Morning Song

CVS Group (CVSG LN) FY18 – Progress on various fronts but some temporary growth pains | Spirent Communications (SPT LN) Interims in-line; FY second half weighted as expected | Vp (VP/ LN) AGM statement confirms strong start to FY19

Morning Song

Avon Rubber (AVON LN) Interims in line | boohoo.com (BOO LN) Leading e-commerce fashion brands undervalued | Oxford BioMedica (OXB LN) Kymriah® gains FDA approval in second indication | Photo-Me International (PHTM LN) CGT strikes could be taxing for French Photo-ID, but not materially so | Realm Therapeutics (RLM LN) FY results in line, lead programmes on track | Spirent Communications (SPT LN) Q1 update highlights expected H2 weighting

Top-line growth set to drive margin expansion

Spirent’s results last week showed good traction from the group’s strategic growth areas (Lifecycle Service Assurance and Application Security), which combined with effective cost control, resulted in strong earnings growth and excellent cash generation. The group remains heavily H2 weighted, but we believe it is well placed to deliver a long awaited return to top-line growth going forwards. With gross margins remaining strong and management maintaining a tight grip on costs, we expect the growt

Morning Song

Applied Graphene Materials (AGM LN) Collaboration on W Motors Fenyr SuperSport car | ATTRAQT Group (ATQT LN) Opportunities intact, focus on execution | Domino’s Pizza Group (DOM LN) Good set of finals and strong start to FY18 | Frontier Smart Technologies Group (FST LN) Strong results with more to come | Spirent Communications (SPT LN) Good progress in FY’17 | Summit Therapeutics (SUMM LN) Enrolment opened for an additional group in PhaseOut DMD trial

Good progress in FY’17

Spirent has reported its results for the year to December 2017. Group revenue and adj, EBIT are both slightly ahead of expectations, with a strong performance in Lifecycle Service Assurance and good cost control in Connected Devices offsetting some weakness in Networks & Security. Effective tax management in FY’17 has resulted in 43% adj. EPS growth to 7.55 cents, well ahead of our 6.3 cents estimate. Cash generation was also strong, with net cash at the period end of $128.4m. This has resulted

Smarter Connectivity

Spirent Communications is a world leader in providing products and services for test and measurement of communications systems across fixed and mobile voice, data and video applications and networks. In this report we argue that the company is positioned for increased earnings growth in the coming years, based on the success of the recent cost-base reduction program, and the company’s strategic alignment to the major growth drivers in the market place.

N+1 Singer - Spirent Communications - Full year outlook unchanged

Spirent has released its Q3 trading update showing a number of key contract wins and a continued focus on cost management. Revenue for the 9 months to September ’17 was $326.1m versus $324.4m at the same point last year, with adjusted EBIT significantly higher at $33.4m (2016: $20.6m). Net cash at the end of Q3 was $115.6m. We leave our forecasts and target price methodology unchanged meaning our DCF derived TP remains 116p. After the recent share price weakness this results in our recommendatio

N+1 Singer - Morning Song 09-11-2017

N+1 Singer - Spirent Communications - Revenue downgrades offset by cost cutting

Spirent’s H1’17 interim results showed increased operating margins and good cash generation, but a return to top line growth remains illusive. Networks & Security was the star performer in H1 (+11%) but the transition to 400G Ethernet is causing project delays that will result in a weaker H2 than expected from the division. With Lifecycle Service Assurance expected to be significantly second half weighted and Connected Devices still in decline, the group has a lot to do in H2’17. We have reduced

N+1 Singer - Morning Song 03-08-2017

Bioquell (BQE LN) Positive trading continues | Earthport (EPO LN) Partnership with Kotak Mahindra Bank | Ground Rents Income Fund (GRIO LN) Further clarification on doubling assets | Oxford Metrics (OMG LN) Further product innovation at Vicon | Porta Communications (PTCM LN) Strategic investment and debt reorganisation | Spirent Communications (SPT LN) Still waiting on return to top line growth | StatPro Group (SOG LN) Scale and sales hires should drive organic growth | UDG Healthcare (UDG LN) S

LIBERUM: CEO Video: Matt Wragg, Gattaca plc:

Jersey Electricity - Decarbonisation fuelling growth

Jersey Electricity (JEL) is intensifying its focus on energy security and electrification across Jersey by creating opportunities to accelerate growth. It successfully navigated the volatile wholesale power price environment in 2020–23, shielding its customer base from the worst inflationary pressures. However, from 2025, as older, more favourable hedges expire, this protection will diminish. Therefore, we have marginally reduced our earnings forecasts to account for the increased exposure to wh

SP Angel Morning View: Copper prices hit $9,700/t as China smelts concentrates for zero charge Tc/Rc

Quadrise+ (QED, House Stock at 1.4p) - Drilling to commence in Utah project

Zeus Top Picks for 2024 - 2023 review and outlook for 2024

On 9 January last year, we set out our ten top stock picks for 2023, for what turned out to be another relatively poor twelve months for UK equities due to two wars, stubbornly high inflation and further tightening of monetary policy. This was even as other major markets, such as the US, largely recovered in the year. In the 2023 calendar year, the AIM All-Share index fell 8.2% and is still 42% off its 2021 high. From the release of our 2023 top picks note, the average total return (assuming div

Judges Scientific+ (JDG, House Stock at 8,900p) - HY; strong order book, FY23F unchanged

Invinity Energy Systems - Progress on Three Fronts

Invinity is making major progress commercially, technically and financially. A full manufacturing agreement has been signed with Taiwanese partner Everdura. This brings additional manufacturing capacity to serve the existing re-seller agreement without the need for new capital. Validation testing on the next-generation Mistral flow battery has verified performance targets, paving the way for commercial launch later in the year. Finally, discussions on one or more strategic partnerships are progr

Invinity Energy Systems - Update on Strategic Investment

Invinity’s update on discussions with strategic investors reveals interest from multiple parties. While this has slightly delayed finalising an agreement it increases the potential for a better outcome. Although details are unknown at this stage, we think there is enough in the statement to be comfortable that any agreements will be consistent with the company’s strategy of growing market share in core markets and using a licencing and royalty model in other markets.

Morning Note – 4 April 2024