EARNINGS AND TRADING: Fletcher King profit falls in "challenging" year
The following is a round-up of earnings and trading updates by London-listed companies, issued on Wednesday and not separately reported by Alliance News:
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Fletcher King PLC - London-based chartered surveyors firm - Pretax profit slumps to £2,000 in the financial year ending April 30 from £274,000 the year prior, as revenue dips to £3.5 million from £3.8 million. Adjusted basic earnings per share total 0.20 pence versus 2.45p a year ago. No dividend is declared against 2.25p per share last time, although a special dividend of 20p was paid in July. Chair David Fletcher says: "It has been a challenging period and this is reflected in the results for the year which show roughly breakeven performance." The company notes the market for property investment transactions has been "subdued", and it has also been a "lean period" for concluding rating appeals. "The lack of any meaningful fees from these service lines during the year has significantly impacted performance," it adds. In addition, Fletcher King announces the sale of 50% of Fletcher King Services Ltd to the management team, with an option to sell the remaining stake. The headline price for the deal is £1.2 million for the entire business (GBP550,000 for the initial 50% interest and £650,000 for the balance) plus an additional balancing payment of £100,000. On completion, Fletcher King says it will "carefully consider and evaluate investment opportunities to ensure the most appropriate strategic options". Proceeds from the sale will provide capital and reserves for assessing and potentially investing in suitable opportunities.
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Manolete Partners PLC - Buckinghamshire, England-based insolvency litigation financing firm - Issues trading update for the six months ended September 30. Realised revenue grows by 23% to £17.4 million from £14.1 million the year prior, the highest realised revenue the company has ever generated over a half year period. This underpins confidence in achieving market consensus expectations for the full year of £30.6 million realised revenue and adjusted realised pretax profit of £1.5 million, Manolete says. Gross cash receipts were £1.7 million lower at £12.8 million versus £14.5 million on-year, reflecting a large case that settled for £3 million at the end of the period, which was then not collected in the half. Alongside continued investment in new and ongoing cases, this contributed to a £2.1 million increase in net debt to £13.6 million from £10.8 million on-year. Enforcement action against the two large debtors that didn't pay as anticipated in FY26, remains ongoing. Excluding these two large debtors, collection of overdue debtors has improved, with overdue debtors having reduced in the period. The company will announce half-year results on November 19.
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Central Asia Metals PLC - copper, zinc and lead producer and explorer with operations in Kazakhstan and North Macedonia - Says "firmly" on track to meet full-year 2026 production guidance for copper of 12,000 to 13,000 tonnes; zinc-in-concentrate of 18,000 to 20,000 tonnes; and lead-in-concentrate of 26,000 to 28,000 tonnes. In the third quarter, Central Asia Metals reports Kounrad copper production of 3,454 tonnes, Sasa zinc-in-concentrate production of 4,968 tonnes, and Sasa lead-in-concentrate production of 7,255 tonnes. Average received prices for copper and zinc are "significantly higher" year-on-year. Copper is up 43%, while zinc is up 34%, but lead is 5% lower. Chief Executive Gavin Ferrar says: "Q3 2026 was a positive period for CAML, with good progress on all of the main elements of the company's strategy."
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Roadside Real Estate PLC - Abingdon, England-based investor in roadside property such as petrol stations and convenience stores - Says it intends to recommend a maiden final dividend in respect of FY26 of at least 0.36 pence per share. This follows the completion of the acquisitions of Gardner Retail and DAR. CEO Charles Dickson says: "When we raised capital in February, we told shareholders that the businesses we were buying would generate the cash both to reinvest in our sites and to reward investors. Today we are delivering on both. Having reviewed every site in detail, we now have a clear plan to unlock value across the estate and Coventry shows what that investment can achieve." Roadside says the former J Sainsbury PLC site in Coventry has made a strong start since reopening, with encouraging early fuel volumes. Including Coventry, the group now operates a portfolio of 21 energy forecourt sites following completion of acquisitions of Gardner Retail Ltd, DA Roberts Fuels Ltd, Hoch Group Ltd, and the Ross Road petrol filling station. "Initial capex is under way at several sites where we see the greatest opportunity for growth," the firm says.
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Acceler8 Ventures PLC - investor in technology-enabled businesses, including Beijing-based Hui10 Inc - Provides the first trading update for its principal operating business, Hui10 Inc, following completion of the Intuitive Investments Group PLC transaction in August. Since August, says Hui10 has progressed the rollout of Sports Lottery+, enhanced its lottery shop onboarding technology and expanded its commercial relationship with China Mobile. The focus remains on growing the connected network, increasing lottery transaction activity and expanding customer reach and engagement. This is illustrated by the year-on-year progress in key performance indicators. In particular, the growth in the level of lottery transaction value, as a result of increasing active lottery shop rates through Lucky World, provides positive feedback on the popularity of the platform with both lottery shopkeepers and customers, it says. As of the end of September, registered Hui10 users total 1.7 million, more than double 800,000 one year prior. For the nine months ended September 30, Acceler8 says, Hui10 generated revenue of RMB2.1 million, around £237,161, compared with RMB400,000 the year prior.
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Aterian PLC - minerals exploration and trading in Africa, including copper-silver projects in Morocco and Botswana and an exploration licence in Rwanda - Provides an update on its Rwanda-based mineral trading operations for the three months ended September 30. Eastinco Ltd, its Rwanda-based trading subsidiary, generates gross profit of USD154,000 in the quarter, despite lower trading volumes in the region during the summer period and the relocation of its processing operations, which caused some disruption. This is Eastinco's fourth consecutive quarter of gross profit, which Aterian says demonstrates the "resilience of the trading platform". The anticipated increase in deliveries under the new supply arrangements began only in the final week of September, with implementation delayed in part by the processing facility move, it adds. The new arrangements therefore contributed only a limited amount in the quarter and are expected to contribute more significantly in the three months to December. Executive Chair Charles Bray states: "Our focus is now on converting increased capacity into sustained growth in volumes and gross profit with a significantly lower cost base. We enter the fourth quarter with an expanded network of qualified and compliant suppliers and new supply arrangements beginning to deliver. Our Q3 result therefore provides an encouraging indication of the business's resilience ahead of the fuller contribution we expect from additional supply volumes."
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