Raspberry Pi announced this morning it plans to list on the premium segment of the London Stock Exchange, a move that will be a major boost to London’s markets.

The company specialises in high-performance, low-cost single-board computers with IoT applications and uses in education and learning.

“A remarkable ecosystem of individuals and businesses has grown around Raspberry Pi, supporting both the enthusiast and industrial markets to innovate and succeed with our products,” said Eben Upton, CEO of Raspberry Pi.

“We’re now seeing the former feed into the latter, as the first generation who encountered Raspberry Pi as young people take their experience with our technology into their professional careers, and today the industrial and embedded market accounts for 72% of units sold.”

In the full year ended 31 December 2023, Raspberry Pi’s revenues were $265.8m, driving a gross profit of $66.0m and an operating profit of $37.5m.

Raspberry Pi is a fantastic business with abundant ESG credentials and strong financials. This is just the type of company London needs to get back on track.

While the IPO is welcoming news for London’s markets, investors may be put off by the company’s motivations. As well as raising fresh funds by issuing new shares as part of the IPO, the Raspberry Pi Foundation, the company’s biggest shareholder, will offload some of its stake during the IPO process.

Initial public offerings with major shareholders selling from the get-go aren’t as preferable to those where major shareholders hold onto their stakes or are locked in for a period.

Ultimately, new investors in a company want to know existing shareholders see an IPO as the next step in their growth journey, not an opportunity to cash in.

The attraction of CleanTech Lithium shares increased this week after the Chile-focused miner announced positive results from its lithium brine processing pilot. 

We included CleanTech Lithium in our article ‘Three undervalued AIM-listed junior miners to watch this summer’, published at the beginning of this week.

The article notes the importance of CleanTech Lithium’s Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) process and the favourable economics it can provide for the company’s extraction and processing operations. 

Subsequent to the publication of our article, the company released an encouraging update on its DLE pilot project, which was well received by the market.

On Tuesday, CleanTech announced that its DLE pilot plant had produced high-quality eluate with low impurities. This demonstrates that the company’s technology has the potential to produce desirable lithium offtake and deliver the hoped-for economics for investors. 

“The analysis of the eluate shows the DLE performance has exceeded our expectations, concentrating the lithium grade of the feed brine by 3.6X while achieving high recovery rates and low impurities,” said Steve Kesler, Executive Chairman, of CleanTech Lithium.

“The first full batch of 24m³ of concentrated eluate is scheduled to be shipped in the coming weeks. The pilot plant has met its design capacity capable of producing 1 tonne of LCE per month, positioning CleanTech Lithium to produce significant quantities of lithium product samples for potential strategic partners.

“We are edging closer to be one of the first DLE based companies in Chile to produce battery-grade lithium carbonate.” 

CleanTech has sent the pilot plant’s eluate to North America for additional testing and processing into high-grade lithium carbonate.

The success of the pilot plant significantly derisks CleanTech Lithium’s business model and will go a long way to counter any arguments against the DLE process being experimental and unproven.

There is still a way to go to validate the process works at scale, but this week’s news is a vitally important milestone.

Tekcapital’s Innovative Eyewear said it was ‘bullish’ about its outlook as it announced a 165% increase in first-quarter revenue.

While the company has made significant progress in revenue generation, it hinted that it that this may just be the beginning of an upward trend trajectory in sales as new lines are launched later in the year.

The Tekcapital portfolio company launched Nautica smart eyewear, powered by Innovative Eyewear’s brand Lucyd, earlier this year and said three more product lines are set to hit the market later in 2024. 

In an earnings update released Tuesday, Innovative Eyewear said it was ‘bullish’ about its outlook as it prepared for the much-anticipated launches of world-renowned Reebok and Eddie Bauer branded smart eyewear powered by Lucyd technology.

Eddie Bauer and Reebok branded smart glasses, as well as the Lucyd Armor smart safety glasses line, are due for release in 2024, significantly bolstering the company’s addressable market.

Eddie Bauer and Reebok are owned by Authentic Brands, which generates over $29bn in annual revenue.

The company also provided an interesting insight into its future distribution plans, which will focus on eyewear outlets and retailers that supply prescription lenses to enhance margins.

“Our most recent quarter marked the third sequential quarter of year-over-year revenue growth. I am pleased by our continued growth and excited by the potential of further growth later this year with the upcoming launches of new product lines and upgraded app releases,” said Harrison Gross, CEO of Innovative Eyewear Inc.

“This is an exciting time for the Company,’ Gross continued.

“After several years of rigorous R&D and brand development, I believe we are very well-positioned to capitalize on blooming consumer interest in smart eyewear. Recently, we have seen powerful incumbents such as Apple and Meta bringing renewed interest to smart glasses, which helps us quite directly by raising consumer awareness for the category.

“We believe this has enhanced investor and consumer confidence in the category. As the value leader in prescription smart eyewear, we are a practical alternative to the Apple Vision Pro and Meta Glasses for consumers seeking a lightweight, AI-enabled and affordable option for all-day wear.

“The fact that our products are available in dozens of different styles, with thousands of frame and custom lens combinations, provides consumers with the necessary optionality that they expect when making an eyewear selection. We continue to expect that smart eyewear will be a key component of the generative AI revolution, due to their transparent interfaces and ergonomic form factors perfectly suited for voice-based interaction.”

The FTSE 100 traded sideways on Tuesday as the index continued to consolidate a record-breaking rally amid strong Vodafone results and developments in the Anglo American takeover battle.

Investors did not have many macro influences to trade off on Tuesday, leaving the index to drift 0.1% higher at the time of writing.

“After the stellar run which took it to all-time highs the FTSE 100 now seems stuck in a holding pattern – awaiting the next catalyst which could either send it higher or lower,” said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.

The void of macro-based trading impetus was filled by a string of corporate updates from FTSE 100 companies on Tuesday.

Anglo American

BHP’s interest in Anglo American is turning out to be a real saga.

Anglo American was down again on Tuesday after rejecting a revised bid from BHP yesterday and followed with the announcement of a strategy to divest parts of the group, including diamond miner De Beers, on Tuesday.

“Anglo American was one of yesterday’s bigger fallers, down 2.4%, after news emerged that a revised all-share takeover proposal by suitor BHP, had been unanimously rejected by Anglo’s Board,” said Derren Nathan, head of equity research, Hargreaves Lansdown.

“This may not be the last twist in this tale, with rival Glencore also thought to be casting an eye over Anglo’s diverse mining properties. Anglo won’t go down without a fight though and has set out its strategic vision this morning to focus on world class assets in copper, premium iron ore and crop nutrients, with plans afoot to exit or demerge coal mining, nickel, platinum and the iconic De Beers diamond operations.”

Vodafone

Vodafone was among the best performers on the day, with a 3.2% gain after announcing strong revenue growth in Q4 as the CEO’s transformation plans started to bear fruit.

The news can’t come soon enough for investors who have faced persistent share price declines amid falling sales growth.

“It’s fourth quarter to the rescue for Vodafone, as growth starts again,” said Matt Britzman, equity analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown.

“It’s taken all year, but revenue growth across all segments in the final quarter was exactly what Vodafone needed to deliver. After shipping off underperforming businesses, Vodafone can now focus on growing its core markets, but investors will need to accept the fact that it’s now a smaller business. That impacts the dividend, now set at a base of 4.5 cents per share for 2025, half of what the group delivered for the year just gone.”

Burberry was the top riser, gaining 3.4%, ahead of results later in the week.

Move over, sausage rolls. Southern Fried Chicken Goujons are in town.

Chicken goujons aren’t going to replace the humble sausage roll as Greggs’s best-seller anytime soon, but they have proved to be a hit and have helped Greggs accelerate sales in early 2024.

Greggs sales jumped 7.4% in the first 19 weeks of 2024 as the company enjoyed strong demand for Southern Fried Chicken Goujons, Southern Fried Potato Wedges, and other hot food lines.

“Gregg’s seems to be keeping up some strong momentum as sales have jumped year-on-year but moreover, there is progress behind the scenes on the production side, allowing for further growth as capacity increases,” said Adam Vettese, analyst at investment platform eToro.

“Not only a nation’s favourite for sausage rolls, Gregg’s has also widened its product range and upped delivery and app sales. This, combined with more units popping up within other units for example at petrol stations, which are not often known for their prowess in terms of food offering, means consumers can even get their savoury snack fix while filling up or on the road.”

The group opened 64 new stores gross, translating to 27 net new openings, bringing the total number of outlets to 2,500. The company forecasts 140-160 net new openings in the full year.

With cost inflation remaining steady, Greggs says full-year targets are unchanged.

London is in desperate need of a blockbuster IPO. This may be delivered in the form of Shein, the Chinese fast fashion brand.

Should the company press on with its reported plans to list on the London Stock Exchange, it will be the biggest IPO in London so far this year and provide a much-needed boost to the UK’s capital markets.

According to the company’s website, Shein employs 11,00 people globally and is present in over 150 countries.

The Financial Times reported earlier this year that Shein’s profits have doubled to $2bn on gross merchandise value sales of $45bn. Gross merchandise value is the total amount of sales from its website. This compares to UK-based online retail ASOS’s revenue of £3.5bn in the 2023 full year.

“Speculation is rife that Chinese fashion group Shein is on the verge of confirming its intention to list in London, as well as electronics group Raspberry Pi in the coming days. Both names would bring some sparkle to the market and potentially encourage other companies to take advantage of the new-found oomph in UK equities,” said Dan Coatsworth, investment analyst at AJ Bell.

“Shein is such a big name in the world of retail that its mere presence on the London market could encourage others to look hard at the UK as a listing venue.”

While Shein would be a boon for London’s capital market, some analysts have highlighted the additional scrutiny the business would come under may reveal turn-offs for investors in terms of supply chain practices.

“With Shein reportedly homing in on a potential London IPO the last thing the Chinese fast fashion retailer needed was further scrutiny of its supply chain,” said AJ Bell head of financial analysis Danni Hewson.

“Reports of 75-hour days for workers churning out its myriad of products will prove uncomfortable reading for potential investors and consumers alike.

“Such a huge listing would be a boon for London markets which have seen very little incoming activity to offset the companies leaving the field, but it could ultimately prove a poisoned chalice unless the company can overcome key concerns about its working practices.”