Most popular equity research this week | 13-17 March

In the news

Article 50 is likely to be invoked later this month after being voted through parliament and having royal formalities signed off. Could Scottish independence be on the horizon, too? Perhaps not just yet, as Theresa May and the Tories seem to have parried that blow for now.

In the markets

• The FTSE 100 hit new highs, again, smashing past the 7,400 barrier
• Former Barclays' boss Bob Diamond is taking Research Tree provider Panmure Gordon private!
• Government has not planned for not having a Brexit-EU trade deal
• Kristin Forbes of the Monetary Policy Committee voted to raise interest rates, but the rest of the MPC voted against
• Toyota is reportedly going to invest £240m in UK operations
• Homes in the UK on average now cost more than seven times income...

New Product Development Enhances the Mix

Fevertree Drinks (FEVR) | Whitman Howard, 17 March

"Fever Tree’s (FEVR LN, HOLD, T/P 1250p) announces preliminary 2016 results on Tuesday 21st March. We forecast revenue to increase 72.6% to £102.2m in line with the 24th January trading update, and adjusted diluted EPS to continue its positive momentum to 25.2p (23.7p FY2015). Current consensus appears to be 24.0p (Source: Bloomberg)..."

Solid FY2016 Results
Onesavings Bank (OSB) | Panmure Gordon, 16 March

"OneSavings bank’s FY2016 underlying PBT of £137.0m (up 29% YoY) is 6% ahead of consensus (and 5% ahead of our forecast of £135.1m) with good underlying trends across the board. Customer loans grew by 16% YoY to £5.9bn, with NIM at 3.14% being better than PG forecast of 3.1%. Loan origination was up 28% to £2.3bn, with both BTL and Residential mortgage volumes remaining..."

H1 results show steady operational progress

Seeing Machines (SEE) | finnCap, 16 March

"The Interims reflect the six months prior to the £16.4m funding received post period-end. However, they do update us on steady progress made in the various key areas at this stage of the venture; Fleet, Mining, and OEM Automotive, as well as the earlier-stage Rail and Aerospace. The strategy remains for Fleet and Mining (royalties from CAT) to grow and deliver cash profit to fund the long..."

Strong growth, many opportunities

Burford Capital (BUR) | N+1 Singer, 14 March

"Burford has produced another set of strong results as the scale of the business continues to grow impressively. This performance continues a steady pattern of increasing unrealised gains, fuelled in part by the company’s initial steps in secondary market transactions. Today, Burford announced a further such deal involving the Petersen v Argentina case. As expected the Gerchen Keller acquisition has been integrated seamlessly and is already showing benefits of access to more diverse capital sources..."

Licensing revenue timing and recognition prompts top line forecast reduction

Ilika (IKA) | Zeus Capital, 17 March

"Ilika continues to make progress on the commercialisation of its Stereax™ solid-state battery platform, as well as the continued delivery of its materials discovery, development and optimisation expertise to blue-chip OEMs, with recent contract awards that include renewals and extensions from Seagate and Toyota. In our interim update on January 9th, we flagged how timing uncertainty..."

FY 2016 results show continuing momentum

Statpro Group (SOG) | Progressive Equity Research, 15 March

"StatPro’s FY 2016 revenues and costs were ahead of our expectations by 9% and 6% respectively reflecting more of a currency impact than we had allowed for. Net, though, Adjusted EBITDA was 2% ahead of our estimate. In a set of results which contain a number of adjustments, the underlying momentum has been maintained. The year saw the successful launch of Revolution’s Performance..."

Mobile Diagnostics going gangbusters

Blancco Technology Group (BLTG) | Equity Development, 14 March

"Ever watched the cult Terminator or Matrix movies – depicting life when robots and artificial intelligence run amok? Sounds too far-fetched, right? Well perhaps not, as we may actually be only a stone’s throw from where ‘science fiction becomes science fact’..."

Executing the growth strategy

Marshall Motor Holdings (MMH) | Edison, 15 March

"Following the acquisition of Ridgeway last May, Marshall Motor Holdings (MMH) is now the seventh largest car dealership group in the UK, having more than doubled turnover in the last 18 months. FY16 results confirmed strong underlying progress, and FY17 looks set to deliver another positive outcome, notwithstanding uncertainty over the strength of the UK market. The company..."

Potential acquisition of 24-7 and share placing

7Digital Group (7DIG) | Edison, 13 March

"FY16 results were in line and with £8m of contract wins during the year, 7digital looks on track to deliver its targeted FY17 EBITDA profitability. The proposed acquisition of its last significant competitor, 24-7, would add scale, synergy potential and cements its position as the leading provider of platform services to the rapidly evolving digital music industry..."