Proptech platform lettingaproperty.com hits funding target
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Online lettings company lettingaproperty.com has reached its Seedrs investment target with 10 days to spare, having raised 101% of the £850,000 crowdfunding goal.
Launched on 24 January 2023, the campaign is now approaching its final week, having attracted 191 investors across 16 countries so far. This includes an initial raise of £750,000 from the MEIF Proof of Concept & Early Stage Fund, managed by Mercia and part of the Midlands Engine Investment Fund, and Mercia’s EIS funds.
Although the Seedrs target has been met, the campaign will continue to remain open for investment until close on 23 February.
Founder and CEO, Jonathan Daines, comments: “We are delighted with the appetite that has been shown for investment in lettingaproperty.com as a result of our Seedrs crowdfunding campaign. Given the strong demand from investors, our board has unanimously agreed to extend our initial funding target.”
The lettingaproperty.com business model has already resulted in impressive growth, with more than 1,500 properties managed across the UK, and an 80% subscriber increase over the last two years. The company generated £1.1 million turnover in 2022 with £800,000 of that from recurring revenue subscriptions.
Funds raised in this round will focus on driving marketing activity to boost recurring revenue further and capture greater market share, while also fuelling the firm’s technology roadmap and the recruitment of specialist roles across the organisation.
Since 2008, lettingaproperty.com has offered a smarter alternative to traditional high street letting agents. Landlords can advertise their properties, process applications and tenant checks, create tenancy agreements and more, supported by a professional lettings team, on hand to provide expert help and advice at every step.
Everything is managed through the lettingaproperty.com rental platform, featuring built-in legal compliance, digital wallets, OpenBanking, document storage, and instant messaging – all facilitating secure landlord-tenant communication.
Fixed-fee lettings plans include rent protection and LetsProtect legal support – giving landlords financial peace of mind and an invaluable ‘safety net’ in the event of rent arrears, evictions or other legal disputes – crucial in this economic climate.
lettingaproperty.com is on a mission to become the go-to destination for renting. Offering simple rental property management from any device, anywhere, at any time.
Learn more about lettingaproperty.com and invest on the Seedrs crowdfunding page: https://www.seedrs.com/lettingaproperty/
Investing involves risks, including loss of capital, illiquidity, lack of dividends and dilution, and should be done only as part of a diversified portfolio. Please read the Risk Warnings before investing. Investments should only be made by investors who understand these risks. Tax treatment depends on individual circumstances and is subject to change in future. Seedrs or the fundraising business do not make investment recommendations to you and any investment decision should be made on the basis of the full campaign. No communications about any campaigns on Seedrs you receive from Seedrs or the fundraising business, through email or any other medium, should be construed as an investment recommendation.
This article has been approved as a financial promotion by Seedrs Limited on 14/02/23
Seedrs Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Seedrs Limited is a limited company, registered in England and Wales (No. 06848016), with registered office at Churchill House, 142-146 Old Street, London EC1V 9BW.
FTSE 100 dragged by disappointing Barclays and Hargreaves Lansdown results
Hargreaves Lansdown and Barclays weighed on the FTSE 100 on Wednesday after the financial companies provided disappointing earnings updates sending their respective shares into a tailspin.
Barclays shares were down 10% after the company said impairment charges and litigation costs were instrumental in a 14% drop in profit before tax to £7bn.
Total income was higher during the 2022 full year period due to higher interest rates, but the cost incurred due to trading mistakes and worsening economic conditions more than erased top line growth.
“Barclays has bitterly disappointed the market with its full year numbers. Profits have been stunted partly because of a big increase in litigation costs relating to the over-issuance of US securities. This costly mistake has been known about for some time, but these are now the hard consequences biting the bottom line,” said Sophie Lund-Yates, Lead Equity Analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.
Barclays poor update also rocked Lloyds and Natwest shares, down 3.2% and 2.3%.
Hargreaves Lansdown
Hargreaves Lansdown results for the six month ended 31st December were positive by many measures. Higher interest rates helped revenue grow 20% and the company increased active clients by 31,000 in the last half year. However, levels of net new business fell by 30% to £1.6bn and assets under administration fell 10% to £127bn suggesting underlying weakness in their investment business.
Hargreaves shareholders will enjoy a 3.6% increase in the half year dividend to 12.7p, but concern about lower new business and client assets hit shares.
Hargreaves Lansdown shares fell 6% and were the second biggest FTSE 100 faller behind Barclays.
UK inflation
UK inflation eased slightly in January and today’s 10.1% CPI reading acted as a counterbalance to weakness in the FTSE 100’s financial companies.
“Today’s UK CPI inflation data was followed by a sharp pullback in the pound as it added to the potential of a more dovish BoE as investors carefully follow any developments which may indicate the future steps of the central banks policy. GBPUSD pair retreated below 1.21 and is attempting to recover from this area,” said Walid Koudmani, Chief Market Analyst at online investment platform XTB.com.
With weakness in the pound, one would expect to see strength in the FTSE’s overseas earners. Shell, Diageo, BAE Systems, and BP provided some support for the index with minor gains.
Housebuilders also rallied on hopes lower inflation data would lead to easier monetary policy from the Bank of England and help the ailing UK property market.
The FTSE 100 was trading at 7,964, up 0.1%, at the time of writing.
AIM movers: Clontarf Energy lithium extraction JV and lower production at Jubilee Metals
Clontarf Energy (LON: CLON) is forming a joint venture with US-based NEXT-ChemX Corporation, which covers the deployment and marketing of the latter’s direct lithium ion extraction technology in Bolivia. There is limited water and energy consumption. Pilot testing and extraction starts in March. Clontarf Energy will contribute $500,000 towards the pilot plant for exclusive use of the technology and when that is made it will also issue 385 million shares to the partner. NEXT-ChemX will issue $500,000 of shares to Clontarf Energy in its next fundraising. A further 500 million Clontarf Energy shares will be issued to NEXT-ChemX on achievement of certain milestones. NEXT-ChemX has the right to invest £250,000 at 0.065p/Clontarf Energy share. The share price soared by 60% to 01.2p.
Having successfully raised €1.4m at 9.25p a share Glantus (LON: GLAN) shares recovered 17.7% to 8p. Chief executive Maurice Healy subscribed €350,000 in the fundraising. The cash will pay deferred consideration on past acquisitions and restructuring costs. This fundraising is a condition of the agreement to extend repayment of a €5m loan until August 2024.
Mercantile Ports & Logistics (LON: MPL) has handled the first container freight at its Karanja port facility in India. An agreement with another local port and a logistics company could prove significant in the longer-term. The share price rose 14.3% to 7p.
LPA Group (LON: LPA) has received a £5.3m order for electro-mechanical products to the UK rail sector, which takes the value of the group order book to £34m. The share price increased 11.1% to 85p.
Jubilee Metals (LON: JLP) says copper production in Zambia fell 10% to 1,149t, which is well below the 3,000t target for the latest six months period. Power problems have hampered progress and back-up sources are being sought. South African platinum group metals production was 18,200 ounces and chrome production was 634,000 tonnes. The share price slumped 17% to 9.5p.
After a period of share price recovery, the Gattaca (LON: GATC) share price fell back % to p despite a good first half. However, permanent recruitment business has weakened since the beginning of 2023. Liberum has trimmed its full year pre-tax profit forecast for the specialist staff provider from £2.5m to £1.8m, which means that the dividend expectation has been lowered from 2.9p a share to 2.1p a share. Net cash is likely to be better than previously expected at £20.6m. The share price declined by 15.5% to 76.5p.
Brighton Pier Group (LON: PIER) says revenues for the 18 months to December 2022 were £58.9m. Like-for-like growth was 9%. Borrowings are falling and this offsets higher interest rates. However, reduced margins due to higher inflation mean that Cenkos has cut its 2023 earnings forecast from 4.6p a share to 3.7p a share. The shares are 11% lower at 61p.
Semiconductors designer Sondrel Holdings (LON: SND) says the project design for a customer in the automotive sector has been delayed because project design will not be completed until the first quarter of this year. The payment for the first milestone was in January and the second will not be until May. The 2022 loss is higher than forecast and there will still be a small loss in 2023. The share price slipped by 7% to 56.25p. Sondrel was one of the better performers of last year’s new admissions, but the share price is nearly back at the 55p placing price.
M&C Saatchi – broker says 40% upside in advertising group’s share price
After having fought off takeover bids over the last year, the £228m advertising and marketing group M&C Saatchi (LON:SAA) has defined its ‘Moving Forward’ strategy to deliver growth in its profits over the next couple of years.
Analyst Ciaran Donnelly, at the company’s brokers Liberum Capital, has upped his Target Price on the group’s shares to 260p.
They closed last night at 186p after trebled dealing volume in the shares following a Capital Markets Day event for investors.
Established in 1995, the London-based M&C Saatchi group provides advertising and marketing services in the UK, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Australia, and the Americas.
It offers its services in the areas of media and performance, advertising and CRM, sponsorship, branding, and global and social issues.
Last year it defeated takeover bids from NextFifteen and Advanced Advt.
Ahead of the group announcing its 2022 results on Thursday 23rd March, Donnelly is estimating that the year will have seen revenues rise from £249m to £271m, with pre-tax profits having risen from £27.3m to £31.8m, generating earnings of 15.2p (10.0p) and enabling a return to dividend payments of 2.5p per share.
For the current year he is already going for £284m sales, £38.0m profits, 20.2p earnings and a 3.8p dividend.
The year to end December 2024 he forecasts could see £298m takings, creating £42.8m profits, with 24.7p of earnings and a 4.1p dividend.
Liberum Capital sees a 40% upside in the group’s share price as the new strategy shows through.
Barclays shares smashed on weak earnings and impairment charges
Barclays shares were reeling on Wednesday after the UK bank revealed a disappointing set of results for the 2022 full year. Fears of lower net interest margin and litigation costs were the source of investors discontent and shares in the bank fell over 8% in early trade.
Although Barclays top line income was 14% than last year at £25bn, increased costs due to litigation and impairment charges meant Barclays profit before tax fell 14% to £7bn.
Profit before impairment charges was £8.2bn but macroeconomic deterioration meant the bank set aside £1.2bn for credit impairments.
Barclays also incurred a £1.6bn charge due to the over-issuance of US securities.
“Barclays has bitterly disappointed the market with its full year numbers. Profits have been stunted partly because of a big increase in litigation costs relating to the over-issuance of US securities,” said Sophie Lund-Yates, Lead Equity Analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.
“This costly mistake has been known about for some time, but these are now the hard consequences biting the bottom line. Barclays is more than able to stomach this financially, the wider-reaching difficulties come from reputational damage. The tolerance margin for a similar mistake is now very thin.”
Net interest margins grew to 3.54% to 2022 but Barclays cast a doubt over the coming year’s earning potential as they said they expected Net Interest Margins would be above 3.20% – a target that could see Barclay’s NIM fall in the year ahead.
Barclays have increased their distributions to shareholders but the £500m buyback is below expectations.
Glencore shares slip despite share buyback and bumper earnings
Glencore shares were slightly weaker on Wednesday morning despite reporting a 60% increase in adjusted EBITDA for 2022, and an additional $1.5bn share buyback programme.
Glencore shares were off by 1.8% at the time of writing on Wednesday.
Unlike the other FTSE 100 diversified miners, Glencore operates a significant energy business and enjoyed the benefits of the elevated prices across hydrocarbons and coal last year.
Glencore’s decision to shrug of the pressure to become more environmentally friendly and push on with their coal business has provided a much needed source of revenue and earnings growth.
Indeed, it was the energy segment of Glencore’s business driving earnings growth in 2022. Their Industrial Assets unit saw EBITDA grow 59% to $27.3bn with energy products including coal adding $13bn to earnings.
Metals earnings were weaker across the board due to the impact of Covid-19 restrictions in China curtailing demand and trading activity.
“The top line may have missed market expectations, but Glencore’s taking full advantage of a messy energy market to line its coffers and there’s good news for shareholders as they get to share in the spoils, with a topped-up dividend and fresh $1.5bn buyback,” said Matt Britzman, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.
“Glencore’s marketing business is perfectly poised for a scenario like this, fragmented energy markets due to the war in Ukraine meant there’s been an abundance of price discrepancies across multiple world markets – that’s exactly the scenario that makes this business unit tick.”
Glencore will distribute a total of $7.1bn to shareholders for 2022. This includes already announced distributions and a fresh $1.5bn buyback.
GoviEx Uranium: a multi-asset, permitted uranium explorer with a well-connected management team.
Many commodities may be battling inflation or weak demand, but the uranium market continues to go from strength to strength, with January spot prices increasing 19% yoy. Despite a strong spot market helped by the introduction of more financial players such as SPUT, the long term fundamentals are strong drivers and point to a market with a significant structural deficit.
Over the next few years, the world’s uranium demand is forecast to far outweigh its supply. Although the current energy crisis is partly to blame, this imbalance between supply/demand is more structural, with new uranium mines not being incentivized enough to start production. Permitting can take years if not decades, and local opposition to mining can be solid obstacles to new entrants.
In that respect, an interesting Canadian Junior is getting closer to production than many of its competitors. GoviEx Uranium is an African based explorer with an ambition to become a significant uranium producer through the continued exploration and development of its two mine-permitted projects: the Madaouela Project in Niger and the Muntanga Project in Zambia.
GoviEx also has a third project that is more of an exploration play, however this is now being sold to African Energy Metals – more below.
GoviEx’s main project, Madaouela, has one of the largest uranium resources in the world, with 100 million pounds of U3O8 in measured and indicated mineral resources, plus inferred resources of 20 million pounds of U3O8. After a successful feasibility study was published last year, Madaouela is targeting to be in production by 2025/2026, subject to project financing. If the uranium forecasts are correct, they will be in production around the same time where utilities will be struggling to find material.
GoviEx’s second project is the Muntanga Project in Zambia, a heap leach, open pit operation with low acid consumption. Last year Muntanga has seen an ambitious field program which included 15,500 meters of infill drilling, with an aim to upgrade the Project’s Dibbwi East resource from Inferred to Indicated category. The company is forecast to update the environmental impact assessment to an IFC standard and complete the feasibility study by the start of 2024.
GoviEx’s third project, Falea, is a highly compelling and prospective polymetallic uranium, copper and silver deposit with surrounding gold. Earlier this year, GoviEx has entered into an agreement with African Energy Metals Inc. for its sale as part of a US$5.5 million deal (plus an NSR), which will them to maintain a significant interest in the Falea project whilst allowing the Company to concentrate its efforts and funding on the continued exploration and development of their other two projects.
The company’s management team is well known in the industry, with Daniel Major, CEO, being a respected individual with over 35 years of experience in the mining sector. The GoviEx board is extremely well connected, not least Govind Friedland as Chairman and Benoit La Salle (Aya Gold’s CEO) and David Cates (Denison Mines’ CEO) as board members.
So the future looks bright for GoviEx – they own two mine permitted assets in an advanced stage of development in mining friendly jurisdictions, the demand for nuclear energy continues to grow globally, and they have a well-connected, experienced management team, which are either likely to build a mine or take advantage of M&A opportunities in the sector.
FTSE 100 makes new all-time high, Vodafone and Coca Cola HBC surge
Strong corporates earnings and a buzz around potential M&A helped the FTSE 100 to a fresh all-time intraday high on Tuesday with Coca Cola HBC and Vodafone leading the gains.
The FTSE 100 hit 7,996 on Tuesday – an all-time record high for the FTSE 100.
However, the index eased off as the session progressed and we received the latest instalment of US CPI data.
The highly anticipated January US CPI came in slightly above expectations at 6.4%, versus economist expectations of 6.2%. The release will strengthen the argument for slower interest rate hikes as inflation rates are clearly falling, but the timing and pace of future hikes will be a source of uncertainty due to the inflation rate being higher than expected.
Markets will receive an insight into Federal Reserve thinking with a number of speakers lined up for the coming days.
A fractionally hotter inflation rate induced choppy trade global equities with US equity futures swinging from gains to losses. The FTSE 100 was trading at 7,968 at the time of writing.
In a week billed to be dominated by inflation data, it was individual names driving the FTSE 100 higher on Tuesday. Vodafone shot up 4% after Liberty Global took a 5% stake in the beleaguered telecoms group and Coca Cola HBC cheered strong results.
Vodafone
The acquisition of a 5% stake ignited speculation of a full takeover approach from Liberty Global, or indeed another telecoms group.
“Consolidation is the name of the game in the telecoms sector and Liberty Global is taking a £1.2 billion bet that Vodafone is going to be an important cog in the system,” said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.
“By acquiring nearly a 5% stake Liberty Global is essentially getting its foot in the door should any new deals start to emerge. The company says the stake is only for investment purposes, but it’s got form in seeking optionality for potential deals.
“Liberty Global has been quietly sitting on a 9.9% stake in ITV for some time, while it also has positions in various telecoms and media groups including Virgin Media O2 and All3Media.”
Vodafone shares have suffered dearly over the past five years and some investors may be hoping they are put out of their misery by a takeover.
Coca Cola HBC
Far from the most glamorous FTSE 100 constituent, Coca Cola HBC was the top riser on Tuesday after the bottling company revealed another strong period of growth.
In the 2022 full year, organic revenue excluding Russia and Ukraine was up 22.7% and comparable EBIT jumped 11.9% to €929.7m.
Coca Cola HBC shares were 6.6% higher to 2,067p at the time of writing.