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The UK markets, which showed some sign of recovery in the last couple of days, were back into sombreness after news broke out that the British Prime Minister has tested positive for Novel Coronavirus after developing mild symptoms. This news came just a day after Prince Charles was found positive for Novel Coronavirus. Earlier, on Monday, the prime minister had declared a national lockdown due to Novel Coronavirus, and markets had taken it as a positive development despite the fact that economy will be deeply impacted by the decision. The retail sector has been completely ravaged by the outbreak of the Covid-19, with disruptions in the whole consumer market, not only the manufacturing has been impacted, but the supply-chain interruption has halted the transportation of finished goods as well. The pandemic spread is going to have a significant impact on their financial performance in the year ahead. Amid the chaos, two companies listed on FTSE AIM 100 Index, Applegreen Plc and CVS Group Plc have announced their earning, showing positive numbers in their financial report of the passing year.
Applegreen Plc
Applegreen Plc (LON:APGN) is an operator of service stations in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. The company started its business in the year 1992 in Ballyfermot, West Dublin and presently has around 10,700 employees and operated 472 forecourt sites throughout the UK, Ireland and America as at the end of December 2018.
APGN â Financial Highlights
On 27th March 2020, the company declared its unaudited preliminary results for the year ended 31st December 2019.
The groupâs revenue increased by 52.7 per cent to â¬3,073 million in FY2019, while the gross profit increased by 102.7 per cent to â¬572.1 million in FY2019.
In the United Kingdom, the revenue of the group increased by over 91 per cent during the FY2019 due to Welcome Break acquisition in the fourth quarter of the FY2018. In the Republic of Ireland, the revenue of the company increased by more than 8.4 per cent due to growth in fuel by 17.8 per cent, 4.5 per cent in food and 3.5 per cent growth in store. In the United States, revenue increased by 70.0 per cent due to acquisitions, while the like for like revenue growth at constant currency in fuel was 8.7 per cent, 26.7 per cent of store, though there was a reduction of 1.2 per cent in food.
In the United Kingdom, the gross profit increased by 242 per cent, like for like gross profit improved at constant currency in fuel by 18.9 per cent and Stores by 3.2 per cent. In contrast, food Like for like gross profit decreased by 1.2 per cent after excluding the acquired Welcome Break assets. In the Republic of Ireland, the Gross profit increased by 6.6 per cent. In the United States, gross profit increased by 76 per cent.
The companyâs combined net external debt reported to â¬525.5 million (â¬505.3 million in constant currency) as at 31st December 2019, which signified leverage of 3.7x Group adjusted EBITDA (pre-IFRS 16). However, the companyâs individual leverage was 1.9x adjusted EBITDA (pre-IFRS 16).
After smoothness in Brexit during the first quarter of FY2019, the company has seen some progress in Welcome break. After the acquisition in the year 2018, substantial synergies have been witnessed in Welcome Break, which provided £2.5 million of savings in the year 2019. For this, the company is aiming to deliver £13 million per annum by the end of the year 2021.
APGN â Share Price Performance
On 27th March 2020, Applegreen Plcâs stock on the London Stock Exchange ended at a price of GBX 200.0 per share, an increase in the value of GBX 3.00 or 1.52 per cent, as compared to previous day closing price, which has been reported to be at GBX 197.0 per share.
The one year high of APGN stock price was recorded at GBX 525.50 on 15th October 2019 while its one-year low was recorded on 27th March 2020 at a price of GBX 178.50.
As on 27th March 2020, the market capitalisation of the company reported to GBP 237.72 Million with regards to the stockâs current market price. Applegreen Plcâs free float and outstanding shares reported at 70.74 million and 120.67 million, respectively.
At the time of writing, the annual dividend yield was reported to 0.71 per cent. The beta of the stock has been reported to 1.18, which indicates that the share price movement is more volatile as compared to the movement in the comparative benchmark index.
CVS Group Plc
One of the prominent veterinary services providers in the UK CVS Group Plc (LON:CVSG), owns more than 500 Veterinary surgeries across the Republic of Ireland, Netherland and England. The company also operates seven pet crematoria and runs four laboratories which provide diagnostics services like Animed Direct, an online store which sells medicines, other animal-related products and pet food.
CVSG â Financial Highlights and Dividend announcements
On 27th March 2020, the company announced the six-month result for the period ended 31st December 2019.
Group revenue of the company increased by 15.1 per cent to £224.5 million (2018: £195.1 million), Like-for-like sales increased by 8.4 per cent for the Group. The gross margin decreased marginally to 76.0 per cent during the six months ended 31st December 2019 as compared to 76.2 per cent in the prior year.
Adjusted EBITDA increased by 26.5 per cent to £30.1 million Pre IFRS 16 (H1 2019: £23.8 million) due to lower employment costs as a percentage of sales at 51 per cent and the vacancy rates for veterinary surgeons which declined further to 7.8 per cent in H1 2020.
Cash generated from operations increased to £39.3 million (2018: £19.6 million) due to the increase in Operating profit. It was also positively impacted by the favourable change of £7.4 million with the effect of IFRS 16 in reclassifying this cash outflow to investing activities as of 31st December 2019.
Net debt decreased to £96.8 million as of 31st December 2019 as compared to £102.0 million as of 30th June 2019, which includes funding of £7.0 million (net of cash acquired) and payment of the £3.9 million final dividend in December for the financial year 2019.
CVSG â Share Price Performance
On 27th March 2020, CVS Group Plcâs on the London Stock Exchange ended at a price of GBX 855.00 per share, up by GBX 1.00 or 0.12 per cent, as compared to previous day closing price, which has been reported to be at GBX 854.0 per share.
The one year high of CVSG stock price was recorded at GBX 1,290.0 on 06th February 2020 while its one-year low was recorded on 27th March 2019 at a price of GBX 501.50.  As on 27th March 2020, the market capitalisation of the company was reported at GBP 603.39 million with regards to the stockâs current market price. CVS Group Plcâs free float and outstanding shares were reported at 70.72 million and 70.65 million, respectively.
At the time of writing, the annual dividend yield was reported at 1.23 per cent, and the annual dividend of the company was reported at GBX 10.50 per share. The beta of the stock has been reported at 1.04, which indicates that the share price movement is slightly more volatile as compared to the movement in the comparative benchmark index.
