Edison Investment Research

EMIS Group (EMIS); FY results: total revenue rises 6% to £170.1m

All key segments are showing growth in revenue, good cash generation and high recurring revenue

In its results for the year ended 31 December 2018, EMIS reported an increase in recurring revenue of 5% to £140.7m. There was a slight increase in adjusted operating profit to £37.6m from £37.4m, and adjusted earnings per share to 47.4p from 47.2p. Dividends are up 10% from the last year.

Share (SHRE); revenue increases 12% to £21.0m for FY 2018

Strong balance sheet with cash of £9.0m and equity investments of £8.4m

Share released its preliminary results for financial year ended December 2018. Assets under administration increased 3% while operating losses fell 60%. Underlying basic and diluted EPS rose to 0.4p. Loss before tax was £22,000 and the proposed final dividend of 0.55p per share was up by 37% compared to FY 2017.

GCP Student Living (DIGS); EPRA NAV increases 5.9% from 146.31p to 157.93p

Dividends of 3.06p per share paid

GCP Student Living today reported its half-year results. The value of the property portfolio increased from £739.6m as of 31 December 2017, to £841.5m at 31 December 2018. For the same period, the LTV ratio increased to 26% from 23%.

Asos (ASC); first half trading statement isn’t as reassuring as might have been hoped

UK performance was strong with sales growth of 14%, and the ROW recovered to 20% after its disappointing Q1

ASOS’ first-half trading statement isn’t as reassuring as might have been hoped following its shock downgrade in December. First-half sales growth was 13% on a reported basis, but only 11% on a constant currency basis, significantly less than the revised guidance of 15% for the year.

Focusrite (TUNE); delivered solid H119 revenue growth of 3%

The company continues to invest in the pipeline and flagged 2 major new product launches

Focusrite has delivered solid H119 revenue growth of c.3% to c£40m, against a record prior year, with a particularly strong performance in Europe. Sales of the second-generation Scarlett, a USB audio interface range launched in June 2016, remained robust over the period, offsetting weaker demand for the Novation ranges, most notably Launchpad, which is approaching four years since launch.

Polypipe Grp (PLP); revenue increases 5.2% to £433.2m for FY 2018

Polypipe announced its results for the financial year ended December 2018, posting a 5.3% increase in operating profit and a 4.7% increase in PBT. EPS stood at 24.5p, while the underlying basic EPS rose 4.4% and DPS increased 4.5% to 11.6p.

Oxford BioDynamics (OBD); signs an agreement with Imperial College London

This trial is led by Professor Hashim Ahmed, Professor and Chair of Urology at Imperial College London

Oxford Biodynamics has signed an agreement with Imperial College to supply its EpiSwitch™ proprietary diagnostic biomarker assay for the PROSTAGRAM trial. The Prostate Cancer Screening Trial is funded by the Wellcome Trust, The Urology Foundation and The British Medical Association.

JD Sports (JD); troubled Footasylum is being taken over by its Chief Executive’s old company

In interim results in October, management reported a plunge into losses at (£4.0m) before tax

The troubled Footasylum is being taken over by its Chief Executive’s old company, JD Sports. Barry Bown, Executive Chairman, was CEO of JD Sports for 14 years to 2014. Footasylum launched on the Aim market in November 2017.

European Assets Trust (EAT); completes the migration from the Netherlands to the UK

The shareholders of EAT NV received one ordinary share in the company in exchange for each share held in EAT NV

The company has completed the migration of the legal seat and structure of European Assets Trust N.V. (EAT NV) from the Netherlands to the UK by means of a cross-border merger by absorption with the company (the migration).

ReNeuron Group (RENE); post update on Phase I/II trial of therapy candidate in retinitis pigmentosa

Dosing of the second cohort of three Phase II subjects has now started

ReNeuron reported that clinical data from the first Phase II patient cohort of its hRPC cell therapy achieved a positive review from the Data Safety Monitoring Board. All three subjects reported a quick and marked improvement in vision. Dosing of the second cohort of three Phase II subjects has now started. The second cohort consists of patients with a greater baseline level of visual acuity than those treated previously.