Progressive's Jeremy McKeown and Gareth Evans discuss a slightly more normal week - Larry Fink and Jamie Dimon are talking up the UK market just as capital is being freed-up from the Mag Seven.

The UK small-cap space is delivering strong performance from stocks able to deliver not-worsening performance...we discuss Watkin Jones, Sanderson Design Group and IG Design as well as global shipping heavyweight Clarkson.

Jeremy highlights that lower energy prices could help pressure Putin towards peace, as well as potentially saving Labour's bacon - if they can wean themselves off Net Zero....

Next week is all about interest rate decisions...Trump vs Powell back in the headlines.

Progressive's Jeremy McKeown recently spoke with David Dredge of Convex Strategies in Singapore.

David is widely regarded for his deep understanding of risk and for delivering his insights in a highly engaging and entertaining manner.

He dedicates his time to analysing sources of risk and developing strategies designed to mitigate their impact. His approach involves embracing convexity—purchasing pockets of inexpensive volatility as a form of insurance against adverse outcomes in uncertain environments.

When should investors adopt this strategy? According to David, the answer is simple: always—just like insuring a house.

David holds strong and often contrarian views that challenge the foundational assumptions of Modern Portfolio Theory, which he refers to as "Sharpe World." In his view, this framework wrongly equates risk with volatility.

He brings these ideas to life through vivid anecdotes and illustrative examples that highlight the risks investors unknowingly take in markets shaped by Sharpe World principles and operated by what he calls "Rational Accounting Man."

Jeremy and Gareth react to Donald Trump's tariff pronouncements - major downward moves in US equities, and increased risk of a US slowdown.

But there is  some hope that the UK could navigate these choppy waters cleverly - and even a small proportion of the capital currently being reallocated could make a huge difference to the UK markets.

UK stock news from Gear4Music, Pharos, tinyBuild, Intuitive Investments, Peel Hunt and Alphawave. 

Next week - in addition to early responses to the US tariffs - we get Chinese inflation data, plus both inflation and sentiment survey info from the USA.

Brought to you by Progressive Equity. 

Progressive analysts George O'Connor and Ian Robertson catch up on small and mid-cap tech news. George has been looking at some resilient and upbeat news from smaller less well-known players SRT, Xaar and Microlise and is still recovering from the not too surprising news that Computacenter has not delivered its 20th year of earnings growth.   Gamma results have encouraged Ian and whilst enthused by Judges Scientific as a company he is disappointed by the analyst meeting – where did all the research go?   The leads to reflection on Ian’s recent blog comparing listed company micro-cap funds and VC funds, which suggests that something has gone wrong with the small-cap due-diligence / investment decision ‘stack’.  This has knock on impacts across small and mid-cap.  Is more research the answer?

DF Capital Holdings CEO, Carl D'Ammassa provides an overview of the group's results for the year ended 31 December 2024.

Carl D'Ammassa, CEO 00:24 Introduction 02:10 FY24 Review 04:57 Strategy update 06:45 Looking ahead

DF Capital was founded in 2016 to support the working capital needs of manufacturers and UK dealers. Today, having received full authorisation as a bank in September 2020, we work with over 90 manufacturers and over 1,250 dealers in the leisure, commercial and powersports sectors. In 2023, we provided over £1.2bn of distribution and inventory finance across these sectors.

This week, Jeremy and Gareth discuss some home truths about the UK economy - Rachel Reeves has reassured bond investors for now, but the low-growth, stubborn-inflation structural problems persist.

Ironically, Trump's erratic tariff-wielding tactics could drive capital AWAY from the USA, to the benefit of China, Germany and even the UK equity market.

And this week, a couple of UK stocks with "reasonable" news - Xaar and SRT Marine - saw 25%+ price moves suggesting that many stocks are priced for pessimism.  Gamma Communications delivered a solid 2024, and we think investors are more wary than they should be of German expansion.

Next week sees Chinese confidence data, European inflation and crucially US jobs...as well as 2 April seeing Trump's tariffs (probably....) come into effect.

Headline grabbing Trump noise from Washington has died down but with concerns around tariffs, and issues in the Ukraine and the Middle East still not settled, Jeremy and Gareth discuss the common theme this week which has been central bankers and companies talking about trade related uncertainty. Overall the forecasts of GDP growth in the major economies in the world are coming down, but inflation expectations remain heightened. Big US corporates such as Nike and FedEx cited trade uncertainty as a major issue and it’s been referenced increasingly in UK RNS announcements.  With US focus seemingly now more on longer term interest rates than the level of the US stock market, overriding market sentiment is one of capital flight from the US to the rest of the world. A survey documenting the capital allocation intentions of the world's largest asset managers listed the biggest one month allocation away from US equities ever recorded. Some has gone to Germany and the wider European market, some has gone into China and there's also been a big allocation into US treasuries. Although there's no direct evidence of much of this capital finding its way into the UK market yet, Jeremy and Gareth remain hopeful!  In the UK, Gareth talks about Beeks (BKS) and FDM who both had results. Employment data this week was pretty much as expected. However UK government borrowing data was running ahead of expectations,which doesn’t bode well for next week's Spring Statement and the brewing government dispute about whether they should continue to look to raise taxes or to reduce government spending. Next week we have UK inflation data on Wednesday, and on Friday we get US PCE data (the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation measure).   Brought to you by Progressive Equity. 

The Pebble Group CEO, Chris Lee and CFO, Claire Thomson present the group's results for the year ended 31 December 2024, followed by a Q&A session.

Chris Lee, CEO 00:16 Introduction 01:21 Market opportunity 03:30 Investment case 04:02 FY24 Highlights

Claire Thomson, CFO 06:02 FY24 Financial highlights 06:23 Business models 07:27 Income statement 08:06 Balance sheet 08:34 Cash flow 09:13 Cash utilization

Chris Lee, CEO 10:29 Facilisgroup overview 11:40 Facilisgroup - Market structure & positioning 13:16 Facilisgroup - Financial and operational metrics 15:45 Facilisgroup - Organic growth 16:49 Facilisgroup - Strategies

Claire Thomson, CFO 17:47 Brand Addition - Overview 18:11 Brand Addition - Market structure & positioning 20:01 Brand Addition - Financial & operational metrics 20:14 Brand Addition - Strategies

Chris Lee, CEO 21:01 ESG 22:38 Group outlook

25:13 Q&A

The Pebble Group is a provider of technology, products, and related services to the global promotional products industry, comprising two differentiated businesses, Facilisgroup and Brand Addition, focused on specific areas of the promotional products market.

Facilisgroup: Providing an end-to-end order processing system, combined with a proprietary operating method, market network and community support to growth orientated promotional products distributors in North America

Brand Addition: An end-to-end creative branded merchandise agency that helps global brands build culture, awareness and meaningful connections with their customers, employees and communities

This week, Jeremy and Gareth mull over the macro situation - the US economy seems to be slowing (but inflation persists) while Europe, especially Germany, has been bullied into spending more than ever.

The UK, and arguably Europe, haven't yet seen much benefit from the outflow of capital from the MAG Seven, but remember, the whole German market cap is not dissimilar to the value of Microsoft - so there's a lot more to go for.

UK companies discussed include STV, Forterra, Van Elle, Secure Trust Bank, Cakebox, Care REIT, Hornby and Science Group/Ricardo.

Next week the big news is around interest rate decisions - in the USA, here in the UK and in Japan. Let’s hope for no surprises (especially from Tokyo). 

Secure Trust Bank CEO, David McCreadie provides an overview of the group's results for the 12 months to 31 December 2023.

David McCreadie, CEO 00:29 Introduction 00:49 Vehicle Finance Sector challenges 02:03 Strategic goals & targets 04:31 2024 performance highlights 06:32 Strategic initiatives 08:39 Outlook and conclusion

Founded over 70 years ago, Secure Trust Bank is a leading retail deposit-funded specialist bank operating in four core markets: retail finance, vehicle finance, real estate finance, and commercial finance. Secure Trust Bank’s management has simplified the business through the sale/exit of non-core businesses, repositioning the loan portfolio towards lower-risk loans, and focusing on reducing operating costs to drive efficiency (Project Fusion).

This week, Gareth and Jeremy try to keep up with the gyrations from across the Atlantic - both around defence alliances and tariff policies.

In terms of the impact on Europe and the UK, Germany is stepping up and spending big, which is driving up both (European) stock markets and (German) borrowing costs. Trump seems to be ignoring the stock market and is probably happy that US borrowing costs are falling - crucial for the upcoming refinancing of a significant chunk of US government debt.

Closer to home, Severfield is seeing tough conditions, which reflect a sluggish broader economy, and XP Power's £41m raise shows that UK markets aren't completely closed.

Next week, we'll discuss US jobs data and inflation...unless Trump 2.0 delivers another surprise!

Progressive's Gareth Evans recently sat down with Jason Paltrowitz, Executive Vice President, Corporate Services at OTC Markets. The two discuss how the business operates and the opportunities that the OTC offers for companies and investors.

00:00 Opener 00:31 What are OTC Markets, and how do they operate? 02:58 Are there any additional regulatory overheads? 04:50 Is the ability to offer easier-to-manage shares for US employees a motivator for listing? 07:13 How much of the growth in volume trading comes from new companies listing, and how much comes from trading of existing stocks? 08:59 Do you think we'll ever reach overnight trading? 11:37 I see you run a $1billon + index, could you talk about why companies of that scale are interested in having an OTC listing? 13:25 What are the costs of listing on the OTC? 16:51 Closing comments

OTC Markets offers the ability for UK-listed companies to list and trade their shares in the USA.  The regulatory structure is almost unbelievably flexible, relying on the UK stock market regulations with little to no additional requirement.  The opportunity for additional liquidity and investor interest is significant, and a number of companies - large and small - are looking to the OTC to help them find a new pool of investors. 

Progressive's George O'Connor and Ian Robertson catch up on news and events affecting UK small and mid-cap tech.

IBM’s figures get George pondering the differing paths with AI for software vs IT professional services. He highlights the Asian IT services area, where growth is notably better than in the EU or North America, before looking at results from ActiveOps, GB Group and iOmart.

Ian comments on Oxford Metrics’ in-line update, Northcoders, and then Tracsis, where investors who bought into an earnings growth and digitalisation story have to work out where the UK rail system is now heading.

Ian eulogises about the Stanford AI report. It provides some encouraging data for UK tech proponents and provides insight into how AI is actually being used and what limited gains AI provides.

George focuses on the AI benchmarks issue – are they meaningful? Which leads Ian to question, given the huge scale and nature of many AI projects, whether any of the returns and benefits data that everyone craves is going to be valid.

Progressive Analysts, George O'Connor and Ian Robertson’s regular review of the technology sector.

George updates us on PLC awards winners – all well deserved and fingers crossed for none of those traditional subsequent share price declines.

Ian looks to Pinewood.AI and the issue of where the value really lies in AI. It looks to have paid a ‘full’ price for Seez, but it makes strategic sense, and if investors think they themselves can call the quality of the decision now, then they should be placing their bets elsewhere.

This leads George onto how AI is impacting the tech services companies and to where’s the real AI driven growth going to come from for the software providers.

Crash landing back onto planet small-cap, we touch on which stories are truly AI related, KX being a real one, and the damage that can be done to portfolios and companies when management find themselves ‘managing to the broking story’.

Nexteq’s recently appointed management team of Duncan Faithfull, CEO, and Matt Straight, CFO, along with senior leaders from across the business present the Group's three-year plan and strategic ambitions for the end of 2027 at its 2025 Capital Markets Event. The presentations also showcase, through practical demonstrations, the Group's innovative new technology solutions which are being launched across Nexteq's focus markets.

Duncan Faithfull, CEO 00:18 One Nexteq & 3-year plan

Matt Staight, CFO 00:57 Financial ambition 01:26 Organic growth plan

Nexteq (AIM: NXQ) is a strategic technology solutions provider to customers in selected industrial markets. Its innovative technology enables the manufacturers of global electronic equipment to outsource the design, development and supply of non-core aspects of their product offering. By outsourcing elements of their technology stack to Nexteq, customers can focus their product development effort on the most critical drivers of their business' success.

Our solutions are delivered through a global sales team and leverage the Group's electronic hardware, software, display and mechanical engineering expertise. Our Taiwan operation is at the heart of Asian supply networks and facilitates cost effective manufacturing and strategic supply chain management.

The Group operates in six countries and services over 500 customers across 47 countries.

Nexteq operates two distinct brands: Quixant, a specialised computer platforms provider, and Densitron, leaders in human machine interface technology, each with dedicated sales, account management and product innovation teams. Founded in 2005, and later floating on the London Stock Exchange's AIM stock market as Quixant plc, the Group rebranded to Nexteq in 2023.

Further information on Nexteq and its divisions can be found here.

Jeremy and Gareth talk this week about Trump 2.0 launching with a number of "adults in the room" who Trump trusts, and who can get things done.

One thing that might get done is a US/UK trade deal...Jeremy describes how the stars could align, and how the UK's separation from Europe might save us from the worst of Trump's tariffs.

Absent much other UK stock news, Jeremy talks about LSEG, whose results demonstrate just how small the London Stock Exchange actually is, relative to the rest of the group's business. This leads to discussion of the US, where the OTC is generating real interest, and Singapore, where the authorities are actively promoting local investment and local listings.

Next week is jobs week in the USA...fingers crossed that all is well.

Wynnstay Group CEO, Alk Brand and CFO, Rob Thomas present the group's results for the year ended 31 October 2024, followed by Q&A.

Alk Brand, CEO 00:16 Introduction

Rob Thomas, CFO 01:19 Business Summary 02:36 FY24 highlights

Alk Brand, CEO & Rob Thomas, CFO 06:10 Feed and Grain 10:54 Fertiliser & Seed 13:41 Depot merchanting

Rob Thomas, CFO 17:18 Income statement 19:09 Balance sheet 20:30 Cash flow statement 21:07 Net cash 22:03 Capital allocation policy

Alk Brand, CEO 24:03 Growth strategy 26:51 Introducing Project Genesis

Rob Thomas, CFO 29:45 Driving value

Alk Brand, CEO 32:06 Initiatives to enhance returns

Alk Brand, CEO & Rob Thomas, CFO  35:14 Summary & outlook

37:01 Q&A

Wynnstay is a leading UK provider of agricultural supplies and services to farmers, mainly in England and Wales. The Group’s wide range of agricultural inputs includes feed, seeds and fertiliser. It also provides grain marketing services to arable farmers and its specialist teams offer farmers advice on animal health and nutrition products as well as on soil health, environmental measures, and the latest farming techniques. Wynnstay supplies direct-to-farm and via its network of depots, which sell an extensive range of farm supplies, including hardware, feed and dairy hygiene products. The depots also cater for rural dwellers.

Wynnstay manufactures a range of branded feeds, trades feed raw materials, operates a modern seed processing facility and is the second largest fertiliser blender in the UK. Based in Wales, Wynnstay originated as a farmers’ co-operative in 1918 and joined AIM in 2004. It has established a strong record of rising dividends.

This week, Progressive's Gareth Evans and Jeremy McKeown tackle the investment implications of Trump 2.0. After shocking the world with his suggestion of turning Gaza into the Riveria of the Middle East, Trump has moved on to Ukraine. Such events illustrate how the accepted World order has broken down. Where is the UN in all of this?

One outcome has been a new all-time high in the gold price, indicating heightened risks and uncertainties for global investors. The US inflation data also came in hot. Yet, counter-intuitively, it didn't dent the gold bull market, indicating perhaps investor concerns over policy errors or breakdown in the relationship between the Treasury and the Fed.

Relative to other monetary metals, gold looks expensive, and silver or platinum might offer better opportunities to protect against fiat money debasement. Not advice; do your own research.

China's equity values have recovered strongly after the Deep Seek AI revelations. Alibaba's stock has risen over 40% in less than a month, indicating the impact of the dispersal trade.

The UK economy unexpectedly grew in Q4 last year. While negative sentiment surrounds the economy, UK assets remain relatively attractive to global investors.

This week, one example of how the UK government prioritises economic growth is emerging in the newsflow of the motor finance and retail sectors.

With significant exposure to car loans, Close Brothers and SU made constructive updates this week, indicating that motor finance might avoid the protracted drag on consumer lending that PPI became.

Gareth covers the impact of government policy on Progressive clients Secure Trust Bank and Vertu Motors.

Looking ahead, we will get UK inflation data next week, which is likely to indicate a flat annual rate of 2.5%.

Also, we get Japanese inflation data, and the accompanying risk of the yen carry-trade unwind.

SDI Group’s CEO, Stephen Brown, CFO, Amitabh Sharma and Head of Corporate Development, James Dimitriou, answer investor questions following the Group’s recent December Interims.

Read the latest research here: https://progressive-research.com/company/sdi-group-plc/

00:00 Opener

00:16 Introduction

00:45 Can you talk about opportunities going forward, and can you outline how you are encouraging collaboration between the businesses?

04:17 Are there any larger one-off acquisitions?

07:09 Are you starting to see these synergies between the businesses drive margin or sales revenue?

08:30 What further comfort can you give on the ability to hit FY25 forecasts, and did the order book at the end of October give you similar levels of cover that you've seen in past years?

09:23 Is the orderbook strong across all three segments, and could you give some detail on the drivers of that?

10:43 Are you seeing any further weakness in China, and will this market be a focus going forward? 12:00 Can you talk about potential tariffs and the opportunities for geographical expansion?

15:23 Just looking at momentum, you've mentioned that trading has continued strongly into H2. Is the sequentially month-on-month?

15:56 Can you give us a sense of how much business is repeated, recurring revenues vs one-off capital equipment?

16:16 And we've seen generally tougher, challenging trading conditions, but as to your portfolio, where do you see the most growth come from, and what are you doing to address the opportunities?

18:08 You've had a strong track record in terms of free cash flow, and you've successfully funded acquisitions from cashflow, do you see a change to this strategy going forward?

19:39 Could you give a bit more colour around cost-cutting and investment in the business in capex?

21:35 When do you expect business growth to re-accelerate, and in particular, when did life sciences start picking up again?

22:54 Do you think the existing portfolio can generate growth between 5 and 10 percent?

24:00 What's the longer-term sustainable margin target?

24:55 Are there any other big operational or management structure changes that we should expect?

25:39 Are you happy with the structure in terms of managing the operations and driving growth through acquisitions?

26:40 Could you say any more about the M&A opportunities and your EBIT multiple opportunities for those?

28:07 You've outlined that there are benefits for companies that join SDI, can you just outline why companies become part of the SDI group?

28:38 Outro

SDI Group is an AIM-quoted group specialising in the acquisition and development of a portfolio of companies that design and manufacture niche analytical technology products for use within digital imaging and sensing and control applications in science, technology and medical markets. The group operates a well-established 'buy and build' strategy, supplementing organic growth with earnings-accretive acquisitions of complementary businesses that have sustainable profits and cash flows. Targets are primarily UK businesses with established reputations, capable of achieving significant organic growth through developing export markets. SDI Group takes a decentralised approach, with seasoned local management given broad discretion to run group businesses within defined limits. SDI Group typically acquires businesses generating up to ?1m EBIT for around 4-6 times EBIT plus net assets, including earnout payments.

Made Tech CEO, Rory MacDonald and CFO, Neil Elton present the group's results for the six months ended 30 November 2024, followed by a Q&A session.

Rory MacDonald, CEO & Founder 00:16 Introduction 00:59 H1 FY25 Highlights

Neil Elton, CFO 04:55 H1 FY25 Financial highlights 06:39 Revenue and Gross Profit 10:17 Sales bookings 11:01 Adjusted EBITDA bridge 12:24 Balance sheet 13:55 Cash flow

Rory MacDonald, CEO & Founder 14:53 Market opportunity 19:17 Clients and Industries 20:37 Case studies 25:02 Service Lines 28:03 Software products 29:02 People 31:20 ESG 32:49 Outlook

34:45 Q&A

Made Tech is a provider of digital, data and technology services, which enable central government, healthcare, local government organisations and other regulated industries to digitally transform.

Made Tech's purpose is to "positively impact the future of society by improving public services technology". To achieve this the company has four key strategic missions: Modernise legacy technology and working practices; Accelerate digital service and technology delivery; Drive better decisions through data and automation; and Enable technology and delivery skills to build better systems.

The Group operates from four locations across the UK - London, Manchester, Bristol, and Swansea.

More information is available at https://investors.madetech.com/

Progressive’s Gareth Evans is joined by tech analyst George O'Connor as they glance back at the week’s macro events and market themes and discuss the impact on investors and companies. They discuss selected UK company news and let us know what to look out for in the week ahead…

00:00 Introduction

01:12 Global Macro News

01:29 DeepSeek and its global impact

07:02 OpenAI's Operator and AI agents

07:55 Recruitment in the tech sector

10:07 Computacenter (CCC) & Sage (SGE)

12:27 Global Market news

13:10 Progressive client news: Idox (IDOX) & Van Elle Holdings (VANL)

13:52 Upcoming Macro news:

• EU Inflation figures (Mon 3 Feb)
• US PMI data (Weds 5 Feb)
• Bank Of England Rate Decision (Thurs 6 Feb)
• US Employment Metrics (Fri 7 Feb)

Gareth Evans has 25 years’ research experience covering the Technology sector. An Oxford University graduate, Gareth qualified as an accountant before starting his research career covering the Pan European Chemicals sector at the American Investment Bank Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette (DLJ), later acquired by Credit Suisse. He then moved to cover the Technology sector at ABN AMRO, Canaccord and at Investec for eleven years, where he was Joint Head of Research. Gareth has received numerous awards for his work, including being voted techMark Analyst of the Year.

George O’Connor has been a financial analyst covering London-listed Software & IT Services, e-comm and hardware companies for the past 25 years. George has worked for a variety of firms including Albert E. Sharp, Panmure Gordon and Stifel where he researched and communicated investment cases, conducted IPOs, secondary placings and the odd rescue rights. George started his career at IT industry analysts IDC where over nine years he rose to become Research Manager.

Progressive’s Jeremy McKeown and Gareth Evans glance back at the week’s macro events and market themes and discuss the impact on investors and companies. They discuss selected UK company news and let us know what to look out for in the week ahead…

00:00 Introduction

01:02 Trump's first week back in office

04:05 The Stargate Project & the US Tech Industry

05:26 Trump & The World Economic Forum

06:14 Trump & Interest Rates/Oil Prices

07:47 UK Government Regulatory easing

10:07 UK Economic data

10:59 Progressive Client news:

• Nexus Infrastructure (NEXS)
• Watkin Jones (WJG)
• Forterra (FORT)
• Gear4music (G4M)
• Sanderson Design Group (SDG)
• Intuitive Investments (IIG)
• Beeks Financial Cloud (BKS)
• SRT Marine Systems (SRT).

12:44 Upcoming Macro News:

• Fed Rates Decision (Weds 29 Jan)
• ECB Rate Decision (Thurs 30 Jan)
• Eurozone GDP & Employment data (Thurs 30 Jan)
• US PCE inflation data (Fri 31 Jan)

14:03 Outro

About:

Gareth Evans has 25 years’ research experience covering the Technology sector. An Oxford University graduate, Gareth qualified as an accountant before starting his research career covering the Pan European Chemicals sector at the American Investment Bank Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette (DLJ), later acquired by Credit Suisse. He then moved to cover the Technology sector at ABN AMRO, Canaccord and at Investec for eleven years, where he was Joint Head of Research. Gareth has received numerous awards for his work, including being voted techMark Analyst of the Year.

Jeremy McKeown has a degree in economics and an MBA. He has been working in the City for over forty years, both as an investment manager and at a number of leading investment banks including Merrill Lynch and Investec. His passion is for meeting, investing in and advising small and mid-sized businesses – and his previous roles give him a vast array of experience on which to draw. Jeremy’s role at Progressive includes helping clients with their investment cases, providing high quality content to our subscriber base and giving the team a valuable macro “framework” within which to evaluate and position our customers’ propositions.

Progressive’s Jeremy McKeown and Gareth Evans discuss the week’s macro picture, the impact on investors, companies reporting & what to look out for next week.

00:00 Introduction 01:04 The Return of Bond Vigilantes 04:05 UK market news 06:24 National insurance rises 07:55 Progressive client news - Petro Matad (MATD), Xaar (XAR) and Gamma (GAMA) 11:04 Upcoming macro news

• UK Unemployment figures (Tues 21 Jan)
• UK Average earnings (Tues 21 Jan)
• Japanese inflation data (Thurs 23 Jan)
• Bank of Japan interest rate decision (Fri 24 Jan)

13:21 Outro

About:

Gareth Evans has 25 years’ research experience covering the Technology sector. An Oxford University graduate, Gareth qualified as an accountant before starting his research career covering the Pan European Chemicals sector at the American Investment Bank Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette (DLJ), later acquired by Credit Suisse. He then moved to cover the Technology sector at ABN AMRO, Canaccord and at Investec for eleven years, where he was Joint Head of Research. Gareth has received numerous awards for his work, including being voted techMark Analyst of the Year.

Jeremy McKeown has a degree in economics and an MBA. He has been working in the City for over forty years, both as an investment manager and at a number of leading investment banks including Merrill Lynch and Investec. His passion is for meeting, investing in and advising small and mid-sized businesses – and his previous roles give him a vast array of experience on which to draw. Jeremy’s role at Progressive includes helping clients with their investment cases, providing high quality content to our subscriber base and giving the team a valuable macro “framework” within which to evaluate and position our customers’ propositions.

This week, Progressive's Jeremy McKeown and Gareth Evans wonder whether there are signs of life... UK plc is perhaps "priced for failure" and recent share price moves suggest that even in-line performance (or only a small warning!) can lead to material upside.

Severfield is a case in point, but this week has seen a number of examples. Jupiter and AJ Bell are also talking more positively.

Still, risks abound, as the unfortunate Argentex investor base have seen - a canary in the coal mine, showing that volatility or abnormal market activity can lead to unforeseen consequences.

Jeremy wonders whether the attack on US university funding could likewise lead to unexpected outcomes....

Tern hosted an investor presentation and Q&A session on 9 January 2025. Presentations were given by the portfolio companies, which reinforced that all three businesses have made significant progress with major key accounts and important strategic partnerships.

Read Progressive’s latest research note here or visit Tern's website here.

Tim Metcalfe, Managing Director, IFC Advisory 00:16 - Introduction

Richard Vincent, CEO & Co-Founder, Fundamental Surgery 01:59 - Fundamental Surgery

Darren Antill, CEO, Device Authority 14:43 - Device Authority

Susant Patro, CEO & Co-Founder, Vortex IQ 33:39 - Vortex IQ

Jo Haliday, CEO & Founder, Talking Medicines 49:50 - Talking Medicines

01:07:11 - Q&A

Tern provides access to disruptive Internet of Things (IoT) start-ups with proven technology, not generally available to AIM investors. It operates a hybrid venture capital (VC) model, with shareholders acting as Limited Partners. This business model change was actioned in early 2017 following the acquisition of Device Authority Inc and Al Sisto becoming Tern CEO. Tern supports software companies that develop IoT security, enablement, and analytics solutions for the healthcare and industrial sectors. Tern is focused on accelerating the growth of portfolio companies from the point of investment to Series A or B, gaining external verification on valuations and maximising exit multiples. Tern has investments in: Device Authority (IoT security), Fundamental VR (VR haptic 'simulators' for surgery), Konektio, formerly InVMA (Industrial IoT), Wyld Networks AB (LoRa and Mesh), Talking Medicines (capturing the patient voice) and less than 1% of DiffusionData Ltd, formerly Push Technology (mission critical data). Tern has also committed to invest up to ?5m, over the 10-year life of the SVV UK Software Technology Fund.

Progressive’s Jeremy McKeown and Gareth Evans discuss the week’s macro picture, the impact on investors, companies reporting & what to look out for next week.

00:00 Opener 00:52 Uncertainty around Trump 04:38 UK macro backdrop for 2025 06:38 UK news: Trading updates from Retailers &  Christmas consumer spending 08:03 Investing in the UK with the current macro backdrop 12:37 Upcoming macro news:

• US Non-Farm Payrolls (Fri 10 Jan)
• UK Inflation Data (Weds 15 Jan)
• US Inflation Data (Weds 15 Jan)
• UK GDP Data (Thurs 16 Jan)

14:27 Outro

About:

Gareth Evans has 25 years’ research experience covering the Technology sector. An Oxford University graduate, Gareth qualified as an accountant before starting his research career covering the Pan European Chemicals sector at the American Investment Bank Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette (DLJ), later acquired by Credit Suisse. He then moved to cover the Technology sector at ABN AMRO, Canaccord and at Investec for eleven years, where he was Joint Head of Research. Gareth has received numerous awards for his work, including being voted techMark Analyst of the Year.

Jeremy McKeown has a degree in economics and an MBA. He has been working in the City for over forty years, both as an investment manager and at a number of leading investment banks including Merrill Lynch and Investec. His passion is for meeting, investing in and advising small and mid-sized businesses – and his previous roles give him a vast array of experience on which to draw. Jeremy’s role at Progressive includes helping clients with their investment cases, providing high quality content to our subscriber base and giving the team a valuable macro “framework” within which to evaluate and position our customers’ propositions.

An Interview with SDI Group CEO, Stephen Brown, providing an overview of the business, its refreshed strategy and insight into the acquisition of InspecVision.

Read the research here.

00:00 - Introduction

00:28 - Can you give a brief overview, and tell us about the breadth of the business and the technological expertise that sits within the SDI Group? 01:21 - Despite the difficult end markets, particularly in lab equipment how have you navigated these external challenges?

01:50 - What is the strategy of SDI and how is that translated into a sustainable operational reality?

02:34 - Can you tell us a bit more about what you did as part of the Strategic review that has now completed and what has been Implemented as part of the new strategic framework?

03:45 - What are the Long-term growth drivers for SDI and which businesses are best placed?

04:07 - One of the key attractions has been the levels of cash generation in the business and the ability to fund acquisition, can you say any more on this?

04:40 - Tell us what you are seeing M&A wise and what are you looking for when you buy a business?

05:15 - Tell us more about your most recent acquisition, InspecVision? Where does it sit and what opportunities do you see going forward?

06:02 - You clearly have strong access to capital and a healthy balance sheet to support the active M&A pipeline. Can you talk more about acquisition opportunities?

06:44 - You have recently resegmented the group and introduced a very clear mandate to grow the business both via organic growth and acquisition. Can you tell us more about how this is progressing?

07:30 - Can you expand on any of the operational efficiency initiatives to support margin growth?

08:05 - What are the benefits for portfolio companies, being part of SDI Group? Why would a management team decide to sell their business to SDI?

08:56 - We’ve touched on what sets SDI apart as a preferred buyer but some of your recent acquisitions have given you a broader geographic reach also. Can you say anymore about further geographic expansion opportunities?

09:28 - Just to finish off with the conundrum between M&A and organic growth, can you just end with your thoughts on this and any closing comments on SDI?

SDl Group is an AIM-quoted group specialising in the acquisition and development of a portfolio of companies that design and manufacture niche analytical technology products for use within digital imaging and sensing and control applications in science, technology and medical markets. The group operates a well-established 'buy and build' strategy, supplementing organic growth with earnings-accretive acquisitions of complementary businesses that have sustainable profits and cash flows. Targets are primarily UK businesses with established reputations, capable of achieving significant organic growth through developing export markets. SDI Group takes a decentralised approach, with seasoned local management given broad discretion to run group businesses within defined limits. SDI Group typically acquires businesses generating up to £1m EBIT for around 4-6 times EBIT plus net assets, including earnout payments.

Progressive's Jeremy McKeown is joined by Robert Marstrand, an author and investor who writes the investment stack OfWealth. They discuss Javier Milei, Argentina's 'Maverick President', covering Argentina's political and economic background and the effects of Milei's reforms.

00:00 Introduction - About Argentina and Javier Milei 08:07 Robert’s background 14:32 Argentina’s political background 17:24 How has Javier Milei met his goals? 20:17 What’s the evidence on the ground of the supply side response? 21:58 What’s the current political landscape? 24:07 Potential risks 28:01 What have been the effects of Milei’s changes to tariffs and taxes? 34:02 How fast will Milei move in his reforms? 35:31 Miliei’s relationship with Trump and the US 38:03 What’s been driving his popularity? 39:38 What does the future look like? 42:21 What does Argentina look like from an investor's perspective? 47:06 Conclusion

About:

Jeremy McKeown has a degree in economics and an MBA. He has been working in the City for over forty years, both as an investment manager and at a number of leading investment banks including Merrill Lynch and Investec. His passion is for meeting, investing in and advising small and mid-sized businesses – and his previous roles give him a vast array of experience on which to draw. Jeremy’s role at Progressive includes helping clients with their investment cases, providing high quality content to our subscriber base and giving the team a valuable macro “framework” within which to evaluate and position our customers’ propositions.

Progressive’s Jeremy McKeown and Gareth Evans discuss the week’s macro picture, the impact on investors, companies reporting & what to look out for next week.

00:50 US rate reductions 04:44 UK Inflation and interest rates 06:53 Japanese interest rates 07:36 Other news: China, Russia, Trump 09:18 Idox (IDOX) and Petro matad (MATD) 10:48 Artisanal Spirits (ART) 14:01 Outro

About:

Gareth Evans has 25 years’ research experience covering the Technology sector.  An Oxford University graduate, Gareth qualified as an accountant before starting his research career covering the Pan European Chemicals sector at the American Investment Bank Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette (DLJ), later acquired by Credit Suisse. He then moved to cover the Technology sector at ABN AMRO, Canaccord and at Investec for eleven years, where he was Joint Head of Research. Gareth has received numerous awards for his work, including being voted techMark Analyst of the Year.

Jeremy McKeown has a degree in economics and an MBA. He has been working in the City for over forty years, both as an investment manager and at a number of leading investment banks including Merrill Lynch and Investec. His passion is for meeting, investing in and advising small and mid-sized businesses – and his previous roles give him a vast array of experience on which to draw. Jeremy’s role at Progressive includes helping clients with their investment cases, providing high quality content to our subscriber base and giving the team a valuable macro “framework” within which to evaluate and position our customers’ propositions.

About Progressive Research.

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Progressive's Jeremy McKeown and David Seaman of Alpha Cygni Investment Management are joined by Richard Stuckey, the manager of the Ennismore Global Equity Fund, to discuss the management of a long-short strategy in smaller global companies.

00:22 - Introduction 09:49 - Managing risk in a long-short strategy 22:30 - How does shorting affect the overall portfolio structure? 24:11 - Genus (GNS) 33:38 - Paradox Interactive 40:51 - Geographic diversity & considering macro risks 43:18 - Managing market inefficiency driven by mega-cap tech stocks, passive investment and meme-driven markets 47:10 - Investing mistakes and learnings 50:32 - Conclusion

About:

Jeremy McKeown has a degree in economics and an MBA. He has been working in the City for over forty years, both as an investment manager and at a number of leading investment banks including Merrill Lynch and Investec. His passion is for meeting, investing in and advising small and mid-sized businesses – and his previous roles give him a vast array of experience on which to draw. Jeremy’s role at Progressive includes helping clients with their investment cases, providing high quality content to our subscriber base and giving the team a valuable macro “framework” within which to evaluate and position our customers’ propositions.

About Progressive Research.

Produced by Progressive Research, Distributed by PIWORLD

Progressive’s Jeremy McKeown and Gareth Evans discuss the week’s macro picture, the impact for investors, companies reporting & what to look out for next week.

01:00 Overview: Middle East Uncertainty, Trump 01:41 China’s monetary policy 02:31 USA 05:40 Springfield Properties (SPR) and VanElle Holdings (VANL) 06:36 UK - Ashtead and Games Workshop (GAW) 12:29 Forthcoming news:

• Chinese production data (Mon 16 Dec)
• UK inflation data (Weds 18 Dec)
• US interest rates (Weds 18 Dec)
• Bank of Japan interest rates (Thurs 19 Dec)
• UK Interest rates (Thurs 19 Dec)

About:

Gareth Evans has 25 years’ research experience covering the Technology sector.  An Oxford University graduate, Gareth qualified as an accountant before starting his research career covering the Pan European Chemicals sector at the American Investment Bank Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette (DLJ), later acquired by Credit Suisse. He then moved to cover the Technology sector at ABN AMRO, Canaccord and at Investec for eleven years, where he was Joint Head of Research. Gareth has received numerous awards for his work, including being voted techMark Analyst of the Year.

Jeremy McKeown has a degree in economics and an MBA. He has been working in the City for over forty years, both as an investment manager and at a number of leading investment banks including Merrill Lynch and Investec. His passion is for meeting, investing in and advising small and mid-sized businesses – and his previous roles give him a vast array of experience on which to draw. Jeremy’s role at Progressive includes helping clients with their investment cases, providing high quality content to our subscriber base and giving the team a valuable macro “framework” within which to evaluate and position our customers’ propositions.

About Progressive Research.

Produced by Progressive Research, Distributed by PIWORLD

Begbies Traynor Executive Chairman, Ric Traynor and Group Finance Director, Nick Taylor present the group's results for the six months ended 31 October 2024, followed by Q&A.

Ric Traynor, Executive Chairman 00:16 - Introduction 01:05 - H1 highlights

Nick Taylor, Group Finance Director 03:04 - H1 financial highlights 06:45 - Reconciliation of adjusted EBITDA to statutory profit 07:38 - Financial position 11:02 - Financial summary & outlook

Ric Traynor, Executive Chairman 12:22 - Insolvency levels 14:08 - Property market transaction levels 15:23 - Divisional growth 17:24 - Case studies 18:25 - Organic growth 19:58 - Growth strategy 20:43 - Growth in property advisory 21:33 - Historic performance 22:06 - Summary & outlook

22:48 - Q&A

Begbies Traynor Group plc is a leading UK advisory firm with expertise in business recovery, advisory and corporate finance, valuations, asset sales and property consultancy.

We have 1,300 colleagues operating from 45 locations across the UK, together with four offshore offices. Our multidisciplinary professional teams include insolvency practitioners, accountants, lawyers, funding professionals and chartered surveyors.

• Business recovery
  • Corporate and personal insolvency; contentious insolvency; creditor services
• Advisory and corporate finance
  • Debt advisory and finance broking; corporate finance; special situations M&A; financial advisory
• Valuations
  • Property, business and asset valuations
• Asset sales
  • Property, plant and machinery auctions; property and business sales agency
• Property consultancy
  • Building consultancy; transport planning; commercial property management; insurance and protection

Further information can be accessed via the group's website at https://ir.begbies-traynorgroup.com/.

SThree CEO, Timo Lehne and CFO, Andrew Beach give a trading update.

Timo Lehne, CEO 00:16 - Introduction

Andrew Beach, CFO 01:46 - Financial performance 02:24 - Contract order book 02:51 - Balance sheet

Timo Lehne, CEO 03:14 - Summary & Outlook

SThree plc brings skilled people together to build the future. We are the only global specialist talent partner focused on roles in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics ('STEM'), providing permanent and flexible contract talent to a diverse base of around 6,000 clients across 11 countries. Our Group's c.2,700 staff cover the Technology, Life Sciences and Engineering sectors. SThree is part of the Industrial Services sector. We are listed on the London Stock Exchange's Main Market, trading with ticker code STEM.

Progressive Analysts, George O'Connor and Ian Robertson’s regular review of the technology sector, including an overview of Oxford Metrics full-year results, reported last week, and FD Technologies focussing on its KX database business.

00:00 - Introduction 01:15 - Oxford Metrics (OMG) 07:38 - FD Technologies (FDP)

View Oxford Metrics (OMG) research here.

About: George O'Connor has been a financial analyst for the past 25 years, covering London-listed Software & IT Services, e-comm and hardware companies. George has worked for a variety of firms including Albert E. Sharp, Panmure Gordon and Stifel where he researched and communicated investment cases, conducted IPOs, secondary placings and the odd rescue rights. George started his career at IT industry analysts IDC where over nine years he rose to become Research Manager.

Ian Robertson has over two decades of experience in the smaller companies and technology sectors working as investor, analyst and advisor. Ian Started his career by qualifying as a chartered accountant before moving onto roles in corporate finance at EY and then fund management at Gartmore and RSA. Ian then moved across to sell-side equity research at HSBC and subsequently worked at a number of UK small-cap specialist brokers, including Altium, Evolution and Seymour Pierce.

Find out more about Progressive Research here.

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Progressive's Jeremy McKeown talks with Lawrence Lam, who invests globally in founder-led companies. Lawrence has run the Lumenary Global Founders Fund since 2017 and is the author of "The Founder Effect - The Three Pillars of Success in Founder-Led Companies." – A great read if you are trying to understand good long-term management decisions and how to spot them.

Jeremy and Lawrence discuss what exactly is the founder effect, and how can investors accurately determine whether a management team has this elusive characteristic?

This is a fascinating conversation with someone who is passionate about his work and carefully studies the world’s stock markets to find his formula.

We learn how he balances the less correlated world for opportunities to buy founder-led companies that offer good value, why China offers a great way to diversify a portfolio, and how BYD is poised to become the next Toyota.

The pair further discuss how meeting management is useful for understanding if the company is likely to do well next quarter, but not so useful for understanding whether it will compound for you over the coming decades.

Brought to you by Progressive Equity.

MindGym CEO, Christoffer Ellehuus and CFO, Emily Fyffe present the group's results for the six months ended 30 September 2024.

Christoffer Ellehuus, CEO 00:16 - Introduction 04:04 - Market opportunity & dynamics

Emily Fyffe, CFO 07:11 - HY FY25 financial highlights

Christoffer Ellehuus, CEO 10:00 - Global energy framework case study 12:15 - Finastra case study 14:33 - Vision for growth 15:50 - Packaged solutions 17:43 - Technology platform partnerships 18:56 - New product launches 22:01 - Diagnostics & analytics products 26:16 - Summary & outlook

MindGym is a company that delivers business improvement solutions using scalable, proprietary products which are based on behavioural science. The Group operates in three global markets: business transformation, human capital management and learning & development.

MindGym is listed on the London Stock Exchange Alternative Investment Market (ticker: MIND) and headquartered in London. The business has offices in London, New York and Singapore.

Further information is available at www.themindgym.com

Cerillion CEO, Louis Hall and CFO, Andrew Dickson present the company's results for the year ended 30 September 2024, followed by Q&A.

Louis Hall, CEO 00:16 - Introduction 01:31 - About Cerillion 08:32 - FY24 Highlights

Andrew Dickson, CFO 11:24 - FY24 financial highlights 14:30 - Cash generation 17:02 - Income statement 18:53 - Balance sheet 19:20 - Cash flow statement

Louis Hall, CEO 19:31 - Operations 24:55 - Summary & Outlook

26:15 - Q&A

Cerillion has a 25-year track record in providing mission-critical software for billing, charging and customer relationship management ("CRM"), mainly to the telecommunications sector but also to other markets, including utilities and financial services. The Company has c. 80 customer installations across c. 45 countries.

Headquartered in London, Cerillion also has operations in India and Bulgaria as well as a sales presence in the USA, Singapore and Australia.

The business was originally part of Logica plc before its management buyout, led by CEO, Louis Hall, in 1999. The Company joined AIM in March 2016.

Tracsis CEO, Chris Barnes and CFO, Andrew Kelly present the group's results for the year ended 31 July 2024, followed by Q&A.

Chris Barnes, CEO 00:16 - Introduction 03:31 - FY 2024 highlights 07:42 - UK Market 10:54 - US rail market

Andrew Kelly, CFO 13:20 - FY2024 financial highlights 16:41 - Divisional performance 18:43 - Cash position 19:53 - Operating model transformation 22:33 - Growth strategy

Chris Barnes, CEO 24:03 - Contract wins & pipeline growth

Andrew Kelly, CFO 34:41 - Summary & outlook

37:34 - Q&A

Tracsis plc is a technology company and a leading provider of software and hardware products, data capture and data analytics/GIS services for the rail, traffic data and wider transport industries.

Tracsis's products and services are widely used to increase efficiency, reduce cost and risk, improve operational and asset performance, improve safety management and decision making capabilities and improve the overall end-user experience for clients and customers.

The Group is split into two principal operating areas built around detailed industry knowledge and expertise:

• Rail Technology & Services: A software, technology and product led business. It develops and supplies software that solves complex resource, asset optimisation and control problems for Train Operators, and smart ticketing, delay repay and other retail software to improve the customer experience for rail users. It also develops remote condition monitoring hardware, data acquisition software, and safety and risk management software for rail infrastructure providers.
• Data, Analytics, Consultancy & Events: A largely services led business that focuses on data capture, data analytics, GIS, earth observation, data insights, consultancy and event traffic management within a range of transport and pedestrian rich environments. The business provides technology and bespoke products and data that underpin large scale intelligent transport systems, smart city planning and positive environmental decision making.

Tracsis has a blue-chip client base which includes all major UK transport owning groups, Network Rail, Passenger and Freight Train Operating Companies, the Department for Transport, TfL, multiple local authorities, major outdoor music and sporting event organisers, and a wide variety of large engineering and infrastructure companies. In North America our clients include Class 1 rail freight companies, transit operators, shortline railroads and several large rail served ports and industrials.

The business drives growth both organically and through acquisition and has made seventeen acquisitions since 2008.

For more information on Tracsis please visit http://www.tracsis.com

Creightons Group Managing Director, Pippa Clark and Director of Finance, Qadeer Mohammed present the group's results for the six months ended 30 September 2024, followed by a Q&A session with them both and Paul Forster, Non-Executive Chairman.

Pippa Clark, Group Managing Director 00:16 - Introduction 00:43 - About Creightons 02:48 - Operational highlights 04:45 - Financial highlights

Qadeer Mohammed, Director of Finance 05:13 - Revenue streams 06:30 - Gross profit margin 07:44 - Operating profit before exceptional costs 08:40 - Cashflow movement

Pippa Clark, Group Managing Director 09:35 - Strategy summary 10:12 - Building brands 12:34 - Growing private label share 13:52 - Team & people development 15:32 - Maintaining business foundations 16:16 - R&D 18:04 - Manufacturing capability & investment 19:51 - Summary

21:54 - Q&A

Creightons plc is engaged in the development, marketing and manufacture of toiletries and fragrances. The Company operates through three business streams: private label business, contract manufacturing business and branded business. Its private label business focuses on private label products for high street retailers and supermarket chains. Its contract manufacturing business develops and manufactures products on behalf of third party brand owners. Its branded business develops, markets, sells and distributes products it has developed and owns the rights to. Its product portfolio includes bath and shower care, haircare, body care, baby and maternity, and fragrances, among others. Its services include market analysis, creative concept generation, product development, brand development, manufacturing and logistics. Its brands include Frizz No More, Volume Pro, Argan Body, Argan Smooth, Keratin Pro, Perfect Hair, Bronze Ambition, Sunshine Blonde, Beautiful Brunette and Just Hair.

DSW Capital CEO, James Dow, CEO Designate, Shru Morris and CFO & COO, Pete Fendall present the group's results for the six-month period ended 30 September 2024, followed by Q&A.

James Dow, CEO 00:16 - Introduction 01:39 - H1 FY25 highlights 03:15 - The DSW licence model 05:47 - Current service lines

Pete Fendall, CFO & COO 06:25 - H1 FY25 financial highlights 08:48 - Income statement 10:21 - Balance sheet 11:08 - Cashflow 12:01 - Network KPI's 14:15 - Recriutment

Shru Morris, CEO designate 15:51 - Growth opportunities 18:39 - Acquisition of DR Solicitors Limited

James Dow, CEO 21:45 - Management changes 23:19 - Summary & Outlook

26:17 - Q&A

DSW Capital, owner of the Dow Schofield Watts and DR Solicitors brands, is a profitable, mid-market, challenger professional services network with a cash generative business model and scalable platform for growth. Originally established in 2002, by three KPMG alumni, Dow Schofield Watts is one of the first platform models disrupting the traditional model of accounting professional services firms. DSW Capital operates licensing arrangements with its businesses and has over 130 fee earners across 12 offices in the UK. These businesses trade primarily under the Dow Schofield Watts and DR Solicitors brands.

DSW Capital's vision is for our brands to become the most sought-after destinations for ambitious, entrepreneurial professionals to start and develop their own businesses. Through a licensing model, DSW Capital gives professionals the autonomy and flexibility to fulfil their potential.

Being part of the DSW Capital group brings support benefits in recruitment, funding and infrastructure. DSW Capital's challenger model attracts experienced, senior professionals, predominantly with a "Big 4" accounting firm or "Magic Circle" legal background, who want to launch their own businesses and recognise the value of DSW Capital's brands and the synergies which come from being part of the network.

DSW Capital aims to scale its agile model through organic growth, geographical expansion, additional service lines and acquisitions. The Directors are targeting high margin, complementary, niche service lines with a strong synergistic fit with the existing network.

Sosandar Co-CEOs, Julie Lavington and Ali Hall, and CFO, Steve Dilks, present the company's results for the six months ended 30 September 2024, followed by Q&A.

Julie Lavington, Co-CEO 00:16 - Introduction 00:56 - H1 highlights

Steve Dilks, CFO 02:17 - H2 Outlook

Ali Hall & Julie Lavington, Co-CEOs 03:58 - Store rollout 05:33 - Halo effect of stores 07:19 - First 10 weeks since opening

Steve Dilks, CFO 08:06 - Increasing margin 10:26 - H1 FY25 Financial highlights 11:27 - Income statement 12:34 - Balance sheet 13:32 - Cashflow

Ali Hall & Julie Lavington, Co-CEOs 14:28 - Product sucess 15:19 - New product categories 16:13 - Next homeware licencing partnership 17:17 - Summary & Outlook

18:19 - Q&A

Sosandar is a women's fashion brand in the UK targeting style conscious women who have graduated from lower quality, price-led alternatives. The Company offers this underserved audience fashion-forward, affordable, quality clothing to make them feel sexy, feminine, and chic. The business sells predominantly own-label exclusive product designed and tested in-house.

Sosandar's product range is diverse, providing its customers with an array of choice for all occasions across all women's fashion categories. The company sells through Sosandar.com and its own stores, and has a number of high value brand partnerships including with NEXT and Marks & Spencer.

Sosandar's success has been built on an exceptional product range, seamless customer experience and impactful, lifestyle marketing, all of which is underpinned by combining innovation with data analysis. Our growth strategy is focused on continuing to grow brand awareness and expand our addressable market and routes to market, reaching customers wherever they wish to shop. This is achieved both through direct to consumer channels and through chosen third-party partners.

Sosandar was founded in 2016 and listed on AIM in 2017. More information is available at www.sosandar-ir.com

IG Design Group CEO, Paul Bal and CFO, Rohan Cummings present the group's results for the six months ended 30 September 2024, followed by Q&A.

Paul Bal, CEO 00:16 - Introduction 00:20 - HY2025 highlights 04:36 - HY2025 Financial summary 06:15 - Category performance 07:04 - DG Americas 12:27 - DG International

Rohan Cummings, CFO 15:40 - Group revenue 18:04 - Adjusted operating profit 19:55 - Profit & Loss 21:57 - Cash flow

Paul Bal, CEO 23:34 - Strategy 25:15 - Summary and outlook

28:21 - Q&A

IG Design Group plc is a United Kingdom-based company that is engaged in the design manufacture and distribution of celebration, craft & creative play, stationery, gifting and not-for-resale consumable products. The Company is a producer of Celebrations products, including greetings cards, gift wrap, Christmas crackers, gift bags and partyware. The Company design, manufacture and sources a range of stationery products for consumers of all ages, for use in education, commercial and home settings. Its not-for-resale consumables product combines Polaris business with Paper Twist Handle Bags. The Company’s segments include DG Americas and DG International. The DG Americas segment includes overseas operations in Asia, Australia, the United Kingdom (UK), India and Mexico, and the United States companies. The DG International segment comprises the consolidation of the separately owned UK, European and Australian businesses.

Tracsis CEO, Chris Barnes and CFO, Andrew Kelly provide an overview of the group's results for the year ended 31 July 2023.

Chris Barnes, CEO 00:22 - Operational highlights

Andrew Kelly, CFO 02:28 - Financial highlights

Chris Barnes, CEO 06:03 - Commercial successes and opportunities

Andrew Kelly, CFO 08:23 - Operating model transformation

Chris Barnes, CEO 10:24 - Outlook

Tracsis plc is a technology company and a leading provider of software and hardware products, data capture and data analytics/GIS services for the rail, traffic data and wider transport industries.

Tracsis’ products and services are widely used to increase efficiency, reduce cost and risk, improve operational and asset performance, improve safety management and decision making capabilities and improve the overall end-user experience for clients and customers.

The Group is split into two principal operating areas built around detailed industry knowledge and expertise:

– Rail Technology & Services: A software, technology and product led business. It develops and supplies software that solves complex resource, asset optimisation and control problems for Train Operators, and Smart Ticketing, Delay Repay and other retail software to improve the customer experience for rail users. It also develops remote condition monitoring hardware, data acquisition software, and safety and risk management software for rail infrastructure providers.

– Data, Analytics, Consultancy & Events: A largely services led business that focuses on data capture, data analytics, GIS, earth observation, data insights, consultancy and event traffic management within a range of transport and pedestrian rich environments. The business provides technology and bespoke products and data that underpin large scale intelligent transport systems, smart city planning and positive environmental decision making.

Tracsis has a blue-chip client base which includes all major UK transport owning groups, Network Rail, Passenger and Freight Train Operating Companies, the Department for Transport, TfL, multiple local authorities, major outdoor music and sporting event organisers, and a wide variety of large engineering and infrastructure companies. In North America our clients include Class 1 rail freight companies, transit operators, shortline railroads and several large rail served ports and industrials.

The business drives growth both organically and through acquisition and has made seventeen acquisitions since 2008.

For more information on Tracsis please visit http://www.tracsis.com

ActiveOps Executive Chair, Richard Jeffery and CFO, Emma Salthouse present the group's results for the six months ended 30 September 2024.

Richard Jeffery, Executive Chair 00:16 - Introduction 01:37 - Key strengths 03:35 - Fidelity International case study 04:56 - H1 FY25 highlights

Emma Salthouse, CFO 06:58 - Commercial model 08:20 - H1 FY25 financial highlights 09:41 - EBITDA bridge 11:11 - SaaS ARR 13:14 - Australian Tier 1 banking customer case study 16:19 - Financial Summary

Richard Jeffery, Executive Chair 17:00 - Market drivers 18:19 - AI opportunity 21:25 - Control IQ Series 4.0 22:48 - Sales team expansion 24:57 - Addressable market 26:35 - Summary & outlook

ActiveOps is a Software as a Service business, dedicated to helping organisations create more value from their service operations. ActiveOps' Decision Intelligence software solutions are specifically designed to support leaders with the vast number of decisions they make daily in the running their operations. Our customers make better decisions and consume less time and effort making them. The outcomes are significantly improved turnaround times and double-digit improvements in productivity with backlogs of work materially reduced. Customers also leverage the capacity created to invest in transformation and development, and more efficiently utilise resources.

The Company's AI-powered SaaS solutions are underpinned by 15+ years of operational data and its AOM methodology which is proven to enhance cross departmental decision-making.

The Company has approximately 190 employees, serving a global base of enterprise customers from offices in the UK, Ireland, USA, Canada, Australia, India, and South Africa. The Group's customers are predominantly in the banking, insurance, healthcare administration and business process outsourcing (BPO) sectors, including Nationwide, TD Bank, Elevance and Xchanging.

Miles Adcock CEO & Kim Garrod, CFO gives an overview for investors of Concurrent.

00:18 What it does 01:30 The business model 02:18 The market 03:20 Lifetime value of contracts 03:50 Geographic split & market sectors 04:21 Investment & growth strategy 05:31 The future

Concurrent Technologies Plc develops and manufactures high-end embedded plug-in cards and systems for use in a wide range of high-performance, long-life cycle applications within the telecommunications, defence, security, telemetry, scientific and aerospace markets, including applications within extremely harsh environments. The processor products feature Intel® processors, including the latest generation embedded Intel® Core™ processors, Intel® Xeon® and Intel Atom™ processors. The products are designed to be compliant with industry specifications and support many of today's leading embedded operating systems. The products are sold worldwide.

Progressive's George O'Connor and Ian Robertson catch up on events in and around the UK small and mid-cap listed tech.

Alphawave’s lack of guidance for 2025 is no great surprise, but in an industry as complex as semiconductors can anyone take forecasts seriously. Ensilica’s recent newsflow suggests not. We can, however, confidently predict that the forecasts are wrong.

Kainos is steadier than it was, but do the cuts mean that it is now out of sync with the rest of the market. George looks to the global picture and raises the long-term question that faces the UK IT services business.

Accesso also looks to be regaining its poise but reminds us that it is not just hardware companies that are subject to customer and supply chain timing issues.

Cirata is growing sales but is it just the old UK small-cap trap (AIM business model) of sales before profits before fund raise. The change in sales strategy in the US keeps the focus on how this company can make and grow profitable sales.

Tiny Build looks to a busy year, with new products – is the games sector in a comeback year?

Finally, we touch upon the Stanford AI report – nearly 500 pages covering everything from models, to hardware, to costs to energy. Thankfully, concisely summarised.

Secure Trust Bank management provides an overview of its Commercial Finance Business and its role in helping the business achieve its medium-term targets. The Commercial Finance management team outline the product offering, the size of the market, the team's track record, further growth opportunities, the recurring revenue benefits of the model, as well as their approach to structuring and risk management.

David McCreadie, CEO 00:16 - Introduction

John Bevan, Managing Director, Commercial Finance 07:04 - Introduction to commercial finance 12:01 - Business growth 13:18 - Collaborative model 15:03 - Addressable market 16:15 - Growth drivers 16:43 - Commercial finance summary

Sean Powell, National Sales Director, Commerical finance 17:10 - Business proposition 19:27 - Target market 21:29 - Hobbycraft case study 22:32 - Income growth 23:29 - Routes to market 24:58 - Market opportunity

James Hodkinson, COO, Commercial Finance 26:26 - Benefits of the relationship model 32:06 - Client satisfaction 33:46 - Client retention 34:31 - BM Steel case study

Will Airey, Head of Risk, Commercial Finance 36:01 - Specialist underwriting 38:32 - Balance sheet protection 40:28 - Case study 41:47 - Cost of risk

David McCreadie, CEO 42:40 - Summary & Outlook

44:56 - Q&A

Secure Trust Bank is an established, well‐funded and capitalised UK retail bank with over 70‐years of trading history. Secure Trust Bank operates principally from its head office in Solihull, West Midlands, and had 897 employees (full‐time equivalent) as at 30 September 2024. The Group's diversified lending portfolio currently focuses on two sectors:

(i) Business finance through its Real Estate Finance and Commercial Finance divisions, and

(ii) Consumer finance through its Vehicle Finance and Retail Finance divisions.

Secure Trust Bank PLC is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority.

Braemar CEO, James Gundy and CFO, Grant Foley present the group's results for the six months ended 31 August 2024, followed by a Q&A session.

James Gundy, CEO 00:16 - Introduction 00:33 - H1 25 Highlights 01:57 - Investment case

Grant Foley, CFO 03:21 - Income statement 05:02 - Revenue mix 05:32 - Revenue Diversification 07:20 - Operating costs 07:55 - Liquidity 08:22 - KPIs

James Gundy, CEO 10:04 - Market and rates 12:30 - Summary & outlook

14:18 - Q&A

Braemar provides expert advice in shipping investment, chartering, and risk management to enable its clients to secure sustainable returns and mitigate risk in the volatile world of shipping. Our experienced brokers work in tandem with specialist professionals to form teams tailored to our customers' needs, and provide an integrated service supported by a collaborative culture.

Braemar joined the Official List of the London Stock Exchange in November 1997 and trades under the symbol BMS.

For more information visit www.braemar.com and follow Braemar on LinkedIn.

Sosandar Co-CEOs, Julie Lavington and Ali Hall, and CFO, Steve Dilks outline the highlights for Half Year 2025, followed by Q&A.

Julie Lavington, Co-CEO 00:16 - Introduction & Overview

Ali Hall, Co-CEO 01:46 - Strategic highlights

Steve Dilks, CFO 03:55 - Financial highlights

Julie Lavington, Co-CEO 06:03 - Outlook

06:58 - Q&A

Sosandar is a women's fashion brand in the UK targeting style conscious women who have graduated from lower quality, price-led alternatives. The Company offers this underserved audience fashion-forward, affordable, quality clothing to make them feel sexy, feminine, and chic. The business sells predominantly own-label exclusive product designed and tested in-house.

Sosandar's product range is diverse, providing its customers with an array of choice for all occasions across all women's fashion categories. The company sells through Sosandar.com and its own stores, and has a number of high value brand partnerships including with Next and Marks & Spencer.

Sosandar's success has been built on an exceptional product range, seamless customer experience and impactful, lifestyle marketing, all of which is underpinned by combining innovation with data analysis. Our growth strategy is focused on continuing to grow brand awareness and expand our addressable market and routes to market, reaching customers wherever they wish to shop. This is achieved both through direct to consumer channels and through chosen third party partners.

Sosandar was founded in 2016 and listed on AIM in 2017. More information is available at www.sosandar-ir.com.

1Spatial CEO, Claire Milverton and CFO, Stuart Ritchie present the group's results for the six-month period ended 31 July 2024.

Claire Milverton, CEO 00:16 - Introduction 02:41 - H1 FY25 highlights 05:13 - Virginia & Georgia DOT wins

Stuart Ritchie, CFO 07:41 - H1 FY25 Financial highlights 09:25 - Income statement 10:50 - Cashflow 12:43 - Regional revenue 14:21 - Recurring revenue growth 15:04 - Gross profit 15:37 - Business model evolution

Claire Milverton, CEO 16:20 - Market opportunity 17:33 - NG9-1-1 20:55 - 1Streetworks 27:01 - Outlook

1Spatial plc is a global leader in providing Location Master Data Management (LMDM) software, solutions and business applications, primarily to the Government, Utilities and Transport sectors via the 1Spatial platform and SaaS offerings. Our solutions ensure data governance, facilitating the efficient, effective and sustainable operation of customers around the world. It allows them to master their data on any device, anywhere, anytime and can be deployed as SaaS in the cloud, on-premise, or as a hybrid of both. Our global clients include national mapping and land management agencies, utility companies, transportation organisations, government and defence departments.

We have two SaaS offerings for which we see considerable potential - NG9-1-1 and 1Streetworks. 1Streetworks automates the production of traffic management plans, diversion routing and asset inventory lists in the UK, producing a comprehensive, site-specific traffic management plan in just a few minutes. Our Public Safety NG-9-1-1 solution combines a powerful rules engine and data aggregator with a self-service cloud platform to support public safety entities with their data readiness needs.

1Spatial plc is AIM-listed, headquartered in Cambridge, UK, with operations in the UK, Ireland, USA, France, Belgium, Tunisia, and Australia.

www.1spatial.com