City round-up: Nanoco; Renold; PRS REIT
Runcorn tech firm, Nanoco, reported interim results for the six months to January 31, 2025, today, which revealed a fall in revenues, but an improved pre-tax loss level.
Sales fell from £3.956m the previous year to £3.448m, mainly due to the previously announced loss of a key European customer.
A pre-tax loss of £960,000 was in comparison with a £2.091m pre-tax loss a year ago.
During the period the company completed the on-market buyback, fulfilling its commitment to return £33m to shareholders.
It said it is making progress on its divestment of the CDX Advisors business and expects to receive initial proposals from potential bidders during the summer.
The Manchester University spin-out develops materials used in the manufacture of monitors and TV screens and technologies for medical imaging and the early diagnosis of cancer.
It said investment in business development is showing progress, with an increasing number of potential commercial opportunities.
An additional £311,000 revenue will be recognised in the second half of financial year 2025 following the completion of the settlement agreement with the European electronics customer.
As a result, and in addition to some other small commercial wins, revenue for the year ended July 31, 2025 is now expected to be ahead of current market expectations of £6.6m.
Dmitry Shshkov
Chief executive, Dmitry Shashkov, said: “Having been at Nanoco for almost six months, I am more confident than ever in the commercial potential of our technology platform.
“Commercial traction takes time and we have done the heavy lifting required to put in place the foundations to drive a new go-to-market strategy.”
He added: “We continue to accelerate the pace of our commercial development, especially in the image sensors sector. As a result, we are in advanced negotiations to add another Asian chemical customer to help drive commercialisation of QD based SWIR sensors, and with other potential customers in the pipeline, I am confident we will see early product revenues by next calendar year.
“On the Flat Panel Display side, we also have some small-scale engagements that cover both existing LCD architecture as well as newer technologies. And we will continue to explore our licencing options.”
He said: “It is our conviction that our extensive and validated IP portfolio will continue to deliver value to our shareholders as we expand our IP licensing efforts.
“We have the right strategy, a reinvigorated team and a relentless focus on driving commercial engagement. In parallel, the CDX process is moving forward at a good pace, with several active engagements. I look forward to further updating shareholders on our progress on both initiatives in due course.”
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Renold
Renold, the Manchester industrial chains and power transmissions manufacturer, said it expects to beat expectations for the year ended March 31, 2025, in a trading update today.
The board said the group maintained positive momentum through the final quarter and expects to report adjusted operating profit and EPS for FY25 ahead of current market expectations of £251.9m revenue and £31.2m underlying operating profit, a third consecutive year of record performance.
Revenue for the year was approximately £245.1m, a year-on-year increase of 3.8% at constant exchange rates, or a 1.5% increase on a reported basis.
Adjusted operating profit for the year is expected to have increased by more than six per cent, when compared with the prior year (FY24: £29.7m), with the adjusted operating margin improving towards 13% (FY24: 12.3%).
Progress continues to be made with the group’s productivity and efficiency programmes, which are driving sustainable margin and profit increases along with further customer service improvements.
Order intake for the year at £250.2m was ahead of the £227.5m recorded in the prior year. The closing order book of £83.3m was in line with FY24, and was above the half year position (September 30, 2024: £80.8m).
Careful management of working capital has resulted in a year end net debt position of £44.8m (March 31, 2024: £24.9m and September 30, 2024: £42.2m), an increase of £2.6m over September 2024, which is largely attributable to the purchase of land and buildings at the group’s Cardiff operations – replacing a lease. The increase in H1 was driven by the purchase of the MAC Chain business.
The board said it is closely following the fast-evolving tariff backdrop, as negotiations between nations continue. Given the volatile nature of the situation, and with potential timing for implementation of tariffs uncertain, the impact to Renold is currently difficult to predict, it said.
Renold said it benefits from a global manufacturing footprint providing operational flexibility in delivery to its customers, which positions the business well to navigate through the ongoing uncertainty.
The company added that it enjoys long standing relationships centred around both its quality proposition and the unique features designed into its products, and it would expect that any incremental tariff related costs would be borne by its customers.
The group expects to announce its results for financial year 2025 on July 2, 2025.
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PRS REIT 5,000th rental home
Manchester-based private rented sector housing group, PRS REIT, published a third quarter update this morning, covering the period from January 1, 2025, to March 31.
It revealed that the portfolio is almost fully delivered, with only 35 homes left in the pipeline to be completed.
Over the period six homes were completed and added to the portfolio, taking the total number of completed homes in the portfolio to 5,443 homes at March 31, 2025 (March 31, 2024: 5,308).
The estimated rental value (ERV) of the 5,443 completed homes was £69.6m per annum (December 31, 2024: 5,437 completed homes with an ERV of £68.6m per annum).
The remaining 35 homes in the delivery pipeline have an ERV of £0.4m per annum and are on track to be completed by the end of June 2025.
The company said its portfolio continues to perform very strongly. Rent collection in the period was 101% and physical occupancy at March 31, 2025 was 96%, with 5,204 of the 5,443 completed homes occupied.
At this date, a further 69 homes were reserved for applicants who had passed referencing and paid rental deposits but had not yet moved in. Including this cohort, occupancy at March 31, 2025 was 97%.
Total arrears net of bad debt provision at March 31, 2025 was c.£1.0m, which remains low as a proportion of the enlarged portfolio (December 31, 2024: c.£1.0m).
Like-for-like rental growth on stabilised sites over the year to March 31, 2025 was 10% (year to March 31, 2024: 12%).
The board said it expects to declare an interim quarterly dividend in respect of the three months ended March 31, 2025 in early May 2025.
Total dividends declared over the first half of the financial year amounted to 2.1p per share (H1 2024: 2.0p).
As reported on March 31, 2025, with the company’s interim results, the strategic review and formal sale process launched in the first half of the current financial year are ongoing.
Discussions with a number of parties regarding the acquisition of the company are ongoing, alongside which the board continues to explore all the options available with a view to maximising value shareholders. Further updates will be made available in due course and by no later than the end of June 2025.
