The shares appear oversold

Gattaca is the UK's largest specialist engineering/tech recruitment agency. Its shares have fallen >70% (vs c. -25% sector) from their 52 week high of 285p - principally due to January’s profit warning. There is work to be done, but even so we believe the scale of the sell-off looks totally disproportionate to the issues involved (Re temporary disruption from a major IT system implementation, staff turnover/culture, etc). Following the recent appointment of Matthew Wragg as CEO - a highly capab

LIBERUM: Gattaca* - H1 in line, but slower recovery in FY23E

Hybridan Small Cap Feast 14/03/22

Joiners: CYBA (CYBA.L) has completed the reverse takeover of Narf Industries on the Main Market (Standard), a US based group with a track record of successful and advanced cyber security projects with the US Department of Defense and affiliated government agencies like the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. £6m raised. Leavers: No leavers today. What’s cooking in the IPO kitchen? Aquis Exchange (AQX.L) the exchange services group, announced its intention to apply for admission of the Gro

FY’22 NFI set to climb 7% as investment kicks in

Due to the latest Omicron outbreak, the pace of economic recovery has temporarily hit a soft patch. But growth should pick-up soon, particularly as Omicron burns itself out, whilst unemployment further declines amidst record numbers of vacancies and acute job shortages. Given the uncertainty, Gattaca said today that it was seeing a “delayed recovery in its contract business (c. 75% NFI) where demand has been slower than expected.” Albeit, greater resource has already been invested in UK sales

LIBERUM: Gattaca* - A delayed recovery in contract

LIBERUM: CEO Video: Kevin Freeguard, Gattaca*

LIBERUM: Gattaca* - FY21 in line, well set for FY22E

Buoyant jobs market, bullish outlook

UK employers are scrambling to backfill 1.1m positions displaced by the pandemic, amidst a tightening resource pool. Exacerbated by low unemployment, rising salaries, greater staff churn & many people simply opting for a career change. Indeed there are now on average just 1.5 unemployed people per job vacancy. These acute labour shortages are not only prevalent in healthcare, leisure (eg waiters) & transport (HGV drivers). But also software, digitisation, renewables (eg off-shore wind & hydro

Continued strong execution & positive outlook

Given the tightening UK jobs market with vacancies back to pre-Covid levels, it’s no wonder businesses are struggling to find technical/skilled staff. Turning instead to specialist STEM recruiters like Gattaca, particularly within ‘hot’ areas such as software, digitisation, renewables, electrification, defence (cyber & marine), engineering and infrastructure (eg HS2, fibre-to-the-home, Lower Thames Crossing, etc). Gattaca has updated today that in the 12 months to end July continuing H2’21 N

LIBERUM: Gattaca* - A strong finish to FY21E

Upgrading FY21 forecasts & valuation to 280p/share

It’s a heady mix. Lockdown the country, pump £100bns into the economy, displace millions of workers, don’t allow them to spend for 12 months, and then push the release button. Hey presto, you end up with a ‘V-shaped’ recovery, together with a shortage of qualified staff. Particularly anything related to technology, green power & engineering, as corporates accelerate their digitisation plans, alongside the secular expansion of renewables, electrification, defence (cyber & marine) and infrastructu

LIBERUM: Gattaca* - UK recovery momentum builds

LIBERUM: CEO Video: Kevin Freeguard, Gattaca

Leading indicators all point towards major rebound

Looking to book a nice meal-out, UK holiday or even a pint down the pub? Good luck with that. In fact so strong is consumer pent up demand, that Andy Haldane (Bank of England Chief Economist) reckons there will be a ‘rip-roaring’ recovery later in 2021. As households splurge on ‘much-missed’ experiences using the £150bn of extra savings they’ve squirreled away over the last 12 months. This optimism is also feeding through into the jobs market (see below), house prices, bank stocks and equities.

LIBERUM: Gattaca* - Increasing confidence

Finals, ahead of expectations

Volex has delivered final results that are ahead of expectation. Organic revenue growth of 19% reflects growing customer demand, alongside a particularly strong performance in EV which saw sales almost double. The Group has demonstrated its ability to manage both supply chain challenges and inflationary cost increases, albeit with a short time lag. Recent acquisitions have integrated well, building exposure to attractive higher growth market segments. The Group’s global footprint has resonated w

AFC Energy (AFC LN) - Kier agreement

AFC has signed an agreement with another leading UK construction/infrastructure player, this time in Kier Group. We believe this further endorses our long term thesis that AFC will play an active role in encouraging the transition away from diesel-fuelled temporary power solutions. We believe its technology could help the sector make clear strides towards a net zero future, which has to commence now if they are to reach this target by 2045. The share price has been weak of late (in line with man

AFC Energy (AFC LN) - A year of deployment

Interim results from AFC contain few surprises and the group remains on track for the full year. The two main deltas versus our (unpublished) forecast were that the £2m stage payment from ABB were treated as deferred income rather than as revenue and that income from R&D tax credits was below our estimate. The first issue is an accounting issue which has no bearing on cash flow, while the second is likely a timing issue. On its own, the tax issue explains why period end cash, at £48.6m, was £1m

Cenkos: Healthcare Sector - Ward Round

Weekly round-up of AIM-listed healthcare news. Venture Life Group, GENinCode, Kromek, Alliance Pharma, Polarean Imaging, Benchmark Holdings, Ondine Biomedical, Verici Dx, Faron Pharmaceuticals, Avacta Group, Abingdon Health, Open Orphan, Belluscura, Hutchmed (China), Oxford Biodynamics

ITM Power - Trading update

Trading update

Spectra Systems Update

Spectra Systems Corp (SPSY.L), a global leader in machine readable high speed banknote authentication, brand protection and gaming security technologies, recently announced a further expansion of its sensor development phase contract with a central bank customer. The amendment, related to expanding the flexibility of use for the new generation of sensors, is worth an extra $2m and will be phased over the next three years and results in forecast upgrades at the top and bottom lines.

SHORE CAPITAL - Judges Scientific (JDG) - House Stock at 6860p

Hybridan Small Cap Feast 28/06/2022

Joiners: No Joiners Today. Leavers: Raven Property Group has left the Main Market. What’s cooking in the IPO kitchen? Immediate acquisitions (IME.L) is to re-join AIM via a Reverse Takeover of Fiinu Holdings Limited. Once complete the Company is proposing to change its name to Fiinu Group plc. Fiinu intends to be a provider of a consumer banking product, the Plugin Overdraft ®, which is designed to provide customers with an overdraft facility without having to change their current account or req

SIMEC Atlantis - A Clear Path Forward

SIMEC Atlantis’ full year statement and in particular its going concern statement show that financial risks remain following the decision not to proceed with the Uskmouth conversion. Yet the company has created a path through these risks with the creation of the 240MW Uskmouth battery project and further opportunities at the MeyGen tidal stream project. With MeyGen seeing the immediate benefit of an additional turbine in the water we see the current year as being a better one for the company.

Symphony Environmental (SYM LN) - Supply agreement with major customer

SYM has announced an exclusive supply agreement for its d2p (designed-to-protect) antimicrobial technology with a major customer. Grupo Bimbo (NASDAQ: BIMBOA) is one of the largest bread manufacturers globally. The company has conducted extensive trials of d2p for its plastic bread packaging, with the aim of extending the life of products, improving hygiene, and reducing waste. The company has asked SYM to supply d2p for its nominated bread packaging manufacturers across the American continent f

Powerhouse Energy - Full Year Results Reflect Progress

Powerhouse’s full-year results reinforce a picture of strong progress with considerable development of both the company and initial waste to hydrogen projects using the DMG technology. This is reflected financially, and cash burn is manageable with £9.8m of cash at the period end.

Hybridan Small Cap Feast 22/06/2022

Dish of the day Joiners: No Joiners Today. Leavers: No Leavers Today. What’s cooking in the IPO kitchen? Visum Technologies seeking admission to The AQSE Growth Market. The Company's business is to own and operate an "on-ride" video and photographic camera system that it sells and/or licenses to customers (being theme parks, ride manufacturers, souvenir imaging providers, and other leisure operators). Due 30 June. LifeSafe Holdings, a fire safety technology business with innovative fire safety p

Roadmap to significant profit growth

With a clear roadmap of new digital inkjet products and an ambitious management team focused on gaining (or retaining) significant market shares across the segments that make up its $1bn addressable market, Xaar is positioned to grow strongly. Management has already demonstrated its abilities in turning the business around, and we believe it is far from clear that the share price fully reflects the opportunities ahead.

Judges Scientific (JDG) – Acquisition of minority shareholding in Bordeaux

The shares now trade on 24.3x FY2022E earnings, versus a peer group trading on a blended 24.9x. Judges' shares more than regained their composure in early 2022, before events in Ukraine and continued Covid concerns (notably China) weighed on sentiment. As a result, some treading of water is likely in our view. But given the strength of the business (we believe earnings risk is towards the upside) and balance sheet, the quality of earnings and the company's continued ability to execute deals on s

ATOME Energy - Capacity Expansion in Paraguay

ATOME’s trading update shows capacity expansion in Paraguay and good progress across the portfolio. The new capacity adds 50MW to take the Itaipu project to 300MW and increases our central case valuation to 183p from 173p.