Hiscox report five-year high $215.6m underwriting profit

Natasha Doris
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Hiscox report five-year high $215.6m underwriting profit

The Hiscox share price rose by 5.4% to 944.2p on Wednesday after the company released strong financial results.

The insurance provider reported gross premiums of $4.27 billion against a 2021 figure of $4 billion.

Hiscox further noted net premiums of $2.9 billion compared to a 2020 result of $2.7 billion.

The company also reported a five-year high underwriting profit of $215.6 million against its 2020 loss of $370.6 million.

The Group announced a total ordinary dividend per share of 34.5¢ alongside a final dividend of 23c.

Hiscox reported that gross premiums were driven by positive rate momentum across its three divisions, alongside a significant level of customer growth in Retail.

The company added that net premiums climbed as a result of “big-ticket businesses” as an increased level of risk was retained as conditions improved. 

“I am pleased with the strong results the Group has delivered despite elevated natural catastrophe losses, reflecting successful execution of our strategy, and the management actions we have undertaken to improve the performance and quality of our portfolios,” said Hiscox CEO Aki Hussain.

“Hiscox has a significant technical underwriting capability, which combined with investment in digital, positions us well to capitalise on the many opportunities ahead as we continue to serve our customers and build a sustainable insurance business.”

Hotel Chocolat report 40% climb in revenue in half-year results

Natasha Doris
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Hotel Chocolat report 40% climb in revenue in half-year results

Hotel Chocolat reported an increase in revenue of 40% to £142.9 million against its H1 2021 sales of £101.9 million.

The chocolate company also noted an underlying EBITDA increase of 35% to £33.8 million against H1 2021 results of £24.9 million, alongside a profit before tax increase of 56% to £24.1 million against a H1 2021 figure of £15.5 million.

The group’s earnings per share increased to 14.2p compared to a H1 2021 dividend of 9.7p.

The company saw a 38% increase in active UK customer database to 2.3 million, and the brand’s joint-venture with Japan saw a 131% increase in consumer sales.

“I am delighted that we have achieved a great set of results both in terms of sales and profits, indicating the global strength of the Hotel Chocolat brand and our direct-to-consumer business model,” said Hotel Chocoalt CEO Angus Thirlwell.

“These results enable continued new job creation based in our British manufacturing operations, as well as roles in technology and multi-channel retailing.”

“We have remained focused on our opportunities, delivering a sustained acceleration in growth over the last 18 months.”

“Since the end of the financial reporting period, trading has continued to be in line with the Board’s expectations. The multi-channel performance of the UK remains encouraging, and the new markets continue to show promising potential for growth and profitability.”

Hotel Chocolat’s shares declined 2% on Wednesday trades despite the company reporting strong interim results for H2 2021.

Aviva to acquire Succession Wealth for £385m

Natasha Doris
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0
Aviva to acquire Succession Wealth for £385m

Aviva is reportedly set to acquire Succession Wealth for a consideration of £385 million, according to an announcement from the Group on Wednesday.

The multinational insurance company’s share price saw a rise of 1.6% at noon to 413.1p.

The consideration will reportedly be paid in cash, and is expected to deliver a “double digit return on invested capital in the medium term.”

The company added that the transaction is anticipated to be completed in H2 2022, subject to FCA approval.

Succession Wealth will reportedly continue its operations as a separately regulated, independent firm under the Succession Wealth brand.

Aviva mentioned that the estimated 2022 EBITDA for Succession Wealth is expected to be around £24 million, on a pro forma basis.

“The acquisition of Succession Wealth boosts Aviva’s presence in the fast-growing UK wealth market; supports our strategy to grow sustainably; and expands Aviva’s ability to offer high quality financial advice to millions of our customers,” said Aviva CEO Amanda Blanc.

Succession Wealth CEO James Stevenson added: “We are delighted to become part of Aviva and to offer our independent financial planning capability to Aviva customers who don’t have an adviser.”

“The demand for financial advice across the entire wealth spectrum has never been greater, and the opportunity to combine Succession Wealth’s holistic financial planning expertise, with the capabilities and customer reach of Aviva is hugely exciting.”

Aviva exceeds payout expectations

Anshula Kumar
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Aviva exceeds payout expectations

Aviva Insurance records higher dividends and significant capital returns.

Aviva had set a goal of returning more than £4bn to shareholders. The company has successfully exceeded that goal by returning £4.75bn in capital returns inclusive of the £1bn share buyback from the past.

A final dividend of 14.7p was also announced, up from 14.0p.

The acquisition of Succession Wealth, a national finance advisory firm is said to be in place to help the company improve their competencies and expedite their growth.

Operating profits for Aviva have decreased to £2.2bn in 2021 from £3.1bn in 2020. The operating profits took a hit due to the impact of profits from operations which have been discontinued.

Despite a quiet first half, UK & Ireland Life sales increased by 22% to £35.6bn in 2021 from £29.3bn in 2020, with good rises in Savings & Retirement which were up 33% and Annuities & Equity Release which were up 5% to £7.9bn in 2021.

“Aviva has the foundations in place to deliver its promise. We’ve achieved a lot in the last year but we’re only just getting started. There is so much more Aviva can and will deliver for our customers and our shareholders,” commented Amanda Blanc, Group Chief Executive Officer, Aviva.

In the past year, Aviva has sold 8 non-core companies for a total yield of £7.5 billion.

Sophie Lund, equity analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown said, “Put simply, Aviva is a much simpler beast than it once was. The new, leaner structure has operational and shareholder benefits. The structural benefits are clear to see, and has also resulted in Aviva upping its planned shareholder returns programme to well north of the £4bn target. “

“The group is also making waves to increase its presence in the wealth management market through the £385m acquisition of Succession Wealth. As a giant in the workplace pension world, being able to offer advice to those same customers makes strategic sense.”

Aviva shares were trading steady at 0.86% to 410p despite the announcements on Wednesday morning.

Vistry’s net profit surges 223%

Anshula Kumar
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Vistry’s net profit surges 223%

Vistry, the house builder, delivered a 223% increase of £319.5m in reported profits before tax in 2021.

The group’s adjusted profit before tax of £346m in 2021 saw a rise of 140% from £143.9m in 2020.

The private sales rate climbed by 43% to 0.76 in 2021 from 0.53 in 2020. The figure suggests a steady pace driven by a land development strategy which includes a greater share of mid-range properties.

Vistry raised the number of units completed to 6,551 in 2021 from 4,652 in 2020. The year-end net cash exceeded expectations from the start of the year with £234.5m posted in 2021, whereas in 2020 it was £37.9m.

Delivering high-quality houses is still a prime focus for the group, which has maintained a 5-star HBF customer satisfaction rating and increased its quality honours, including 12 Seals of Excellence in the NHBC Pride in the Job Awards in 2021 as opposed to 4 Seals in 2020.

The company believes that the expenses of insulation and fire safety remediation should not be paid by leaseholders, and will support the government’s efforts to find a fair solution.

“Being a successful business is also about doing the right thing. We are acutely aware of the anxiety faced by leaseholders in properties requiring cladding and fire safety remediation and we fully agree that the financial burden for this work should not rest with them. We remain committed to working with the Government to fix this difficult issue for leaseholders,” said Greg Fitzgerald, Chief Executive Officer, Vistry.

Vistry has assessed structures taller than 11 metres where they were the responsible party.  The company has set aside funds with an additional charge of £5.7m to cover any known liabilities, bringing their total provision to £25.2m as of December 31, 2021.

Going forward, Vistry will be liable of paying 4% Residential Property Developer Tax from April 2022.

Business Ambition for 1.5°C is an initiative to which Vistry has committed in to adhere to science-based targets and meet long term sustainability goals. With their experience on the development of 54 houses at Europa Way, Vistry has hacked the solution for net zero carbon emissions.

Fitzgerald commented,”our impressive financial performance was once again matched by our delivery of high quality homes and customer service which has been recognised by our retention of the maximum five-star customer satisfaction rating from the Home Builders Federation.”

Dividends payout have doubled with a total ordinary dividend payout of 60p per share.

Vistry shares were trading up 8% at 1024p on Wednesday afternoon.

FTSE 100 rises on strong oil shares

UK Investor Magazine
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FTSE 100 rises on strong oil shares

The FTSE 100 rose on Wednesday with strong oil shares helping the index rise after Brent oil futures touched $113 per barrel as the ongoing tragedy in Ukraine caused supply concerns.

The FTSE 100 had climbed 0.6% in early afternoon trade on Wednesday.

“The FTSE 100 made its latest attempt at a rebound on Wednesday despite the ongoing conflict in Ukraine,” says AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.

“Index heavyweights BP and Shell were markedly higher as oil prices moved to eight-year highs above $110 per barrel.”

“The latest surge in crude came despite the International Energy Agency releasing barrels from its emergency reserves – demonstrating relative impotence in the face of the disruption to supply caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.”

BP and Shell are significant components of the FTSE 100 and have added a considerable number of points to the index.

Evraz hit again

The top fallers in the FTSE 100 included Evraz, Coca-Cola HBC AG and The Royal Mail.

Evraz continued trend to the downside trading as low as 67p having touched 127p. The company’s shares have fallen a total of 83% since the start of 2022, with the steel producer facing a reported upcoming exit from the FTSE 100.

Coca-Cola HBC fell by 5.84% to a share price of 1,668.75p. The drinks producer recently shut down its operations in Ukraine, and has seen uncertainty concerning the immediate future of its supplies.

The Royal Mail dropped by 3.79% to a share price of 373.1p. Liberum Capital recently downgraded the stock to a sell ranking in light of the company’s upcoming talks with the Communications Union which is estimated to see a 7.8% pay claim submitted in line with inflation rates.

Polymetal

Polymetal share were 8% higher at the time of writing after the gold miner released full years earnings and bounced back from heavy selling due to their exposure to Russia.

“Publication of Polymetal’s financial performance for 2021 is a sideshow event as far as the market is concerned,” said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.

“Investors are more concerned about how sanctions on Russia might impact the business and what that would mean for dividends, and indeed the future of Polymetal’s London stock market listing. There is also a moral dilemma as Western investors question if they should still be owning a slice of a Russian business.”

Persimmon

Persimmon’s stock rose more than 4% after the business announced positive financial results for 2021 on Wednesday.

Persimmons profits increased from £863m in 2020 to £973m in 2021, with total group revenues of £3.6bn.

Persimmon said they would make two dividend payments of 125p and 110p per share in the coming meaning Persimmon shares are yielding nearly 10%.

In 2021, the company sold 14,551 homes, a 7.2% increase over 2020, with selling prices climbing 2.8 percent to £237,000.

Persimmon, Oil and Exploration Updates with Alan Green

UK Investor Magazine
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Persimmon, Oil and Exploration Updates with Alan Green

The UK Investor Magazine Podcast is joined by Alan Green for a discussion of key market themes and UK equities.

The human tragedy of the conflict in Ukrainian is the most important and saddening part of the crisis and our thoughts are with everyone impacted.

We look at what the crisis means for market and companies listed in London.

Persimmon reported a bumper set of result on Wednesday and saw shares jump 6%. The housebuilder has seen a 7% increase in sales to 14,500 homes and will be benefitting from record high house prices above £260,000 reported by Nationwide. 

Tertiary Minerals has a portfolio of mining assets across Nevada, Europe and Africa and we round up the latest developments at their projects.

We also cover the drilling campaign at ECR Minerals and take a look forward to further updates in the coming weeks.

Ukraine is using Crypto in the fight against Russia

Natasha Doris
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0
Ukraine is using Crypto in the fight against Russia

Ukraine is reportedly using Cryptocurrency as part of its fight against Russia, according to Blockchain analysis company Elliptic.

The company stated that Ukrainian NGOs and volunteer organisations are crowdfunding Bitcoin as a measure of circumventing conventional attempts to block funds.

The Ukranian government launched a tweet on Saturday which said: “Stand with the people of Ukraine. Now accepting cryptocurrency donations. Bitcoin, Ethereum and USDT.”

The BBC reported that the two Bitcoin wallets listed had collected $5.4m in Bitcoin, Ether and other coins in approximately eight hours.

Elliptic reported on Tuesday that $31.7 million had been raised from more than 26,000 cryptoasset donations since the Russian invasion began.

Crypto’s Ukranian Momentum

Several crypto wallets held by the groups have amassed funds of over $570,000 over the past year, including the Myrotvorets Center, Come Back Alive and the Ukranian Cyber Alliance.

The Myrotvorets Centre is a highly controversial NGO based in Kiev, and is known for distributing information concerning “enemies of Ukraine”, including Russian militants, mercenaries and war criminals.

Two individuals listed in the Myrotvorets Centre were killed days after their details were released on its website in 2015.

The group is also known for its facial recognition app called IDentigraf, which identifies Russian listed individuals from the collective’s network.

The Myrotvorets Centre has accounted for over $268,000 collected from 100 Bitcoin donations.

The Ukranian Cyber Alliance consist of anti-Russian hackers who targeted a selection of Russian cyber targets from 2016 onwards.

The advocacy group have confirmed receipt of $3,000 to $4,000 in Bitcoin donations as of February 2022.

Come Back Alive supplies military equipment to Ukranian soldiers and has raised $200,000 in bitcoin assets since the second half of 2021.

The purported advantages of using Bitcoin among other emerging cryptocurrencies include the fact that financial institutions are unable to close crypto wallets as they could with traditional methods of transferring financial assets.

Cryptocurrency also has the perk of allowing simpler cross-border donations which wealthy donors are able to take advantage of in their transfers.

Persimmon profit hits £973m and targets future growth

Natasha Doris
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0
Persimmon profit hits £973m and targets future growth

Persimmon’s share price increased over 4% after the company released strong financial results for 2021 on Wednesday.

The property company saw its profits increase to £973 million against £863.1 million in 2020, alongside a total group revenue of £3.61 billion compared to a figure of £3.33 billion in 2020.

Persimmon reported a dividend of £398.7 million for 26 March 2021 and £350.9 million for 13 August 2021, which equated to 125p and 110p per share respectively.

The company sold 14,551 homes in 2021, which represented a rise of 7.2%, alongside selling prices rising 2.8% higher at £237,000.

The group mentioned it expects to deliver volume growth of 4-7% across the entire year in 2022 against 2021 results, alongside an anticipated greater completion rate in H2 2022 compared to H1 2022 as a reflection of a return to regular trading patterns and its outlet network’s growth profile.

Persimmon added that it expects an increase in selling prices to mitigate build cost inflation.

“Persimmon’s performance was strong in 2021 as we delivered more homes, built better and strengthened our platform for future growth,” said Persimmon CEO Dean Finch.

“Maintaining build rates at pre-Covid levels, we delivered almost 1,000 additional new homes, and improved customer service such that we anticipate receiving a five-star rating in the annual HBF survey later in March 2022, a first in the company’s history, whilst also improving our underlying operating margin.”

Analysts commented that Persimmon’s results have delivered strong, yet expected results from the company’s financial profile.

“Persimmon have set a lot of concerns to rest with these numbers,” said Steve Clayton, fund manager at HL Select.

“Fears that volumes would be held back in 2022 are eased by news that the group has upped its rate of land-buying significantly in the latter part of 2021 and will now see a large number of new sites opening in the first half of the year.”

“Margins pushed ahead, despite cost pressures and the group are indicating that the higher margins will remain.”

“This is all solid stuff from Persimmon, but in truth, much was already known and a lot of the rest was expected.”

Cora Gold discovery at Sanankoro

Anshula Kumar
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2
Cora Gold discovery at Sanankoro

Cora Gold discovers gold deposits on the surface at Sanankoro.

Cora Gold Limited, a gold company based in West Africa, shared an update on its portfolio of gold assets in southern Mali.

The company’s flagship Sanankoro Gold Project is 7km from the Zone A deposit, in previously undiscovered territory.

Results

Certain rock samples yielded gold concentrations of up to 0.85 g/t. The Bokoro II permit’s gold grain counts detected up to 75 observable gold grains in stream samples.

Ground excavation work has been carried out in uncharted sections of the Bokoro II and Bokoro Est licences at the Project, including termite, rock, and channel sampling.

The company said findings warrant further exploration activity on the authorised areas to keep up to date on the preliminary findings.

“Our primary focusis advancing our Sanankoro Gold Project into an open-pittable, free-digging oxide mine as swiftly as possible.  To this end, our Definitive Feasibility Study remains on track to be delivered in H1 2022, after which the Company will look to complete both the permitting and financing of the Project.  Nonetheless, alongside these critical developments we are committed to maximising the value potential of the Project and our wider portfolio. 

“We remain active explorers and are constantly seeking opportunities to build on our existing resources through new discoveries.  This recent exploration programme was aimed at identifying prospective new targets to support this goal, and we are delighted with the success it has achieved.  Results from the Bokoro II permit are particularly encouraging given its proximity to our main Sanankoro Gold Project, underpinning how extensive the mineralisation at Sanankoro could be. Indeed, all deposits remain open at depth and along strike and we are due to commence a ~7,500m drill programme imminently to improve resource confidence and add further ounces. We look forward to sharing updates on this work programme as they become available,” said Bert Monro, Chief Executive Officer, Cora.

Cora Gold’s shares are trading up 5% to 8p on Wednesday morning.

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