Steve Markus
@stevem1
Chesterfield UK based Investor, like small caps and general industrials. Fundies based on the whole, like to buy and hold. Background in management consulting and software/database tech across the development and implementation lifecycle.
Nichols #NICL.L H1 results look ok, revenue up 4.7%, PBT up 31.6%, H1 divi 20.2p (15p), cash £66.2M (£61.6M). Successful Ramadan trading period in the Middle East. Full year performance expected in line with current market expectations.
Tracsis #TRCS.L making a £48M acqn (half current m/cap) of Mistral Data, subsidiary of FirstGroup - portfolio of train-related software, cloud etc... High margin, complimentary, 85% revenue recurring. Materially earnings enhancing, margin accretive from completion. Large, potentially risky but good.
Vesuvius #VSVS.L TU, warning that H1 trading profit will be ~£74M, due to operational issues in Steel (to be resolved by y/end) and difficult trading conditions for refractories in Europe. Full yr trading profit slightly ahead of that for 2025, which looks like quite a shortfall.
Cranswick #CWK.L Q1 TU, positive with revenue up 5.5% YoY driven by volume growth of 8.2% (maybe mix different or margins down in one/more areas) - all areas strong. Continuing to invest, net debt down to same level as prior yr. Outlook remains in line with current market expectations.
Renishaw #RSW.L RY TU, 2026 profit ahead of expectations, adj PBT expected to be approx £167M. Demand continuing to be strong with semiconductor and aerospace/defence.
Eleco #ELCO.L H1 TU reads well,ARR up to a record £35.5M (30.7M), with organic ARR up 23% to £34.7M. Net cash £15.4M. Outlook 'the Board remains confident in delivering full year 2026 results in line with market expectations'.
James Halstead #JHD.L FY TU, warning that sales will be marginally below 2025 and profit 10-15% below 2025. Due mainly to absorbing cost increases from ME conflict, may have paid off in increased volumes. Confident of medium term despite 'external challenges and side winds'. Prob a temporary issue.
Henry #BOOT.L xH1 TU, lower transaction volumes across markets, PBT for y/e 12/2026 will be significantly below current market expectations. Active discussions re amendment of full year covenant requirements with lenders, quite a chunk of net debt at £132.9M altho expect this to reduce by y/end.
SigmaRoc #SRC.L H1 TU, Q2 volume improvement, core volumes up 1%, pricing strong. Revenue up 2.5%. EBITDA margin up 2% to 25.1%.EPS 5.23p (4.66p). Leverage down to 1.66x (2.04x). Outlook - signs of improvement in some end markets, confident in delivering results in line with full year expectations.
Norcros #NXR.L AGM TU, Q1 revenue up 3.1% YoY like for like and up 27.9% including acqn of Fibo, solid performance and full year expectations unchanged.
GB Group #GBG.L AGM TU, Q1 in line with expectations, revenue growth in main divisions of Identity and Location 'comfortably mid single digit', Fraud lagging a little. Seems positive albeit lacks any real outlook.
Craneware #CRW.L now have a cyber security incident to deal with as well as their previous profit warning. Doesn't sound too bad, with no disruption to customer services or operations, but inevitably there will be a cost to investigate and resolve.
Alumasc #ALU.L FY TU, revenue and underlying PBT of £107M and £10M, slightly below revised expectations, however order book 49% up YoY. Water Management the weakest but significant opps to improve. Also.... - newish CEO suspended due to professional conduct, Chair going exec and an investigation!
Cohort #CHRT.L finals look ok, revenue and adj operating profit ahead of expectations at £306.4M and £36.3M, margins up. Divi up 10%, adj EPS 61.9p (54.4p). Outlook - record closing order book £618M, encouraging pipeline, targeting double digit earnings grwth in 2026/27 and beyond, positive.
Robert Walters #RWA.L Q2 TU, some faint glimmers of hope (maybe). First half trading in line with expectations, net cash down to £17.2M, growth in the UK. H2 beginning with 'good trading momentum in a number of our markets'. Comment that drivers of the downturn remain largely cyclical.
Headlam #HEAD.L H1 TU, the slow motion train crash continues. H1 revenue £188.8M, a reduction of 22.8% YoY, 'significant operating losses' incurred. What shall we do... 'a strategic review' - which does not include seeking potential offers for the company. Oh dear...
Concurrent Technology #CNC.L H1 TU is quite positive, record revenue and PBT of £23.1M and £3.3M. Order intake for H1 2026 up 110% at £46.1M, includes previously announced £17M multi-yr order. Mitigating DRAM/processor supply difficulties. FY outlook, 'well positioned to at least deliver' in line.
Keller #KLR.L TU, 'Group revenue and underlying profit for the full year 2026 will be materially ahead of expectations'. Driven by N America in the main, Europe and M East robust, Asia Pacific broadly in line. Order book at record high of £1.9B. Continues to sound very positive.
Sanderson Design #SDG.L AGM update aims to be reassuring with an assurance of continuing momentum, but it would be more convincing with some actual figures. Still, full year expectations unchanged.
Porvair #PRV.L interims, record revenue and profit, margins up slightly. Full yr expectations unchanged. Expensive but can be worth buying on dips. Have a major shareholder in the filters business, Georgia Girondi. Decent business with reliable business streams.
Avingtrans #AVG.L FY TU, profit in line with market expectations. Engineering doing well, helped by nuclear and data centre work. Medical/Industrial Imaging 'making progress'. Appears they were not eligible for a US Pay Protection Loan and so have to repay $5.1M, oops.
Iomart #IOM.L finals, thought I'd take a look to see if the perennial disappointer had changed. It hasn't. Revenue up, profitability down, debt up.
On the way home from a very enjoyable cycling trip, Newcastle to Edinburgh, otherwise known as Coast and Castles. Here's a photo of the lovely Tweed Valley near Innerleithen, and Warkworth Castle in Northumberland.
Norcros #NXR.L finals not bad, growth in revenue and profit, continuing to acquire (Fibo in Norway) and divest (S Africa operation for sale). Margins improved in UK and Ireland. New-build subdued, mid-premium RMI more resilient, expectations for 2027 remain unchanged.
#RWS.L H1 results look reasonable, significant adjustments but 5% revenue growth and 34% growth in adj EPS to 4.9p. Interim divi down to 1.7p, with debt up to £32x.5M (25.4M). AI related products seem to be gaining traction and strategy seems to be working. H2 started well, in line for full yr.
MJ Gleeson #GLE.L - delays impacting Gleeson Land sales, the big one slipped into 2027 despite most hurdles having been cleared, plus a couple of smaller deals with developers also delayed. Gleeson Homes still trading in line, but the land delays mean adj PBT for 2026 lower than expected by ~£7.5M.