by Holly Black £28m special dividend lifts computer start-up
COMPUTER services firm Softcat gave its shareholders a welcome boost as its maiden set of full-year results revealed a special dividend worth £28m.
The provider, which listed on the stock market in November and was promoted to the FTSE 250 in March, said revenue had climbed 12.8pc to £672.3m in the 12 months to July 31 and operating profit was up 6.6pc to £42.2m.
Softcat said customer numbers were up 7.5pc over the year and it has now had 44 consecutive quarters of profit and revenue growth. Investors are set for a final dividend of 3.6p as well as a special pay-out of 14.2p.
Credit Suisse raised its rating on the stock. But Softcat said that while trading in the first ten weeks of its new financial year had been ‘satisfactory’, its market was competitive and after the EU referendum the business environment was uncertain. Shares crept up 2.2pc, or 6.5p to 306.5p.
Stobart Group announced a deal to up its stake in two businesses. The group is buying Invesco Asset Management’s stakes in airline business Stobart Air and aircraft leasing company Propius. Invesco had backed the businesses in December 2012.
Stobart will buy the 33.3pc stake in Propius, taking its holding to 66.6pc of the business. The rest is owned by Irish airline Aer Lingus. It will also acquire between 36pc and 40pc of Everdeal – the parent company of Stobart Air – for £500,000, a move which will take its stake to as much as 80pc. Stobart shares flew 0.8pc higher, or 1.25p to 161p.
The FTSE 100 finished with a flourish after a late rally sent it 0.3pc higher, or 21.86 points to 7021.92. Burberry recovered some of the previous day’s lost ground and took top spot for the day. Shares were up 4.2pc, or 59p to 1462p. North Sea gas exploration firm Cluff Natural Resources surged on rumours an industry giant might be about to buy the business.
Names in the fold, which could partner or purchase AIM-listed Cluff, include New-York listed Halliburton and FTSE giant Centrica. Yesterday Cluff announced an increase in the prospective resources at its gas basin in the southern North Sea after a technical evaluation and competent persons report. Shares soared 22.5pc, or 1p to 5.45p. Elsewhere in the sector, Highlands Natural Resources rocketed after the successful trial of new technology. Highlands’s DT Ultravert technology aims to make fracking effective on horizontal wells – currently it predominantly works with vertical wells – and it also aims to protect against any damage caused on the well and those nearby it from the fracking process.
Initial testing at two natural gas wells in Colorado over a three-week period has been successful, Highlands said yesterday. Shares gained 31.2pc, or 8p rising to 33.62p.
GW Pharmaceuticals shares dipped as the business revealed it was off to the Nasdaq. The firm, which currently also trades on AIM, said it wanted to focus exclusively on the American stock market. GW, which develops cannabinoid medicines, said it had raised around £650.5m since listing on the Nasdaq in 2013, largely from US investors, and said the majority of its shares were held and traded in the US.
It said the time was right to ‘reduce the complexity and expense’ of being listed on two stock markets. UK-based GW will cease trading on AIM, where it has been listed since 2001, on December 2. Shares tumbled 2.5pc, or 21p to 832p.
Taptica was up after announcing a deal with China’s largest sports events platform. The marketing business has been asked by Chinese firm Codoon to drive up usage of its Runtopia mobile phone app. The app lets users track where they go running, with sensors to monitor speed, mileage and calorie consumption. Its social network aspect also allows users to get in touch with each other. The app already has 40m active users in China.
AIM-listed Taptica will try to further build the brand in other countries including the UK, US, Canada and Australia. Taptica shares advanced 3.3pc, or 5p to 157.5p.