EARNINGS AND TRADING: Frasers to buyback GBP100 million worth shares
The following is a round-up of earnings and trading updates by London-listed companies, issued on Thursday and not separately reported by Alliance News:
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Sosandar PLC - Cheshire, England-based online women's fashion brand - Pretax loss narrows to £604,000 in the six months ended September 30 from £1.1 million the year prior, with loss per share of 0.26p against 0.42p. Revenue climbs 11% to £20.8 million from £18.7 million and the gross margin improves to 65.1% from 62.2%. First half performance reflects a strong Spring and Summer season despite the challenging macroeconomic and consumer backdrop. September was impacted by prolonged summer weather which delayed sales of Autumn product across all channels, but trading strengthened significantly through October as more autumnal weather has been seen. Trading is in line with full year market expectations, Sosandar says. "Revenue has grown, margins have strengthened and we're moving closer to the profitability this business is capable of," say Ali Hall and Julie Lavington, co-chief executives.
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Foxtons Group PLC - London-based estate agent - Revenue drops to £45.9 million in quarter ended September 30 from £49.0 million the year prior, taking year-to-date revenue to £129.6 million versus £135.1 million. Says it delivered a "resilient performance against a challenging market and macroeconomic backdrop, underpinned by the group's recurring lettings revenues." "Lettings traded broadly in line with our expectations, with the initial disruption following the introduction of the Renters' Rights Act moderating through the quarter and re-letting activity remaining robust. We continue to see longer-term benefits from the RRA, notwithstanding some short-term volatility," says Chief Executive Guy Gittins. Foxtons expects full-year adjusted operating profit to be within £17 million to £19 million range guided in July.
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Caledonia Mining Corp PLC - operator of the Blanket gold mine in Zimbabwe - Announces that its subsidiary Caledonia Holdings Zimbabwe (Private) Ltd has signed an interim financing facility agreement of up to USD150 million, providing additional financial flexibility as the group executes its financing strategy for the Bilboes gold project in Zimbabwe. The facility has a termination date of 36 months from the effective date, with the option of a one-year extension. Chief Executive Mark Learmonth says: "The support received from banking institutions and international capital markets investors reflects confidence in the quality of Bilboes, our development approach and the broader outlook for Zimbabwe's gold mining sector. The successful execution of these financing initiatives demonstrates our ability to access multiple sources of capital and provides a strong foundation as we continue to progress the final project finance component of the funding strategy."
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Frasers Group PLC - Shirebrook, England-based retailer - Agrees to commence a directed trading programme with Mash Holdings Ltd which is owned by Frasers' controlling shareholder, Mike Ashley. Says it is implementing the programme alongside its on-market share buyback programme to create liquidity and return value to shareholders. Frasers says it believes that the company has long been undervalued and does not think its net asset value, £2.5 billion as at April 26, is fully reflected in the current share price. Thus, it "intends to continue to buy back shares until the company's value is fully reflected in its share price." Frasers has entered into a non-discretionary arrangement with Panmure Liberum Ltd to purchase shares from Mash up to £100 million.
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Morgan Sindall Group PLC - London-based construction company - Expects full-year 2026 results to be slightly ahead of previous expectations, citing strong trading momentum and continued order intake since its half-year results in July. Its Construction division is expected to deliver double-digit profit growth, ahead of expectations, while Fit Out profit is forecast to be slightly higher than in 2025. Morgan Sindall also launches a £75 million share buyback programme, starting Thursday and expected to be completed by November 4, 2027.
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HgCapital Trust PLC - London-based investment trust that provides access to private equity investments of manager Hg - Reports net assets of £2.4 billion at September 30 representing a net asset value per share of 539.1 pence. NAV total return was 2.0% for the quarter and minus 3.1% year to date, following 5.4% drop in the first quarter, during the peak of the sell-off in public software and 0.5% in the second quarter. Jim Strang, chair of HgT, says "trading performance across the portfolio continues to be strong". He says the board "continues to believe that the HgT portfolio is well positioned to benefit from AI-led change." Strang notes the discount to NAV has been "volatile", narrowing to 16% in August and widening to 27% at October 30. "This remains wider than historic levels and, in the view of both the board and the manager, does not reflect the value or future prospects of the underlying portfolio. Alongside the board's ongoing review of share buybacks, the manager has continued to buy shares in the market, increasing its ownership of HgT to over 6% as it works towards its stated intention of holding more than 15% over the medium term, a clear demonstration of its alignment with shareholders."
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Derwent London PLC - owns real estate portfolio in central London worth £5 billion - Reports £39.8 million of leasing and asset management year-to-date, with open-market lettings 6.1% above December 2025 estimated rental value and a further £1.7 million of lettings under offer. EPRA vacancy reduces to 3.4% at the end of the third quarter from 4.4% at the end of the first half. Adds that £290 million of disposals completed or exchanged year-to-date with an additional £135 million under offer. Says development contracts are now in place at all four major West End projects targeting ungeared internal rates of return of between 10% and 15%. Net debt reduces during the quarter to £1.34 billion from £1.38 billion at the end of the first half, with proceeds from the disposal of 90 Whitfield Street partly offset by £53.1 million of capex and completion of the share buyback.
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Adsure Services PLC - Fareham, England-based provider of audit and assurance services under TIAA brand - Provides a trading update for the six months ended September 30. Now expects group revenue to be around 17% lower on-year, which is expected to lead to a loss being reported for the first half.
Trading during the first half has been adversely affected following the introduction of a new tool for resource allocation which has taken longer to implement than expected. Refinements to the tool have been implemented, however, the results of the first half are expected to impact the performance for the full year. Is taking immediate corrective action in response to these issues. Operating expenditure is being reduced and the group's approach to AI is being refocused. These actions are expected to improve operating performance during the second half. However, given the level of underperformance in the first six months, the board expects the first-half shortfall to have a material impact on the performance for the financial year ending March 31.
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