Three London-listed companies are enjoying a share price surge today. The positive vaccine news at the start of November gave a boost to many overlooked stocks, but these three appear to have their own reasons to rise.
Panoply Holdings (LSE: TPX) is an IT service management company. Since Friday close, the Panoply share price has surged a staggering 73%. There does not appear to be any specific reason for the surge, but a positive review in The Mail on Sunday‘s Midas column, encouraging readers to buy, may have triggered it.
Panoply helps the government
Panoply provides the UK government and various charities with the opportunity to collaborate, save money, and help a wider base of people. It’s powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and has a robotic process automation consultancy. It was founded in 2016 by entrepreneur Neal Gandhi and finance director Oliver Rigby. Gandhi is no stranger to tech plays, having co-founded four previous companies that sold for a combined £117m.
Panoply first floated on the FTSE AIM in 2018. Since then, the Panoply share price has risen 150%. It recently acquired AI agency GreenShoot Labs among other IT plays, and launched Human+, its robotic process automation consultancy.
Its interim revenues and underlying earnings have both improved in the first half of its financial year. Management are now anticipating £20.5m in revenues, with an 18% upsurge year-on-year. Its sales backlogs also improved 36% during this period. It has a strong balance sheet with £6m cash in the bank and net debt at £1m after accounting for acquisition costs. It also intends to pay a full-year dividend for 2021. Its outlook for the next three years is positive.
Panoply responded to the pandemic by creating a platform for UK manufacturers to collaborate on manufacturing ventilators for the NHS. This took a rapid two weeks to complete and gave the government access to help from 5,000 companies. Unicef and Diabetes UK have also used the services of Panoply to boost their fundraising efforts.
Growth potential ahead
Another tech firm is enjoying a share price rise today. The Pebble Group share price has risen over 18%. Specialists in corporate promotions, the Pebble Group is having a good year, despite the pandemic. Its SaaS business Facilisgroup is thriving, and the group is on track to deliver FY20 results in line with its previous estimations. It’s also considering acquisitions to help it grow in the coming year. Its partner retention rate is close to 100% and it’s consistently bringing on new customers.
Foreign banking acquisitions
Atlas Mara, an acquisition company set up to acquire target banks in Africa, is also enjoying a share price surge. The financial services holding company today announced the part-sale of its banking assets in Rwanda and Tanzania to KCB Group. These transactions will conclude next year and are subject to regulatory approval.
This falls in line with Atlas Mara’s plan in response to Covid-19. It plans to exit markets it no longer sees a clear path to profit and scalability. The company is also looking at ways to address upcoming debt maturation at year-end. This includes raising financing.
Whether the positive sentiment around these three shares is set to continue will depend on how quickly we emerge from the pandemic. All three businesses are affected by lockdown restrictions, but each has shown resilience too.
