City round-up: Nichols; Co-op Bank; The Hut Group
Vimto maker Nichols has continued to “deliver a strong performance” and the board now expects adjusted pre-tax profits to be ahead of expectations.
In a trading update for the first nine months of the year to 30 September, the North West soft drinks group reported group revenue for the period has increased by 17% year on year to £107m.
It said the Vimto brand has continued to “deliver a strong performance” across all of its markets.
In Africa, the Middle East, Europe and the US the brand continued to see progress year on year, with international revenues increasing 36% compared to the prior year.
The Group’s Out of Home (“OoH”) route to market continues to recover from the impact of the pandemic and has seen growth of 29% year on year.
Despite the ongoing financial challenges posed by the pandemic, cash and cash equivalents at the end of the period were £55.6m compared to £45.4m last year.
Nichols said while uncertainty remains regarding Q4 trading as a result of increasing Covid-19 infection rates in the UK, in light of the strong trading in the year to date the board anticipates that adjusted PBT for FY21 will be in the range of £21m – £22m.
It said: “Whilst the Group’s revenue momentum is expected to continue into 2022, the outlook for the next financial year is adversely impacted by inflationary pressures including logistics, labour and materials, therefore profit expectations for 20224 remain unchanged.”
The Group intends to provide its next trading update on 12 January 2022.
Co-op Bank has reported pre-tax profits of £28.5m for the nine months to 30 September, the third consecutive quarter in which profits have been reported.
The progress is positive news for the lender which saw annual losses of £68.1m over the same period last year.
Co-op Bank has started to reap the benefits of a period of painful restructuring, after its near-collapse and rescue by a group of U.S. hedge funds in 2017.
The lender did not make any reference to any acquisition plans, weeks after making an unsolicited offer for rival lender TSB that was rebuffed by Spanish owner Sabadell.
The group also said it had generated a further £1.1bn of gross mortgage lending in the quarter, taking the total in 2021 to £4.1bn and net residential lending now stands at £2.2bn for 2021 and is equivalent to a 13% increase in mortgage balances with a strong pipeline as it enters the final quarter of the year.
It said its SME segment and major investment programme is “on track” and it has relaunched the business banking website to provide tailored support to businesses based on their circumstances.
CEO Nick Slape said: “In September, we invited our customers and colleagues to take part in our sixth Values and Ethics Poll, to understand the environmental and social issues that are important to them. This unique consultation directly influences our customer-led Ethical Policy relaunching early next year and the prioritisation choices the Bank makes.
“Looking to the future, I am pleased to confirm that we are tracking in line with, or ahead of our guidance expectations which leaves us well-placed to deliver the refreshed strategy that I communicated in early October.
“Next year marks the Bank’s 150th anniversary and these results further demonstrate that our position on ethical and social matters is not only good for our communities, but also delivers strong commercial outcomes. I firmly believe that doing good is aligned with doing well in business.”
High-flying media executive and non-executive director at THG, Zillah Byng-Thorne and her husband Max have acquired 57,591 shares worth £ £112,652.
Zillah Byng-Thorne purchased 32,291 ordinary shares of £0.005 each in the capital of the company at a price of £2.002 per ordinary share; and Max has purchased 25,300 ordinary shares of £0.005 each in the capital of the company at a price of £1.962 per ordinary share.
The share purchase comes as prices hit rock bottom in recent weeks.
The Manchester-based online retailer, which has grown from selling DVDs online into a giant that includes 300 separate websites, listed on London’s stock exchange a year ago.
But the stock has lost its lustre of late, as shares slumped in recent months because of concerns about the firm’s governance and the future of the business, after it flagged last week that profit margins would be squeezed by currency changes.
Analysts have also pointed to a slowdown in growth at its core beauty division.
Shares in the Hut Group hit an all-time low on Tuesday after it emerged that BlackRock, its largest institutional shareholder, was halving its stake in the online retailer after a rocky month for the company.
