Hybridan Small Cap Feast - 22 Feb 23

22 February 2023 @HybridanLLP Status of this Note and Disclaimer This document has been issued to you by Hybridan LLP for information purposes only and should not be construed in any circumstances as an offer to sell or solicitation of any offer to buy any security or other financial instrument, nor shall it, or the fact of its distribution, form the basis of, or be relied upon in connection with, any contract relating to such action. This document has no regard for the specific investment objec

Hybridan Small Cap Feast 23/03/22

Joiners: RC365 Holding has joined the Main Market (Standard). Founded in Hong Kong in 2013, the Group is a fintech solutions service provider in China and Hong Kong, and is looking to expand its payment gateway services into Europe and the UK. In connection with Admission, the Company successfully raised approx. £2m for the Group at a price of 6.2p per ordinary share. At the Issue Price, the Company's market capitalisation will be approx. £6.7m. Leavers: No Leavers Today. What’s cooking in the I

Small Cap Feast: 09/07/21

Joiners: LungLife (LLAI.L), a developer of clinical diagnostic solutions for lung cancer enhanced by artificial intelligence (AI), has joined AIM. The Company's technology is a combination of the recovery of rare cells and blood-based biomarkers shown to be altered in lung cancer. The Company employs machine learning to improve upon existing computer software to identify informative cells from blood, and intends to build a deep, novel pool of lung cancer-related data for AI-enabled applications

Resilient performance leads to upgrades

SDL delivered a better than forecast H1, outperforming sales and AOP estimates. Revenues moderated by just 1% to £180.7m, with AOP up 1% to £16.3m. Increased demand from strongly performing verticals (Online Retail, Technology) has offset declining volumes from CV19 impacted sectors (Leisure, Travel, Automotive). KPIs continue to move in the right direction, with ARCV rising 7% y/y, and Linguistic Productive Utilisation stable at 67%. The Group delivered 60 new technology customer wins in H1, an

SLATE proposition unveiled

SDL held an introductory session for the Group’s new SLATE proposition (launched in June). Good traction has been seen within the Group’s existing base presenting an attractive upsell opportunity, whilst also enabling expansion of the Group’s TAM with a market-leading, highly automated and immensely scalable solution. Management estimate SME and ‘off-grid’ translation projects to be a market worth in excess of $10bn, with SLATE allowing the Group to target these areas in a more meaningful way. T

Strong 2019, cash generative 2020

SDL has delivered a strong set of FY’19 results, coming in a touch ahead of N1S forecasts with sales of £376.3m (+5% pro forma y/y; N1S: £371m) and AOP of £37.2m (N1S: £35.8m). High 98% cash conversion delivered strong FCF of £29.6m. The Group has entered 2020 in rude health with high tech renewal rates (c.90%), healthy growth in premium Language Services (14% pro forma y/y), and a strong balance sheet position with gross cash of £98m and a further £57m in current facilities at today’s date. Cov

SDL delays results in-line with FCA moratorium

SDL have delayed the announcement of FY’19 prelims in line with the FCA moratorium publicised over the weekend. The Group reiterates the strength of FY’19 trading previously flagged in the update in January. Whilst FY’20E has had a strong start with revenues and pipeline building well, more recently the Group has noted some delayed decision making from customers. SDL’s high degree of recurring revenues and stickiness of product offerings provides some insulation, however management are anticipat

Small Cap Feast

Intention to float by Gemfields Group. No Capital Raise. Currently listed on JSE. (GML:JNB) at circa £122m. The Group's key producing assets, the Kagem emerald mine in Zambia (believed to be the world's single largest producing emerald mine) and the Montepuez ruby mine in Mozambique (one of the most significant recently discovered ruby deposits in the world), are both expected to have long mine-lives with potential for expansion. Also owns the Faberge brand. Due Valentines Day 2020.

In line FY trading statement

SDL has today announced that both FY19 sales and AOP are in line. Further, the company states its y/e net cash position at £26m – this is also in line with N1S forecasts. To remind, FY18 reflects only 5 months‘ contribution by DLS, therefore the majority of FY19’s sales uplift should come from Donnelley, but as well, +4/5% (exp.) organic growth. To this end, today’s update provides evidence of progression – towards management’s stated goal of “high single digit” growth. We flag that the y/y LFL

Analyst and Investor Day demonstrates technology strength

SDL held a well attended Analyst and Investor day yesterday at its Maidenhead HQ. The Group showcased its Helix, Insight and Tridum DX platforms, as well as offering a demonstration of the new Language Cloud portal which opens up the prospect of a fully automated machine translation portal in the future. We continue to see SDL as well placed within the premium content space (market growth estimated: 10% -15% pa), while also delivering growth within the user-generated content market (estimated gr

Good progress with all KPIs, trading remains on track

SDL has reported interim results that highlight group revenue up 40%, driven by 6% pro forma revenue growth, the DLS acquisition and currency tailwinds. Further improvement in gross margin and cost saving initiatives helped deliver adjusted operating of £16.1m (£15.5m pre-IFRS 16) and adjusted diluted EPS up 14%. This financial outturn was underpinned by improvements across all core financial and operating KPIs. SDL has entered the second half with good sales momentum and a healthy sales pipelin

Small Cap Feast

Techniplas –global producer and support services company providing highly engineered and technically complex components, making the supply chain to original equipment manufacturers more efficient. FYDec17 rev $515m. Loungers plc—the operator of 146 café/bar/restaurants across England and Wales under the Lounge and Cosy Club brands, announces its intention to seek admission on AIM, offer TBC, expected late April. SDX Energy plc—a North Africa focused oil and gas company, announces its intention t

IP Group - Several potential portfolio catalysts on the horizon

IP Group’s NAV declined by 13% in total return (TR) terms in FY23, affected by continued soft valuations across venture capital (VC) markets, as well as funding delays at some of its holdings. That said, management indicated that many of IP Group’s portfolio companies continued to make strong progress. Its maturing portfolio offers a number of potential NAV triggers and is now available at a wide 59% discount to NAV. We note that, as at end-2023, only 14% of IP Group’s portfolio was valued based

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

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

Meet, beat, repeat

FY23 - preparing for two high impact wells this year

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

The Hardman & Co Monthly: April 2024

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

Hybridan Small Cap Feast - 16/04/2024

16th 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: Delistings: What’s baking in the oven? ** Potential**** Initial Public Offerings: Reverse Takeovers: Electric Guitar (ELEG.L) Concurrent with its Admission to trading on AIM, Electric Guitar is proposing to acquire the entire issued share capital of 3radical Limited for

Braemar - Diversification paying dividends

Braemar’s FY24 trading update was in line with expectations, with revenues of c £150m and underlying operating profit of c £18m. Underlying operations continue to expand and diversify and the company remains well-positioned to drive its future growth strategy. The trading outlook is promising and Braemar should be able to leverage its strong balance sheet in pursuit of strategic growth. We have maintained our underlying estimates for FY24 and FY25, but edge down the valuation based on the lower

Trinity Delta Lighthouse: Avacta

Trinity Delta view: The proprietary pre|CISION platform is key to Avacta’s investment case, hence updated data that continue to support key hypotheses for AVA6000 are reassuring. Future efficacy data from studies planned to start in H224 will be key, and could also help to more broadly validate pre|CISION. The recent £31.1m fundraise (March 2024 Lighthouse), which provides a cash runway of c 24 months ie into early 2026, will be used to advance the therapeutics pipeline, in particular AVA6000, a

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

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

UK Equities: Overlooked, oversold, and over here

In this note we look at the gap between perception and reality in the UK equity market, the opportunities and threats in the economic and market outlook, and the emerging consensus that the valuation discount versus other major markets is at or close to an inflection point. We consider the benefits of UK equity strategies both for income investors and for those seeking exposure to the higher growth potential of smaller and mid-cap companies.

Morning Note – 9 April 2024

Top of the Pops

We reveal the winners of our investment trust ratings for 2024... Our ratings seek to reward closed-ended funds which deliver attractive and persistent performance characteristics in three categories which we think match up to broad goals investors usually have: long-term growth, income and growth, and high current income. This includes strong performance versus a fund’s underlying market, as well as attractive risk characteristics which we think suggests they could continue to be premium optio

Avacta Group - AACR update

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

Allenby Capital: Deltic Energy - Update

Deltic Energy plc (DELT.L) has announced some positive news concerning its 50% interest in the Selene joint-venture with Shell UK Ltd. The announcement concerns a farm-out to Dana Petroleum Ltd of a 25% interest in Licence P2437 which contains the Selene prospect. The farm-out calls for Deltic retaining a highly meaningful 25% interest in one of the most interesting prospects in terms of risk profile and scale in the Southern North Sea (SNS) Basin while largely eliminating exposure to the cost o