Lowland Investment Company - Is the tide turning?

Lowland Investment Company’s (LWI’s) unconstrained, multi-cap investment policy differentiates it from most peers in the AIC UK Equity Income sector. It offers investors broad market exposure, outside of the large, traditional ‘income stocks’ at a 13% discount to NAV. The underperformance of small- and mid-cap companies versus larger peers has slowed and a turnaround would be very positive for LWI. Portfolio returns are already benefiting from acquisition activity, spurred by low valuations, and

Redde

Proposed share-for-share merger with Northgate

Record - Underlying growth and pipeline are attractive

In H124, Record posted steady management fee growth of 3% y-o-y to £19.6m as the company benefited from a higher assets under management equivalent (AUME) base. Total revenues, however, were down 3% as performance fees in H123 outweighed those earned in H124. Profit before tax was down 17% y-o-y to £6.3m as Record incurred costs related to its expansion and modernisation initiatives. In line with its progressive dividend policy, Record increased its dividend by 5% y-o-y to 2.15p per share. After

Initial Equity Trading Comments - 1 December 2023

LIBERUM: Ramsdens Holdings: Reassuring AGM update

Investment performance drives 6% H1 AUM growth

AUM was up by £2.2bn or 6% over H1-24, reaching £39.6bn on 31 Mar 24 (30 Sep 23: £37.4bn). This is slightly above the trajectory required to meet our FY24 AUM forecast of £41.1bn (+10% annual growth), but taking a cautious approach our FY24 forecasts remain unchanged. A very strong investment performance was the growth driver in H1, contributing +£4.9bn (+13%) while net outflows were £2.7bn. We maintain our strong conviction that medium-to-long term structural factors favour Impax, but also fla

Foxtons Group (FOXT LN) - 1Q24 IMS shows real momentum

Foxtons Group plc first quarter revenue rose 9% to £35.7m (1Q23: £32.9m) with growth delivered across all business segments. Trading is in line with management's expectations.

PCI Pal - +25% FY23 revenue growth, FY24 growth of +28% reiterated

PCI Pal’s FY23 results show revenue growth of +25% to £14.9m, gross profit growth of +31% to £13.1m at a margin of 88%, and an outlook confirming robust momentum in H1 24. The FY23 results are as expected following the August trading update, and FY23 Total Annual Contract Value (TACV) is +23% yoy to £16.4m, with ARR +14% yoy to £12.6m due to £3.1m of contracts in deployment. We expect ARR will increase +35% and +31% to £17.0m and £22.2m in FY24 and FY25, as management lands and expands following

TR Property

TRY: a unique way to capture a recovery in property valuations...

LIBERUM: AEW UK REIT: A resilient quarterly performance

LIBERUM: PensionBee: Fully funded growth

Target Healthcare REIT - DPS growth from a sustainable base

Target Healthcare REIT’s mid-year rebasing of DPS sought to establish a base for growth on a fully covered basis. With FY23 results in line with previous indications, and progress continuing, the company has increased the quarterly rate of DPS by 2% from Q124. With rent collection restored, we expect rental growth, development completions and fixed debt costs to support continued, progressive, fully covered dividend growth.

Foresight Solar Fund - Optimising capital allocation

Foresight Solar Fund (FSFL) celebrated its 10-year anniversary of listing on the London Stock Exchange with decade-high cash distributions from assets of £120.4m in its FY23 results (year end 31 December). FY23 also saw FSFL’s divestment programme come to fruition with the sale of a 50% stake in its Spanish Lorca portfolio at a 21% premium to its holding value. The proceeds of this divestment, along with free cash, were used to pay down the fund’s variable rate debt via its revolving credit faci

Zeus Top Picks for 2024 - 2023 review and outlook for 2024

On 9 January last year, we set out our ten top stock picks for 2023, for what turned out to be another relatively poor twelve months for UK equities due to two wars, stubbornly high inflation and further tightening of monetary policy. This was even as other major markets, such as the US, largely recovered in the year. In the 2023 calendar year, the AIM All-Share index fell 8.2% and is still 42% off its 2021 high. From the release of our 2023 top picks note, the average total return (assuming div

Strong H1'23 results; forecasts upgraded