City briefs: Codemasters; S&U, Solid State
Codemasters, the Redditch videogame developer and publisher specialising in racing games, says its full-year results look like they will be “significantly” ahead of current market expectations.
The firm said that trading since the start of the year has been “particularly strong”.
In a statement, Codemasters said: “These revised expectations are driven by the particularly strong performance to date both of the annual instalment of its Formula One title, F1® 2020, and the continued strength of the company’s growing back catalogue of games. Fast & Furious Crossroads, which was released on 7 August, has to date performed as anticipated, and the Board is pleased to report that levels of pre-orders from both retailers and consumers for the title launches scheduled for the remainder of the year also remain consistent with original expectations.
S&U, the motor finance and property bridging specialist, says its business is continuing its “steady recovery from economic shocks” as it issued a trading update for the period from its AGM statement of the 9 June to the 31 July.
Anthony Coombs, S&U chairman, said: “First and foremost, I take this opportunity to record our thanks to, and admiration for, the spirit, flexibility and sheer determination of our staff to maintain our standards of customer service during unprecedented and trying times. Although recent trading trends have been encouraging, the level of uncertainty surrounding the economy, the direction of Covid-19 and the effect that it has on customers’ confidence make prudence paramount.
“What we can say for certain, is that S&U continues to make profits and has the experience, the financial resources, skilled people and tried and tested business philosophy needed to weather any further economic storms – and the ambition to grow strongly again when it is sensible to do so.”
Solid State, the AIM-listed manufacturer of computing, power and communications products, has reported trading for the first months of its financial year, ending 31 March 2021
Group revenues were stable, down 4% year on year. Order intake in Q1 was down just under 15% compared to the prior year; by the end of July, order intake for the four month period had improved being down 7% on a like-for-like basis compared to the equivalent period last year. The open order book at 31 July 2020 was 4% below the year end at £38.3m (31 March 2020: £39.9m) reflecting the shorter order periods.
A statement from the company said: “Solid State’s pipeline of new product designs continues to increase, and work progresses on building the portfolio of potential acquisition targets. With net cash of £3.2m and agreed bank borrowing facilities the Group is well placed to take advantage of any new acquisition prospects that may emerge later in the financial year.
“Whilst the short-term macroeconomic outlook remains uncertain, the Board is confident that given its sector diversity and broad customer base the Group can continue to perform robustly.”
