Edison Investment Research

PPHE Hotel Group (PPH); acquires remaining stake in W29 Development

PPHE has acquired from its joint venture partner its 50% interest in W29 Development, a Delaware limited liability company (JV company), for a total consideration of US$3.3m plus associated acquisition costs. Therefore, the company presently owns 100% of the JV company and the associated joint venture arrangements have been terminated.

Non-Standard Finance (NSF); provides an update on FY 2019 trading

The company expects the results for the year ended 31 December 2019 to be in line with the current consensus of analyst forecasts.

Non-Standard Finance announced that trading in the final few months of 2019 was as anticipated. The group’s medium-term targets for loan book growth and impairment as a percentage of revenue are unchanged. The group had cash at bank of £14.2m and gross borrowings of £323.2m as of 31 December 2019.

Mercia Asset Management (MERC); nDreams makes continuing commercial progress

The company currently holds a 36.4% fully diluted stake in nDreams.

The company announced that its direct portfolio company nDreams signed a contract with a leading global games publisher to develop content for the rapidly expanding location-based entertainment (LBE) virtual reality (VR) market.

Henderson Alternative Strat Tst (HAST); enable sale of portfolio

Board expects to seek shareholder approval for change in investment policy

The board is seeking shareholders’ approval in coming weeks for a change in the investment policy that will enable the sale of the portfolio. Subject to the approval, the board will look to return cash to shareholders through the orderly sale of the portfolio. It may consider a tender offer or offers as the portfolio is realised.

Bankers Investment (BNKR); NAV per ordinary share at 948.7p for FY 2019

The Bankers Investment Trust announced its annual financial report for the year ended 31 October 2019. NAV increased by 9.6% in capital terms over the year. With dividends reinvested, NAV total return per share was 12.1%, marginally outperforming the FTSE World Index total return of 11.7%. Share price total return increased to 13.6%, and EPS increased 4.0% to 21.61p.

Target Healthcare REIT (THRL); enters into a £50m committed term loan facility with ReAssure

Target Healthcare REIT has entered into a new long-term £50m committed term loan facility with ReAssure. The facility carries an aggregate fixed rate of interest of 3.28% p.a. for its 12-year term, maturing in January 2032.

YouGov (YOU); completes SMG Insight acquisition ahead of schedule

Today, YouGov announced that it will complete the SMG Insight acquisition ahead of schedule, factoring in its strong outperformance ahead of the plan. The company rebranded SMG Insight as YouGov Sport, following the completion of the integration. 

Games Workshop; revenue at £148.4m and PBT of £58.6m,

Games Workshop’s interim results are strong with revenue of £148.4m and PBT of £58.6m, which compare to the “not less than £140m” and “not less than £55m” respectively, as indicated at the trading update in November, which led to EPS upgrades of c 9%.

McBride; another profit warning from McBride

On the revenue side, Household revenues are now expected to be down 2% for the year vs the prior expectation of revenues to be stable. H1 Household revenues were down 1.4% at constant currency vs the comparable period, with the statement highlighting a slowdown during the final two months of the period, especially in the UK.

PageGroup (PAGE); gross profit declines 0.4% to £205.6m in Q4 2019

PageGroup announced its Q4 and full-year 2019 trading update. The Group’s gross profit increased 5.0% to £856.0m in constant currencies for the full year. The company reported a strong balance sheet in Q4 with net cash of c. £93m.