Results round-up
Estate agency Countrywide posted a drop in first-quarter income on Wednesday on the back of weak London sales.
Total group income for the quarter to the end of March 2018 fell to £145m from £162m in the same period a year ago, reflecting the significantly lower entry pipeline in UK and London sales coming into 2018.
Still, the company said it was "encouraged" by the early progress being made in sales and lettings. In sales, it has seen an improvement in both the register of properties available for sale and in its market share of listings compared with the final quarter of last year. In lettings, meanwhile, Countrywide's share of listings is also ahead of the fourth quarter of 2017.
"The group has moved swiftly to restore expertise in sales and lettings following the appointment of Paul Creffield as group operations director in January 2018. Experienced sector professionals now fill all roles at area and regional director level," it said.
AIM-listed soft drinks group Nichols said on Wednesday that revenue in the first quarter of 2018 is ahead of the previous year.
In a very brief statement to be made at the company's annual general meeting, non-executive chairman John Nichols said revenue was ahead on a reported and like-for-like basis and compares favourably to total UK soft drinks market growth of 2.6%. LFL sales exclude the incremental sales from DJ Drink Solutions, which was acquired last June.
"As previously reported and as anticipated, the ongoing conflict in Yemen and the timing of the majority of shipments for Ramadan 2018 falling into Q4 2017 has impacted international sales in Q1 2018," he said.
The group maintained its previous guidance for 2018 and said it expects full-year earnings to be in line with market expectations.
Numis said that with guidance for FY 2018 maintained, it continues to forecast 1.5% adjusted pre-tax profit growth to £31m versus consensus of £31.2m and 3.7% sales growth to £137.7m versus consensus of £135.5m.
"Nichols' shares are down 5% year-to-date and currently trade on 21.3x price-to-earnings and 15.3x EV/EBITDA for CY 2018. We continue to believe that Nichols is a well-run business with a good track record for delivering growth. Growth is expected to be relatively low this year and on current multiples we think the shares are fairly valued."