Edison Investment Research

Polypipe Group (PLP); witnesses strong H1 performance

Polypipe Group announced its interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2019. Revenue increased 6.2% to £223.3m, with strong contribution from recent acquisitions. Underlying operating profit and basic EPS grew 8.3% and 8.9% to £39.3m and 14.7p, respectively. Interim dividend rose 8.1% to 4.0p per share.

PowerHouse Energy Group (PHE); announces collaboration contract with Peel Environmental

As part of the move, Peel will bring its land bank, industrial real estate and infrastructure support to the consortium

PowerHouse Energy Group has entered into a collaboration contract with Peel Environmental and Waste2Tricity Limited (W2T) to develop a minimum of 10 further sites in the UK for DMG facilities, along with the previously announced project at Protos Energy Park.

Metals Exploration (MTL); 15,884 ounces of gold poured during Q2 2019

Metals Exploration provided a quarterly update on the operations of its Runruno gold project in the Philippines. The company sold 15,577 ounces of gold at an average realised gold price of $1,303 per ounce. Cash at bank stood at $3.39m as of 30 June 2019.

Circle Property (CRC); acquires Maidenhead Office Park for £14.6m

The acquisition was primarily funded by a £12.791m drawdown

Circle Property has announced the acquisition of Concorde Park, a southeast office park, for £14.6m. The acquisition was primarily funded by a £12.791m drawdown from the company’s recently agreed £100m bank facility with RBS and HSBC. The acquisition price represents a net initial yield of 4.03% with a potential reversionary yield of 9.8% once fully let.

Diversified Gas and Oil (DGOC); interims were in-line with expectations

DGO maintain a target of returning 40% of FCF to shareholders

DGO’s interims were in-line with metrics pre-released by the company in its 24th July 2019 trading statement*. No surprises here. Recent commodity price weakness, across both gas and oil, has been the driver of a recent sector de-rating with a number of E&Ps exhibiting dividend yields in excess of 10%.

S&U (SUS); Aspen’s net amounts receivable at half-year stand at over £24m

At the period end, the group’s borrowing stood at just over £125m

S&U’s update for the period since its AGM update (May 23) and end-July is reassuring. It indicates that the Advantage Finance motor finance business is seeing continued increase in the rate of growth in both loan applications and transactions.  Customer numbers are 7% ahead y-o-y at over 62,000 vs over 60,000 at the time of the AGM.

Raven Property Group (RAV); announces preference share dividend

All preference shareholders can choose to have their dividend settled in the form of preference shares

Raven Property Group announced its preference share dividend today. The record date for the payment is 16 August 2019 with an ex-dividend date of 15 August 2019. The company’s directors confirmed that the quarterly payment of the preferred dividend in respect of shares with ticker RAVP will be made on 30 September 2019. The preference shares will be eligible for a gross dividend of 3p per share for the period 30 June 2019 to (but excluding) 30 September 2019.

Epwin Group (EPWN); revenues at £140.0m for H1 2019

The board expects adjusted PBT for H1 and the full year to be in line with market expectations.

Epwin Group announced its half-year trading update. Revenues of £140.0m were in line with the board’s expectations, while like-for-like revenues were marginally ahead of H1 2018. Overall, the company reports that its financial position remains strong, with good cash generation and net debt of £29.2m.

Share (SHRE); in line despite market background

The board expects the group's financial performance to continue improving in line with market expectations

Key figures were: revenue +9% to £11.1m despite trading volumes being down 18% in the period; operating profit £0.1m vs loss of £0.5m; statutory PBT £0.2m vs loss of £0.3m; underlying PBT £0.5m vs £0.1m. Assets under administration +5% to £5.3bn.

If trading activity had matched H118 then operating profit would have been £0.4m higher.

PageGroup (PAGE); report group operating profit up 12.5%

Interim dividend up 4.9% to 4.30p per share, totalling £13.9m

PageGroup announced that revenue grew 9.2% to £820.5m and gross profit grew 9.5% to £433.5m in its unaudited half year results for the period ended 30 June 2019. In constant currencies, revenue and gross profit both increased by 9.5%. Diluted EPS in 1H19 was 16.8p, an increase of 9.1% (2018:15.4p).