Small Cap Catch-Up: HAT, CTO, CNIC and BILN
H&T Group (LON:HAT) – A Buy Ahead Of The Interims
Very bullish Trading Update news from this leading pawnbroking group should be of no surprise to this column’s readers.
The interim results are due to be announced on Wednesday 9th August.
We already know that the company has enjoyed a significant 22% leap in gross new lending.
Its pledge book had risen to £113m from £85m last year.
Furthermore, there has been a continuation of the strong lending demand, which is now at record levels.
Since the Trading Update announcement last Tuesday, the groups shares have responded well, rising from the then 422p to close last night at 442p, that was after touching 450p on Wednesday.
You already know how keen I am on this group and its prospects for even greater profits.
The shares are sure to gain more investor interest ahead of the results in just over three weeks.
(Profile 06.07.22 @ 332.5p set a Target Price of 400p*)
TClarke (LON:CTO) – Record Order Books
This very well-established building services group announced it half year results yesterday and the statement was more than encouraging.
The revenues for the six months to end June were hardly changed at £207m (£206m), while the pre-tax profit was lower at £4.8m (£5.5m), with interim earnings easing to 8.68p (10.24p), but with an increased halfway dividend of 1.375p (1.25p) per share.
However, we can now expect a very much stronger second half, with almost £300m sales anticipated, taking it up to some £500m for the year.
The record order book of £781m (£586m) helps the group going forward, with £600m sales in 2024 and then at least £650m in 2025 being group targets.
Analyst Andrew Gibb at Cenkos Securities rates the group’s shares as a Buy.
He estimates £10.7m adjusted profits for 2023, worth 17.4p in earnings and paying a 5.9p dividend per share.
Jumping ahead he sees £17.1m profits next year, worth 24.2p enabling a dividend lift to 6.5p.
The shares closed last night at 131.5p, undervalued at this price.
(Profile 10.12.19 @ 120p set a Target Price of 165p*)
Some Quickies……
CentralNic Group (LON:CNIC)
Watch out for this company’s H1 Trading Update next Tuesday morning.
The shares have been firming up quite well of late and are now at 124.10p.
With so much more to go yet, they remain a strong Buy.
(Profile 12.07.21 @ 89p set a Target Price of 110p*)
Lifeboat Energy (LON:LBE)
This oil exploration group has recently pulled off a few good deals, which have appealed to investors.
On Wednesday its shares touched 30.5p, following news that a handful of its directors and executives have in the last week added to their holdings.
CEO Helge Hammer stated: “The Directors believe there is significant value in both the Company’s existing assets and the future potential to be gained from its joint venture with JAPEX and its nascent SE Asia business.”
The shares closed last night at 29.25p, up 40% in just two months, but with obviously more upward moves still being expected.
(Profile 08.05.23 @ 20.75p set a Target Price at 26p*)
Avingtrans (LON:AVG)
Yesterday the engineering technology group announced a trading update for the year ended 31 May.
The results are expected to be in line with market expectations.
However, it appears that the momentum from FY23 has continued into FY24.
The current order book has continued to strengthen leaving the group with a record order book for this time of year.
CEO Steve McQuillan stated:
“We are delighted by the performance of the Group in what have been difficult market conditions, including on-going supply chain disruptions, albeit that these have eased somewhat from their nadir.
Despite the headwinds, order intake has been robust, notably growth in Engineered Pumps and Motors has been particularly strong.
As a result, we are pleased that the Group is entering FY24 with the best order cover since prior to the pandemic which leads the Board to view the outlook for this year with confidence.”
Richard Hickinbotham at Singer Capital Markets rates the shares as a Buy, looking for 510p.
At the current 415p the shares reacted well to the Update news. Hold tight.
(Profile 04.11.20 @ 260p set a Target Price of 325p*)
Billington Holdings (LON:BILN)
Is there a price recovery now underway?
The structural steelworks group’s shares were up to 460p in late April, since when they fell back to a recent low of 321p, which was at the start of this month.
Last night they closed up 15p on the day at 345p.
Is there something going on, I wonder?
(Profile 02.04.19 @ 266p set a Target Price of 314.5p*)
(Profile 13.06.22 @ 217.5p set a Target Price of 295p*)
(Asterisks * denote that Target Prices have been achieved since Profile publication)
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