Baqus Group (LON:BQS) (BQS, 1.88p, £2.12m), the national construction consultancy and quantity surveying group, reports prelims to 30 June 2010. As expected a poor performance by the group, reflecting challenging trading conditions in the construction industry especially post the General Election. Revenues reduced by 8% to £7.3m (2009: £7.9m), but the group moved into losses with adjusted pre-tax losses grew by 11% to £0.82m (2009: profit £0.74m).Net debt stood at £0.14m (2009: £0.21m). The group need to repay £0.35m of a loan note on 14 December 2010. Baqus are currently seeking defer the payment to December 2011. The group has reduced the cost base by £0.86m, which should assist the group to reduce the level of losses for the current financial year. The outlook statement is weak, with poor demand for the public and private sector and margins under pressure. We believe there is scope for contracts to get cancelled or delayed due to the Consumer Spending Review and the fragility of the UK economy. We believe the group may require funding in the near future for working capital. The weak outlook and cash position encourages us to reiterate our SELL recommendation.  

Pipehawk (LON:PIP) (PIP, 3.0p, £0.99m) A weak performance by the developer, assembler and seller of ground probing radar equipment and test system solutions. Revenues for the year ended 30 June 2010 declined by 19% to £2.6m (2009: £3.2m) and losses widened to £0.84m (2009: £0.40m). The group’s banking facilities were withdrawn in March 2010. The failure to obtain replacement facilities from other banks encouraging the Chairman to provide £1m of loans into convertible unsecured loan stock to help fund working capital. Going forward the group seek to expand their products and services to enhance revenues. We believe the current financial year will remain extremely challenging given the fragility of the UK economy. The group is highly geared with net debt of £2.4m. The latter combined with challenging outlook encourages us to reduce our recommendation to a SELL.

Red24 Plc (LON:REDT) (REDT, 8.5p, £4.11m) Interims to September 2010 have reported revenues up 33% to £2.48m (£1.87m) with gross profits £1.93m (£1.53m), gross margins of 77.8% (82%) with admin costs up at £1.63m (£1.28m) leaving op profits up to £0.30m (£0.25m) with PBT of…

Unlock the rest of this article with a 14 day trial

Unlock with Email
Unlock with Google

Already have an account?
Login here