THE MONTHLY November 2018

In addition to Hardman’s monthly analysis of client stocks, the thorny issue of market disruption – a popular theme currently - is also addressed. In a wide-ranging article, Hardman’s utilities analyst, Nigel Hawkins, assesses the impact that market disruption has already made. In some sectors, notably telecoms and aviation, market disruption has been apparent for many years, as the rise of Vodafone, Ryanair and easyJet demonstrates. However, in some sectors, such as oil and housebuilding, struc

THE MONTHLY October 2018

We are in the midst of the Conference season for political parties and trade unions in Britain. We all have a lot on our minds, with generational constitutional issues to the fore, but these have come to the fore after many years of concerns building up about citizens’ ‘place in the world’.

The Monthly September 2018

September’s Hardman Monthly features an article from guest contributor, Tim Ward. Tim is the Chief Executive of the Quoted Companies Alliance (QCA), an organisation that champions the interests of small to mid-size quoted companies.

FY’18 – focus on PTSD drug development

Bionomics (BNO) is an Australian biopharmaceutical company specialising in ion channel drug discovery for central nervous system (CNS) disorders such as anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). BNO also offers contract and partnered discovery based on its proprietary technology platforms: MultiCore and ionX. The group sales model includes fees-for-service, licensing income, and royalties from successful partnered products. In fiscal 2018, its strategy has been to focus on the developme

Bionomics - PTSD programme on track for results in Q3

The fiscal year 2018, which ended in June, was a major transition for Bionomics as it realigned itself to focus on disorders of the central nervous system. This strategy hinges on the company’s lead asset BNC210, a negative allosteric modulator of the α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor, which has a potentially novel anxiolytic mechanism of action. The drug is in Phase IIb for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (with a readout expected in this quarter) and Phase IIa for agitation in the elder

Bionomics - RESTORE trial completed, data this quarter

Bionomics announced on 9 July 2018 that it had completed treatment in its 193-patient Phase II clinical study of BNC210 for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The RESTORE clinical study completed the treatment phase on time and the company stated that it intends to provide topline data by the end of calendar Q318.

The Monthly

We have analysed every IPO on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) between January 2015 and February 2018. Our analysis proves that, as expected, liquidity does dry up after float. The scale varies between markets and sectors.

The Monthly

Hardman & Co recently welcomed Milan Radia to our roster of established, industry expert analysts. Milan has 25 years of equity market experience at major investment banks and in asset management, and has worked on many high-profile successful IPOs. In 2017, he was ranked the No.1 earnings estimator in the UK for his sector in the Thomson Starmine Awards. Milan has also been techMARK Analyst of the Year and achieved top three Institutional Investor sector rankings for his coverage of the softwar

A big deal in oncology?

Bionomics (BNO) is an Australian biopharmaceutical company specialising in ion channel drug discovery for central nervous system (CNS) disorders such as anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). BNO also offers contract and partnered drug discovery based on its proprietary technology platforms: MultiCore and ionX. The group sales model includes fees-for-service, licensing income and royalties from successful partnered products. Itsstrategic focus is on development of its lead candidate,

Third Phase II trial of BNC210 begins

BNO is an Australian biopharmaceutical company specialising in ion channel drug discovery for central nervous system (CNS) disorders such as anxiety and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). BNO also offers contract and partnered drug discovery based on its proprietary technology platforms: MultiCore and ionX. The group sales model includes fees-for-service, licensing income, and royalties from successful partnered products. Its strategic focus is on development of its lead candidate, BNC210, to

Bionomics - Phase IIa in agitation of the elderly initiated

Bionomics announced on 23 May 2018 it has initiated a Phase IIa study of its α7 nicotinic receptor inhibitor for the treatment of agitation in the elderly in a hospital setting. Agitation is a common problem (13-24%) in patients with dementia, and we expect the trial to focus primarily on this population. It will enrol a target of 40 patients across Australia and is expected to provide top-line data in calendar Q119.

Strong growth in core underpins FY expectations

EKF has reported a strong H1, with revenues of £37.5m and double-digit growth in underlying non-Covid related business. Management reports it is trading in line with expectations for the full year and we make no change to our profit forecasts at this stage. New growth initiatives are proceeding to plan and should lead to accelerated core growth from FY23 onwards. We continue to see substantial upside on successful execution with the shares trading on an FY23 P/E of 13.1x and an EV/EBITDA of just

Kromek - FY 2022 results

Kromek reported full-year results to 30 April that were in line with the trading update of 16 May. Record visibility over our FY 2023 revenue forecast of £18m (c.53% of which is already contracted and 37% “Awarded not Contracted”, with the balance from its normal monthly run rate) is a great start for FY 2023 on which the company can build further. We are leaving forecasts unchanged for the moment, despite additional contract wins, and expect to introduce FY 2024 forecasts at the time of its int

Kromek - Fundraise – £1.7m convertible loan note

Kromek announced a £1.7m fundraise by way of the issue of convertible loan notes (8% coupon, 18-month conversion period at 15p per share), which will allow the company to minimise any potential supply-chain disruption to the delivery of contracts during the year. We make only minor changes to forecasts to reflect the additional interest (c.£0.1m) accrued, with adjusted pre-tax loss increasing to £5.0m. We leave our target valuation of £118m (27p) unchanged, with near-term catalysts (e.g. a secon

Update ahead of results

Ahead of its upcoming results, ECO has issued an update flagging an issue around a sales tax liability and the treatment of certain items of capitalised development, offset by a foreign exchange gain will result in it reporting FY22 Adj EBITDA of ~£6.5m vs SCMe £7.1m. It has also indicated trading in China has been difficult in Q1 FY23, particularly with the large producers, but margins have improved on mix. Trading in the Rest of the World has been strong YTD. Given the proximity to the results

Morning Note – 3 August 2022

Hybridan Small Cap Feast 21-07-2022

Dish of the day Joiners: No joiners today. Leavers: No leavers today. What’s cooking in the IPO kitchen? Unigel Group, intends to join the Aquis Growth Market. Unigel Group is a pioneer in the field of thixotropic gels for the fibre optic cable industry. The Company is also a supplier of laminated steel tapes to the fibre optic cable industry in the US. Thixotropic gels and laminated steel tapes are essential components to the rapidly growing global fibre optic cable market. The Group export

Morning Note – 2 August 2022

Q2 21: Internal problems amplify the external headwinds

Smith & Nephew reported mostly in-line Q2 22 numbers, missing the top-line estimates (-0.6%) but beating on the trading profit (+0.5%), albeit marginally. The Q2 performance was overshadowed by a 100bp margin downgrade for FY22 (-50bps Y-o-Y vs +50bps previously), which sent the stock ~9% lower in the session following the update. The reiteration of the top-line growth outlook of 4-5% was no help either. We will cut our estimates, largely to reflect the soft margin guidance.

LIBERUM: PureTech Health - Karuna hits Phase III ground running

Hybridan Small Cap Feast 09/08/22

Dish of the day Joiners: No joiners today. Leavers: No leavers today. What’s cooking in the IPO kitchen?** Unigel Group, intends to join the Aquis Growth Market. Unigel Group is a pioneer in the field of thixotropic gels for the fibre optic cable industry. The Company is also a supplier of laminated steel tapes to the fibre optic cable industry in the US. Thixotropic gels and laminated steel tapes are essential components to the rapidly growing global fibre optic cable market. The Group exports

Strong top-line drives another decent quarter

In Q2, Astra sustained its solid top-line momentum. Like in the past few quarters, this outperformance was again driven by higher COVID-19 business sales and solid growth in Diabetes drug Farxiga. Moreover, the recovering Oncology and much-needed green shoots in Rare Diseases were the icing on the cake. Although, profitability again came under the scanner but should improve in the coming quarters/years as the company completes its ‘growth phase’. Overall, a decent set of results and our positive

LIBERUM: SourceBio International* - Update shows evolution to core

Hybridan Small Cap Feast 01-08-2022

Dish of the day Joiners: No joiners today. Leavers: No leavers today. What’s cooking in the IPO kitchen?** Inteliqo Limited, intends to join the Aquis Growth Market. Inteliqo Limited provides sales, marketing and distribution services to technology product owners under long-term distribution agreements. The Company has agreed its first such agreement in respect of the Ipedia iQ product range. The iQ product is a smart translation earphone (earbuds) system which offers integrated real time speech

Supply agreement with VGM Group

Belluscura has announced that it has entered into a Group Purchasing Organisation Product Supply Agreement with VGM Group which further expands its distribution network across the US.

Morning Note – 5 August 2022