Restaurant Group shares crash 6%, following plans to scrap final 2019 dividend
Shares in the Restaurant Group PLC (LON:RTN) have crashed on Wednesday, as the firm noted that it would be suspending dividends.
On Wednesday morning, the Restaurant Group released their annual results – and shareholders have not reacted so optimistically.
Shares in the firm trade at 109p (-6.55%). 26/2/20 10:59BST.
The Restaurant Group, who own a range of different brands including Wagamama said that no final dividend will be paid for 2019.
In 2019, notably the firm did pay a dividend of 2.1p however this fell significantly below the interim dividend reward of 6.8p in 2018.
The Restaurant Group said that the dividend would be suspended to allow the business to grow Wagamama along with its Concessions and Pubs businesses.
Interestingly, the firm also said that it will close sites and operations within its Leisure Unit, with a reduction between 260 and 275 by the end of 2021.
Across the yearly period, the firm did note that like for like sales rose 2.7%, as total sales rose 56% to £1.07 million – the firm praised the strong performance of Wagamama across this period.
However – The Restaurant Group posted a pretax loss of £37.3 million, as it swung to a loss from £13.9 million profit from the year before.
Profit was bruised by an £111.8 million impairment, largely spawning from the Leisure business.
In the first six weeks of the year, the firm noted that it had seen year-on-year like-for-like sales growth of 5.3%.
Andy Hornby, Chief Executive Officer, commented:
“Having joined the business in August last year I am particularly pleased with the continued and significant progress made following the acquisition of Wagamama and the integration of the business into the Group, which has transformed the Group’s growth trajectory and momentum.
Our three growth businesses of Wagamama, Concessions and Pubs are all out-performing their respective markets and have clear potential for further growth. I am also acutely aware of the challenges facing our Leisure business and the wider casual dining sector.
It is therefore clear that our strategic priorities need to evolve in order to maximise shareholder value in the medium term. Following extensive review we have defined three clear strategic priorities for the next two years:
· Grow our Wagamama, Concessions and Pubs businesses;
· Rationalise our Leisure business; and
· Accelerate our deleveraging profile
In order to support these strategic priorities, the Board has taken the decision to temporarily suspend the dividend. This will allow us to continue investing in our three high growth businesses, whilst facilitating an acceleration of our Leisure estate rationalisation and reducing our net debt.
We have made an encouraging start to the new financial year with like-for-like sales up 5.3% for the first six weeks of 2020.”
Taylor Wimpey beat company completions record, but stay cautious on political turbulence
Taylor Wimpey (LON:TW) have seen their shares dip modestly following the releasing of their annual results.
The British house builder said that across 2019, revenues had climbed and completions had risen to a company record.
The firm did note that 2020 may still hold further political turbulence, with the firm saying:
“During a period of wider macro-economic uncertainty, the new build market has proved to be resilient and house prices have remained stable. As we look ahead, we see the removal of Help to Buy as a continued risk, but having had visibility of, and time to plan for, the changes, we consider it as one that can be managed.
Whilst we recognize that the ongoing trade discussions with the European Union may create some volatility in sentiment in the housing market in the near term, we see the clearer political outlook as providing a longer period of stability for our customers. We are mindful of the changing regulatory environment for the sector in the short to medium term and will continue to monitor this closely to ensure we are able to respond.”
Looking at revenue figures, the British firm noted that 2019 revenue was 6.4% higher at £4.34 billion from £4.08 billion the year before.
On an even better note, pretax profit also spiked 3.1% from £810.7 million to £835.9 million – which is impressive considering the volatile nature of the property market.
Before exceptional items, pretax profit dipped 4.1% to £821.6 million from £856.8 million. Taylor Wimpey noted that the company made a £14.3 million gain from such one-off items, swinging from a £46.1 million loss.
Market consensus and forecasts which had been predicted by Taylor Wimpey had noted that pretax profit before exceptional items could total £821.5 million, which has remained consistent with the company.
On a better note, and probably the headline take from today’s update – the home builder reported completions of 16,024, up 5.0% from 15,275 the year before.
Taylor Wimpey lifted its full year dividend by 22% to 7.64 pence per share from 6.24p in 2018.
Pete Redfern, Chief Executive, commented:
“The Group delivered a good performance in 2019, with a record sales rate and home completions increasing by 5%. During the year, we continued to strengthen our business and build a sustainable advantage, improving our core customer proposition and business flexibility through investments in customer service, quality, build capacity and direct labour. These investments will strengthen the business for the long term.
In 2020, we will focus on further embedding and leveraging these improvements across the business while increasing our focus on cost discipline and process simplification.
The new year has started well, with a good level of customer demand and a clearer political outlook.”
Taylor Wimpey’s second half produces strong results
In November, Taylor Wimpey reported strong second half demand for their housebuilding services, despite tough market trading conditions. The FTSE 100 listed home builder, reported a 12.5% rise in its orders, to £2.7 billion as it exploited strong demand coupled with lower interest rates and the governments Help to Buy scheme boosting demand. Total order book, excluding joint ventures, stood at 10,433 homes as at November 10 from 9,843 homes a year earlier. Taylor Wimpey did warn homebuilders about potential rising costs in 2020 – and this sentiment has remained consistent within the results today. Shares in Taylor Wimpey trade at 210p (-3.88%). 26/2/20 10:49BST.Rio Tinto post steady final results, boosted by rising iron prices
Rio Tinto plc (LON:RIO) have produced a steady set of final results that have been published on Wednesday.
Shares in Rio Tinto trade at 3,918p (+0.064%). 26/2/20 10:25BST.
The firm said that revenues had risen across 2019, which was largely down to rising iron prices – however profits dipped slightly across the year.
In Rio Tinto’s 2019 financial year, the firm noted that sales revenue climbed 6.5% to $43.17 billion from $40.52 billion, but pretax profit slumped 35% to $11.77 billion from $18.20 billion.
Looking at net losses, the mining titan reported that they faced a $291 million net loss on consolidation and disposals, compared to a $4.6 billion surplus just one year ago.
Notably, impairment charges faced were $3.49 billion, which was a significant increase from the $132 million gain in 2018.
Rio Tinto added that its full year ordinary dividend per share was 24% higher at 382 cents from 307 cents – however total dividend fell 19% to 443.0 cents from 550.0 cents in 2018.
The mining firm also noted that they are currently assessing the impact of the coronavirus on operations and production, which the firm said could cause uncertainty in the short term.
“Our world-class portfolio and strong balance sheet serve us well in all market conditions, and are particularly valuable in the current volatile environment. We are closely monitoring the impact of the Covid-19 virus and are prepared for some short-term impacts, such as supply-chain issues. Our products are currently reaching our customers.
Full year production guidance remained consistent, however full year guidance at the Pilbara iron ore operations were slashed following damaged caused by cyclone Damien.
Going forward, mined copper production is expected lie within the 530,000 to 570,000 tonne ball park, which is below total 2019 output of 577,000 tonnes.
Finally, aluminium production is expected to be between 3.1 and 3.3 million, which remains consistent with last year’s total figure.
Rio Tinto Chief Executive J-S Jacques said:
“We have again delivered strong financial results with underlying EBITDA of $21.2 billion, underlying EBITDA margin of 47% and return on capital employed of 24%. This performance allows us to return a record final ordinary dividend of $3.7 billion, resulting in a full-year ordinary dividend of $6.2 billion and total cash returns of $7.2 billion.
“In line with our disciplined approach to capital allocation, we invested $2.6 billion in development projects, including high-return iron ore and copper. Longer term, our $624 million exploration and evaluation expenditure in 2019 adds to our pipeline of attractive options.
“Our resilience and value over volume strategy mean we can invest in our business and deliver superior returns to shareholders in the short, medium and long term.”
Rio Tinto face damage from Cyclone Damien
Just over a week ago, Rio Tinto noted that they would be lowering their annual shipments guidance. The firm said that shipments are expected to be lower at its iron ore operations in Western Australia following damage caused by Cyclone Damien. Across 2020, the FTSE 100 lister miner now expects shipments at its Pilbara operations to be between 324 million and 334 million. Notably, this sees a formidable slump from previously guided range which was in the 330 million and 343 million ball park. In 2019, Rio Tinto reported iron ore shipments at Pilbara of 327 millions which saw a 3% slip on 2018 – which gave shareholders a pre warning before the final results were announced today.Morgan Advanced Materials offsets market decline with growth across its sectors
Manufacturer of specialist products Morgan Advanced Materials (LON:MGAM) reported on Tuesday that it booked a solid set of fundamentals for the full-year ended 31 December 2019, and that the reduction of its leverage had continued to illustrate its strong trajectory over the last three years.
The company took in £1.05 billion of revenue, up 1.5% from £1.03 billion for the year before. This led the Group’s impressive 7.6% rise in headline operating profit, up from £124.8 million, to £134.2 million.
Morgan Advanced Materials attributed its success to ‘strong growth’ in its semiconductor and electronics, chemical and petrochemical, and healthcare and aerospace sectors, which it said were able to offset declines in industrial and automotive markets.
The situation was equally stable for the company’s shareholders, with headline EPS up 4.9%, from 26.7p to 28.0p, while its dividend per share remained flat at 11.0p.
Morgan Advanced Materials reaction
Responding to the update, company CEO Pete Raby commented, “I am pleased with the further strategic and financial progress we have made in 2019, with our strategy continuing to deliver, enhancing our growth and profitability. In our third successive year of organic growth, revenue and headline operating profit* grew 0.8% and 4.3% respectively in a challenging environment. We expanded our headline operating profit margin* to 12.8% reflecting good operational cost control and the benefit from organic revenue* growth in our faster growing market segments.”Investor notes
Following today’s news, the company’s shares were up 2.21% or 6.40p, to 295.40p per share 25/02/20 16:38 GMT. Analysts from Peel Hunt reiterated their ‘Buy’ stance on Morgan Advanced Materials stock. The Group’s p/e ratio is 10/92, its dividend yield stands at 3.72%.FCA faces data breach after accidentally publishing customer information
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) warned of a data breach on Tuesday as it admitted to revealing the details of roughly 1,600 people by mistake.
“As soon as we became aware of this, we removed the relevant data from our website,” the FCA said in a statement.
The FCA said that, in a response to a Freedom of Information Act request published on its website last November, personal data “may have been accessible”.
The response related to the number and nature of new complaints made against the FCA between 2 January 2018 and 17 July 2019, the financial regulator continued.
In many cases, only the name of the person making the complaint was leaked.
The FCA warned, however, that in some instances an address, telephone number or other information were also revealed.
“Where this is the case, we are making direct contact with the individuals concerned to apologise and to advise them of the extent of the data disclosed and what the next steps might be,” the financial regulator said.
It emphasised that no financial, payment card, passport or other identity information were included.
“We have undertaken a full review to identify the extent of any information that may have been accessible,” said the FCA.
“Our primary concern is to ensure the protection and safeguarding of individuals who may be identifiable from the data.”
DCD Media shares slump 11% despite swinging to narrow profit
Independent TV production and distribution group, DCD Media (LON:DCD), reported stable financial progress and a swing to a profit for the year ended 31 December 2019.
The company’s revenue finished at £8.98 million, up 27% from £7.05 million.
This led a rise in its gross profit, from £1.64 million to £1.78 million, and a swing from a £0.07 million operating loss, to a £0.02 million operating profit year-on-year.
It finished its financial highlights, stating that its net cash position narrowed from £2.28 million to £1.59 million.
Operationally, part of DCD Media success can be attributed to the successful sale of a wide selection of its titles: DCD Rights announced On the Ropes, The Hunting, and Inspector Rojas among the sales of its recently launched titles, and Secret Nazi Bases, and The Nile among the sales of its popular factual titles.
The company continued, lauding the successful fifth series of Pen & Teller transmitted during H1 2019. DCD Rights added that it renewed its output deal with The Open University to distribute their 160 hours of factual programming.
DCD Media reaction
Responding to the company’s update, its Executive Chairman David Craven stated:“We are pleased with the results for the twelve months to 31 December 2019 with the Company delivering a steady performance, increasing revenues by 27% and returning a small profit for the period. The business continued to invest in new programming with continued support from its primary funding partner.”
“The Board believes that with further funding available to DCD Media, we will create a quality company, capable of strong and predictable cash generation, sustainable returns on capital with attractive growth opportunities in this exciting, expanding market place. The continued consumer demand to enjoy personalised and tailored TV content across multiple platforms is providing tailwinds for the industry as a whole.”
“Reaching funding agreements with partners at the lowest possible cost provides DCD Media with a competitive advantage, The Board continues to work to provide access to competitively priced debt in the marketplace. The outlook for the remainder of the trading period to 31 March 2020 remains positive.”
Investor notes
Despite the seemingly positive update, the company’s shares dipped 11.11% or 25.00p to 200.00p per share. 25/02/20 15:58 GMT. The Group’s market cap stands at £5.72 million.Digbeth named best Birmingham location to invest in property
Digbeth has been named the top area in Birmingham for residential property investment, new data from SevenCapital revealed.
It was announced earlier this month that HS2, the high-speed rail network which connects London to Birmingham, Manchester, and Leeds, will be going ahead.
This development is likely to give Birmingham a further boost in popularity as a location to both live and invest in.
Data from SevenCapital, the leading Birmingham based developer, has revealed the top areas for property investment in the city.
Digbeth is ranked first on the list; it’s considered to have a rather high growth potential. The area has grown by 38.04% over the last ten years, and its current average property price amounts to £189,400.
The area is ranked first as a result of its “future potential over current statistics,” Andy Foote, Director at SevenCapital, said.
Next on the list is City-Core, which is also considered to have a high growth potential. Growth over the past ten years in this area was 37.77%. Meanwhile, the average property price is currently at £200,300.
Jewellery Quarter also made the list with a medium growth potential. Growth over the past ten years was 39.26% and the current average property price is £212,300.
Meanwhile, Harborne, Edgbaston, Selly Oak and Erdington have also been identified as some of the top places to invest in property in Birmingham.
“Birmingham’s best areas are a mix of up-and-coming, well established and specific area types,” Andy Foote, director at SevenCapital, commented in a statement.
“Digbeth tops our list for 2020 due to its future potential over current statistics. Whilst the more established central “hotspots” such as the Jewellery Quarter, Edgbaston and Harborne benefit from higher average house prices and marginally higher growth over the past 10 years, there is significantly more space for future growth and regeneration in Digbeth, which is exactly what is planned for the area,” Andy Foote continued.
“Couple that with its lower entry point for buyers and investors, prospects for returns in the future for those who buy now, ahead of the area reaching its anticipated potential look very positive.”
Andy Foote added: “Digbeth is within walking distance of HS2’s Curzon Street Station, the existing Moor Street and New Street stations, the main city shopping area and of course is the heart of the city’s emerging Creative Quarter. That’s not forgetting its already been dubbed the ‘coolest place to live in the UK’ by The Times and is subject to more than £2billion of planned development projects over the coming years, including the Birmingham Smithfield masterplan and long-awaited Connaught Square development.”
“Overall, Birmingham has begun to shine out on a global stage over the past decade, but with recent and future developments, the best is yet to come for the city, so for residential property buyers, there has never been a better time to invest.”
Will you be adding a Birmingham based property to your portfolio?
ASA International shares dip despite its outstanding loan portfolio jumping 23%
ASA International Group (LON:ASAI), one of the world’s largest microfinancing organisations, today posted good progress in its yearly financial performance for the period ended 31 December 2019.
The company boasted a 23% rise in its outstanding loan portfolio, up to $466.8 million at the end of the year. Additionally, its average OLP per client grew 8% from $174 million to $189 million.
Its trading position was also strengthened by an expansion of its operations and potential business partners. ASA International noted that its number of clients was up 14% from 2.2 million to 2.5 million, and likewise, its number of branches rose 14% from 1,665 to 1,898 year-on-year.
Today’s share price dip was caused by results being slightly below the company’s expectations. It said this could be attributed to ‘adverse conditions in India, Nigeria and Sri Lanka, which results in a slightly higher PAR>30.
ASA International reactions
Responding to the results, company CEO Dirk Brouwer commented,“The operational performance of the Group has been strong during 2019, with continued client and loan portfolio growth in all our markets. We realized higher than expected growth in East Africa which was offset by lower than expected growth in India, Nigeria and Sri Lanka due to adverse market conditions. As a result, and combined with significant currency depreciation in Pakistan and Ghana, 2019 USD earnings growth is now expected to be around 5%.”
“We expect continued sustainable growth of our operations through 2020 with mid-to-high single digit USD earnings growth.”
Investor notes
Following the update, the company’s shares were down 2.60% or 7.00p, to 262.00p per share 25/02/20 12:37 GMT. The Group’s p/e ratio stands at 17.38, their dividend yield is 2.13%.Fury vs Wilder 2 and potential part 3 – neither could stop the BT share decline
Unfortunately for investors, BT (LON:BT.A) shares couldn’t emulate the knockout performance of Tyson Fury in early-week trading.
The fight looked set to eclipse the 325,000 PPV buys of the first bout, and with ticket sales for the evening exceeding $17 million, it looks highly likely the fight’s live gate will exceed that of Lewis-Holyfield 2.
This would mean the fight would set the record for the largest gate of any heavyweight fight in history, a significant marker and one that the promoters would struggle to beat in a third instalment.
Despite the apparent bumper performance of event, likely to be one of the most viewed offerings on the BT sports channels in 2020, the company has had to weather weak trading since markets opened on Monday morning.
Since the first bell on Tuesday, the stock has been on wobbly legs, down 1.62% to 148.81p per share 25/02/20 14:11 GMT, and down from 156.26p per share as markets closed on Friday.
This has likely been led by the backdrop of difficult market conditions, with global equities in a bleak spot as a result of Coronavirus.
Fury vs Wilder trilogy?
Despite widespread lack of enthusiasm for a third clash between this epoch’s titans, team Wilder has received a boost by only receiving a six week medical ban following Saturday night’s drubbing. We can also infer that the Bronze Bomber’s team are trying to drum up traction for the trilogy, with comments from the former WBC Champion setting the rumour mill into full churn. Speaking to Yahoo Sport, the fighter had pundit’s tails wagging over the prospect that Mark Breland’s job could be in jeopardy. “I am upset with Mark for the simple fact that we’ve talked about this many times and it’s not emotional.” “It is not an emotional thing, it’s a principal thing. We’ve talked about this situation many, many years before this even happened.” “I said as a warrior, as a champion, as a leader, as a ruler, I want to go out on my shield. If I’m talking about going in and killing a man, I respect the same way. I abide by the same principal of receiving.” “So I told my team to never, ever, no matter what it may look like, to never throw the towel in with me because I’m a special kind.” “I still had five rounds left. No matter what it looked like, I was still in the fight.” “I understand he was looking out for me and trying to do what he felt was right, but this is my life and my career and he has to accept my wishes.” Being more direct, Wilder told Atlantic outright that he would be exercising his rematch clause with Fury, “The rematch is definitely going to happen. We’re going to get it on. I want to get right back to it.” Fans can only hope that next time his outfit won’t be ‘too heavy’. Maybe he should heed the advice of one Twitter comment and don the Borat mankini, and perhaps the streamlined attire would lend itself to a more competitive fight.What fans really want to see
While the real world will probably dictate that the trilogy will be complete, and Anthony Joshua will most likely have to oblige his mandatories, the fight to make from a fan’s perspective is Fury vs Joshua.Licking his lips gleefully though he may, it looks doubtful that Eddie Hearn will bring us Fury vs Joshua in 2020. I’d be the first to tell you that this fight would be brilliant to cement Fury’s legacy and development arc. His recovery, his narrative, his performances, have all been conducive to the creation of a true sporting legend. Beating the Adonis of UK boxing would be the perfect way to crown off an inspirational story. We can collectively hope, as fans, we get the chance to see this hope realised before Tyson loses his love for the sport. From a business perspective, promoters and media outlets will be happy to milk his story, his character and his talent for everything its got to give, for as long as that lasts.No need for a third let’s go straight to it in the Summer! #undisputed
— Eddie Hearn (@EddieHearn) February 23, 2020
Rockfire Resources find potentially ‘major’ gold system in Queensland
Rockfire Resources PLC (LON:ROCK) have said that it has made a new discovery with high potential in Australia.
The firm said that it has found a potentially ‘major’ gold system at the Plateau deposit in the north of Queensland, Australia.
Rockfire have been operating at this new sight and the results have returned extensive intercepts of gold mineralization.
The gold miner added that an important milestone was hit with a zone being found at a grade of above 2.0 grams of gold per tonne of ore.
David Price, Chief Executive Officer of Rockfire, commented:
“These long intervals of gold in the upper levels of Plateau are extremely positive and demonstrate the size of the mineralising system. The Rockfire technical team continues to see similarities to the Mt Wright Gold Mine, 45 km to the northeast of Plateau, hosting over 1.5 million ounces of gold, where the main gold ore is between 400 m and 850 m below surface.
“We appear to be at the top of a similarly large gold deposit. The dimensions of Mt Wright, which is 250 m long, 60 m wide and mined to over 1,200 m deep, compare favourably with those of Plateau; being 200 m long, 70 m wide and currently drilled to only 240 m. The broad intervals of gold mineralisation between 0.2 g/t and 0.5 g/t in the top 200 m are also characteristic of Mt Wright.”
“The next step is for Rockfire is to conduct a CSAMT (Controlled-source Audio-frequency Magnetotellurics) geophysical survey. Such a survey is expected to provide a high-definition target generation beneath the levels drilled so far at Plateau. CSAMT was used very effectively at Mt Wright, leading to the identification of deep drill targets. This is expected to commence as quickly as possible after the wet season finishes.”
The firm said that all of the holes drilled at the Plateau deposit hit gold, which means that the deposit has now expanded to over 200 meters length, 70 metres of width, and 200 metres of depth.
Shares in Rockfire Resources trade at 1p (-2.08%). 25/2/20 14:15BST.