10 news Shareleague Thames Valley Presented by in association with Business T H E M A G A Z I N E
Top honours in the December table of the region’s quoted companies went, unusually, to one of the largest of the Thames Valley-based businesses – Newbury-based Micro Focus International plc.
Micro Focus International, the international software product group, announced unaudited interim results for the six months ended October 31, 2015 after a further period of solid progress.
The group announced half-year accounts showing revenues of $604.5 million, which was more than three times that of the prior year’s figures.
Executive chairman Kevin Loosemore said it demonstrated the increased scale of the company following the TAG acquisition just over a year ago. “We have made further progress on the integration
of the businesses and our goal of building a solid base for further expansion. Our first-half performance was at the top end of management expectations,” he said.
The only company that came near to matching Micro Focus was one of the smaller quoted groups – Egham-based Cardiff Property, which specialises in property investment and development in the Thames Valley.
In the five years to 2014 net assets increased from 1,065p per share to 1,500p per share, despite the economic downturn causing a slump in property prices in the early years. And a further increase of 13.3% to 1,699p was recorded in the past year as the value of the total portfolio under management reached £37 miiion.
Large (over £1 billion) Closing price
MICRO FOCUS INTL.
INTL.CONS.AIRL.GP.(CDI) GALLIFORD TRY
ICTL.HTLS.GP.
ASHTEAD GROUP SEGRO
WOLSELEY BG GROUP ELEMENTIS
SERCO GROUP
30/11/15 1,283.0 567.0
1,462.0 2,556.0 1,095.0 441.2
3,854.0 1,031.5 254.1 110.5
Closing price 31/12/15 1,595.0 610.5
1,525.0 2,658.0 1,119.0 429.4
3,691.0 985.0 229.1 94.5
Medium (£250 million to £1 billion) Closing price
OXFORD INSTRUMENTS DAIRY CREST GENUS
RWS HOLDINGS MCBRIDE
SHANKS GROUP VITEC GROUP
30/11/15 659.0 610.0
1,443.0 199.0 157.8 97.5
MORGAN ADVANCED MATERIAL 251.0 INTERSERVE SDL
610.5 531.0
460.0 NANOCO GROUP OXFORD BIOMEDICA
REAL ESTATE INVESTORS KBC ADVANCED TECHS. TT ELECTRONICS MICROGEN
MICHELMERSH BRICK HDG. MCKAY SECURITIES LOK'N STORE GROUP ECKOH
30/11/15 49.3 6.1
66.0
129.5 149.0 109.0 96.0
275.0 360.5 54.5
Sub £50 million Closing price
CARDIFF PROPERTY FUTURA MEDICAL MBL GROUP DEWHURST
EGDON RESOURCES TP GROUP
ZINCOX RESOURCES PIPEHAWK
TRIAD GROUP ENV.RCYC.TECHNOLOGIES
www.businessmag.co.uk
30/11/15 1,045.0 24.0 7.8
577.5 8.8 3.1 0.9 6.3
35.5 0.2
Closing price 31/12/15 767.0 680.0
1,554.0 210.3 165.5 96.5
602.5 247.4 520.5 417.0
Small (£50 million to £250 million) Closing price
Closing price 31/12/15 57.5 6.5
70.0
136.5 156.5 108.0 93.5
264.0 338.5 50.3
Closing price 31/12/15 1,287.5 28.3 8.8
617.5 9.3 2.8 0.8 5.1
26.8 0.1
Change in share price 24% 8% 4% 4% 2%
-3% -4% -5%
-10% -14%
Change in share price 16% 11% 8% 6% 5%
-1% -1% -1% -2% -9%
Change in share price 17% 7% 6% 5% 5%
-1% -3% -4% -6% -8%
Change in share price 23% 18% 13% 7% 6%
-12% -17% -18% -25% -28%
Reading to grow faster than anywhere else, EY forecasts
Reading is set to grow faster than any other part of the UK – even London – according to a new report by business advisers EY.
Growth in Reading is likely to hit 3.1% between 2015 and 2018 compared with a UK average of 2.3%, the report, Rebalancing: UK Region and City Economic Forecast, shows.
Employment levels in Reading will increase by 4,800 over the next three years as the Thames Valley continues to benefit from the ‘cluster effect’ of IT and professional services.
The survey states: “The performance of Reading illustrates the importance of sectors in determining performance. We forecast that the GVA (Gross Value Added) of information and communications and professional services will grow by around 13% over the next three years. By contrast, manufacturing will grow by 3% and public administration and health will shrink by 1% over the period.
“This translates into strong performance for Reading where the information and communications sector at 27% of local output accounts for more than twice as large a share of GVA as the national average.”
The EY research shows that London has been the fastest-growing component of the UK economy since 2012 and the economists expect London’s GVA to grow by 3.4% for 2015 as a whole. But “it is not just London that is growing faster” than the UK average – with Reading and the whole Thames Valley performing well.
The report highlights 2.8% growth for the Thames Valley through to 2018 – partly because of the ‘halo effect’ of neighbouring London.
A meeting of the EY ITEM Club last month heard how the prospects for the UK were not as gloomy as the chancellor George Osborne had recently stated.
EY economic adviser Andrew Goodwin said that while Brazil and Russia were in recession, and China’s growth prospects were being cut back, the UK’s exposure to these markets was small. In addition, the UK consumer had had ‘a stay of execution’ – with oil and commodity prices reduced, and the cuts to tax credits now postponed.
With the new National Living Wage expected to give poorer consumers more purchasing power; with businesses starting to invest as sentiment improves; and with the eurozone recovery gaining traction, Goodwin said his forecast was for the UK to do “fairly well“ in the year ahead.
The only cloud was “Brexit” – the likelihood of Britain leaving the EU. Goodwin said: “If we do vote to leave, there would be uncertainty, with businesses perhaps adopting a ‘wait and see’ attitude.”
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – FEBRUARY 2016
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