The 2025 Small Cap Awards were held in London on 19 June. The winners were:
Company of the year
Cohort (LON: CHRT)
Executive director of the year
Andrew Thomis, Cohort
Defence equipment and services provider Cohort says trading in the year to April 2025 was in line with expectations. Pre-tax profit is forecast at £25.6m and it is expected to rise to £34.1m in 2025-26. The order book is worth £230m and provides 80% cover for current year expectations. Net cash was £5m at the end of April 2025 and since then the £8m sale of the transport division has been agreed.
Cohort won a five-year contract with Thales UK to provide waterfront support maintenance and inspections at Royal Navy dockyards.
Acquisitions have also been important when it comes to broadening the product range and increasing exposure to international markets. At the beginning of the year, Cohort completed the acquisition of Australia-based satellite terminals supplier EM Solutions.
Andrew Thomis has been on the board since 2009. Cohort joined AIM in March 2006. The shares have risen by 474% over the past decade.
Aquis company of the year
Oberon Investments (LON: OBE)
Oberon Investments Groupis a broker, wealth manager and investment manager, which also manages the Oberon AIM VCT. Hiring experienced investment mangers and corporate broking people have been taken on and acquisitions have supplemented that growth.
Earlier this year, Oberon raised £2.5m in an oversubscribed placing at 4.5p/share. The cash will be used to accelerate growth, particularly in the broking business, which is expected to increase revenues by more than 50% in the current year. Mergers among larger broker provide potential to add to clients. There are also opportunities to add further teams of investment and wealth managers.
IPO of the year
Applied Nutrition (LON: APN)
Fully listed Applied Nutrition formulates sports nutrition and health products and manufactures them at Knowsley, Liverpool. The company has been trading for a decade. The UK is the main sales region, but it is an international business. The founder Thomas Ryder continues to lead the business.
There was no new money raised at the time of the flotation on 29 October 2024 because of its strong cash position even after investment in increasing capacity. The introduction price was 140p. Existing shareholders sold 112.5 million shares at 140p each. The indicative price range was 136p to 160p.
The latest interims show better than expected revenues of £47.6m and full year revenues of £100m are expected. There is strong growth in direct to consumer revenues. A full year pre-tax profit of £28.4m is forecast.
ESG of the year
Good Energy (LON: GOOD)
Energy and energy efficiency services provider Good Energy was eligible for this award even though it was taken over. There was a 490p/share recommended bid from Esyasoft. That valued Good Energy at £99.4m.
Starting out as a green electricity supplier, Good Energy moved into energy services, such as Zapmap, which collects data on electric vehicle chargers and provides updated information to drivers, and solar installers.
Transaction of the year
The Property Franchise Group (LON: TPFG)
At the beginning of 2024, The Property Franchise Group merged with its main AIM-quoted franchised lettings and property sales rival Belvoir. Growth has been via acquisitions and organic expansion. Lettings is a resilient market with strong recurring revenues and there is potential for recovery in the sales market.
In 2024, with a contribution from Belvoir, revenues jumped from £27.3m to £67.3m, while underlying pre-tax profit doubled to £22.3m. Even earnings improved from 28.4p/share to 31.4p/share. The dividend was raised from 14p/share to 18p/share. Net debt was £9.1m at the end of 2024.
This year there will be 12 month contribution from the 2024 acquisitions, including Belvoir, and revenues could rise to £82.3m, while pre-tax profit should reach £30m.
Technology company of the year
Filtronic (LON: FTC)
RF components and systems developer Filtronic is increasingly winning business in the space sector, particularly with its partner and warrants holder SpaceX. New orders have led to multiple forecast upgrades over the past year.
Investment in new products has helped Filtronic to grow. There have been recent orders for Cerus32 solid state power amplifier modules. This includes a £24m order from SpaceX.
In the year to May 2025, pre-tax profit is expected to be £14.1m. Currently, the 2025-26 pre-tax profit forecast is £7.85m, but given the record of upgrades it could be much higher.
Dividend hero
MP Evans (LON: MPE)
MP Evans operates oil palm plantations in Indonesia. In 2024, revenues increased from $307.4m to $352.8m, while pre-tax profit jumped from $73.5m to $111.7m. The dividend was raised from 45p/share to 52.5p/share. This continues the record of growing the dividend.
There was a 13% increase is crude palm oil sales prices to $823/tonne, and they are currently $870/tonne. The company’s own production rose, but crop processed was slightly lower at 1.61 million tonnes because less third-party crop was bought in and processed at the six mills.
A 2025 pre-tax profit of $93.3m is forecast, rising to $97.3m in 2026. Net cash could increase from $46.3m to $77.7m the end of 2025. MP Evans has launched a £12m share buyback programme. Up to £2m can be used to purchase shares in the market, while the other £10m can be used in limited circumstances, such as when a large stake comes on the market.
Investor relations success
Concurrent Technologies (LON: CNC)
Ruggedised plug-in cards developer Concurrent Technologies has grown strongly in recent years as the chief executive’s strategy begins to pay off. Miles Adcock has been chief executive for four years.
He reduced the time to develop and launch new products and also moved into supplying systems, which generate higher margins. He also acquired a business in the US to make it easier to supply that market. A new facility is being built in the UK. Defence and aerospace generates 87% of revenues.
There were 22 design wins in 2024 and ten of them have the potential to generate total revenues of $100m over the lifetime of the product they are part of.
Profit initially fell, but it is growing rapidly. In 2024, revenues increased from £31.7m to £40.3m, which is more than double the 2022 figure. Pre-tax profit improved from £3.7m to £5.2m. Net cash was £13.7m at the end of 2024. Revenues of £43m are forecast with pre-tax profit of £6m. Next year, pre-tax profit could improve to £7.7m.
Workplace excellence
MJ Gleeson (LON: GLE)
Analyst of the year
Julie Simmonds – Panmure Liberum
Broker of the year
Cavendish Capital Markets
Lifetime achievement
Alasdair Haynes