Trinity has announced a strong set of interim results during a highly volatile period, with production increasing by 9% year-on-year to 3,282bopd (H1/19 3,007bopd). Operating break-even's post hedging in H1/20 reduced to US$22.3/bbl, a 15% year-on-year reduction and a 65% reduction since 2014. Similarly, a relentless drive to improve efficiencies and reduce costs has seen G&A and opex fall by 67% and 65% respectively since 2014. Despite the dramatic fall in oil prices, Trinity's strong production performance combined with its receipt of VAT receivables via a VAT Bond sale and the drawdown of a small working capital facility facilitated cash balances increasing by 43% to US$19.7m from YE2019. Trinity is well positioned to grow both organically and inorganically, with Trinity signing MoU's and submitting EOI's (in consortium with Cairn Energy Plc) to pursue new opportunities of scale. We set our price target a 31p/share, a 248% premium to the current share price and reiterate our BUY recommendation.

Companies: Trinity Exploration & Production Plc

15 Sep 20

Strong H1 confirmed; strong cash conversion

Kape’s interims saw Group revenues rise +97% y/y to $59.0m (organic: +12%), driven by a 245% increase in Digital Privacy sales (+47% organic). Organic growth was stronger than anticipated in Digital Privacy, above N1Se estimates of 30%-40% as a function of strong end-user demand. CyberGhost (VPN) and Intego (end-point protection) subscriber bases grew +10% and +11% h/h respectively. The main takeaway is Kape’s inflection to positive FCF ($6.7m; H1’19: -$1.8m) alongside increased cash investment into customer acquisition (+60% y/y to $29m). We see meaningful cash flow margins (>25%) being delivered in the next 1-2 years, with £31m of FCF forecast for FY’21E generating a 6.3% FCF yield (peers offer 3.5%-4%). Putting Kape on a 4% FCF yield implies an intrinsic value of >£3/share.

Companies: Kape Technologies Plc

18 Sep 20

Growing long-term subscription revenues

Crimson Tide has reported a strong set of H1 results evidencing very strong sales momentum backed by long-term contracts and cash flow. H1 sales grew by 40% and EPS by 154%. Net cash has improved to £0.8m at June 2020 from nil at December 2019. The strategic focus on transportation and supermarkets is working well, partnerships are improving routes to market, and there is growing traction from investments in innovation. We have left our forecasts unchanged for now, but recognise positive pressure and have upgraded our target price from 3.1p to 4.3p. We reiterate our view that Crimson Tide’s valuation will be dictated by its ability to convert the significant opportunity rather than short-term metrics. H1 results show the group is nicely on track to do exactly that.

Companies: Crimson Tide Plc

14 Sep 20

Allenby Capital TMT Update - 14.09.20 - CPX.L, GFIN.L, NWT.L, MWE.L

CAP-XX Ltd* (CPX.L, 4.5p/£19.9m) | Gfinity plc* (GFIN.L, 3.8p/£28.9m) | MTI Wireless Edge Ltd* (MWE.L, 44p/£38.7m) | Newmark Security plc* (NWT.L, 1.175p/£5.5m)

Companies: CPX GFIN MWE NWT

15 Sep 20

Consistent progress, relentless focus 2.4m subscriber base underscores growth potential

Kape has enjoyed a good first half of 2020 both in terms of operational progress and financial performance. Revenues increased 97% to $59.0 million (H1 2019: $29.9 million), a 12% increase on a pro-forma basis. The interim results reflect the Group’s continuing success in integrating its Private Internet Access (PIA) acquisition while growing subscriber numbers – now just shy of 2.4m in total - across the businesses. The focus on customer lifetime value is evident in the marketing spend and investment in new product development. Kape remains on track to meet previous guidance for the full year and expects to deliver synergies from the PIA deal at the top end of the mooted range. We believe that the Group has good revenue visibility and it continues to maintain a high level of user retention at 80%. We make no changes to estimates other than to reflect a higher amortisation charge. In our view, the interim results show that Kape continues to display the drive and capacity to meet the growing needs of consumers for digital privacy and security products in a rapidly evolving marketplace.

Companies: Kape Technologies Plc

14 Sep 20

Codewise: Smart with traffic

CentralNic has agreed to acquire Codewise, which consists of Zeropark, a monetisation business similar to Team Internet, and Voluum, a complementary online marketing SaaS provider. CentralNic is consolidating and market at attractive valuations, delivering synergies and improving target company operations. Overview: Zeropark operates a marketplace for domain name investors seeking monetisation and marketers seeking traffic. Voluum provides a SaaS marketing platform that helps SMBs track and analyse traffic sources, campaigns and performance data to optimise advertising campaigns. Codewise generated revenue of $60.3m and Adjusted EBITDA of $7.4m in the LTM ended June 2020.

Companies: CentralNic Group Plc

15 Sep 20

Reassuring trading update

Avingtrans has issued a brief trading update and confirmed that the Group’s preliminary results to 31st May 2020 will be published on 30th September. The trading update is reassuring, highlighting a Q1FY2021E order in-take in-line with management expectations. The statement also highlights two further contract wins in the nuclear sector for US$2.8m in South Korea to provide spare parts for essential water service pumps and a £1.5m UK contract for replacement valves. The previous update in early July has already confirmed that the Group expects to report revenue of £114m, EBITDA of at least £11.5m and net debt (excluding IFRS16 lease liabilities) of £7.5m, which is incorporated into our FY2020E forecasts. It would seem likely that the Group will wish to re-instate forward guidance at the time of the results and to this end we would expect management to indicate a year of solid progress in EBITDA for FY2021E. Over the first quarter the Group has demonstrated good resilience, operating at close to normal levels, with the exception of Oil & Gas (where there is fairly limited exposure) and HVAC activities at Ormandy, supported by exposure to multiple markets and a strong customer base that includes governments and their agents.

Companies: Avingtrans Plc

18 Sep 20

Next Fifteen at the Proactive One2One Virtual Conference

18 Sep 20

Bango PLC at the Proactive One2One Virtual Conference

18 Sep 20

Airnow at the Proactive One2One Virtual Conference

18 Sep 20

Seeing Machines at the Proactive One2One Virtual Conference

18 Sep 20

Cornwall Lithium 'could be witnessing beginning of new major industry in UK,' says Alastair Ford

18 Sep 20

Cornish Lithium 'could be witnessing beginning of new major industry in UK'

18 Sep 20

Market report: FTSE fragile Friday despite UK shoppers continuing to splurge on DIY

18 Sep 20

Shanta Gold 'one of the best looking junior gold companies in London', says Alastair Ford

18 Sep 20

SP Angel . Morning View

Cornish Lithium (private) – Results of preliminary sampling of deep geothermal waters | Empire Metals* (EEE LN) – 2.7p, Mkt cap £6.7m – Soil sampling starts at Eclipse gold project | Eurasia Mining* (EUA LN) 19.8p, Mkt Cap £545m – Board and management changes | Gemfields (GEM LN) 5.75p, Mkt Cap £67.3m – Interim results show damaging impact of Covid19 | Highland Gold (HGM LN) 298p, Mkt Cap £1,086m – FAS approves the proposed acquisition by Fortiana | Renascor Resources (RNU AU) A$0.01p, Mkt Cap A$16m –AU$3.6m to be raised to advance graphite and gold projects | Vast Resources* (VAST LN) 0.17p, Mkt Cap £21m – Baita Plai update

Companies: EEE EUA HGM RNU VAST

18 Sep 20

Deutsche Grundstücksauktionen - Group results remain resilient

In H120, Deutsche Grundstücksauktionen (DGA) reported a more than 51% y-o-y improvement in revenue from auction sales to €2.9m on a standalone basis. However, this increase was largely offset by the muted performance of its subsidiaries, with total group commission income up c 2% y-o-y to €5.8m. With a high volume of new admissions for Q320, amounting to €36.1m, the company expects the next quarter to be solid. Nevertheless, due to pandemic-driven market uncertainties, management is not providing FY20 guidance.

Companies: Deutsche Grundstücksauktionen AG

18 Sep 20

KRM22's Keith Todd highlights 'good half year' as revenue climbs 31% to £2.3mln

18 Sep 20

Trackwise Designs - First series production order for IHT

Trackwise Designs has signed a three-year product manufacture and supply agreement with a UK electric vehicle OEM. The agreement is potentially worth up to £38m in total, subject to pricing revisions, and will generate up to £5.0m in revenues in FY21. This will be the first full series production of flexible circuits incorporating Trackwise’s Improved Harness Technology (IHT). The agreement represents a step change in sales as total revenues for H120 were £2.4m, of which IHT was only £0.3m.

Companies: Trackwise Designs Plc

18 Sep 20

Blue Cap - Weathering the storm relatively well

Blue Cap has performed relatively well during the coronavirus pandemic. Reported revenues rose 8% in H120 while organic decline was limited to 12%, despite exposure to the industry sector including automotive. For FY20, Blue Cap expects a slight decline in revenues (also due to portfolio changes) and a significant decline in adjusted EBIT. Despite positive and negative swings in the NAV of the individual holdings, Blue Cap’s overall NAV remained broadly unchanged at €138.5m at H120. The current share price reflects a large discount of 46% to the NAV per share of €34.68.

Companies: Blue Cap

18 Sep 20

Shield Therapeutics - US partner next major inflection point

Shield Therapeutics’ (STX’s) interim results highlight the progress made year to date. Re-analysis of the Feraccru/Accrufer AEGIS-H2H data show it is a credible alternative to IV iron therapy for iron deficiency anaemia (IDA) in the long term. With the product out-licensed in China to partner ASK Pharm, all eyes remain on the announcement of a US commercial partner (expected this year). Royalties received from H120 sales of the product (UK and Germany) by partner Norgine are slowly building, but pricing and reimbursement discussions resuming in Europe could lead to ongoing rollouts in key countries (France, Spain and Italy) in 2021. STX’s cash runway extends into Q121, an upfront licensing payment from a US deal would ameliorate the need for further capital. We value Shield at £379.1m.

Companies: Shield Therapeutics Plc

18 Sep 20

Retail remains robust

Ocado’s strong show in the retail business (+52% yoy) is likely to normalise in the coming quarters but the company is well placed to gain retail market share in the UK. The on-boarding of M&S has also been smooth to date and we expect the company to clock healthy sales growth in FY21 as the capacity constraints are likely to be eased. Despite being a healthy business, we continue to see Ocado as an overvalued business.

Companies: Ocado Group Plc