Ampere’s CMD: a wink to its stakeholders, history and the competition

Ampere’s CMD was the opportunity for Renault to reassure investors on its near-term EV game plan. Ampere expects a FCF breakeven in 2 years with 300k units and an implied revenue per car of €33k. The BEV-ICE price parity was also on the menu but expected by 2027-28 as costs are slashed by 40%. Renault presented its interpretation of the “<€20k BEV”, thus joining Stellantis in frontrunning Tesla in the people’s car segment. The IPO window for Ampere was maintained.

Q3 23: destocking dealerships, holding targets and IPO talks

Renault’s Q3 23 results (only revenues) slightly missed consensus expectations on the back of a weaker-than-expected volume effect, stemming from a voluntary destocking at dealerships, despite a pricing effect beating expectations. However, we expect limited changes to the FY23 consensus as Renault confirmed its guidance with profitability seen at the upper end of the range. We confirm our positive rating, believing that this miss on the top line does not reflect the underlying structural improv

No surprise was expected, and yet it exceeded expectations again

The guidance upgrade was not enough. Renault posted H1 23 figures significantly above what it targeted only a month ago, therefore making delivery of the FY23 guidance an easier play. Market conditions in H1 were a clear support for numerous OEMs. However, we believe that Renault’s portfolio turnaround has a huge potential to deliver structural improvements on top. Bear in mind that the bulk of the renewal of the model lineup is coming next year. We keep our Buy rating.

Renault’s portfolio renewal has only just started

Renault upgraded its FY23 margin and FCF guidance sending a positive message on the margin profile and the welcome of its new product range. This was backed by the strong product mix and lower headwinds on variable costs. Consensus’ prudence is likely to remain for FY24E as the first impacts of the price war have yet to reflect on Renault’s and peers’ P&L. However, it puts 2025 targets within reach. Ampere’s IPO is still on the table but rather for early FY24.

Alpine: from a product to a brand

Renault has drawn up the guidelines for the future of its premium brand Alpine. This is a high-risk plan aiming at succeeding where Renault repeatedly failed (expanding in the premium segment, expanding globally, and getting recognition) but targeting the right trends, in our view. Though, we do not expect investors to buy into Renault shares on the back of this Alpine-specific teaching, given the shorter-term worries on the health of demand for autos, and the prospective IPO of Ampère.

Has Renault cracked the code of the software-defined vehicle?

Renault organised a tech session to showcase its vision of the SDV (Software-Defined Vehicle). This not-so-futuristic architecture should not only decrease development costs and times but also allow for revenues from services during the lifecycle of the vehicle. In our view, Renault’s approach appears very much consistent and well dimensioned with its overall “horizontal diversification” strategy. While the first SDV will be a van in 2026, its upcoming BEV offer already embarks building blocks o

Another Q1 result eclipsed by another war

Renault’s Q1 23 results beat the street’s estimates on the back of welcome outperformance in terms of volumes, product mix and price mix. Unsurprisingly, the guidance was confirmed but concerns over the sustainability of BEV prices remained an overhang for investors as Tesla is becoming increasingly aggressive. While we continue to find the Renault restructuring equity story compelling, we acknowledge that, in the short term, the weakness in the share price could continue until any impact or non

FY22 results: Renault continues to go flat out on profitability

Renault’s FY22 results beat the street expectations on both sales and margin, and were close to our above-consensus forecast. The company symbolically resumed its dividend payment to signal its confidence in future FCF generation, but we like that the investment grade rating remains the top priority. The FY23 outlook matches the long-term plan and includes a cautious margin step-up. The order book remains high and the company refrained from entering roller coaster pricing “à la Tesla”. Our FY23

Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi put things straight and bet for simplification

The reshaping of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance has been officialised. The companies have defined a legal framework to their cooperation that lacked details and let the door open for disappointment by stakeholders. Renault is not in a hurry to divest Nissan shares. The latest announcements support Ampere’s valuation which remains highly tied to Nissan’s say. Other projects announced mainly highlight that the three companies are set to continue their operational partnerships. They still h

CMD: partnership diversification and business specification

The complexity of dealing with the Alliance have been weighing on Renault’s valuation for years but what if Renault leverages its knowhow in managing partnerships BU by BU? The last CMD of the “Renaulution” was all about reaching scale on each of the group’s businesses with an expected settlement of two new (but already well-equipped) entities (AMPERE and HORSE). Despite ambitious but credible financial targets, we wait for Nissan’s decision to get the full picture of this unique sprawling struc

Renault’s good Q3 22; only a diversion prior to the CMD

Renault’s Q3 22 sales figures came in bang in line with consensus estimates. Key worries from investors have yet to be addressed/materialised into figures, i.e. the risk of worsening demand for 2023, the risk of pressure on cash flow (sole indication is the confirmed FY22 guidance) and, most importantly, the future of the Alliance (likely to be a key topic at the CMD to be held on 8 November). We plan minor changes to our figures following this release.

Frontier Developments (FDEV LN) - Expect change

Initial sales from the launch of Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Realms of Ruin have underperformed. After several disappointing new releases, the company has decided to reverse its strategy to diversify into adjacent game genres. We believe the increased focus should improve Frontier Development’s efficiency but may also increase its revenue concentration and volatility. The update and strategic change lead us to lower FY24 Adj LBITDA to £13.6m from £9.0m. We now also forecast no revenue growth over t

LIBERUM: Frontier Developments: Warhammer: Soft trading through key period

Strong H124 profitability and growth plan ambitions

PROGRESSIVE: IG Design Group: Strong profit growth, key strategy initiatives and quantified aspirations

IG Design Group delivered a 27% increase in adjusted PBT to $34.8m for H1 FY24 (to 30 September) with a significant reduction in net debt to $15.1m, as signposted in last month’s trading update. The adjusted operating profit margin was some 270bps higher at 8.6% (vs 5.9% in H1 FY23), the highest achieved since H1 FY20 ahead of the CSS acquisition. Management has provided more details on the key attributes and initiatives for its new growth-focused strategy. The group is on track to return to pre

Initial Equity Trading Comments - 1 December 2023

Hardman & Co Research: Surface Transforms (SCE) - Funding for growth: Open Offer

In the past two years, Surface Transforms (SCE) has quadrupled its order book, raised monthly sales run rates from £0.2m to £1.0m and expanded its capacity four-fold to a £20m pa sales rate. A 3 November update pointed to production teething troubles. October sales of £1.0m were below prior estimates, so we significantly reduced our 2023 and 2024 estimates. We estimate PAT breakeven for 2H24. Initially from debt, SCE has the resources to finance capital expenditure from internal cash flow to rai

The Joy of Techs - Cavendish Technology quarterly sector note

£23.3bn in enterprise value has been returned to AIM technology shareholders over the past six years in the form of 51 public to private takeouts, including 10 in 2023 alone with the takeovers of Smoove* and Tribal announced in early October. With UK valuations appearing cheap and looking more attractive to potential acquirers, we take a moment to reflect on the trends of corporate and private equity bidders targeting AIM-listed technology companies going back to 2017, through the uncertainties

Morning Note – 14 November 2023

Frontier Developments (FDEV LN) - Road to recovery

We are encouraged by Frontier Developments' announcement of an Organisational Review. We believe many video games companies inflated their expense bases during 2020 and 2021 and reduced focus on return on investment. Frontier now plans to reduce annual operating costs by up to 20% by the beginning of FY25. Frontier's Organisational Review returns the business' focus to optimising returns, leading us to forecast a recovery in adjusted EBIT margins to 5.3% in FY25 and 9.4% in FY26. We believe the

Accrol Group Holdings (ACRL LN) - Consecutive upgrades

H1 FY24 has delivered positive trading momentum with continued volume growth and an acceleration in margin recovery back to pre-pandemic levels.

LIBERUM: New Energy Nuggets: Hydrogen - the future is green

Allenby Capital TMT Update - 16.10.23 - ENSI.L, SPSY.L

Please find below our weekly update covering themes that we feel that are of interest to investors and participants in the small and mid-cap TMT sector as well as commentary on recent newsflow.

SHORE CAPITAL - Portmeirion (PMP) - House Stock at 353p - Significantly undervalued

LIBERUM: Ceres Power - Initiation - A Compellingly solid case

Initial Equity Trading Comments - 11 May 2023