Good morning from Paul only today, with it being Friday. Today's report is now finished.
Have a great weekend, and be sure to tune in to the next thrilling instalment (episode 28) of my small caps podcast tomorrow!
Explanatory notes -
A quick reminder that we don’t recommend any stocks. We aim to review trading updates & results of the day and offer our opinions on them as possible candidates for further research if they interest you. Our opinions will sometimes turn out to be right, and sometimes wrong, because it's anybody's guess what direction market sentiment will take & nobody can predict the future with certainty. We are analysing the company fundamentals, not trying to predict market sentiment.
We stick to companies that have issued news on the day, with market caps up to about £700m. We avoid the smallest, and most speculative companies, and also avoid a few specialist sectors (e.g. natural resources, pharma/biotech).
A key assumption is that readers DYOR (do your own research), and make your own investment decisions. Reader comments are welcomed - please be civil, rational, and include the company name/ticker, otherwise people won't necessarily know what company you are referring to.
Agenda - it's a quiet news day. Here's my agenda - hoping to have reviewed these 3 before the usual 13:00 finish time -
Essentra (LON:ESNT) - this is my first look at this share, as previously it's been too big. Shares have been in a downtrend for 7 years now, but a big restructuring looks set to eliminate net debt, allowing an imminent £150m return of capital to shareholders, about 23% of the current market cap. Lower margin divisions have been disposed of, leaving a high margin components maker/distributor, that looks worthy of further research. Trading for FY 12/2022 is in line, but conditions weakened in Q4 - offset by price rises and cost control. Overall, a thumbs up from me, as looking potentially interesting.
Nanoco (LON:NANO) (up 41% to 60p) [quick comment] - we’ve been keeping an eye on this share, where there’s only really one big issue - its litigation with Samsung, which could potentially be highly lucrative if NANO wins. Today’s announcement trumpets “Litigation Outcome - Settlement Agreed”, which sounds very exciting (depending on the terms…
