Cosmetics supplier Warpaint London (LON: W7L) says trading is ahead of market expectations with sales of at least £61m and underlying pre-tax profit of more than £9m. The share price jumped 18.6% to 131p. The previous pre-tax profit forecast was £8.23m. There could be additional gains from foreign exchange. The interims will be published on 21 September, but management felt that it needed to make the trading statement before this.
Investment manager AssetCo (LON: ASTO) has attracted attention due to its 30% stake in Parmenion Capital Partners, where shareholders are rumoured to want to sell a stake at a valuation of between £300m and £400m. That could value the stake at £90m to £120m. AssetCo acquired its 30% stake in October 2021 for up to £27.8m, plus £1.3m share of acquisition costs, and the final payment of up to £3.6m is due in March 2023. The AssetCo share price is 14.4% ahead at 71.5p.
Sylvania Platinum (LON: SLP) announced a doubled final dividend of 8p a share alongside its results for the year to June 2022. There has already been a special dividend of 2.25p a share and a $7.1m share buyback. The share price rose 4.5p to 85.5p. Production declined and selling prices for platinum group metals were lower in the year to June 2022. Even so, net profit was $56.2m and Sylvania Platinum has been able to finance the cash distributions and plough money back into development. The benefits of that investment will show through in 2023-24. There is still $121m of cash in the balance sheet, although the dividend will reduce that significantly.
Duke Royalty (LON: DUKE), which provides finance to businesses in return for royalty income, returned to growth in the year to March 2022, after a year of consolidation. Cash revenues increased from £12.1m to £18.4m and free cash flow was 3.5p a share. Duke Royalty is in the process of investing the cash it raised in the spring. The dividend is expected to increase to 2.9p a share this year. The share price rose 4.6% to 34.25p, which values the company at just above NAV. The forecast yield is 8.5%.
Nicholas Slater has increased his stake in gaming investment company Blue Star Capital (LON: BLU) from 10.2% to 11.1%. The share price rose 2.9% to 0.1775p.
Alien Metals (LON: UFO) has completed the £1.5m placing and subscription at 0.5p a share announced late last night. The share price slumped 16.9% to 0.54p. The cash will help to fund the development of the minerals explorer’s drilling and geological programmes. Alien Metals is negotiating a deal with Anglo American, which will provide up to $15m in funding and take 100% of iron ore production from the Hancock project in Australia. Alien Metals hopes to get Hancock in production in the first half of next year.
Broker Cenkos Securities (LON: CNKS) fell into loss in the first half of 2022, although there was an underlying profit of £1.9m, down from £2.9m. The share price dipped by 9% to 55.5p. Revenues fell by around 30% as market activity slowed. The interim dividend has been cut from 1.25p a share to 1p a share. Cash fell to £15.9m, which is around 50% of the market capitalisation.
Capital equipment manufacturer Mpac (LON: MPAC) had already issued a profit warning, so the slump in interim profit was expected. Even so, the share price fell 5.94% to 237.5p. Management remains cautious with supply issues continuing, but the order book is worth £62.6m. Full year pre-tax profit is expected to fall from £8.6m to £3.5m and there is a chance that it could bounce back in 2023. Net cash could be £5.3m at the end of 2022. There is long-term potential for supplying manufacturing lines for battery companies.
Ex-dividends
Alpha Financial Markets Consulting (LON: AFM) is paying a dividend of 7.5p a share and the share price is 4.5p lower at 397.5p.
Alpha FX (LON: AFX) is paying a dividend of 3.4p a share and the share price is unchanged at 1820p.
Camellia (LON: CAM) is paying a dividend of 44p a share although the share price rose 100p to 5500p.
Franchise Brands (LON: FRAN) is paying a dividend of 0.9p a share and the share price is unchanged at 152p.
GlobalData (LON: DATA) is paying a dividend of 7.7p a share and the share price is unchanged at 1090p.
Globalworth Real Estate Investments Ltd (LON: GWI) is paying a dividend of 14 cents a share and the share price is 2.5 cents lower at 419.5 cents.
H&T Group (LON: HAT) is paying a dividend of 5p a share and the share price has risen by 5p to 457p.
Holders Technology (LON: HDT) is paying a dividend of 0.5p a share and the share price is unchanged at 89p.
Manolete Partners (LON: MANO) is paying a dividend of 0.5p a share and the share price is unchanged at 252.5p.
Totally (LON: TLY) is paying a dividend of 0.5p a share and the share price rose 1.25p to 38.25p on the back of contract extensions worth £14m.
Uniphar (LON: UPR) is paying a dividend of 0.61 cents a share and the share price is unchanged at 290p. Wentworth Resources (LON: WEN) is paying a dividend of 0.69p a share and the share price is unchanged at 24.75p.