Northcoders - Part time software course launched following strong demand

Today's announcement from Northcoders marks a first step in building a potentially highly material incremental revenue stream for the group, reporting the imminent launch of a new part-time software development bootcamp. The virtual bootcamp will be launched on 15 July 2024, providing an alternative to the group's existing coding bootcamp for prospective students who would be unable to take up full-time study due to work or family commitments. The alternative course will be broadly based on CODE

Northcoders - Major win for CODE strongly underpins FY24E forecasts and showcases exceptional capabilities

With an eye-catching, £10m, contract win as announced in an RNS this morning, this marks the fourth successive year in which the company has gained increased funding from the Department for Education (DfE) based on its skills in providing coding and related training, plus generating positive job outcomes. We expect the funding, to be delivered over the next 18 months to CODE's Training Bootcamps business, to be FY24E-weighted and, combined with the final students relating to its previous, DPS1,

Northcoders - H1 progress but soft corporate market prompts significant downgrades

With revenues up 46% YoY, CODE's H1 results announced this morning reflect another period of strong growth in student numbers at its Consumer Bootcamps – a trend which continued in Q3, when student applications hit 10,000 for the first time, three times the number for the whole of FY22A. The company is benefitting from Wave 4 funding in '23-24 and bidding for Wave 5. So far, so good and in addition, Business Solutions has won its first contract with a leading government department. However, chal

Northcoders - H1-23 trading update: strong YoY revenue growth, £4.5m DfE funding secured

This morning's H1-23 update from CODE illustrates a strong first half for the company, with >50% revenue growth, along with contract wins, a healthy balance sheet and the announcement of a further £4.5m of DfE funding. Trading in the period is reported to be in line with the expected H2 weighting, with revenues of £3.5m up over 52% on last year, demonstrating the continued appeal of the core coding bootcamp proposition and an increasing variety of corporate offerings. Looking forward, FY23E reve

Northcoders Group - FY22A results demonstrate strong demand, significant progress, good visibility

Results announced today by CODE show how far the company has come since it listed in July 2021. With revenues 86% ahead YoY, and correspondingly large increases in profits, the company has succeeded in delivering rapid growth while remaining aligned to revenue and profit expectations. Demonstrating the strength of demand, applications have expanded by some 131%, enabling the company to keep quality high, easing its task in assisting students into employment, and setting the scene for further c

Northcoders Group - Specialist acquisition highly complementary, adds senior operational bandwidth

This morning's s bolt-on acquisition announced by CODE looks to be an excellent fit with the company's Business Services division, which CODE has already framed as a key strategic focus in the current year. The target company specialises in returning senior level software developers and specialists, adding a highly complementary layer to CODE's offering to the Corporate market. We expect the acquisition to be modestly additive to earnings initially – to be reviewed when the company reports full

Northcoders Group - Positive year end update, order book strong for FY23E, off to a good start

CODE's end of year update this morning makes good reading, with results in line with expectations, 57% of CY revenues contractually covered, a good start to the new courses and the Business Solutions product suite successfully launched. In recent years, CODE has become a market-leading provider of software training, judging by its DfE ranking, providing a career gateway to its graduates across a wide range of software languages, and typically securing excellent outcomes for its coding students.

WHI Support Services Sector Comment: Challenges and opportunities

Bleak expectations for the UK economy in 2023 anticipate underperformance against other G7 countries based on factors such as (a) the UK's higher than average mortgage rate sensitivity and (b) relative exposure to high gas and energy prices. Some measure of political / economic stability has returned, though this arguably remains a brittle quality, given the scope for dissent within the Conservative party and the unpredictable impacts of industrial action, among a range of factors. All of this s

WH Ireland: Northcoders (CODE) - Top software skills provider – trading well and investing in future growth

In the 15 months since IPO, and benefiting from strong business momentum, CODE has rewarded investors with positive share price performance against the market grain. The recent over-subscribed fund-raise followed creditable interim results on 20 September, and will enable the company (a) to develop a whole new series of in-demand, complementary courses – including a broader services offering to the growing list of corporate clients, and (b) to achieve considerable further efficiencies. The compa

WH Ireland: Northcoders (CODE) - over-subscribed £2.1m placing funds growth acceleration and enhanced platform efficiencies

With strong demand driving its existing software engineering bootcamps, CODE is moving swiftly to add new, complementary disciplines to the current range, continuing to take advantage of the significant deficit in coders and digital specialists in the UK. Yesterday's announcement that the company has raised £2.1m in a placing with both new and existing shareholders provides further resources with which proactively to accelerate CODE's already powerful growth characteristics; while also reflecti

WH Ireland: Northcoders (CODE) - £4m contract award – visibility uplift, a new business stream and all over the UK

In the year since CODE listed on AIM, it has proved itself to be a nimble operator in a rapidly growing, under-served and talent-starved space. This morning's announcement that the company has been awarded £4m of Wave 3 funding by the Department for Education (DfE) is a further very strong affirmation of the company's quality product and market leadership. Precise timings remain to be underscored, but from our point of view the deal delivers a major boost in three key areas: (1) visibility,

WH Ireland: Sector News and Views – Corporate - dollar earner picks in a changing landscape

A year on from the end of lockdown on July 19 2021, celebrations at the UK's economic bounce-back in H2-21 have long lost their fizz. Two intertwined themes have remained salient / gathered pace over the past six months since our mid-year sector review: exchange rates and inflation. As we write today, press speculation is focussing on the possibility of a 0.5% rise in UK interest rates in August, billed as the biggest move in 27 years. Looking further afield, economists are looking to the F

WH Ireland: Northcoders (CODE) - Visible success - 83% FY22E revenue cover at HY, further enhanced prospects

This morning's trading update from CODE shows both that the order book has continued to build strongly since we last heard from them in April and that student numbers continue to grow at a very rapid pace. This in itself is not altogether surprising, given the significant structural shortfall in software coders and engineers more generally in the UK and the company's 95%-plus record of success in getting its students into jobs speedily and lucratively. However the corporate wins (Rolls Royce, E

WH Ireland: Northcoders (CODE) - Strong, inline, FY21E performance; new award lifts FY22E visibility to 46%

Today's update from CODE highlights strong FY21E results, inline underlying, ahead in reported terms, with encouraging visibility for FY22E already at this early point in the year following the new £1.65m award from the Department for Education (DfE) also announced this morning. CODE is a beneficiary of strong fundamentals, with a major structural scarcity of software coders in the UK, resulting in strong and robust demand; while the company's highly effective training courses are proactively s

Elixirr - Outperforming competitors and the global Consulting market

Elixirr offers investors exposure to the long-term growth trends in the global Consulting market (including digitisation and the ongoing technology revolution, demand for innovation, efficiency and specialised expertise) all turbo charged by the group’s ‘challenger’ strategy driving market share gain from a low base. FY 2023 results showed the power of Elixirr’s differentiated model with revenue up +20% and adj. EPS up +22% in a market subdued by global uncertainty. With net cash of £18m, a posi

Morning Note – 22 April 2024

City of London Investment Group (CLIG LN) - 3Q IMS: return to growth

CLIG’s 3Q IMS reveals 5.5% rise in FuM in the first three months to March 2024 to US$10.1 billion. In the quarter performance added US$302m and group net inflows were US$224m.

Hardman & Co Insight: 2023 was an annus horribilis for Quoted UK Infrastructure and Renewable Energy

The focus of Hardman & Co Research is on the nine quoted Infrastructure Investment Companies (IICs) and on the 22 Renewable Energy Infrastructure Funds (REIFs): the stocks analysed are all members of the Association of Investment Companies (AIC). We are updating our publication of January 2023, assessing both the lacklustre share price performances during 2023 and the key issues, including interest rates, inflation and power prices. As a 31-strong group, its combined market capitalisation is no

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SP Angel Morning View: Gold prices slide following profit taking as traders look to US data

hVIVO - FY 2023 results, revenue in-line, margin better, future is bright

hVIVO has delivered FY 2023A results in-line with the 30 January 2024 TU, with total customer revenues of £56m, growth of 16% versus 2022A. Other income related to tax credits added another £2.6m. 2024 revenue guidance of £62m has been reiterated, representing 11% growth over 2023A, and ahead of the £60m that we had previously forecast. The company has good visibility with the 2024 figure, with 90% already being covered by the existing orderbook (stands at £80m at the end of 2023), as well as in

Malvern International - Positive results confirm turnaround on track; cash-generative and a strong bid pipeline

A positive trading trajectory for MLVN has continued to emerge strongly in this morning's results, with FY23A revenues standing at £12.2m (FY22A: £6.3m / +79%) and £0.2m PBT profit as against a £1.1m PBT loss the year before (excluding a £94k fair value movement / loan write back). MLVN provides education services including (1) a range of university-related courses for overseas students, (2) adult ELT and (3) summer schools for juniors. MLVN's contract with the University of East London (UEL) st

LIBERUM: The Liberum Leisure Digest: NLW increase - pricing power is key

The Hardman & Co Monthly: April 2024

Feature article: Steady as she goes, but could be better: A review of investment company liquidity since 2016 Liquidity is the lifeblood of equity markets. The measurement of liquid asset availability to a market or company is a way of gauging a market’s health. This article builds on our previous work, which analysed the liquidity data for non-financial trading companies, by applying the same analytical techniques to the investment companies (IC) space. We analyse liquidity for ICs as a whol

Morning Note – 26 March 2024

Anexo Group (ANX LN) - Key Supreme Court Judgement: No cap on non-whiplash compensation

Key ruling sets out the ability to claim compensation for non-whiplash injuries alongside whiplash claims, without the quantum of damages being restricted by the Whiplash Injury Regulations, supporting the Group’s legal services division Bond Turner in pursing the optimal outcome for the claimants it represents.

Avacta Group - AACR update

As pre-announced, Avacta has presented the results of the 3-weekly P1 Arm 1 study of its AVA6000 lead clinical asset, based on the pre|CISION™ drug development platform at the American Association for Cancer Research's annual general meeting. The update does not cover progress on the ongoing 2-weekly dosing study which is underway, and Avacta confirmed current guidance on timing including being on track to begin the dose expansion study in 2H24. There are compelling updates on the progress repor

Allenby Capital: Franchise Brands - Capital Markets Day

A well-attended and successful Capital Markets Day (CMD) was held yesterday with the theme being “unlocking the Group’s maximum potential and financial targets” with presentations by all Group companies and divisions. Financial targets for the Group have been set for the period from FY25 to FY27 which emphasises the growth that the Board believes the Group capable of achieving. We include these targets in our financial model with the proviso that at this early stage they are more indications of