Raspberry Pi set to celebrate in style

What a way to celebrate your maiden results as a stock market company. Tomorrow, just a day after joining the FTSE 250 index, Raspberry Pi will report its first set of half year numbers since its June flotation at 280p against Friday’s close of 348.20p. The micro computer maker is regarded as an important litmus test for other technology companies looking to list in London.
Founded in Cambridge in 2012, the company designs and develops low-cost, single-board computers, used by industrial customers as well as educators and a devoted hobbyist community. One of the main draws for investors is that Raspberry Pi is “vertically integrated”, which means it controls key elements in its supply chain.
The group, which generated revenues of $266 million and a pre-tax profit of £30 million last year, is expected to produce sales of £216.7 million in 2024, according to consensus estimates from FactSet. Pre-tax profit is forecast estimated to come in at £22.4 million.
Investors will be keen to hear more about Euan Sutherland’s plans for AG Barr as he presents his first set of interim results since joining the Irn-Bru and Rubicon maker as its chief executive in May. A trading update in July suggested the former Superdry and Saga boss should be confident. The core soft drinks division was performing well and revenue in the first half of the financial year was on course to be up about 5 per cent. Analysts expect the full-year revenue to come in at about £421 million with a pre-tax profit of close to £57 million.
Finals City of London Investment, Fonix, Origin Enterprises, Petra Diamonds, Smiths Group
Interims AG Barr, Animalcare, Card Factory, Corero Network, Digitalbox, HSS Hire, Mortgage Advice Bureau, NAHL, NIOX, Raspberry Pi, The Mission Group
Trading updates SThree, Tui
Softer consumer demand for big-ticket buys such as sofas has hurt DFS Furniture this year. The company warned in June that a “weak upholstery market” and delays in deliveries worth up to £14 million would hit its full-year pre-tax profit, which bosses expect to come in the range of £10 million and £12 million. It had previously hoped for profits of up to £25 million. Revenues for the year are expected to be in the range of £995 million to £1 billion, down from previous guidance in March of £1 billion and £1.015 billion. DFS previously cut its guidance in March as it warned that demand had “weakened significantly”.
Finals DFS Furniture, Time Finance
Interims Big Technologies, Co-operative Group, Everyman Media
Trading update De La Rue
CVS Group has already warned that negative publicity of the veterinary services market following the Competition and Markets Authority’s investigation into the industry had partly weakened sales growth. An update on the impact be in focus when the Aim-quoted company reports interim results. Like-for-like sales rose 2.9 per cent in the year to the end of June, a slowdown on the 7.3 per cent a year earlier. Management’s views on the CMA’s investigation and the trading outlook will also be seized on by the City. Analysts at Investec told clients last month that they believe the shares are “overly discounted” and that this “represents an overly cautious perspective on the impact of potential remedies”.
The only game in town for water companies at the moment — at least those not in financial crisis like Thames Water — is the outcome of the five-year funding settlement with the regulator Ofwat which kicks in next spring. Pennon, the South West Water and Bristol, Bournemouth, and Sutton and East Surrey water supply group, may make mention of its negotiations in its half-year trading update. The company expects a large rise in revenues from the inflation-linked increase in household bills but also large rises in inflation-rated costs and the impact of high interest rates. Full-year forecasts suggest profits of £206 million on revenues of £1.05 billion. The index-linked full year dividend is expected to be 46.86p a share.
Finals Hansard Global
Interims Accesso Technology, CVS Group, Ebiquity, Life Science Reit, Old Mutual, Phoenix Spree Deutschland
Trading updates Halma, Pennon
Interims ASA International, Ceres Power, Clean Power Hydrogen