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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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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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.

musicMagpie confident in future despite 5.1% decrease in revenue

Natasha Doris
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0
musicMagpie confident in future despite 5.1% decrease in revenue

musicMagpie’s share price dropped by 29% on Wednesday morning as the company released disappointing financial results for 2021.

The online retailer’s revenue decreased 5.1% from £153.3 million to £145.5 million, alongside a profit decline of 1.1% from £44.8 million to £44.3 million.

musicMagpie also reported an EBITDA loss of 12.2%, which saw a decline from £13.9 million to £12.2 million.

However, the company added several key operational highlights during its first year as a listed company.

The group’s rental subscription service, which was launched in October 2020, branched out into new categories including tablets, games consoles, MacBooks and wearables.

musicMagpie also launched its SMARTDrop kiosks at almost 300 Asda stores, which has seen over 8,000 devices traded and have paid out more than £2.3m to consumers’ increasing inbound items.

“This has been a landmark year in the history of musicMagpie, and I am hugely proud of everything that the business has achieved,” said musicMagpie CEO Steve Oliver.

“We have delivered strong operational and strategic progress in our first year as a listed company, and have done so while staying true to our clear environmental and social focus and our long-standing ‘smart for you, smart for the planet’ ethos.”

“We are particularly pleased with the progress being made by our rental subscription service, which provides customers with a more affordable and flexible option than an outright purchase or a pay-monthly contract.”

“We are extremely excited about its future growth prospects, and scaling this area of the business further will be a major point of focus for us in the coming year.”

Polymetal shares rise on higher revenue

Anshula Kumar
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2
Polymetal shares rise on higher revenue

Polymetal shares were trading up 8.5% to 280.9p on Wednesday morning following the update on their annual results.

Polymetal shares had dropped 72% in a week due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Vitaly Nesis, Group Chief Executive Officer, Polymetal commented, “We are shocked and appalled by the events going on in Ukraine. The conflict in Ukraine and related economic and political developments are likely to require a lot of management efforts to maintain company performance. However, despite a wide range of uncertainties we will be working under in 2022, it is our current intention to operate as normally as possible.”

Revenue grew by 1% in 2021, to $2.89bn, up from $2.86bn in 2020.

The average realised gold and silver prices followed trade patterns, with gold being unchanged YoY and silver rising 19%. Production of gold equivalent  was 1,677 Koz, up 2% from the previous year. Due to the strong December output at Dukat, gold sales were unchanged YoY at 1,386 Koz, while silver sales were down 9% to 17.5 Moz and behind production by 2.9 Moz. The shortfall is expected to end in 1H 2022.

Adjusted EBITDA was down 12% to $1.4bn,  from 2020, owing primarily to raising costs due to relatively steady sales volumes and earnings.

The drop in operational profit was a consequence of the increased costs resulting in net profits of $904m in 2021. The basic EPS of $1.91 per share in 2021 also dropped from $2.25 per share in 2020.

Capital expenditure reflects maximum capital spending, which includes construction projects at POX-2 and Nezhda, momentum of the Kutyn and Veduga projects, the beginning of the feasibility report for the Pacific POX, and higher stripping at Nezhda, Veduga, and Kyzyl, as well as continuing macroeconomic demands and substantial substances and wage increases.

Net debt rose to $1.6bn in 2021 from $1.3bn in 2020. Dividend payments of $635m in 2021 combined with additional capital expenditures accounted for the majority of the increase in net debt.

Final dividends were announced to be $0.52 per share in 2021.

“We are reporting strong net earnings for the year amidst a variety of macroeconomic and pandemic-related challenges. Excellent financial results were supported by robust operating performance, successful launch and ramp-up of Nezhda, as well as advancement of our POX-2 project and Veduga investment decision. Crucially – for the second year in a row – we had no fatalities among Group employees. Polymetal also continues to generate significant free cash flows and pay substantial dividends,” said Vitaly Nesis.

Hardide (LSE:HDD): Increasing Production to Fire on all cylinders

Jon Levinson
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Hardide (LSE:HDD): Increasing Production to Fire on all cylinders

Hardide (LSE: HDD) improved marginally to 31p and a Mkt Cap of  £17m,  after  producing the first ‘coatings’ used  to  extend the life of gas turbine blades and its  part of a larger order.
The client provides energy solutions and is a major European manufacturer of steam and gas turbines and as the coatings effectiveness becomes proven the order book is likely to grow. HDD develop and provide   advanced surface coatings and its patented technology uniquely combines materials to create a mix of toughness and resistance to abrasion, erosion and corrosion so improving the components life theref...

New AIM admission: Neometals dual quotation

Andrew Hore
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1
New AIM admission: Neometals dual quotation

Battery metals producer Neometals already had an ASX listing prior to joining AIM, which management hopes will raise the company’s profile in UK and Europe. There are various assets that could be exploited by Neometals.
They are getting to the point where decisions will need to be made on their development. Partners have been secured for some projects, while other projects have potential partners that have yet to sign up.
The share price opened at 72.5p and closed the first day of trading at 72p before rising to 76.5p on the second day when there was more trading.  
Neometals will undoubt...

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