Edison Investment Research

Numis Corporation (NUM); revenue in line with management expectations

Numis announced its trading update for the four month period ended 31 January 2020, ahead of its AGM today. Investment Banking revenues are ahead of the comparable period due to a material increase in average deal fees. The company’s trading book delivered a consistently strong performance throughout the period.

Avacta Group (AVCT); announces collaboration with AffyXell Therapeutics

Avacta Group announced that it has signed a collaboration and license agreement with AffyXell Therapeutics, with Daewoong Pharmaceutical. Avacta and AffyXell will develop Affimer proteins to be used by AffyXell for the generation of new cell and gene therapies.

Pan African Resources (PAF); expects EPS lower range to be 1.12c

Pan African Resources announced its trading statement for the six months ended 31 December 2019 (current reporting period). The company expects its EPS lower and upper range to increase 124% and 134% to 1.12c and 1.17c, respectively. The headline EPS lower and upper range is expected to rise 122% and 132% to 1.11c and 1.16c, respectively.

Britvic (BVIC); revenue increases 4.9% to £369.8m

Britvic announced its Q1 trading statement for the period ended 31 December 2019. The quarter benefited from the inclusion of additional trading days, following the move to monthly accounting. Revenue increased 2.6% in terms of comparable days and constant currency.

YouGov (YOU); half year trading predicted to be in line with expectations

Revenue growth was driven by data products, with the US and UK markets performing particularly well. Margins were maintained within the custom research division. The group continued to focus on investment in technology, platforms, support functions and key markets, to support scaling. The group’s recent acquisition of SMG Insight, now YouGov Sport, delivered strong results ahead of plan.

Keywords Studios (KWS); expects 15% organic revenue growth in FY 2020

Adjusted EBITDA, excluding IFRS 16 impact, expected to increase c.13% to around €49.5m

Keywords Studios announced unaudited trading update for the year ended 31 December 2019 ahead of full year results which will be issued on 31 March 2020. The board expects full year revenues of approximately €326m, representing a c.30% increase from the prior year. On an organic basis, revenues are expected to increase by approximately 15%.

Avon Rubber (AVON); order intake increases 12% in Q1 2020

Avon Rubber announced its trading update for the financial year ending 30 September 2020 ahead of its AGM today. The company’s strong order intake in its military business more than offset the impact of its exit from the Fire self-contained breathing apparatus market. The global dairy market conditions remained positive in Q1 2020.

discoverIE Group (DSCV); reports 6% CER increase in group sales

For the quarter ended 31 December 2019, discoverIE reported a 6% increase in group sales based on Constant Exchange Rates (CER) organically compared to last year. Group sales improved 3% on a reported basis. Order book increased 5% CER compared to last year, with D&M increasing by 12% CER and the CS division reducing by 7% CER.

Mercia Asset Management (MERC); announces grant of options

The company announced that options over a total of 5,412,140 new ordinary shares with a nominal value of £0.00001 each in the capital of the company were awarded yesterday pursuant to the 2014 Mercia Company Share Option Plan at an exercise price of 24.30p per ordinary share.

Ergomed (ERGO); expects revenue increase of 26% to c. £68m

Ergomed announced its trading update for the year ended 31 December 2019. The company witnessed positive trading performance in both Clinical Research Organisation (CRO) and Pharmacovigilance (PV). The combined CRO and PV order book is expected to be c. £125m as of end-2019. The company continued to be debt-free at year end with cash and equivalent balances over £14m.