Morning Note – 9 April 2024

Surface Transforms (SCE LN) - Obstacles removed for higher production

Surface has issued a brief Q1 update. Production will ramp-up this year as final new equipment is installed, and manufacturing teething problems recede.

Hybridan Small Cap Feast - 08 Jan 24

8th January 2024 Happy New Year to all our Readers! @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 regar

Morning Note – 8 January 2024

Surface Transforms - Year-end trading update – encouraging step-up in Q4 activit

Having experienced a difficult 18 -months, the year-end trading update confirms a good step-up in Q4 revenue, with greater operational availability and no further technical issues. The increase in quarterly output is expected to gain momentum through FY25 and beyond. The Company believes the worst of its growing pains are behind it. Recent placing and loan agreement funding enables it to accelerate capex, with the increase to a £50m capacity footprint by mid-2024. It expects further new contract

Surface Transforms (SCE LN) - Moving forward

Surface Transforms has issued a positive pre close update and outlook statement, following the recent successful fundraising programme completed in December.

Morning Note – 12 December 2023

Hybridan Small Cap Feast - 11 Dec 23

11th December 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 obj

Surface Transforms (SCE LN) - Finance secured for accelerated growth

Surface Transforms has now secured all the funds it needs to significantly ramp up factory capacity and rapidly improve revenue and profit over the next few years. The financing package has secured over £24m (gross) of new capital and comprises a £13.2m loan and equity of £8.3m via a Placing and Subscription and £2.7m from an Open Offer. Demand for the Group’s market leading carbon ceramic brake discs is strong with a £390m OEM order book secured, and a further potential £300m in the prospective

Hardman & Co Research: Surface Transforms (SCE) - Funding for growth: Open Offer

In the past two years, Surface Transforms (SCE) has quadrupled its order book, raised monthly sales run rates from £0.2m to £1.0m and expanded its capacity four-fold to a £20m pa sales rate. A 3 November update pointed to production teething troubles. October sales of £1.0m were below prior estimates, so we significantly reduced our 2023 and 2024 estimates. We estimate PAT breakeven for 2H24. Initially from debt, SCE has the resources to finance capital expenditure from internal cash flow to rai

Hybridan Small Cap Feast 14/11/2023

Dish of the day Joiners: No joiners today. Leavers: Ergomed has left AIM. What’s cooking in the IPO kitchen?** 9 November: Chapel Down Group ITF: England's leading and largest wine producer with an award-winning range of sparkling and still wines, under the Chapel Down brand. The Company owns, leases and sources from 1,023 acres of vineyards in South East England announces its Admission to AIM after its transfer from the Aquis Apex market. The Company will not be raising new capital or providing

Morning Note – 14 November 2023

Surface Transforms - £8.0m placing announced for working capital as output ramps

Surface Transforms has successfully raised £8.0m via an institutional placing (and expected £2.0m open offer) to provide additional financial flexibility to fund the expected increase in working capital as output scales up. Some challenges in its scheduled Q3 ramp-up have occurred, with the required level of output now expected to be achieved in Q1 FY24. We remain convinced that the medium term provides investors with an attractive investment proposition as it ramps up capacity to £75m in 2025 a

Surface Transforms (SCE LN) - Forecasts & valuation suspended

We note the Regulatory News Service (RNS) announcement “Trading update” issued by Surface Transforms on 3 November 2023. We suspend our forecasts and valuation for the Company.

Morning Note – 16 April 2024

Robust margin and cash performance

Dowlais Group - Motoring forward

Dowlais Group’s first set of results were ahead of our expectations, with positive cash generation a highlight despite restructuring and demerger costs. Softer automotive markets will limit margin progress in FY24 towards the double-digit target. Despite this, margins of c 6.5% are still ahead of automotive peers, although the shares trade at a significant discount to our implied generic peer-based valuation.

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

Nexteq - FY23 adj EBITDA +4% ahead, FY24E upgrades of +1-10%

Nexteq’s FY23 results show adjusted EBITDA +4% ahead of the +6% upgrade at the January trading update, record FY23 EFCF of $17.4m, and a confident outlook that leads us to reiterate our FY24E revenue and upgrade FY24E gross profit, adj EBITDA, and EFCF by +1-10%. The strategic focus on higher-margin products and customers reducing elevated inventory levels led FY23 group revenue -5% yoy to $114.3m, with Quixant 6% lower at $69.3m and Densitron 2% lower at $45.1m. Effective supply-chain managemen

Morning Note – 4 April 2024

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

LIBERUM: New Energy Nuggets: Hydrogen - the future is green

PROGRESSIVE: IG Design Group: Strong profit growth, key strategy initiatives and quantified aspirations

IG Design Group delivered a 27% increase in adjusted PBT to $34.8m for H1 FY24 (to 30 September) with a significant reduction in net debt to $15.1m, as signposted in last month’s trading update. The adjusted operating profit margin was some 270bps higher at 8.6% (vs 5.9% in H1 FY23), the highest achieved since H1 FY20 ahead of the CSS acquisition. Management has provided more details on the key attributes and initiatives for its new growth-focused strategy. The group is on track to return to pre

Time to focus on growth ambitions

Morning Note – 25 March 2024

LIBERUM: Frontier Developments: Positive signs; new games remain key

Gooch & Housego (GHH LN) - A chink of light

Gooch has issued a positive update for H1. Trading has started to recover with stocking levels normalising at industrial and medical devices customers. The outlook is positive with growth returning, and management has confirmed our full year estimates (adjusted for the disposal of EM4). The order book and order flow appear healthy, and net debt is comfortable. Gooch clearly still has plenty to do to lift operating margins from a lacklustre 8.1%, but the transformation plan appears to be back on

Initial Equity Trading Comments - 16 May 2023

Nexteq - FY23 net cash +36% ahead, FY24E EBITDA & EFCF reiterated

Nexteq’s FY23 trading update highlights a strong gross margin performance, adjusted PBT comfortably ahead of market expectations, and net cash +36% ahead of our previous forecast at $27.9m. The strategic focus on higher-margin products and customers reducing elevated inventory levels have led FY23 group revenue -4% yoy to $114.8m, with Quixant 6% lower at $69.4m and Densitron broadly in line at $45.4m. Effective supply chain management, strong price discipline, and increased sales of higher marg