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9th April 2024 * A corporate client of Hybridan LLP ** Arranged by type of listing and date of announcement *** Alphabetically arranged **** Potential means Intention to Float (ITF) has been announced Dish of the day Admissions: Helix Exploration (HEX.L) a helium exploration company with operations in Montana, USA announces admission of its Ordinary Shares to trading on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange. An Oversubscribed placing with book of demand over £22m to raise gross proceeds of £7.5 million. Placing price per share of 10p. Market capitalisation on Admission of £12.2m. Furthermore, Net proceeds of the fundraise will be used to fund scoping study and appraisal drilling at Ingomar project in Montana. Delistings: What’s baking in the oven? ** Potential**** Initial Public Offerings: Reverse Takeovers: Change of Market: TheWorks (WRKS.L) a multi-channel value retailers of books, arts and crafts, stationery, toys and games, offering customers a differentiated proposition as a value alternative to full price specialist retailers. The Company is listed on the premium segment of the Main market of the London Stock Exchange. The Company has announced its intention to change to the AIM market on the 3 May 2024. Our daily digest of news from UK Small Caps If you would like to unsubscribe, please email enquiries@hybridan.com with “unsubscribe me”. Hybridan Chefs research@hybridan.com Banquet Buffet*** Aura Energy 8.9p £64.9m (AURA.L) The Company is an Australian-based mineral company with major uranium and polymetallic projects in Africa and Europe. The Company has issued ordinary shares at an exercise price of A$0.052 each arising from an exercise of options. Application will be made for the 6,000,000 New Shares to be admitted to trading on AIM. It is expected that Admission will become effective on or around 16 April 2024. Crossword Cybersecurity * 4.75p £4.8m (CCS.L) The cybersecurity solutions company focused on cyber strategy and risk announces its managed cyber-security monitoring service, Nightingale, has had a strong performance in the first quarter of 2024. A key driver for this growth has been international expansion in the Caribbean region, where managed services are being delivered via a local partner, to organisations across the telecommunications, insurance, automotive, and oil and gas sectors. Crossword's partner has been appointed as a preferred cyber security provider for several organisations in the Caribbean, which will be delivered across a series of multi-year contracts. Additionally, this has led to a contract to provide incident response services, following a major cyber-attack on a critical national infrastructure provider, and follow-on cyber security monitoring services. Diaceutics 104p £88.1m (DXRX.L) The technology and solutions provider to the pharma and biotech industry announces the appointment of Amie Mc Neice as Vice President of Marketing. Amie previously held senior marketing and business development roles with Almac Group, Fibrus and Kingspan. Amie brings a wealth of marketing leadership experience to the team and will focus on delivering our 3-year marketing vision, brand positioning, messaging and integration of marketing automation. Amie has significant experience in working with US pharma customers. Hvivo 28.5p £193.9m (HVO.L) The contract research organisation and operator in testing infectious and respiratory disease products using human challenge clinical trials announces its audited results for the year ended 31 December 2023. Revenue increased 16% to £56m (2022: £48.5m), EBITDA increased 44% to £13m (2022: £9.1m) and Cash and cash equivalents of £37m (2022: £28.4m). 90% of 2024 revenue guidance already contracted with good visibility into 2025 . Loungers 213p £221m (LGRS.L) The operator of all day café/bar/restaurants across the UK under the Lounge, Cosy Club and Brightside brands announces that Justin Carter is being promoted from his current role of MD of the Lounge brand to the newly created position of Group MD. Microlise Group 166p £192.5m (SAAS.L) The provider of transport management software to fleet operators announces its audited results for the twelve months ended 31 December 2023. Revenue increased 12% to £71.7m (FY 2022: £63.2m), Adjusted EBITDA increased 15% to £9.4m (FY 2022: £8.2m) and Adjusted profit before tax increased 17% to £5.6m (FY 2022: £4.8m). Furthermore, Cash and cash equivalents increased 1% to £16.8m (FY 2022: £16.7m). Recent acquisitions of Transportation Management System (TMS) providers, Enterprise Software Systems and Vita Software, as well as vulnerable road user app supplier K-Safe are trading in-line with our expectations. Oracle Power 0.0235p £1.1m (ORCP.L) The project developer announces that it has secured an exclusive option to acquire 100% of the Blue Rock Valley Copper and Silver Project, located in the Ashburton Basin in the northwest region of Western Australia. Assays from historical drilling and rock chip sampling suggest the presence of high-grade copper and silver mineralisation, as well as the potential for uranium. Silver Bullet Data Services 105p £18.3m (SBDS.L) A provider of AI driven digital transformation services and products announces the following changes to the Board, effective immediately. Darren Poynton will be stepping down as Group CFO and Company secretary. Darren has been an integral part of the business for the past five years, playing a crucial role in driving business growth. Under his financial leadership, Silverbullet successfully navigated an IPO in June 2021 and maintained a trajectory of strong financial performance. Surgical Innovations 0.5p £4.7m (SUN.L) The designer, manufacturer and distributor of innovative technology for minimally invasive surgery announces that further to the 19 December 2023 announcement regarding Charmaine Day's intention to step down from her role as Chief Financial Officer, the Company confirms that Charmaine has now left the Group. Michael Roper, an interim financial consultant, has been supporting the business since February 2024 and is now overseeing the finance function. Venture Life 37p £46.8m (VLG.L) The Company in developing, manufacturing and commercialising products for the international self-care market announces its audited results for the year ended 31 December 2023. Revenue increased 16.9% to £51.4m (2022: £44.0m), Adjusted EBITDA increased 28.9% to £11.6m (2022: £9.0m) and Adjusted profit before tax increased to £7.3m (2022: £5.6m). Furthermore, Free cash flow increased 71% to £4.8m (2022: 2.8m). Going into 2024, we are committed to a trajectory of continuous improvement in both revenue and profitability.
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Venture Life has reported FY23 results to December 2023, following the February trading update. Revenues grew 17% in the year to £51.4m (our est. £50.7m) and adjusted EBITDA was £11.6m (our est. £11.6m). Cash conversion was 85%, generating £9.8m of cash from operations. Cash generation and no M&A in 2023 allowed the company to de-lever, closing FY23 with net debt to adjusted EBITDA at 1.3x. Management have focused on growth with three therapy areas generating double-digit revenue growth and online sales up +40%. Our extended forecasts anticipate increased investment, developing new products and expanding distribution channels to drive future revenue growth, with a focus on EBITDA and cash generation. We believe Venture Life has delivered strong organic performance in 2023 and anticipate on-going growth which could be complemented by re-starting the M&A strategy.
Venture Life Group Plc
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Any reference to a partner in relation to Hybridan LLP is to a member of Hybridan LLP or an employee with equivalent standing and qualifications. A list of the members of Hybridan LLP is available for inspection at the registered office, 2 Jardine House, The Harrovian Business Village, Bessborough Road, Harrow, Middlesex HA1 3EX. * A corporate client of Hybridan LLP ** Arranged by type of listing and date of announcement *** Alphabetically arranged **** Potential means Intention to Float (ITF) has been announced Dish of the day Admissions: Microsalt (SALT.L) has joined AIM. The developer of salt-producing technology designed to deliver full flavor with less sodium as part of its spin out from AIM listed Tekcapital (TEK.L). Tekcapital holds a 77.24% interest in MicroSalt. Microsalt successfully raised approximately £3.14m (before expenses) and had a market capitalisation of c.£18.5m on Admission. Delistings: What’s baking in the oven? ** Potential**** Initial Public Offerings: 12 January: The London Tunnels PLC announces its intention to seek Admission to the Standard Segment of the Official List and to trading on the Main Market of the LSE. The Company plans to restore, adaptively reuse and bring back to life the Kingsway Exchange Tunnels in Central London, originally built in the early 1940’s, and designed to shelter people during the London Blitz. The Company has successfully raised approximately £10m from investors and aims to admit its Ordinary Shares at a price of £2.00 per share to the Main Market. The Company is expected to have a market capitalisation of approximately £123m on Admission. Delayed: Expected Admission was before the end of January 2024. Reverse Takeovers: 30 January: Location Sciences Group Plc is proposing to acquire the entire issued share capital of Sorted Holdings Limited (Sorted) for a nominal consideration of £1.00 (Acquisition). Sorted operates a software-as-a-service (SaaS) business model providing delivery experience software which serves ecommerce retailers - from large, global enterprises to smaller, independent start-ups. Pursuant to Rule 14 of the AIM Rules for Companies, the Acquisition constitutes a reverse takeover. Capital to be raised on Admission is approximately £2.0m. Anticipated market capitalisation on Admission is approximately £6.68m. Expected AIM Admission date is 19 February 2024. Change of Market: Our daily digest of news from UK Small Caps If you would like to unsubscribe, please email enquiries@hybridan.com with “unsubscribe me”. Hybridan Chefs research@hybridan.com Banquet Buffet*** Arkle Resources 0.43p £1.9m (ARK.L) The diversified exploration Company with principal assets in gold, zinc and now lithium exploration licences in Ireland announces the results from the Company's December 2023 drilling programme at the Inishowen Co. Donegal gold prospect. The results expand the strike length of the known gold bearing structure with grades of up to 1.65 g/t gold over 0.8m gold from split core samples. Gold grades were found within both quartz veins but also within fault gouge and surrounding wall rock. In future, drilling is expected to use triple-tube in order to limit the core-loss. Boku 159.5p £473.8m (BOKU.L) A provider of mobile payment solutions announces that Stewart Roberts, Senior Independent Non-executive Director has informed the Board of his intention to retire as a Director and leave the Company at its next AGM, expected to be held in May 2024. The Board announces that Charlotta Ginman, an existing Non-executive Director of the Company, has assumed the role of Senior Independent Non-executive Director with immediate effect and will take over from Stewart as Chair of the Audit Committee and a member of the Remuneration Committee. Cake Box Holdings 165p £66.0m (CBOX.L) The retailer of fresh cream cakes announces the appointment of Shaun Smith as an independent Non-Executive Director with effect from 1 February 2024. On appointment, Shaun will become a member of the Audit, Remuneration, Nomination and ESG Committees and is expected to become the Chair of the Audit Committee after the completion of the FY24 audit. Shaun has extensive experience and is currently Non-Executive Chair of Driver Group Plc, a Non-Executive Director of Inspecs Group Plc and Epwin Group Plc, where he is also Audit Committee Chair. CAP-XX 0.75p £5.4m (CPX.L) A Company focusing in the design and manufacture of thin, flat supercapacitors and energy management systems announces its interim results for the half-year ended 31 December 2023. Total revenue of approximately A$2.3m was reported, an increase of 40% (H1FY2023: A$1.6m), and average product gross margin increased to 35.7% (H1FY2023: 28.8%). Adjusted EBITDA loss of A$1,077k (H1FY2023: Adjusted EBITDA* loss of A$966k), and the Company has cash reserves as at 31 December 2023 of A$0.3m with no debt. In addition, the Company has an unused line of credit of approximately A$1.5m. The sales order book at 31 December 2023 was 33% higher than at 1 January 2023 and the Company is continuing to add new distributors to broaden its sales channels. Galileo Resources 1.15p £13.4m (GLR.L) The exploration and development mining Company announces two further new targets on licences PL039/2018 and PL040/2018 located towards the south-eastern basin margin of the Kalahari Copper Belt. The new Galileo geochemical targets occupy a similar geological setting to that drilled by Khoemacau Copper Mining coincident with the Mowana Fold axis and Zones 5 and 9 mineralisation together with the recently announced drill intercepts by Arc Minerals on the adjoining Virgo Project. At Mowana, Khoemacau reported drill intercepts of 4.3m @ 1.65% Cu and 6.1m @ 2.56% Cu. Arc also recently drilled scout holes on the same structure on an adjacent licence and reported 1m intervals assaying up to 3.65% Cu. The Company is assessing available geophysical data ahead of a drill programme over priority targets. Power Metal Resources 1.15p £24.0m (POW.L) The exploration Company with a global project portfolio has raised £1.3m in a strategic financing through the issue of new shares at an issue price of 1.0 pence, representing a premium of approximately 3.09 per cent. to the closing mid-market price of 0.97 pence on 31 January 2024. The Financing will be applied to the acceleration of high impact exploration initiatives and corporate activities across the Power Metal group. SEEEN 4.75p £4.4m (SEEN.L) The media and technology platform that delivers Key Video Moments to drive Video Commerce provides a trading update for the year ended 31 December 2023. Total Group revenues for the year ended 31 December 2023 are expected to be approximately $2.1m (2022: $3.3m), and the Group has a cash position of $1.2m as at 31 December 2023. The Group announced its First FAST (Free Advertising Supported Television) channel client, as part of the Group's YouTube CSP, expected to be worth approximately $1m in revenues per year and has a strong growth pipeline for 2024 with c.$2m in annual revenue for its Creator Services Partner business. Thruvision Group 19p £30.5m (THRU.L) The provider of walk-through security technology launches its next-generation, three camera variant product range. The LPC71 Series improves and expands the Group's WalkTHRU capability and is based on an upgraded and modular Terahertz sensor platform and new, future-proofed image processing software including a separately licensable bundle of enhanced features, called SmartSCREEN. The new technology has a return on investment of six months or less and the Group is offering a hardware upgrade path for existing customers. Various Eateries 26p £45.5m (VARE.L) The owner, developer and operator of all day clubhouse, restaurant and hotel sites in the UK announces its results for the 52 weeks ended 1 October 2023. Revenue growth of 12% to £45.5m (2022: £40.7m), largely driven by new site openings and adjusted EBITDA loss of £2.2m (2022: profit of £0.4m). Total loss before tax of £6.7m (2022: loss of £7.2m and the Company holds cash at bank of £1.9m (2022: £9.4m). The Company successfully completed an equity fundraise of £10.1m from institutional investors in early December 2023, at a 4% discount, and conversion of debt into equity and plans to open up to ten Noci sites and up to three Coppa Club sites in the next phase. Venture Life Group 36.75p £46.5m (VLG.L) A Company focusing on developing, manufacturing and commercialising products for the self-care market announces a trading update for the year ended 31 December 2023 (FY23). Full year revenue c.£51m was +16% YoY (2022: £44.0m), EBITDA margin progression of c.2ppts highlighting gearing effect from increased volume and EBITDA expected to be in line with management expectations. Net cash from operations increasing over 70% to c.£9.5m (2022: £5.6m), and 28 new listings achieved across UK retailers during the year. The Company is in a good position to deliver strong shareholder returns.
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Venture Life Group has released a positive trading update, with revenues expected to be in-line with our forecasts at £51m +16% YoY and a c2ppts uplift in EBITDA margin. FY23E revenue growth was delivered completely organically, a first since 2019, in-line with the company’s near-term focus on organic growth. Significantly, cash from operations increased over 70% to c£9.5m (in-line with expectations) supporting our analysis of free cash generation and yield. Cash generation also supported a reduction in group net leverage, which was 1.25x at December 2023 versus 1.65x at the close of 2022. Looking forward, Venture Life aims to build on its momentum through targeted investment in sales and marketing to position the group for sustained future growth and profitability.
The Hardman & Co Healthcare Index (HHI) has been running since 2009. Its main function is to highlight the attractions of life sciences investments over the long term. For the second year running, apart from global economic influences affecting world markets, performance in 2023 was dented by the capital-intensive nature of the sector. The HHI fell 3.7%, to 483.8, underperforming the main London markets – FTSE 100 (+3.8%) and FTSE All-Share (3.8%) but outperforming the FTSE AIM All-Share Index (-8.2%). Only 15 companies in our index saw share prices rise in 2023, four of these benefiting from trade sales. Despite challenges in raising new capital from the market, 15 companies (29%) did achieve successful outcomes. A number of companies are short of cash and will need more capital in order to get auditors to sign off their accounts – so 2024 looks as though it will be busy again.
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Venture Life has published its interim results to the end of June 2023, reporting group revenue growth of 24.4% to £23.5m, supported by both VLG brands and Customer brands. Although gross margin was down in the period as anticipated, tight operational cost control delivered improved adjusted EBITDA margin of 18.9% (H1/22A: 17.6%). As in previous years, we expect H2/23E to deliver stronger adjusted EBITDA and maintain our £11.6m FY23 expectation. Significantly, cash flow generation was strong in the period, with Venture Life generating £2.6m of FCF (H1/22A: £0.5m), with management expecting cash generation to improve in H2/23. Our forecasts suggest £6.8m of FCF for FY23E indicating a yield of c17%. On the back of the stronger cash generation and focus on organic growth, the company expects to close FY23E with a net leverage position reduced to c1.0x to 1.1x. We believe Venture Life is well positioned to deliver revenue and profit growth, cash generation and shareholder value in the coming years.
Dish of the day Joiners: Metals One (MET1.L) joins AIM. The Company focusing on acquiring natural resources projects with a focus on critical battery metals, including nickel, lithium, cobalt and copper has raised £2.2m at 5p per Ordinary Share. Leavers: Bonhill Group (BONH.L) has left AIM. What’s cooking in the IPO kitchen?** Announced ITF 12 July: Substrate Artificial Intelligence, an artificial intelligence company based in Spain that creates, buys and scales companies around AI in diverse sectors such as fintech, agritech, energy, human resources, and health, intends to join the Access Segment of the AQSE Growth Market. Announced ITF 6 July: Blackpoint Biotech plc, a medical cannabinoids company established to fulfil gaps in the medical cannabis market by creating products that provide fast onset of action and accurate dosing, intends to join the Access Segment of the AQSE Growth Market. Admission delayed. Our daily digest of news from UK listed Small and Mid caps Banquet Buffet*** Byotrol 1.9p £8.6m (BYOT.L) The specialist infection prevention and control company announces its audited results for the year ended 31 March 2023. Revenue decreased to £4.6m (2022: £6.3m), comprising £4.3m in product sales (2022: £5.2m) and £0.3m (2022: £1.1m) in IP sales. Gross margin on products improved from 37% to 43%, although gross pre-exceptional charges fell to £2.1m (2022: £3.0m) and the adjusted EBITDA loss was £0.7m (2022: profit £0.04m), in line with market expectations. The cash at the year end was £0.7m. The Board remains very engaged and highly confident in the Company's positioning and in its financial prospects, and looks forward to a year of significant progress and a return to profitability. EQTEC 1.158p £18.2m (EQT.L) The technology innovator powering distributed, decarbonised, new energy infrastructure through its waste-to-value solutions for hydrogen, biofuels, and energy generation, announces the successful completion of steam-oxygen gasification tests carried out in partnership with the Energy from Biomass and Wastes (ERBE) team, as part of feasibility work on the Biogaz Gardanne project awarded to the Company in March 2023 by the Préfet de la Région Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur in France. The Tests confirmed that similar results to those achieved with EQTEC steam-oxygen gasification technology at the LERMAB facility can be directly applied at commercial scale, for the Project and other plants seeking to produce advanced biofuels. Additionally, the tests validated the responsiveness of EQTEC's proprietary control systems over the process, testing changes to process parameters and quick response of the gasifier reactions to create stable processing through management of temperature, pressure and other factors to optimise gas composition. Ingenta 119p £17.3m (ING.L) The provider of software and services to the global publishing industry, confirms that trading in the six month period to 30 June 2023 has shown continued growth in revenue and profits compared to the prior period. The Group expects to report revenue of approximately £5.7m (2022: £5.3m) and adjusted EBITDA of approximately £1.6m (2022: £1.3m). Closing cash balances as at 30 June 2023 were £2.6m (2022: £4.4m). The comparative cash reduction is due to the £2.2m tender offer completed in November 2022 to repurchase 1,796,484 Ordinary shares. Reflecting on the Group's normal trading seasonality, the Board remains confident in the outlook for the year, and year end results will be in line with market expectations. National World 19p £50.9m (NWOR.L) The Company involved in news publishing, the digital media sector, and associated complementary technologies, announces its half year results for the 26 weeks ended 1 July 2023. (Adjusted results reported below are before non-recurring items, amortisation of intangible assets and impact of IFRS 16.) Total Revenue was down 4% to £41.6m, with a flat year-on-year performance in Q2, following an 8% decline in Q1. Digital revenue remains robust, with a 9% increase year-on-year to £8.9m and average monthly page views have increased 21%. Adjusted EBITDA of £3.1m, down 47% (H1 2022: £5.9m) and adjusted operating profit is £2.9m (H1 2022: £5.7m), contributing factors being the downturn in advertising and investment in new brands. Throughout the period, the Group completed five acquisitions for a total consideration of £3m. Closing cash balance of £22.1m at 1 July 2023, with outstanding debt of £1.0m. Panthera Resources 7.63p £11.8m (PAT.L) The gold exploration and development company with assets in West Africa and India, provides an update on Indo Gold Pty Ltd's conditional Arbitration Funding Agreement for up to US$10.5m in litigation financing with LCM Funding SG Pty Ltd (LCM), as originally announced by the Company on 28 February 2023. The Company announces that it has agreed to a further extension to the LCM Due Diligence period to 11 August 2023. It was previously announced, that the Company had agreed to an extension to 28 July 2023. The Company and LCM are now in the final stages. Following the successful completion of the LCM Due Diligence, the parties can then move to complete a Funding Confirmation Notice. Polarean Imaging 21p £46m (POLX.L) The commercial-stage medical device leader in advanced MRI scanning of the lungs, announces it has upgraded the University of Missouri Health Care (MU Health Care) Department of Radiology's polariser system to a clinical configuration, and has delivered a gas blend cylinder for the production of XENOVIEW. MU Health Care’s Department of Radiology expects to begin scanning of hospital clinic patients imminently. XENOVIEW expands the opportunity to visualise lung ventilation without exposing patients to ionising radiation and its associated risks. The dose of XENOVIEW, created through the Polarean HPX hyperpolarisation system, is administered in a single 10 to 15 second breath-hold MRI procedure. XENOVIEW can provide pulmonologists, surgeons, and other respiratory specialists with regional maps of ventilation in their patients’ lungs to assist them in managing their disease. RBG Holdings 18.25p £17.4m (RBGP.L) The legal and professional services group, announces that Ian Rosenblatt OBE has agreed to join the Board as an Executive Director. He will be Vice Chair of the Board with a focus on strategy. Ian founded the law firm Rosenblatt in 1989 and was its Senior Partner until 2016. He is both the Group's largest shareholder and individual revenue generator. Further to his appointment, Ian has agreed to an extension to his restrictive covenants which expired in May of the current financial year. In consideration of this arrangement, Mr Rosenblatt will be paid a total of £2.5m in monthly instalments over the five-year period of the restrictive covenants. There are no other changes to his compensation arrangements. Tekcapital 9.98p £17.8m (TEK.L) The UK intellectual property investment group provides a commercial update from Microsalt Ltd. which has continued its sales expansion of its SaltMe! brand of crisps with two new business partners in the Philippines, the Heathy Options Chain and S&R Membership Shopping stores. Both partners approached MicroSalt about its low sodium products and have placed sizeable first orders and have expressed a strong expectation of future orders. Healthy Options has 33 brick and mortar stores and a successful online business. S&R Membership Shopping is a membership-based store chain with 22 warehouse branches and 51 quick-serve restaurants, and presents the opportunity for substantial penetration into the Philippines through their diverse business. Tertiary Minerals 0.11p £2.2m (TYM.L) The Company involved in the identification, acquisition, exploration and development of mineral deposits in Nevada, the USA, and Northern Europe, advises that the necessary permissions have now been received from the Forest Department in Zambia to carry out the Company's proposed soil sampling programmes in the forest areas within the Mukai and Mushima North project licences. Mukai & Mushima North are two of five projects in Zambia where Tertiary is exploring for copper. Both projects benefit from the technical cooperation and data sharing agreement with leading Zambian and global copper producer First Quantum Minerals. Venture Life Group 33.75p £42.7m (VLG.L) The Company developing, manufacturing and commercialising products for the international self-care market, announces a trading update for the six months ended 30 June 2023, ahead of the Group's interim results on 25 September 2023. Group revenues were £23.5m, a increase of 24.4%, comprising growth from both the VLG Brands and Customer Brands, including the recent acquisition of HL Healthcare Limited. On a proforma basis, revenue performance was 10.4% ahead of H1 2022. Cash generated from operating activities of £4.6m (H1 2022: £1.8m), an increase of 158% and improved operating cashflow conversion of c.99% (H1 2022: 53%). The order book has an increase of c.30%, providing strong visibility over second half revenue and is in line with management expectations.
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Venture Life has provided a trading update for the six months to June 2023 expecting revenues of £23.5m for the period, up 24.4% YoY, supported by both Venture Life Brands (+27%) and Customer Brands (+20%). Revenue growth excluding the recently acquired HL Healthcare (HLH) was 11.4%. The company notes strong cash generation from operating activities of £4.6m, up 158% YoY and group leverage reduced to 1.4x from 1.6x at Dec-22. The board remains ‘cautiously optimistic' of achieving FY23E market expectations and we maintain our Buy recommendation.
Venture Life Group has reported results for the 12-months to December 2022. As per the recent trading update revenues were £44.0m, up 34.2% YoY. Adjusted EBITDA was ahead of expectations at £9.0m (Cenkos est. £8.7m) and following three acquisitions in FY21A and FY22A, the group closed the year with net debt (ex-leases) of £16.6m. We anticipate continued strong growth for Venture Life, targeting £55.0m of revenues in FY24E, generating £13.2m of adjusted EBITDA. While we expect a period of consolidation, Venture Life remains in a strong position to make further acquisitions to boost growth. We maintain our Buy rating.
VLG made good strategic and operational progress in FY22 and has delivered a c5% beat at the EBITDA level. While D&A weighs a bit on PBT/EPS, the revenue and profit outlook is positive. We maintain sales/EBITDA in FY23, and have introduced forecasts for FY24 which indicate a 2-year EPS CAGR of 50%. Crucially, FCF is expected to improve materially, reducing ND by almost £10m over the next 2 years and offering an adj. FCF yield in excess of 15% this year. Without expanding our target multiple at this stage, which remains a plausible option looking forward, we have increased our target price 16% to 84p (offering a TSR >100%). Buy.
VLG has issued a reassuring statement regarding its RCF/funding. Liquidity is sufficient and stable, and no impact or risk to the business is expected to arise from events at Silicon Valley Bank, one of the lenders under its RCF. The Board is confident of being able to refinance that portion of the RCF either at or before renewal in Jun24. In addition, VLG reports a strong start to the year, including good cash generation following the strong final quarter of FY22.
Venture Life has provided a trading update for the 12-months to December 2022, noting revenues are expected to be £44.0m, up 34% YoY and 6.5% ahead of our forecast £41.3m. Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be ‘at least in line' with estimates (Cenkos FY22E est £8.7m). The company has seen continued trading momentum in 2023, with the group's order book 114% ahead of the same period last year, on a like-for-like basis. Group leverage, expected to be c1.4x net debt to adjusted EBITDA, remains comfortable. We maintain our Buy recommendation.
VLG has reported a positive year end update after a strong Q4 performance, particularly across its Customer Brands division. The team at Biokosmes delivered an exceptional year, helping to protect key customers against the ongoing supply chain difficulties. This performance puts VLG on track to at least deliver FY profit expectations, and we have upgraded FY22 EPS by 5.5%. While we make no changes to FY23 forecasts at this stage, on balance we see risk to the upside. On just 5.0x EV/EBITDA, and with confidence in forecast growth increasing, we remain at Buy.
VLG has signed new licence and distribution agreements for its oncology support products, in Canada, Vietnam, the EU and other markets. The news should be well received as it provides underpinning for 2023 growth forecasts, and delivers growth in the acquired Helsinn business, as highlighted at the time. Trading on just 4.7x EV/EBITDA or 9x P/E to Dec23, we believe the market is discounting this level of forecast growth (86% EPS growth YoY), leaving scope for rating expansion. Next news will be the year end update at the end of the month.
Venture Life has announced a new license agreement and three new international distribution agreements. The license relates to a new mouth ulcer product developed by the group's Biokosmes division, highlighting the company's innovation and development capabilities. International distribution agreements have been signed for Gelclair and Pomi-T, demonstrating the group's global reach and its ability to maximise the value of acquired brands. We believe these new agreements epitomise Venture Life's buy and build strategy, showing its ability to bring new products to market and maximise the potential of its existing brands. We maintain our Buy rating.
Venture Life has announced the acquisition of HL Healthcare Ltd (HL) and its three Ear-Nose-Throat (ENT) brands, Earol, EarolSwim and Sterinase. Venture Life will pay £13m for the business which generated £4.5m of sales and £1.7m of EBITDA to the year-ending March 22, indicating trailing acquisition multiples of 2.9x and 7.6x, respectively. The portfolio is expected to grow in the year to March 2023 and we expect the acquisition to be accretive. The company has also announced additional distribution agreements for Gelclair (acquired with the Helsinn portfolio) and trading (revenue and adjusted EBITDA) is on track to meet expectations for FY22E. We expect the acquired brands to support Venture Life's growth strategy and are encouraged by the positive trading update. We maintain our Buy recommendation.
Positive trading since the last update means VLG remains well on track to deliver expectations for the full year, and we continue to see potential risk to the upside given a strong order book. The £13m acquisition of HL, a specialist in ear-nose-throat products, is complementary to the existing portfolio and highly accretive. We have upgraded Dec’23 EPS by 22%. Our target price increases 10% to 72p on the back of this, providing a compelling 170% TSR from current levels.
Venture Life has published its interim results for the 6-months to June 22, which show profits slightly ahead of the previous trading update. Revenues grew 36% in the period to £18.9m, while both gross and adjusted EBITDA margins improved strongly, 5.0 and 3.6 percentage points, respectively. Growth was driven by recent acquisitions, with new distribution deals and product launches through the period. Performance has continued into H2/22, with further deals signed and trading in-line with expectations such that management expect to meet our targets. We believe this represents strong performance in the current market environment and reiterate our Buy rating.
VLG has delivered a pleasing and reassuring H1 result against a challenging backdrop. The recent acquisitions are performing strongly and it has been able to mitigate a lot of the recent incremental cost/inflation headwinds. Trading so far in H2 is slightly ahead of plan and it has a very strong order book which will lead to increased H2 weighting. Confidence in EBITDA forecasts is therefore high. We have, however, reduced our PBT/EPS forecasts on the back of higher D&A (non-cash) than expected. This hasn’t influenced our EBITDA based valuation, and our target price remains unchanged at 65p. On 4x EV/EBITDA reducing to 3x VLG is a BUY.
Venture Life has provided a Trading Update for the six months to June 2022, noting that trading is inline with management's expectations and remains on track to meet our FY22E forecasts. Revenues are expected to be £18.9m for H1/22E (+36%), supported by recent acquisitions and gross and adjusted EBITDA margins have increased. Net debt, including finance leases, was £7.2m, improved versus £7.5m at Dec-21A. The order book remains strong and ahead of the same period last year and supports the H2/22E expectations alongside trading to date and the normal H2-weighting. We maintain forecasts and our Buy recommendation.
VLG is showing signs of recovery, with mitigations clawing back lost margin. It has also successfully integrated and locked in planned synergies from the recent acquisitions, which are clearly enhancing the portfolio and earnings quality. Although delayed by lock-down, growth potential remains significant in China from its new distribution partner. VLG is therefore returning to profitable growth as forecast. The platform is highly scalable and trades on just 4.9x EV/EBITDA falling to 3.6x, and offers a 13% FCF yield. Our target price remains at 65p
2021 was a tough year which saw the non-repeat of highly profitable hand sanitiser sales, almost no Chinese sales and the impact of input/cost inflation. However, it successfully integrated 2 acquisitions, which enhance the portfolio and earnings quality, and locked in the planned synergies. With new distribution agreements (inc to China), and mitigations in place to claw back lost margin, VLG looks set to return to profitable growth. The platform is highly scalable and trades on just 5x EV/EBITDA falling to 4x, and offers a 12% FCF yield. Our target price increases to 66p after rolling forward to new FY23 forecasts. Buy.
Venture Life Group has reported its results for FY21A, with revenues and adjusted EBITDA coming in ahead of our forecasts. Revenues, supported by two acquisitions, grew 9% to £32.8m with the acquisitions more than offsetting lost FY20A COVID-related sales and significantly reduced shipments to China. The gross margin was also affected by these factors, though also supported by higher margin acquisitions. Adjusted EBITDA grew 8%. Management have provided a positive outlook for FY22E, based on trading to date and the order book, which supports our forecasts and the introduction of FY23E expectations. We believe the company has set strong foundations for growth and maintain our Buy recommendation.
What’s cooking in the IPO kitchen? Lift Global Ventures plc to join AQSE Growth Market. The Company's investment strategy is to operate as an enterprise company seeking acquisition or investment opportunities within the financial media and technology industries. Within these broad industries, areas of focus may include: Financial news websites and other forms of “new media”, Investment research providers, Financial PR, IR, design and marketing agencies, Production studios and visual content providers and Technology platforms which facilitate capital raising and/or lending. Mkt Cap and Capital to be raised TBC, expected 29 April. Shellraise plc, to join AQSE Growth Market. The Company will focus on identifying investment opportunities in companies operating in the viticulture sector which require funding to increase output. Mkt Cap and Capital to be raised TBC, expected later in April. Cordiant Global Agricultural Income plc intends to float on the Main Market (Premium). The Company's investment objective will be to seek to provide an attractive yield, with potential capital growth, by providing secured medium-term finance to the global agricultural sector. The Company will seek to promote more sustainable crop production and help address a capital solutions gap which exists in the agricultural sector in select regions. The Company will provide finance for crop inputs and for capital investment in new technologies and infrastructure which help increase crop yields and have a sustainable benefit. IPO PAUSED. Our daily digest of news from UK listed Small and Mid caps Banquet Buffet Aura Energy 16p £80.8m (AURA.L) Uranium Resource Upgrade Programme Underway. 10,000 metre infill drilling programme to commence in May 2022, with completion expected in Q3 CY 2022 and Resource upgrade results early in Q4 CY 2022. Focused on increasing Measured and Indicated (M&I) Resources, as Aura transitions from a uranium explorer to producer at Tiris. A potential increase in M&I Resources will aim to support the expansion of mining Reserves, leading to possible increased target production rates. Contracts entered with drilling and downhole radiometric logging contractors for mobilisation in May 2022. The program will include re-evaluation of targets in the Tiris West resources using drilling and downhole radiometric logging, with the aim of expanding the global Tiris uranium and vanadium resources. Results are expected in Q3 CY 2022. Cake Box 209p £83.6m (CBOX.L) The specialist retailer of fresh cream cakes, announced a full year trading update for the 12 months ended 31 March 2022. Continued sustainable growth. Trading during the second half has continued to be strong across the Group's store estate and online delivery channels. Accordingly, the Group expects to report revenues for the year as up c.50% year-on-year, with adjusted profit before tax in line with market expectations. Revenues for the 10 months to 31 March 2022, excluding the impact of the March 2020 lockdown and associated store closures from the comparative period, are expected to have increased c.32%, with total franchisee sales increasing 12% on a like-for-like basis. The online delivery and Click & Collect options continue to expand the Group's customer base, and franchisee online sales increased c.41% during the year and c.27% on a 10 month basis. The Group opened 11 new franchise stores in the second half (excluding kiosk openings), bringing the total number of stores opened in the full year to 31 (FY 2021: 24), and leaving the total number of Cake Box stores at period end at 185. New locations opened in the second half include Tottenham, Plymouth and Sunderland. Crossword Cybersecurity* 29p £21.7m (CCS.L) The technology commercialisation company focused on cyber security and risk, announced its final results for the year ended 31 December 2021. Delivered 43% revenue growth to £2.3m (including Grant Income of £152k included in 'Other Income'), despite the turbulence in the economy. Revenues from product and services expanded by 56%. Annual recurring revenue doubled during 2021. £1.3m cost increases driven by headcount increasing by 74%, with continued investment in sales and marketing and product development, and increased professional fees in 2021 driven by two acquisitions, two equity fund raises and the opening of an overseas company in Oman. £457k gain on revaluation of CyberOwl Limited shareholding measured at fair value. Crossword catalysed the creation of CyberOwl Limited in 2016. Loss of £2.5m. Expects rate of growth in income to be circa 75% in 2022, in line with market expectations. £3.4m closing cash. Tom Ilube, CEO of Crossword Cybersecurity plc, commented: "I am incredibly pleased with the progress Crossword made in 2021, achieving 43% total revenue growth, and 56% growth in our product and services revenue. We expanded our product portfolio with the addition of Identiproof, our services offering with the addition of Nightingale, and our geographical reach with the opening of our Oman office. We were delighted to welcome new institutional investors in our February and July 2021 fund raises and are appreciative of the ongoing support of our shareholders. D4T4 Solutions 237.5p £95.5m (D4T4.L) The data solutions provider, announces the following trading update for the year ended 31 March 2022. The Group performed strongly in the second half of the financial year, and consequently the Group Revenues are expected to be in line with market expectations, whilst the Adjusted Profit Before Tax is expected to be at the upper end of the range of market expectations. Moreover, during the year the Group increased annual recurring revenue significantly by 32% to £14.0m (2021: £10.6m). The Board remains highly confident in the Group's strategy, the Company starts the new financial year with a strengthened management team, good revenue visibility, and a strong pipeline of opportunities across both the Celebrus Customer Data Platform and Fraud Data Platform products. The Company expects to announce further contract wins in the coming months. Final results for the year to 31 March 2022 are expected to be announced in early to mid-July. Haydale Graphene 5.8p £29.6m (HAYD.L) Advanced materials group, Haydale is celebrating a double award win, with the Group picking up an award at the prestigious 2022 British Engineering Excellence Awards (BEEAs) and named as a winner of the Kidney Research UK MedTech Competition respectively. The global company with its head office in Ammanford, Wales was the overall winner in the 'Materials Application of the Year' category for the surface treatment, CeramycGuard™. The BEEA judges said it was 'a great development of materials, which is simple to use and meets multiple applications.' CeramycGuard™ is a concrete surface coating developed and manufactured by Zirconia and exclusively distributed by Haydale in the UK. The surface treatment uses Haydale's proprietary silicon carbide microfibre, along with nano-Alumina and Zirconia Silicates to renew and preserve concrete surfaces. After pitching to the Kidney Research UK MedTech Competition Dragons' Den, Haydale, as the industrial partner, and the Wales Kidney Research Unit at Cardiff University were chosen as one of seven winners. The cash prize will allow the collaborative team to work towards developing a urinary electrochemical microRNA sensor for rapid detection of problems with newly transplanted kidneys, potentially replacing slower and more costly PCR-based methods. The sensor will use Haydale's biomedical functionalised graphene ink to accelerate detection without the need for invasive biopsy. Invinity Energy Systems 97.5p £113.1m (IES.L) The global manufacturer of utility-grade energy storage, has been certified as compliant with ISO standards for Quality Management (ISO 9001), Environmental Management (ISO 14001) and Health & Safety Management (ISO 45001) following an extensive audit process undertaken by leading global assurance provider SAI-Global. This achievement means that Invinity becomes one of the only flow battery manufacturers worldwide to hold all three standards concurrently, further demonstrating the Company's position as a leading provider of utility-grade products to the stationary energy storage industry. Marlowe 929p £890.3m (MRL.L) The specialist in business-critical services and software which assure safety and regulatory compliance, announces that it has acquired TP Health, incorporated as TP Health (Holdings) Ltd, a leading provider of technology-enabled Occupational Health services in the UK, for an expected enterprise value of £14.9m. TP Health, established in 2006, is headquartered in Northampton and employs approximately 240 staff, including over 130 clinical professionals. The acquisition of TP Health offers attractive operational synergies with Optima Health and adds further scale to Marlowe's UK leading Occupational Health offering, a core compliance market for Marlowe within its Governance, Risk and Compliance division. For the year ended 31 December 2020, TP Health generated a profit before tax of £1m on revenue of £14.6m. Net assets at 31 December 2020 were £1.9m. The total enterprise value will comprise an upfront cash consideration of £13.3m in addition to an estimated £1.6m in performance-related contingent consideration. The acquisition will be funded from Marlowe's existing cash resources. Stanley Gibbons 2.15p £9.2m (SGI.L) Trading update for the year to 31 March 2022. Trading during the second half of the year continued to improve across all areas of the business and revenue for the year ended 31 March 2022 is expected to be approximately £12m. While the reduced impact of COVID related restrictions and resultant consumer behaviour has undoubtedly played a part, there are a variety of internal elements which have also influenced this. “The primary creditor and majority shareholder (Phoenix S.G. Limited) has remained extremely supportive and engaged. They have, as in previous years, once again formally waived the loan covenants which we are in default of.” Further evidence of their support is through their provision of loan finance for the purchase of the British Guiana 1c Magenta as announced on 8 June 2021. Tintra 172.5p £25.1m (TNT.L) Wholly owned subsidiary, Tintra Payments (Mauritius) Limited , has been granted permission to commence business under its Payment Intermediary Services License from the Mauritius Financial Services Commission. This allows TPM to operate as an online Payment Service Provider, covering the provision of payment services and merchant online services for accepting electronic payments by a variety of methods including credit card, bank-based payments such as direct debit, bank transfer, and real-time transfer based on online banking. Mauritius has become an important financial services hub for Africa and South Asia and the approval of TPM to commence operations is viewed by the Board as an important step in the development of its Web 3.0 Banking strategy. TPM, a Mauritian incorporated company, is currently finalising its name change from Oyster Payment Services, a brand that the Company used when forming the original vehicle, that was never activated, in 2018. Name Change of JV Company. To more closely align with the Company's strategy, the name of the Group's AI Joint Venture vehicle that houses its relationship with TMC2, which was announced on 24 November 2021, has changed from Finsensr Ltd to Tintra 3.0 Ltd. Venture Life Group 37.5p £47.2m (VLG.L) Further to the announcement on 23 March 2022 Venture Life provides an update on the timing of the announcement of its results for the year ended 31 December 2021. The Company's auditors continue to experience resourcing issues and as such have advised that additional time is required to finalise their procedures. Accordingly the Company now expects to be able to announce its audited results for the year ended 31 December in early May. The Company reiterates its guidance stated in its trading update on 31st January 2022: Revenue of £32.6m for the FY21(2020: £30.1m), up 8% on the prior year; Revenue in the second half of the year was £18.7m, an increase of 35% over the revenues in the first half of the year (£13.9m); Adjusted EBITDA in line with market expectations; Momentum building in the business post acquisitions demonstrated by Q4 revenue 59% above that in Q3; and Net debt of £3.2m pre-IFRS16 (£7.3m IFRS16) reflecting a phasing effect on working capital as a result of higher receivables following strong Q4 revenue.
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The results of a small-scale clinical trial led by Cardiff University have been published indicating that a mouthwash containing cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC) can inactivate SARS-CoV-2 in the mouth for up to 1 hour. Significantly for Venture Life, which part-funded the study, its Dentyl mouthwash range contains CPC. While larger studies are required to confirm this result, the current study suggests that CPC-containing mouthwashes, such as Dentyl, could provide a simple measure to help reduce the spread of COVID-19. We believe the pandemic has led to an increased focus on personal hygiene and see the current study results supporting Venture Life's marketing of its important Dentyl range. We maintain our Buy recommendation.
Venture Life has provided a trading and commercial update for the 12 months to December 2021. The company expects revenues of £32.6m (Cenkos FY21E; £32.0m) delivering 8% YoY growth for the year. Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be in-line with market expectations (Cenkos FY21E; £6.3m). Significantly, revenue growth, supported by acquisitions, is building with H2/21E revenue up over 35% on H1/21A, while Q4/21E revenue is expected to be up 59% on Q3/21E. Momentum has continued into FY22E, with the group order book ‘significantly ahead' of the same time last year. Net debt (including leases) was £7.3m at year end, ahead of our expectations, due to higher short-term receivables associated with the strong Q4/21E revenues. We maintain our Buy recommendation.
Sales in Q4 were slightly better than expected and supply chain/cost headwinds have been managed in line with previously revised assumptions. Consequently, adj EBITDA is in line with market expectations. With price rises starting to work their way through, a strong order book (up significantly LFL) and commercial progress on contracts, there is a growing level of confidence in the year ahead. With the shares having pulled back, we move to Buy.
Venture Life has announced the appointment of Samarkand Group Plc as its new Chinese partner for the company's oral care brands, Dentyl and UltraDEX on an exclusive basis, for an initial term of five years. Venture Life has terminated its agreement with its previous partner following the communicated poor performance of that partner. We see this as a very positive move for Venture Life, which generated £2.3m of revenues from China in 2020A, clearly demonstrating the potential of this market for Dentyl and UltraDEX. We note that in the year to March-21, Samarkand generated revenues of £11.1m in China versus £3.5m in FY20A. We maintain our Buy recommendation.
VLG has terminated the agreement with its previous Chinese partner, and announced a new partner to distribute Dentyl and UltraDEX into China. Samarkand (SMK) is a UK listed business which specialises in connecting brands with Chinese consumers. Reflecting prudence in light of its previous venture, we make no changes to forecasts yet. However, if executed to plan, the new agreement could add materially to earnings, especially from FY24 onwards.
Venture Life Group has provided a trading update and details of changes to the company's board. While the recent acquisitions are integrating as planned, COVID-related challenges have persisted including pricing pressure, freight charges and Chinese sales. The company now expects FY21E revenues to be not less than £32m and we have moved our forecasts in-line with this guidance. Venture Life has also announced Dr Drummond and Mr Waters, Chair and CFO, respectively, will retire from the board and leave the company. We maintain our Buy rating.
Today’s update reveals many of the challenges flagged in September have persisted. Alongside rising input/logistics costs, and volatile customer ordering, revenue guidance has been reduced by 10%. We have rippled a similar reduction through to FY22, leading to EPS downgrades of 27% this year and 38% next year. The company continues to look to 2022 with confidence, and maintains its medium term ambitions for profitable expansion.
Venture Life has announced its interim results for the six months to June 2021. As previously announced in the August trading statement, revenues were down YoY due to lower HSG sales and sales to the Chinese partner, though revenues are expected to grow subsequently, benefiting from the two recent acquisitions. H1/21 gross margin was impacted by a number of factors including supply chain costs and stockholding costs; however, the company expect margins to improve in H2/21E. Despite the set-backs impacting H1/21A, with two acquisitions set to contribute in H2/21E and the financial capacity to make further acquisitions, we believe Venture Life is in a strong position to deliver future growth and we maintain our Buy recommendation.
H1 EBITDA declined by 45% YoY, albeit this was slightly better than we had anticipated after the pre-close update in August. The beat was cost related (efficiencies/savings). There was a significant gross margin drag though and, while transitory in nature and diminishing in H2, this means further savings need to be realised to hit full year forecasts. This is our view and we retain a good level of confidence in next year’s forecasts. Having de-rated, valuation looks very undemanding now on just 7x cal’22 EV//EBITDA. Navigating H2 and getting back into growth mode after the drags to date will be key to kick-starting the re-rating process.
Sales contracted by 18% in H1, which can mostly be attributed to lower sales of hand sanitiser and reduced sales to its Chinese partner. Excluding this, VLG generated robust growth (+9%) across the higher margin part of the business despite the prolonged effects of covid. We have lowered EPS estimates to reflect the weaker sales, downgrading by 6% this year and 8% next year. This includes higher expectations in the recently acquired BBI business, nothing for China, which remains a key target territory, and roughly 10% accretion in FY22 from last week’s acquisition (oncology support). Investors will understandably be disappointed but, on 11x FY22 EV/EBITDA, and with substantial firepower for further accretive M&A, the outlook remains positive. Fair value is estimated at c130p using a peer-based 15x EV/EBITDA multiple.
Venture Life has provided a trading update for the 6-months to June 2021 and its recent acquisitions. The company expects H1/21E revenues to be £13.8m versus £16.9m for H1/20A, the decline due to lower Chinese Dentyl and hand sanitiser gel (HSG) sales despite the rest of the business delivering 9% growth. We have updated our forecasts to reflect the current trading and recently announced acquisitions and have extended forecasts to include FY22E. Reflecting the trading update data and the two recent acquisitions, our FY21E revenue forecast has increased to c£36m from c£33m. While the issues with Dentyl in China and sales of HSG are disappointing, we believe Venture Life is in a solid position to grow revenues and profits and still retains meaningful firepower to complete additional acquisitions to further bolster growth. We maintain out Buy recommendation.
VLG has acquired the brand and assets from Helsinn Healthcare SA for CHF 6.0m (c£4.7m). The acquisition gives the group access to the oncology support vertical, which is viewed as a potential growth area in a globally underserved market. With minimal overheads, the synergistic nature of the deal means it will earnings enhancing immediately and integration will be straightforward. The price paid equates to c4.7x pro-forma FY21 EV/EBITDA. VLG remains confident that the acquisition will deliver meaningful revenue and profitability looking ahead. We leave our forecasts unchanged pending an imminent group trading update.
Venture Life Group has announced the acquisition of a portfolio of brands from the private Swiss pharma company, Helsinn Healthcare. Venture Life will pay CHF6m for the portfolio, which includes three on-market brands and two products in development. The brands, which generated revenues of £2.5m during a Covid-19 impacted FY20A, target the oncology support market, a new opportunity for the company. We believe these products will fit well within Venture Life (which manufactures two of the brands) and provides strong near-term growth opportunities. We maintain our Buy recommendation.
Venture Life has announced it has entered into a Revolving Credit Facility (RCF) with Santander UK and Silicon Valley Bank. The funds, of up to £50m, provide leverage to the company's existing cash resources, and will support management's M&A ambitions, following the recent acquisition of BBI Healthcare for c£36m. We remain encouraged by Venture Life actively progressing its overall M&A strategy, which we expect to scale the company and provide operational leverage opportunities to maximise the potential of the current business. We maintain our Buy recommendation.
VLG has agreed a new £30m RCF (with a further £20m available subject to certain conditions). This provides significant additional low-cost funding to continue its growth strategy, including accretive acquisitions. With an exciting pipeline of opportunities, and a strong track record of delivery (including realisation of synergies), this news should be well received. In the first full year of earnings and synergy from its most recent BBIH acquisition, the EV/EBITDA multiple is currently just 10x (Dec’22).
VLG has acquired BBI Healthcare (BBIH) for up to £36m which fully deploys proceeds from the Nov’20 placing. BBIH is of high strategic value; it is growing, highly profitable and a leader in Women’s Health & Energy/Diabetes Management with 3 brands (2 market leaders). It is well invested, has manufacturing capacity, and made a 28% EBITDA margin in FY20. The price equates to c12x EBITDA before synergies, which will be significant and immediate. We upgrade FY21 EPS by 12.5% (part year) and FY22 by 17.6%. Our fair value estimate rises to 140p. Pending confirmation of a new RCF, VLG will have firepower for further accretive M&A.
Venture Life Group has announced the acquisition of BBI Healthcare, a leading Women's Health and Energy Management/Diabetes company. Venture Life will pay up to £36.0m for the business, which generated revenues of £10.2m and adjusted EBITDA of £2.6m in FY20A. We believe the acquisition will fit well within Venture Life, significantly expanding the group's own brand revenues and providing a number of revenue growth and operational leverage opportunities. The acquisition has been financed by existing cash resources at completion, but a revolving credit facility (RCF) is expected to be in place shortly after completion to repatriate some of the cash used and to provide additional financing for further M&A. We are excited to see Venture Life progressing its M&A strategy and maintain our Buy recommendation.
In what has been a very challenging year with numerous headwinds, FY20 results are slightly ahead of recently upgraded estimates and clearly underline the benefits of operating leverage as VLG brands and volume throughput in Italy scale up. The 500bps uplift in the EBITDA margin to 19% included headwinds worth almost 300bps relating to covid costs and debtor provision (China) – both of which should not feature in the future. There is no news on M&A at this stage, but investors will be encouraged that shipments to China have recently recommenced.
Venture Life Group has delivered an outstanding year with revenues up c50% and adjusted EBITDA up over 100%. Revenue growth was delivered both organically and via M&A, and across both the Venture Life brands and the Customer brands divisions. Revenue growth was matched by margin expansion, with gross margin up over 300bps and adjusted EBITDA margin above 20% for the first time. The group closed 2020 with a strong balance sheet able to support M&A. We believe Venture Life is entering 2021 in an exceptionally strong position with numerous organic growth opportunities and the financial capacity to complete significant acquisitions through the year. We reiterate our Buy recommendation.
Venture Life Group has announced a trading update for the year to December 2020. The company expects revenues to be up 49% to £30.1m and adjusted EBITDA to be at least £6m, up over 100% YoY and indicating a margin of c20% over 500bps up on FY19A's c15%. These results highlight an exceptional year for the company despite the pandemic. With a balance sheet strengthened to enable targeted acquisitions to build on the double-digit revenue growth we forecast for FY21E, we believe the year ahead should be another exceptional year for the company. We reiterate our Buy recommendation.
Strong H2 trading means full year EBITDA is expected to be ‘not less than £6m’, leading us to upgrade our adj PBT/EPS forecasts by 5%. Within this we note lower sales to China (CN), offset by stronger than expected performance in higher margin core markets, including the UK. We have reduced the CN sales mix in unchanged FY21/22 forecasts, with positive implications for earnings quality. Management hopes to resume exports in H1 and, should this be the case, forecast risk would be to the upside. EPS enhancing M&A also remains a key focus.
Venture Life has developed significant momentum through 2020, reflected in the strong share performance over the year. Building on this momentum, the company has announced it is conditionally raising £34m via an equity raise to help it secure additional M&A opportunities. At this time, Venture Life has identified three opportunities, which we estimate could deliver significant earnings accretion if all are completed. We have updated our forecasts to reflect the raise but at this time have left our underlying assumptions unchanged. We expect Venture Life to maintain the momentum it has developed, supported by the proposed raise and M&A opportunities; we re-iterate our Buy recommendation.
Venture Life aims to become a global leader in the self-care branded product market, where there are a number of structural growth drivers. It has a unique and scalable platform to develop, manufacture and distribute products, including its own brands and international customers’ brands. What is already a high margin business is poised to deliver a compelling mixture of top line growth with significant operating leverage. Performance in H1 (EBITDA +347%) highlights the potency of VLG’s model. Acquisitions can also leverage the platform to drive growth, and management has a very strong track record here. On top of this exciting growth play, there is also a chance that its Dentyl dual-action mouthwash could have applications to slow/reduce CV19 transmission, adding to the upside potential.
Venture Life Group has reported on a very strong H1/20A period. Revenues were up 80% with operational leverage delivering c100% growth in gross profit and +350% adjusted EBITDA growth. Performance was supported by the acquisition of PharmaSource, strong sales to China, sales of new brand, DISINPLUS, and the group's ability to maintain production at its Italian manufacturing facility. With this report we have introduced FY21E forecasts, expecting the company to maintain its growth momentum and deliver 10% revenue growth. Venture Life is delivering a strong performance, we maintain our Buy recommendation.
Venture Life Group has provided a trading update for the six months to June 2020. In the period, the company grew revenues by 80% to £16.9m, including 65% organic growth, while PharmaSource revenues (acquired Dec-19) increased 43% versus H1/19A. Supported by the new hand-sanitising brand, DISINPLUS, and organic growth, Venture Life Brands contributed 53% of revenues in the period, versus ~30% in H1/19A. During the half, Venture Life signed several new agreements, including an exclusive 15-year agreement with its Chinese partner and additional business with Alliance Pharma, providing a solid foundation for longer term revenue growth. Amid a global pandemic, these results clearly demonstrate the strength and agility of Venture Life Group, we maintain our Buy recommendation.
Continuing its exceptionally strong year, Venture Life has announced it expects to ‘comfortably exceed market expectations' for FY20E. This outperformance stems from all areas of the business, supported by an enlarged order book, €168m multi-year Chinese agreement (+€7m in 2020) and demand for its new branded hand sanitising gel. Venture Life has announced an extension to its Alliance Pharma manufacturing agreement. On top of our March upgrade, we are today, significantly increasing our revenue and EBITDA forecasts for FY20E (+19% and +24%, respectively). We reiterate our Buy recommendation.
Venture Life Group has announced the signing of a new, exclusive 15-year agreement with its Chinese partner on key products, including Dentyl. Significantly, the minimum purchase obligations over the 15-year period amount to €168m. This equates to, on average, £10m of revenues and potentially £4m of EBITDA, per year, to 2034, which we estimate has a present value of ~£21m or 25p per share. Further, we believe the agreement significantly improves the Group's long-term financial position. The deal clearly validates Venture Life's Chinese strategy and its partner's commitment to the long-term development of these key products. We reiterate our Buy recommendation.
Following its strong Trading Update in December 2019, Venture Life has announced its audited results for the year ending December 2019. Revenues were up 7% to £20.2m and gross margin increased to 39.6% from 38.8% in 2018. Adjusted EBITDA for the year was £3.0m and adjusted EPS was 2.18p, up 6% YoY. The results were supported by a number of product launches, partnering agreements and development and manufacturing agreements. Post year end, the company completed the acquisition of PharmaSource BV and as announced in March has received significant orders from China. We upgraded our forecasts in March and maintain our Buy recommendation.
In line with the recent FCA announcement, Venture Life, in conjunction with its auditor has taken the decision to delay the release of its FY19 results, though the company notes it was in position to release them. Also, with this announcement, the group has provided a strong trading update, noting that all business units are still operating as of now. Specifically, Venture Life points to orders of over €7m from its Dentyl partner in China for 2020 (versus €0.5m for 2019), with at least €2m for delivery in H1/20. Overall, the order book stands at over twice the level at this time last year. While remaining cautious, we have upgraded our forecasts for FY20E and maintain our BUY recommendation.
Venture Life Group announced it has agreed to acquire PharmaSource BV, a company which operates in similar markets to Venture Life and is based in the Netherlands. Venture Life will pay an initial consideration of €5.23m and a deferred contingent consideration of up to €1.27m, funded entirely from the company's cash reserves. We see a number of strong benefits from the acquisition, including wider distribution, potential cross-selling, future manufacturing benefits and operational cost synergies. The company has also announced a trading update, noting its results for FY19 have been affected by previously noted issues with its Chinese distribution partners. We maintain our Buy recommendation.
Venture Life Group (VLG.L): Acquisition of PharmaSource BV | Amryt Pharma (AMYT.L): Market update
Venture Life Group Plc Amryt Pharma PLC Sponsored ADR
Venture Life Group has announced its results for the 6 months to 30 June 2019, reporting double-digit revenue growth and strong cash generation. While the Brands business faced a tough trading environment in the UK, the company has made significant commercial progress which positions the business well for future growth. Revenues from customer brands grew 10% supported by both existing and new customers. Venture Life delivered strong operating cash flow of £1.3m and free cash flow of £0.85m. We maintain our Buy recommendation.
Venture Life Group Plc has reported strong commercial developments across all three strands of its business - UK direct, international distributors and customer manufacturing. This announcement has seen the growth of UK distribution points for the newly acquired Dentyl and UltraDEX, new international product launches take place and new manufacturing agreements signed. This clearly demonstrates Venture Life delivering strong commercial progress in-line with the its organic strategy. This announcement is also timed with the commencement of a 10-day UltraDEX sampling campaign in London. We maintain our Buy recommendation.
Venture Life's full year results show a strong growing company generating profits and positioned to deliver both organic and M&A driven growth going forward. Revenues were £18.8m (trading update expectation £18.7m) and adjusted EBITDA was £2.7m versus our expected £2.3m. The 17% revenue growth was relatively evenly split between organic and M&A driven, demonstrating the potential of both aspects of the group's strategy. The company closed the year with a net cash position of £5.8m (2017A net debt £6.3m). We maintain our Buy recommendation.
Venture Life Group has announced a strong trading update for the year to 31 Dec 2018. Revenues are expected to be £18.7m (Cenkos est. £18.4m) and adjusted EBITDA is expected to be in-line with expectations (Cenkos est £2.3m). Additionally, the company has announced several commercial updates relating to UltraDEX and the recently acquired Dentyl range. 2018 was clearly a tough year for retail and consumer goods, further emphasising the strength of the group and ability of management to deliver. We maintain our Buy recommendation.
Venture Life Group has announced a number of updates to its international distribution network for its Own Brand products, including the company's first 10-year distribution deal in Ireland for the recently acquired Dentyl. Additionally, the company has announced three recent international partnering deals for UltraDEX, an expansion of UltraDEX UK distribution through Tesco and product launches in Israel. These announcements are strongly in-line with the company's strategy and support our Buy recommendation
VENTURE LIFE GROUP (VLG.L) | BOTSWANA DIAMONDS (BOD.L)
Venture Life Group Plc Botswana Diamonds Plc
As announced with its August Trading Statement, Venture Life Group has delivered revenues of £8.3m, representing growth of 6%; EBITDA of £0.7m also increased versus H1/17A. The acquisition of the Dentyl brand in August 18, increased listings for UltraDEX in the UK and order phasing at the Italian manufacturing facility on top of organic growth should see stronger H2/18E performance. Further, improved H2/18E gross margin (vs H1/18A), the Dentyl acquisition and debt repayments (post period) are expected to deliver increased profitability and cash generation. We maintain our Buy recommendation.
The Group’s ready-made marketing, international distribution and manufacturing/development platform has already demonstrated its ability to revitalise and reinvigorate under-invested or unexploited self-care brands through the Group’s highly successful acquisition of UltraDEX®.
VENTURE LIFE GROUP (VLG.L)
Management has built Venture Life Group into a business with multiple revenue growth opportunities (both organic and through acquisitions) and infrastructure which can support this growth without requiring significant additions to the cost base. On an organic basis, we model double digit revenue CAGR, which can deliver +100% adjusted EPS CAGR between 2017 and 2020. The transaction announced today will enhance these growth expectations while also improving the company's financial gearing ratios. We initiate coverage with a BUY recommendation.
VENTURE LIFE GROUP (VLG.L) | SUNRISE RESOURCES (SRES.L)
Venture Life Group Plc Sunrise Resources plc
VENTURE LIFE GROUP (VLG.L) | EDENVILLE ENERGY (EDL.L)
Venture Life Group Plc Shuka Minerals PLC
2017 Preliminaries confirm Venture Life Group (‘Venture Life’, ‘the Group’) is delivering on all fronts. Investment in its Brands portfolio resulted in a 2% boost to the Group’s blended gross margins, while double-digit revenue growth underlined the success of recent product introductions and the reach of its platform.
VENTURE LIFE GROUP (VLG.L) | KERAS RESOURCES (KRS.L)
Venture Life Group Plc Keras Resources Plc
Venture Life Flash : Trading update
Venture Life : Trading update (31-Jan-2018)
VENTURE LIFE GROUP (VLG.L) | KERAS RESOURCES (KRS.L) | STARCOM (STAR.L) EDENVILLE ENERGY (EDL.L) | PHOTONSTAR (PSL.L)
VLG KRS TRAC SKA BOU
The first entry of UltraDEX into the convenience store channel offers a significant opportunity to access new customers, while wider preparations for the brand in France, Italy and the Nordics progress on track.
VENTURE LIFE GROUP (VLG.L) | STARCOM (STAR.L)
Venture Life Group Plc t42 IoT Tracking Solutions PLC
This morning’s announcement on the successful US FDA inspection of the Biokosmes site reflects new potential for Venture Life. The company also announces a new distribution agreement for UltraDEX in France.
VENTURE LIFE GROUP (VLG.L) | BEXIMCO PHARMACEUTICALS (BXP.L)
Venture Life Group Plc Beximco Pharmaceuticals Limited Sponsored GDR RegS
Interims for the 6 months to 30 June, see Venture Life tracking broadly in line against our expectations at the top line – revenues for the full year are in line with market expectations – but a shortfall on profitability takes the gloss off the commercial performance. We had previously anticipated full-year FY17E EBITDA in the region of £2.1m, but that looks like a big ask at this point, with management now guiding to YoY FY17E EBITDA growth of circa 50%, suggesting a level closer to £1.2m. We make initial revisions to forecasts and downgrade our TP to 87p (128p).
A positive commercial update this morning builds on the detail provided by the mid-July trading statement. Distribution updates cover UltraDEX, Myco-Clear and continued roll-out of Lubatti (China). Interim results are expected on 21 September where we anticipate more detail to be outlined – in the meantime we maintain our Buy recommendation.
VLG reports strong revenue growth of 28% to £7.8m in the H117 period – or 18% on a like-for-like basis – as investment in promotion of the UltraDEX oral care range paid off, indicating that VLG is well on track to deliver our FY17 estimated revenue. We estimate that line extensions, prospects of further international expansion of the brand, will be a key driver of future margin and revenue growth. There are also indications that the Biokosmes manufacturing site is increasing output and revenues, having achieved a record high in sales in June. We maintain our forecasts ahead of FY17 results.
Yesterday’s trading update from Venture Life related a strong first half with revenues for the half-year up 28% to £7.8m (1H16 £6.1m), or +18% on a like-forlike basis. This sees the top-line moving well and looking on-track against our full-year expectations.
VENTURE LIFE GROUP (VLG.L) | KERAS RESOURCES (KRS.L)| EDENVILLE ENERGY (EDL.L)
VLG KRS SKA
Arena Events Group -provider of temporary physical structures, seating, ice rinks, furniture and interiors. Raising £60m. Mkt cap £63m. Expected on the Chef’s birthday. 25th July.| Altus Strategies—African focused natural resource Company. Offer TBC. Expected Mid July. | Harvey Nash Group— Provider of professional recruitment and offshore solutions moving to AIM from Main. No capital to be raised. Mkt Cap c. £57.8m. | AnimalCare—RTO of Ecuphar NV, a European animal health company. £30m raise. Ecuphar FY16 rev £68.4m, underlying EBITDA £8.9m. Due 13 July. | Angling Direct -Schedule 1 from the specialist fishing tackle retailer in the UK . Raising £9m of which £7.4m new money. Mkt cap c. £27.4m. Due 13 July | NEXUS Infrastructure—£35m vendor sale. Mkt cap £70.5m. Provider of essential infrastructure services to the UK housebuilding and commercial sectors. Expected 11 July. FYSep16 rev £135.7m. | Greencoat Renewables - Schedule 1. Targeting a portfolio of operating renewable electricity generation assets, initially investing in wind generation assets in Ireland. Offer TBC. Due Mid July. | QUIZ— Omni-channel fast fashion womenswear Company intention to float. Due July 2017. Offer TBA | I3 Energy –Schedule 1 Update. Independent oil and gas company with assets and operations in the UK. Offer TBC, Mid July admission. | Verditek— Sch 1 update. The Company's subsidiaries will be involved in advanced solar photovoltaic, filtration and absorption technologies specialising in providing environmental services. Issue price 10p. Admission late June | Rockpool Acquisitions—Northern Ireland based Company seeking strong NI acquisition with an international outlook. Raising £1.5m at 10p. Due 5 July. | Hipgnosis Songs Fund investment company offering pure-play exposure to Songs and associated musical intellectual property rights. Prospectus yet to be published. | Impact Investment Trust—Exposure to a diversified portfolio of funds providing SMEs across developing economies with thegrowth capital they need to have a positive impact on the lives of the world's poorer populations. Raising up to $150m at $1.00 Residential Secure Income - social housing REIT raising up to £300m Admission due c.12 July. | Curzon Energy—Report on Proactive Investors of intended LSE float this year with acquisition of coal bed methane assets in Oregon. Looking to raise £3m plus. | NLB Group—financial and banking institution based in Slovenia, with a network of 356 branches. Seeking Ljubliana Stock Exchange listing with GDRs on the LSE. Expected mid June. | Kuwait Energy— has not been able to complete its initial public offering as announced in its Intention To Float of 3 May 2017. However, in light of positive feedback from potential investors, the Company remains committed to obtaining a London listing and continues to explore its options. | Supermarket Income REIT– Up to £200m raise to acquire a diversified portfolio of supermarket real estate assets in the UK, providing long-term RPI-linked income. Due 21 July.
VLG NFG BIRD LDG ORCP MANX MXCT CALL PMI
Venture Life has released an update covering its UltraDex products, leading with the announcement that it has been granted patents in Japan, Indonesia, Australia and Mexico for its UltraDEX Sensitive range. The company also notes in the UK that Boots Chemists has agreed to list two new additional UltraDEX products, increasing the range of UltraDEX products stocked in store from eight to ten. With the recent momentum behind the UltraDex range continuing as anticipated, we maintain our Buy recommendation.
VENTURE LIFE GROUP (VLG.L) | KERAS RESOURCES (KRS.L) | SUNRISE RESOURCES (SRES.L)
VLG KRS SRES
VENTURE LIFE GROUP (VLG.L) | FEEDBACK PLC (FDBK.L) | CLONTARF ENERGY (CLON.L)
VLG FDBK CLON
VENTURE LIFE GROUP (VLG.L) | PhotonStar LED Group (PSL.L) | SUNRISE RESOURCES (SRES.L)
VLG BOU SRES
During 2016 Venture Life Group (VLG) delivered on all KPIs, notably the successful launch of newly acquired UltraDEX range, increasing branded revenues by 250%, helping VLG to exceed revenue expectations up 57% to £14.3m and providing a maiden EBITDA profit of £0.8m. The company is on track to deliver sustainable profitability in the short term as it continues to expand its range of higher margin branded products, an important step towards the further transformation of VLG into a company with higher brand visibility.
Venture Life has announced results for the full-year to 31 December 2016 and while investors got a good flavour of the FY16 performance in the January trading update, we think the performance speaks for itself. Prior to January we’d been looking for £14m top-line for the year, VLG has come in with £14.3m (+57%), adjusted EBITDA £0.8m (vs PGe adjusted EBITDA £0.6m), gross margin up, operational leverage kicking in, UltraDEX ticking along very nicely, new key hires. We consider Venture Life to be a well-positioned growth business taking advantage of a well-developed product platform, with high-quality execution. We’ll take the opportunity to revisit forecasts in due course given the recent arrival of Adrian Crockett as CFO, but our investment thesis remains and the business is looking in good shape. Buy.
Venture Life has announced the appointment of Adrian Crockett as Chief Financial Officer, effective as of 06 March 2017. We consider Adrian’s addition to the Board adds significantly in terms of his experience in consumer healthcare and manufacturing operations and view this as an excellent appointment for the business. In the meantime, we remind investors of the strength of the company’s recent trading update (26 January 2017) and with our target price reflecting >100% upside at current levels, we repeat our Buy recommendation.
Venture Life Group manages a growing portfolio of non-prescription healthcare brands focused on ageing consumers, supported by its integrated product development and manufacturing model. The shares trade on a low multiple, particularly given that VLG will report positive EBITDA in 2016, has revenue momentum and prospects of near term, self-sustaining profitability.
Venture Life has released a positive pre-close trading update – building on the company’s mid-November statement – which outlines the continued momentum from the first half to the second half of the year, expanded order book and the benefits of the strengthening Euro. Full-year revenues of £14.3m compare positively against our existing £14.0m FY16E estimate meaning the company should at least meet our expectations for EBITDA profit of £0.4m, reflecting VLG’s first full year of EBITDA profitability. With our target price reflecting >100% upside at current levels, we repeat our Buy recommendation.
Venture Life Group (VLG.L): Trading update | Keras Resources (KRS.L) – CORP: Placing | Premier African Minerals (PREM.L) – SPECULATIVE BUY*: Zulu update
VLG KRS PREM
VLG manages a growing portfolio of its own healthcare brands focused on ageing consumers, supported by its integrated product development and manufacturing model. Sold without prescription, these brands address common ailments of ageing, cater for a population with raised expectations of quality of life and longevity, and travel well across international markets. A low risk high growth investment story.
Venture Life has released a confident trading update for the year ending 31 December 2016, highlighting the strength of revenue growth seen in the first half (and reported in September interims) has continued into the second half of the year. The company now expects over 50% reported revenue growth for FY16E to deliver ‘not less than £14.0m’ at the top-line. This compares with our previous estimate of £13.6m. Repeat Buy.
Ascent Resources (AST.L) – CORP: IPPC Permit and Operations update | Venture Life Group plc (VLG.L): Trading update
Venture Life Group Plc Ascent Resources plc
Venture Life has announced that James Hunter, Chief Financial Officer and Company Secretary, is to leave the company to pursue a new opportunity outside the group. He remains in his role until the end of November 2016 – meanwhile, the Board has initiated a recruitment process to appoint a new CFO and will provide a further update in due course. An opportunity to introduce new blood into the business, we maintain our investment thesis and repeat our Buy recommendation.
Today, Venture Life has formally announced the launch of its new UltraDEX advertising campaign in the UK (although the eagle-eyed amongst you may have already spotted UltraDEX posters on the Tube during your commute in to London). This is a significant advertising campaign for Venture Life, which will run for two weeks, as the company revitalises the UltraDEX oral care brand since its acquisition in March 2016. We repeat our Buy recommendation and 128p target price which represents >100% against the current level.
Today’s interim results from Venture Life reflect a good start to the year with reported revenues +40% to £6.1m (1H15: £4.4m). The group’s Brands business (£1.2m revenue, 1H15 £0.1m) has demonstrated the trajectory of the Periproducts acquisition (£0.9m revenue in the first four months) and, while development and manufacturing currently represents the larger part of Venture Life’s top-line (+15% £4.9m, 1H15: £4.2m), we should expect Brands to represent something in the region of half of all group revenues by 2019. Order book strength underpins management’s continued optimism and we retain our Buy recommendation, looking forward to further updates as both product and territorial expansion continue.
VLG manages a growing portfolio of its own healthcare brands focused on ageing consumers, supported by its integrated product development and manufacturing model. Sold without prescription, these brands address common ailments of ageing, cater for a population with raised expectations of quality of life and longevity, and travel well across international markets. A growth investment story.
Venture Life has announced a pre-close trading update reporting revenue of £6.1m for the first half (H1 2015A £4.4m), including the first four months of revenue for Periproducts (acquired in March). This puts the company on track to meet our full year expectations and we continue to expect breakeven during 2017. We reiterate our BUY recommendation. Our target price of 128p, based on prospective year trading comparables, represents over 100% headroom to the current share price.
Venture Life has announced prelims with revenues in-line with our expectations and a better reported performance at the bottom line. On the basis of today’s announcement we retain our investment thesis and note that our present target price (128p) centred on prospective-year trading comparables represents over 100% headroom over the current share price. Based on today’s performance, we take this as a reaffirmation of our current outlook on the business and repeat our Buy recommendation.
Venture Life has announced the first distribution agreements signed for its UltraDEX range of fresh breath products having acquired the range with the Periproducts Limited acquisition (completed 4 March 2016). Today’s news reaffirms our view of the opportunity as outlined in our earlier commentary and we anticipate further distribution agreements on UltraDEX to be announced in due course.
Venture Life has announced the signing of two long term distribution deals for its newly developed Benecol (plant stanol ester, clinically proven to reduce LDL cholesterol) once-a-day liquid sachet. Today’s news sends a number of strong signals for Venture Life, in terms of innovation, product development and commercial delivery in the Benecol business: in short, management is delivering on its plans. With the once-a-day liquid sachet requiring registration approvals (we estimate in the region of 3-4 months), we maintain our estimates but acknowledge the potential for revenue generation this year. We repeat our Buy recommendation and 128p target price.
Venture Life has today announced the completion of the acquisition of Periproducts Limited for a total cash consideration of £5.6m. Investors following the Venture Life story since IPO will have seen management successfully delivering on a strategy combining organic and acquisitive growth. We consider Periproducts offers an excellent opportunity to drive further growth with a brand that sits well alongside the wider Venture Life portfolio. New forecasts this morning see the company breaking even in FY17E and we reinstate our Buy recommendation with a target price of 128p (from 115p pre-deal).
This morning Venture Life has announced the proposed acquisition of Periproducts Limited, a UK-based oral care products company with a range of premium products including mouthwashes, which are alcohol-free, and toothpastes. The total estimated cash consideration is c.£5.6m which is to be funded by a proposed placing, convertible bond issue and existing cash resources. Venture Life announces the proposed placing of up to 2,428,572 new ordinary shares at 70p representing approximately 7.1% of the Company's existing ordinary share capital, to raise up to £1.7m, of which £0.8m is firmly committed, and a convertible bond issue to raise up to £2.0m, of which £1.5m has been underwritten. In addition, certain of the Directors have indicated that they may participate in the issue of the convertible bonds, if necessary, to ensure that, together with the £1.5m convertible bonds which are to be underwritten (if required), at least £1.9m in aggregate of convertible bonds will be issued. The placing and convertible bond issue, being conditional on shareholder approval, are subject to a general meeting scheduled for 01 March 2016. For regulatory purposes we place our recommendation Under Review.
Interim results this morning see management delivering against strategy. Where should investors be focusing in terms of growth drivers? There's the Lubatti launch in China (slated for this Autumn) paving the way for the possibility of new ranges further down the line, alongside new distribution deals with the whole underpinned by a restructured business development team. The new vonalei range of women's health products demonstrates an innovative base and represents further deal opportunities. We maintain our investment thesis, repeating our Buy recommendation with a 115p target price underpinned by a blended valuation approach using DCF/trading comps.
This morning Venture Life has announced a trading update for the first half of the financial year in which management notes that 1H15 revenue is ‘in line with market expectations and the Board continues to be encouraged by the trends in current trading'. Overall today's statement strikes a confident tone. Progress across the business is positive and the opportunity in China, following launch of products once registration is completed, will be a significant milestone for the group. We maintain our investment thesis unchanged and reiterate our Buy recommendation.
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