AG Barr [LSE: BAG]
Full year numbers this morning from AG Barr, the makers of Irn Bru and assorted other soft drinks. The company seems to be handling the changing market well, with the government’s tax on sugar evidently failing to derail progress. The company has also been battling rising prices as a result of ongoing weakness of the pound but earnings per share came in at 31.3p, up 3.4% from a year ago and towards the upper end of analyst expectations. Shareholders will be rewarded with an 8% increase in dividends.
ITM Power [LSE: ITM]
There’s a small cap company by the name of ITM Power, which is working in the field of hydrogen fuel cells for cars. There’s a battle playing out between hydrogen and battery powered cars like the Tesla – the latter appears to be winning in the publicity game, but the former is quicker to refuel – so long as you have a network of filling stations. A great step forward from ITM then that this morning they announced to the market the delivery of their first fuelling pump at a Shell petrol station on the M40. It’s a small step but the development of a network like this will be worth watching.
Moss Bros [LSE: MOSB]
Last week Moss Bros issued a trading statement, warning of the difficult conditions that lay ahead. This morning we have the full year results from the company which offer a little more granularity over the situation. However whilst the availability of stock has been challenging, there are some brighter points, with e-commerce sales up 4% in the first 8 weeks of the year and the dividend reduction will mean that further payments to shareholders can continue to be made from surplus cash.