Two deals were not completed by student accommodation and build to rent developer Watkin Jones (LON: WJG) before the end of September and they have knocked at least 10% off 2021-22 profit to around £49m. The dividend could be trimmed to 7.8p a share, so that it is twice covered by earnings. There are also cost pressures and interest rate rises will hamper future profitability. This led to a one-third cut in 2022-23 pre-tax profit forecast to £50m. Demand for student accommodation and build to rent remains strong but margins will come under pressure. Net cash is £75m. The share price has slumped by one-third to 100.3p.
Interim results from medical devices supplier Inspiration Healthcare (LON: IHC) show a small dip in revenues from £20.9m to £20.5m, although higher full year revenues are still anticipated. This is backed up by the order book. Sales mix and higher costs have hit margins. Stock levels have increased to offset rising prices. Along with capital investment, this led to a fall in cash to £3.3m. Cenkos has trimmed its revenues forecast but maintained profit expectations. The share price has fallen 16% to 73.5p.
GTCR is no longer considering a bid for GB Group (LON: GBG) and the shares have fallen 14.2% to 527.5p.
Allergy Therapeutics (LON: AGY) has paused production at its Worthing manufacturing site in order to make operational improvements. This should improve quality and increase production capacity. Clinical trials will not be affected, but there will be an impact on revenues. That knocked 10.5% off the share price to 17p.
A trading statement from Character Group (LON: CCT) indicates that figures for the year to August 2022 will be in line with expectations, but the new financial year will be tougher due to the weakness of sterling and consumer spending concerns. There has been a large increase in inventories, which has reduced cash to £15.1m. Allenby expects a 2021-22 pre-tax profit of £11.25m, but it has halved the forecast for next year to £5.5m. A total dividend of 17p a share is forecast for 2021-22. The shares fell 9% to 445p.
ECR Minerals (LON: ECR) has completed nearly three-quarters of the sampling programme at the Lolworth Range gold prospect in north Queensland. The share price fell 3.57% to 0.675p.
N4 Pharma (LON: N4P) has completed initial in vitro testing of its Nuvec delivery system loaded with two generic siRNA probes at the same time and both were able to significantly silence their respective targets. This will help discussions with potential partners. Work continues on a treatment for lung cancer. The N4 Pharma share price rose 10% to 2.2p.
Share buybacks are helping to maintain a strong share price at Shoe Zone (LON: SHOE) even though they have generally been in modest numbers. The shares are 10.6% higher at 177.5p.
Align Research has published a report on tantalum project developer Kazera Global Investments (LON: KZG) and set a price target of 4.55p. The share price is 9.1% ahead at 0.9p.
The Catenae Innovations (LON: CTEA) share price has more than recovered the loss after it returned from suspension on 30 September. The suspension price of the digital media company was 0.275p and it returned from suspension at 0.175p but had got back to 0.275p by Monday. The price has risen a further 9.1% to 0.3p.
