Givaudan did well in these times, but the appreciation of the Swiss franc fully rubbed out the operating performance, which had been partly helped by positive portfolio effects in Q3. It looks as if the change in habits drove up the organic performance in Latin America and North America. The reported figures fit into our positive picture, but consensus was not met.
Companies: Givaudan SA
At the recent strategic update, Givaudan flagged the continuation of its resilient average organic growth and FCF. This looks odd at first sight, but could be seen as a strong commitment in changing times, which includes the emergence of new markets (e.g. encapsulation) demanding fast adoption.
Thanks to the strong start into 2020, Givaudan’s H1 figures do not look too bad, but Q2 saw some weaker dynamics in both divisions. Flavours could not fully benefit from the new cooking at home trend. Reported figures were a notch better than expected as Fragrances’ margin improved contrary to our estimates, pushed by recent acquisitions. Consensus was beaten at this line.
Givaudan’s Q1 sales statement broadly confirmed our view on the company as the reported figures are a notch above our expectations and meet consensus. The pattern of the reported figures reflect some first effects of the pandemic. Q1 sales were up +6.1% to CHF1,619m and organic growth was +5.4% at the group level. Emerging markets (+8.9%) contributed the most as mature markets were up by +4.3% (to CHF946m).
... and higher negative ‘one-offs’ weighted on profitability. Flavour’s top-line came in below our expectations due to modest growth in North America and EAME. After a strong start in H1, the division’s profitability fell in H2. At group level, the ongoing negative effects for GBS and acquisition-related costs had their full effect in 2019. The numbers were also short of consensus.
Givaudan’s operating growth was additionally pushed by acquisitions, especially in Flavour. We assume there were some positive effects from higher sales prices for the established business, whereas new wins are expected to be calculated with higher input costs. Although it remains unclear whether higher sales prices really compensated for higher raw material prices, we expect a continuation of the positive H1 trend. The top-line came in slightly stronger than expected, whereas consensus was met.
Givaudan reported mixed H1 figures. The top-line was driven by sustainable organic growth in each division and was additionally pushed by acquisitions, especially in Flavour. The gross profit margin already shows the negative impact from higher raw material prices and a less favourable product mix. The H1 figures confirmed our cautious view on the company, whereas consensus’ profitability expectations were not met. The reasons for this development were not explained well.
Givaudan’s Q1 sale were driven mainly by the acquisition of Naturex, pushing Flavour and mature markets. Organic sales also made a strong contribution to the top-line, which should lead to further positive profitability momentum.
Givaudan reported good top-line growth, but profitability suffered from the broad impact from higher raw material prices and the costs for Givaudan Business Solutions GBS), which still generated a loss on a net basis. However, the top-line beat our expectations, but profitability came in below. Consensus was barely met on the profitability level.
... from acquisitions. Givaudan reported equal contributions from the organic business and from acquisitions to the top line in Q3. The reported set of figures was slightly above our expectations and outpaced the consensus. Unfortunately, the report gave only some small hints on profitability.
Givaudan held an analysts meeting with the full management and gave some deeper insights into the economics and strategy of the South-East Asian region.
BASF’s outage of the citral plant at the end of October 2017 (declaration of Force Majeure) still impacts the value chain and burdens Fragrance’s profitability as these businesses have to buy stock for any(?) price in order to secure sourcing. The impact from which has been stronger than expected and profitability in H1 came in lower than expected. Consensus was broadly met.
Givaudan’s Q1 sales figures were slightly stronger than expected but, lacking additional information, we remain cautious regarding the profitability development as H2 17 had seen some pressure.
Givaudan’s FY figures were pretty much in-line with our expectations, but profitability suffered from the higher share of the CHF170 costs for the Givaudan Business Solutions programme, which had been guided lower. Business looks in a good shape. Higher raw material costs might not be passed through the way they have to in order to protect margins.
Givaudan’s sales 9M sales figures were up +7% to CHF3,757m, driven by organic growth (+4%) and acquisitions (+4%). Mature markets rose +11% to CHF2,143m and high growth markets by +2% to CHF1,614m. Management confirmed mid-term guidance for the 2015-20 period, expecting a 4-5% average organic growth rate and an average 12-17% free cash flow as a percentage of sales. A more explicit guidance for 2017 was again not given.
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The group’s year-end update points to stronger than expected Q4 trading, boosted by robust sales in North America that translated efficiently to upside on profitability expectations. Cash performance has once again been stellar, resulting in net cash of $35m, considerably higher than forecast, partly profit drop-through and partly from tight working capital management. We are therefore upgrading our FY 2020 EPS by 25% to 33.2ȼ. The strong cash position also results in a boost to the total dividend, giving a dividend yield of 6.7%. We raise our price target from 285p to 435p, based on a target P/E of 17.0x offering upside to the current P/E of 13.8x.
Companies: Somero Enterprises, Inc.
Inspiration Healthcare has announced it expects revenues and profits for the year ending January 2021 to be ahead of market expectations. Revenues are expected to be at least £36.5m and adjusted EBITDA at least £4.9m. We have moved our FY21E forecasts into line with these expectations, which are c3% and c11% ahead of our previous forecasts for sales and adjusted EBITDA, respectively. We note the key driver of the upgrade was performance at S.L.E., which Inspiration Healthcare acquired in July 2020. We reiterate our Buy recommendation on Inspiration Healthcare.
Companies: Inspiration Healthcare Group PLC
Last night, Qualcomm delivered a keynote speech at its Automotive Redefined event where it iterated its partnership with Seeing Machines for DMS on its ‘Snapdragon Ride' platform. In the same keynote speech Qualcomm noted that it has won 20 different OEMs (through many different tier 1 suppliers and partners, including Seeing Machines) which are going into production in 2021 with its Gen 3 Snapdragon Ride platform. We do not see this as meaning that these OEMs will automatically adopt Seeing Machines DMS in 2021 for these platforms (other PR materials imply the optimised DMS solution is not yet ready), but the implication from the Qualcomm slide (on the page 2) is that a number will. We also believe it is unlikely that these OEMs will chose an alternative DMS solution for these vehicles when they want or require it. With regulatory compliance needed for NCAP and EC by 2024, it is our view that most of these OEMs will eventually source Seeing Machines DMS for at least their EU sales using the scalable Gen 3 Snapdragon Ride platform. In a separate press release Seeing Machines and Qualcomm have also announced a deepening collaboration with Seeing Machines further optimising its technology stack for the Snapdragon Automotive Cockpit Platform architecture as the two companies market the combined framework to automotive Tier-1s and OEMs. In addition, Seeing Machines's previously announced Embedded Development Kit (EDK) for Qualcomm's Snapdragon Automotive Cockpit Development is now available to select Tier 1 and OEM customers. We increase our target price to 12.9p from 8.6p based on increased confidence in our long-term automotive market share expectations.
Companies: Seeing Machines Limited
TP Group experienced a material improvement in trading in H2/20, with the period accounting for nearly two thirds of the group's £3.8m FY20 Adj EBITDA, mainly due to the timing of some larger contracts. The order book remains robust at c£69m (up c20% YoY); however, the pandemic continues to create uncertainty around the timing of contract deliveries, and consequently, our forecasts remain withdrawn and our rating Under Review. Notwithstanding, we believe the significant operational changes made over the past year help to accelerate the business' software and consulting services, and leave the group well positioned for future growth.
Companies: TP Group Plc
Today’s FY20 trading update indicates that the business did not miss a step in FY20. Underlying profitability was very marginally ahead yoy and net debt has peaked and, with the factory move completing later this year this, will fall increasingly quickly. Looking forward, FY21 will see significant growth, underpinned by the LAICA contribution, but importantly underlying organic growth is expected to be c.10%. Trading has started well in the new financial year providing confidence in forecasts at this early juncture. Strong organic and acquisitive growth drives an 10% increase in profitability and the dividend for FY21. With the platform to deliver significant growth in revenue and earnings over the next five years, 15.5x current year earnings is appealing. Particularly for a business with such defensive cash flows. This is evidenced by a prospective dividend yield of 3.6%. We increase FY20 profit forecasts marginally to reflect guidance in today’s statement and lower net debt.
Companies: Strix Group PLC
Although 2020 will probably go down in history as one of the most challenging years experienced during our lifetime, it will also likely be chronicled as one of the best years for the recognition and appreciation of science. As we entered 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic was in its infancy. However, it rapidly evolved through the exponential rise in infections and mortality globally. Much has been achieved during the past 12 months in the fight against COVID-19, but, as we enter 2021, there are considerable concerns about the emergence of a mutant version of the virus and the second wave that we are now facing.
Companies: AVO ARBB ARIX BBGI CLIG DNL FLTA ICGT OCI PCA PIN PHP RECI STX SCE TRX SHED VTA YEW
Itaconix has confirmed a positive conclusion to FY20, with revenue, EBITDA and net cash all slightly ahead of expectations. This builds on the positive trends reported in October’s interims, driven by successful customer product launches. Itaconix enters FY21 with good momentum and strong sustainability credentials. We plan to introduce FY21 forecasts alongside full year results.
Companies: Itaconix plc
Filta's FY20 trading update confirms a much stronger performance for the group in H2 versus that in H1, boosted by an increasing number of customers opening up during the summer period. Despite Covid-19 significantly affecting the restaurant and leisure sector, a strong focus on cash management meant that Filta reduced its net debt (excluding leases) by £0.4m YoY to £0.5m. With a healthy sales pipeline, solid balance sheet cash position (£4.2m), and vaccine roll-out progress, management has more certainty in the business' outlook than at any time over the past 12 months. Notwithstanding, the speed at which trading conditions will return to normal remains unclear (eg potential impact from new strains of the virus emerging, unexpected delays in vaccine production etc). As such, we refrain from reinstating forecasts, and maintain our Hold rating.
Companies: Filta Group Holdings PLC
Directa Plus has had its contract with OMV Petrom extended and increased. The contract, initially awarded in July 2019, was for the provision of decontamination and oil recovery services using the Company's proprietary Grafysorber® technology. The initial value of the contract was €150k (of which €75k was delivered and invoiced in 2020) and this has now been increased to €410k, the balance of which is expected to be fulfilled by June 2021.
Companies: Directa Plus Plc
The Group made strategic progress in FY20A despite the onset of COVID-19. Management acted swiftly implementing a strict cost reduction programme, ensuring robust cash management. This combined with strengthening the Board and management teams, exploring new revenue streams and investing in technology to drive efficiency gains has positioned the Group to overcome short-term demand fluctuation. We are confident the Group will capitalise on the operational gearing within the business as demand levels revert to pre-pandemic levels. Corollary to this we expect financial performance to materially improve in H2/21 and beyond.
Companies: Velocity Composites Plc
Capital Limited has released its Q4 and FY2020 trading statement this morning. Overall it shows 2020 was a strong year for the company with revenue growing 18% and most other operating metrics growing positively with it – see Fig 1. We have adjusted our forecasts accordingly and also to take into account the mining services contract for the Sukari Mine which the company won late last year. The latter is a game changer for Capital and its investment case in our view; turbo charging revenue growth, enhancing margins and diversifying cashflow all of which should lead to materially higher valuation multiples. We raise our PT to 127p.
Companies: Capital Limited
Journeo is a specialist provider of information systems and technical services to the transportation sector. This morning, the group has announced that under its existing Transforming Cities Fund framework contracts, it has received further orders for its advanced public transport information systems.
Companies: Journeo plc
Journeo is a specialist provider of information systems and technical services to the transportation sector. Following on from Friday's announcement confirming a further £1.3m order under the Transforming Cities Fund framework, the group has this morning announced a 1-year extension to its existing framework agreement with First Bus, worth an estimated £1.8m, the majority of which is expected to fall into the current financial year.
Initiating with a Buy rating. We initiate our coverage of Proton Motor Power Systems (“Proton Motor”) with a BUY rating and a target price of 201p. Our valuation equates to a market capitalisation of £1.47bn, compared to a current share price of 65.5p and a market cap of £479m.
Companies: Proton Motor Power Systems Plc
Today’s trading update indicates that revenue continued to recover during the second half of FY20. For the year it declined 15%, to £95.1m, but H2 saw an improvement with it declining 8% yoy. This indicates that trading in the final quarter improved materially and is likely to have been low single digit down yoy. Net debt of £11.7m is significantly better than the £14.5m reported at the end of June and shows a continuation of the improvement seen over the previous 18 months. The Company has already stated that it will fall again in FY21. £1.6m of cost savings had initially been identified and an additional £1.0m announced at the interims. Good progress has been made on the initial target, albeit lockdown restrictions are causing a delay in some areas.
Companies: Flowtech Fluidpower plc
