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Update
Craneware drop despite in-line trading update
Craneware (CRW) released its first interim update since the acquisition of Sentry Data Systems in July.
The US-focused healthcare financial software provider saw its shares drop sharply despite revenue and earnings “in-line with management’s expectations”.
Revenue for the enlarged group increased 110% to approximately $80m with an adjusted EBITDA increase of 75% to over $23m. While Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) came in “ahead of management’s expectations” – reaching $165m.
However, Craneware did temper the strong numbers by stating that the recent wave of Omicron has “added to the pressure on hospitals and has recently been more pronounced”…
As a results, Craneware said it has seen a “slight elongation of the sales cycle and delays in professional services”, causing a “reduced amount of professional services revenues being recognised in the period”.
Keith Neilson, CEO of Craneware plc, commented,
“As the new Craneware Group our aim is to transform the business of U.S. healthcare. The global pandemic has highlighted the importance of usable financial and operational data and it is expected this realisation will drive future investment by hospitals. Through our increased scale and data sets, we are even better placed to provide innovative new ways to measurably impact operational and financial performance and are increasingly confident and energised by the opportunity ahead.”
CRW Daily Candle Chart
Midwich acquires Nimans for £27.5m
Midwich (MIDW) announced this week that it has acquired UK-based distributor Nimans along with other subsidiaries from Nycomm Holdings Limited for £27.5m.
Based in Manchester, Nimans distributes telephony hardware as well as solutions such as unified communications, VOIP, security and networking, and partners with a wide range of vendors including BT, Microsoft, NETGEAR and Yealink.
Nimans accounts for the lion’s share of revenues in the £130m-revenue Nycomm Group. The distributor generated consolidated revenues of £114.3m and pre-tax profits of £5.8 million for the year ending 31 December 2020 while currently trading with over 2,500 telephony, IT and retail customers and employing over 200 staff.
Midwich Managing Director, Stephen Fenby commented:
“Midwich continues to grow its UC offering and Nimans brings further opportunities to the group, in terms of skills in new product and technology areas, service offerings to the trade, a large new customer base and new vendor relationships.”
The deal, worth £27.5m will be funded from Midwich’s existing facilities and is expected to be earnings enhancing in the year to 31 December 2022.
MIDW Daily Candle Chart
Ceres bounce as Bosch is added to ‘strategic collaboration’ for the Chinese market
Shares in Ceres Power (CWR) surged higher yesterday as it announced a three-way strategic collaboration with Weichai and Bosch for the Chinese market…
The fuel cell manufacturer said the addition of Bosch to its existing deal with Weichai serves to “significantly strengthens the planned joint venture”.
Ceres now expect to set up two separate joint ventures in Shandong Province:
The first is a ‘three-way’ System Joint Venture (JV) will be set up for the development and manufacture of solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) systems…
Bosch and Ceres will licence their respective SOFC system IP to the JV for mobile and stationary applications in China and will share royalties from the sale of products. Weichai will be the majority shareholder and ceres will hold a maximum 10% share with Board representation.
Separately, a stack manufacturing JV will be established to supply fuel cell stacks to the System JV and potentially other third parties. License fees of £30 million from the System JV and Stack JV to Ceres are expected over the next three years in line with those agreed in the original Weichai-Ceres agreement in 2018, with minimum payments and annual royalties receivable following start of production from each of the JVs.
CWR Daily Candle Chart
Inspecs say full-year trading ‘in-line’ expectations
Global eyewear manufacturer and distributor, Inspecs (SPEC) said full-year trading was “in-line with Board expectations”.
The numbers, which included the acquisitions of Swedish eyewear company EGO Eyewear Ltd and German distributor BoDe Design, were strong with Group revenue of $241m versus $47.4m.
Inspecs said its trading outlook for 2022 “remains positive” with “growth prospects underpinned by recent acquisitions and multiple opportunities to continue to grow the business across the globe”.
Robin Totterman, Chief Executive Officer commented:
“The Group now has over 35 licensed and owned brands available to our customers around the world, and the ability to provide a sustainable one-stop-shop frame and lens package continues to gain momentum”…
“I remain confident about the Group’s ability to continue to grow organically and through acquisition in the long-term and to continue to deliver further positive results for our customers, shareholders and all stakeholders” he added.
SPEC Daily Candle Chart
Xpediator drive higher after bullish trading update
In a trading update released last week, Xpediator (XPD) said it had performed strongly across all three divisions and expects to deliver revenues in excess of £300m (2020:£221m).
The freight management business expects adjusted profit before tax to be “well in excess of £8.5m” (2020: £7.2m) and “in line with the upgraded guidance” given in June 2021.
Revenue growth continued into the second half of 2021, with strong increases in Freight Forwarding revenues, the largest division of the Group, driven primarily by Central Eastern Europe (CEE) markets, increased sea freight volumes and an uplift from UK customs clearance.
Interim CEO, Wim Pauwels, said:
“We see excellent potential for this business to grow organically and by acquisition. The new warehouse in the port of Southampton will be a significant factor in 2022 together with a range of growth projects and potential acquisitions we have in progress across the business. We are therefore in a strong position to build upon this in 2022.”
The shares gapped higher on the back of the numbers and have been trending higher since.
XPD Daily Candle Chart
EQTEC pursuing additional five project opportunities in France
Our Waste-to-Energy play, EQTEC (EQT) released a trading update last week in which it said it “has identified and is pursuing an additional five project opportunities in France for a range of biomass, RDF and other feedstock, as well as a range of offtake applications”.
EQTEC also said it expect confirmation of 2021 revenues in the range of €8 – 10 million (2020: €2.2 million), as previously outlines in December.
CEO David Palumbo, commented:
“The final quarter of 2021 was busy for us and rewarding as a result…”
“We are active now in seven markets and have opened the door for more as we scale… we have delivered over four times revenue growth and find ourselves in a strong position to grow even faster…”
“We will do this across both geographical and solutions markets, driving innovation and better targeting of demand, together with our local and some multinational partners. 2022 will see us commission more plants with more operational availability and prove our case that EQTEC syngas is the future for reliable, carbon-negative, baseload energy and biofuels.”
EQT Daily Candle Chart
Warpaint expect full year results to be ‘ahead of market expectations’
Warpaint London (W7L) released their first trading update since we added them to our portfolio in November, and it made for pleasant reading…
The mid-tier makeup manufacturer said it had seen strong trading in 2021, and expected full-year results to be “ahead of market expectations”.
Warpaint had previously released full-year sales guidance of £49.3m, but said the number would be more than £50m.
Gross margins were maintained “ahead of those achieved in 2020 and 2019” at approximately 33.8%, despite increased costs in the supply chain, particularly in respect of freight. While adjusted earnings are expected to be approx. £7.7m (2020: £4.2m, 2019: £7m).
Commenting on the numbers, CEO Sam Bazini said:
“I am pleased to report that we ended 2021 ahead of current market expectations. In 2021 we enjoyed particularly strong sales growth in the UK, significant growth internationally and further increases in online sales. It was pleasing that we were able to maintain our margins at pre-pandemic levels, despite some inflationary headwinds, particularly with freight costs”…
“We expect to see a continuing improvement in performance in 2022 and have started the year strongly. In line with our stated strategy we have significant opportunities for further growth, both with our existing retailers, and those such as Boots where we are expecting to launch very shortly, together with others that we are in discussions with. I look forward to providing further updates at the time of the release of the Group’s results in April.”
W7L Daily Candle Chart
Surface Transforms hail ‘transformational’ year
Surface Transforms (SCE) released a bullish trading update late-last month in which it said daily assembly volumes “reached the initial management targets required to reach market revenue expectations for 2022”.
The ceramic break specialist also said Full-Year 2021 revenue grew 20% to £2.4m and cash at 31 Dec 2021 would be £13m.
The specific production issue which the company highlighted in December has now been “addressed” with “several satisfactory production batches having now been produced in late December and January”.
Chairman, David Bundred commented:
“This year will be transformational for the Company as we move into profitability. We are delighted with the progress made in January, and by the success the team had in its response to the problematic furnace”…
“Given our order position, the priority is now production, and the Board is confident in the Company’s ability to deliver on the excellent opportunity ahead” he added.
SCE Daily Candle Chart
Inland Homes achieve ‘record revenues’
Inland Homes (INL) ended the year “strongly” and trading “in line with market expectations” according to their Final Results, released last week…
The developer said it had achieved “record revenue” at £181.7m (Sep 2020: £124.0m), with profit before tax of £13.2m (Sep 2020: £3.4m).
Inland also managed to continue their trend of deleveraging with net debt reducing 20.3% to £118.1m (Sep 2020 £148.2m).
And their partnership housing forward order book closed at £164.7m (Sep 2020: £105.8m).
Inland CEO, Stephen Wicks commented:
“We have achieved record revenue, delivered on our commitment to reduce net debt and have grown our asset management, partnership housing and private housebuilding divisions.
“The underlying strength of the housing market and the shortfall in new housing delivery will continue to support demand for the land we own and the homes we build. The Group is well placed to make further progress in the year ahead.”
It’s early days for our position in Inland Homes, but these robust numbers serve to underpin our bullish long-term outlook.
INL Daily Candle Chart
eEnergy half year revenues jump 44%
Go-green facilitator, eEnergy (EAAS) strong trading update towards the end of Jan with trading “broadly in-line with market expectations for the full year”.
Group revenues for the six months ended 31 December 2021 were up 44% to £9.7m, while adjusted earnings jumped 120% to £0.8m.
eEnergy also said it had £18.3m of contracted forward revenues over four years, up 250% from Dec 2020, with £5.3 million converting into revenue during H2 2022.
CEO Harvey Sinclair said:
“The first half has been another busy period which has seen the Group win new contracts as well as successfully integrate the acquisition of leading energy management group, UtilityTeam”…
“We are very encouraged by the momentum in our forward order book and the macro outlook for our growing position in the market.”
“We have over £18 million of contracted forward revenue for the coming years, a new record which reflects our successful strategy to broaden our services and deepen our relationships with both new and existing clients.”
EAAS Daily Candle Chart
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