Hardman & Co

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We are a rapidly growing, innovative corporate research & consultancy business, based in London, serving the needs of both public and private companies.

Our expert team of sector analysts and market professionals collectively have over 400 years of experience.  This depth of knowledge and a reputation for integrity have built trust with investors. With effective communication and precision distribution, we help companies disseminate their investment message to interested investors, as well as advise them on strategy.

Our smaller, boutique structure allows us to provide first-class customer service and to deliver a wide range of ad-hoc services for multiple clients with different needs.

Regulatory Information

  • Regulatory Status: Hardman Research Ltd, trading as Hardman & Co, is an appointed representative of Capital Markets Strategy Ltd which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

Mark Thomas
  • Mark Thomas
ICGT ICG Enterprise ...

ICG Enterprise Trust plc (ICGT): Mid-teens EBITDA growth and long-term...

The key message from ICGT’s 1HFY’26 results (to July 2025) is the continued strength of the operating companies, which delivered, on average, 15% LTM EBITDA growth. Margins have widened by ca.5% (average revenue growth 10%), which should help allay some concerns over the impact of the challenging environment. New investment is forecast to accelerate, and realisation proceeds already exceed FY’25 with an average 14% uplift to carrying values on exit. A degree of short-term volatility is to be exp...

ICGT ICG ENTERPRISE TRUST
10/21/25 October 21, 2025 1 EN
Mark Thomas
  • Mark Thomas
VTAS Volta Finance (...

Volta Finance Limited (VTAS): Liquid access to outperforming private c...

In this report, we highlight what Volta brings to investors. In particular, we note the multi-currency, liquid access it provides all investors to i) the illiquid but attractive CLO (private credit) market, with its good risk-adjusted returns, ii) an outperforming manager of that expertise-dependent asset class. Private credit has been one of the “hot” asset classes in 2025 but with investment largely restricted to large, institutional investors. Volta’s AEX and LSE, and € and £, listings give r...

VTAS VOLTA FINANCE (GBP)
10/03/25 October 3, 2025 1 EN
Brian Moretta ... (+2)
  • Brian Moretta
  • Mark Thomas
ARBB Arbuthnot Banki...
RECI Real Estate Cre... ... (+7)

Hardman & Co Monthly: October 2025

Feature article: Building tomorrow’s AI: How the UK will become the global architect of Trustworthy Intelligence In this month’s feature article, Professor Andy Pardoe, Professor of AI and Chair of the Deep Tech Innovation Centre at the University of Warwick, gives his perspective on the artificial intelligence (AI) industry and how it is advancing at an unprecedented pace, outstripping anything witnessed in previous decades. For researchers, industry leaders and investors, understanding the la...

ARBB ARBUTHNOT BANKING GROUP
RECI REAL ESTATE CREDIT INVESTMENTS
ACSO ACCESSO TECHNOLOGY GROUP
VTAS VOLTA FINANCE (GBP)
CSN CHESNARA PLC
ICGT ICG ENTERPRISE TRUST
A0MXLB NB PRIVATE EQUITY PARTNERS
10/01/25 October 1, 2025 1 EN
Mark Thomas
  • Mark Thomas
RECI Real Estate Cre...

Real Estate Credit Investments: What RECI brings to investors

In this note, we review what RECI brings to investors, specifically noting i) a near 10% dividend yield, significantly covered by recurring interest income and which has been maintained through multiple macro crises, ii) diversification of investors’ portfolios with an equity with low correlation to overall markets, iii) an experienced debt manager bringing competitive advantages in deal origination and risk management, iv) a diversified portfolio with proven downside resilience created by Cheyn...

RECI REAL ESTATE CREDIT INVESTMENTS
09/09/25 September 9, 2025 1 EN
Brian Moretta
  • Brian Moretta
CSN CHESNARA PLC

Chesnara plc: Showing good operational progress

Chesnara announced its 1H’25 results. The main features were a better-than-expected operational performance, weaker economic returns and increased central costs but improved cash generation. An Economic Value loss of £11m was behind recent figures (1H’24: profit of £20m). Alongside the dividend payment, this loss reduced the Economic Value, which declined from £531m to £517m in the first half. Cash generation of £37m was a 28% increase over the 1H’24 figure of £29m. The interim dividend, as expe...

09/08/25 September 8, 2025 1 EN

Retail Bond Review No. 10 Feature Article: Bond Structuring

For many investors the coupon, term and rating is all they look at when they buy a bond. But each bond has a structure that affects the credit risk, and investors need to know what that is.â–º The recent Wasps Finance plc issue is one of the more complicated of the recent ORB issues. We use it as an example, highlighting some of the terms used and what investors need to look for when assessing bond structuresâ–º We also look at the different forms of security that investors may see, explaining t...

10/28/15 October 28, 2015 18 EN

UK Housebuilding Sector in Q3 2015

​On 31 October, the Final of the Rugby World Cup (RWC) will be contested at Twickenham. Will the New Zealand All Blacks prevail to become the first team to win it consecutively (and the first to win it three times)?If the listed UK Housebuilders were rugby teams, our guess is that Berkeley would be the All Blacks with Tony Pidgley as the record breaking captain, Richie McCaw. In turn, Persimmon would be the South African Springboks - both formidable and both named after wonderful creatures.For...

10/13/15 October 13, 2015 28 EN
Not applicable NOT APPLICABLE

Material World. “Experience has made me rich”

Summary - The UK Building Materials Sector is vital but ignored; and in terms of definition and analysis, really only exists here. - It comprises 18 companies with total revenue of £2.6 billion, net assets of £1.3 billion and more than 15,500 employees. - The London Stock Exchange value is £3.62 billion as of 5th June 2015.In the latest fiscal year it has grown revenue by 9.4% and gross profit by 12.3%. - Gross margins are a tidy 29.5%. - EBITDA has done even better with 21% annual growt...

06/11/15 June 11, 2015 25 EN
Not applicable NOT APPLICABLE

May 2015 Monthly / Feature Article: Why Should we be worries about unw...

May 2015 Monthly / Feature Article: Why Should we be worries about unwinding quantitative easing?

05/06/15 May 6, 2015 21 EN
04/13/15 April 13, 2015 24 EN

Hardman & Co. September 2015 Monthly. Featured article - MiFID II –...

​For most people Tuesday, 3rd January 2017 is likely to be the first day back at work after a long weekend celebrating the New Year. In London it will probably be overcast with occasional showers whilst commuters will be suffering the effects of 'over-running engineering works'. But for participants in the London stock market it could be a momentous day, on a par with the Big Bang of October 1986 when fixed commission rates and the distinction between brokers and jobbers were swept away. For o...

09/03/15 September 3, 2015 23 EN
Keith Hiscock ... (+2)
  • Keith Hiscock
  • Yingheng Chen

Punching above their weight? The contribution of small- and mid-cap qu...

Back in May 2019, Hardman & Co and the Quoted Companies Alliance jointly published a paper looking at the importance of small and mid-size quoted companies (SMQCs) to the markets, and their contribution to tax revenues and employment in the UK. This is a poorly researched area, and that paper helped frame the debate; it has been quoted from by bodies such as the City of London Corporation. Three years have passed since that note, and we felt it was time to update the work. Of course, the econom...

07/11/22 July 11, 2022 1 EN
Keith Hiscock
  • Keith Hiscock

Hardman & Co Insight: Share ownership: For the many, not the few - The...

We recently published a paper, 'Share ownership: For the many, not the few', based on a statistical survey of share ownership, produced jointly with Argus Vickers, the share analysis service. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has now issued its equivalent survey. This paper compares its results with ours. Although there are, inevitably, differences in the detail, the two surveys reach the same conclusions. The two key themes from the surveys are that: i) investors from the Rest of the Wo...

02/04/20 February 4, 2020 16 EN

February 2016 Monthly

​The timing of being invited to write this article is perfect, coinciding as it does with a) the huge uncertainty which 2016 thus far has presented to investors (resulting in the frequently heard question ‘what do I do with my money?’) and b) last week’s sale of Swiftkey [https://swiftkey.com/en] for $250m to Microsoft. The company was founded in 2008 by two people in their 20s to develop predictive keyboards driven by artificial intelligence - its technology is embedded in over 300m dev...

02/10/16 February 10, 2016 23 EN

Feature Article: Oil Prices and Credit

The falling oil price has had many consequences, both politically and economically. In this article we look at the financial effects and, in particular at the shale oil industry. We give a brief history of its development and show how its combination of a high cost of production and higher debt funding, together with some technical failings, have led to the difficulties it now finds itself in. We also briefly consider the two ORB born oil and gas bonds, from Premier Oil...

02/03/16 February 3, 2016 19 EN
Richard Jeans
  • Richard Jeans

Hardman & Co Insight: Tech sector outlook

21 notable buyouts since COVID-19 pandemic. With the January trading updates out of the way, we examine the outlook for the UK tech sector. As we entered January, the mood among investors was downbeat, given the tepid economic outlook, the changes announced in the UK Autumn budget, combined with the ongoing geopolitical uncertainties. However, the January trading announcements, across the sector, were better than expected, with two earnings outlook upgrades to every downgrade, on our estimates....

02/07/25 February 7, 2025 1 EN
Paul Mylchreest
  • Paul Mylchreest

Hardman & Co Insight: Is silver the cheapest asset on the planet?

We’ve chosen a provocative title for this Insight piece, but it’s one we think is justified given the shortage of silver that we see emerging. This should translate into growing investor interest as silver’s attractive fundamentals become widely appreciated. In our opinion, they are currently not that well understood by most investors, both professional and retail. Why has silver’s long and illustrious history faded from people’s minds during the past century and why are more people not drawing...

05/07/24 May 7, 2024 1 EN
Paul Mylchreest
  • Paul Mylchreest

Hardman & Co Insight: Gold and a Chinese credit event

A western phenomenon? If you own, or are considering owning, gold or gold equities, it’s likely that you’re concerned about protecting your wealth, or the performance of your fund, in the expectation of some kind of financial instability. Maybe your confidence in policymakers is ebbing, or you’ve researched debt bubbles in history and concluded that physical gold and silver have been the safest places to be invested when they unwind. Maybe, you can’t put your finger on it. You don’t know where ...

09/18/23 September 18, 2023 1 EN
Martin Hall
  • Martin Hall
TRX Tissue Regenix ...
AVO Advanced Oncoth... ... (+5)

Hardman & Co Healthcare Index: 2020 – greater appreciation of science

The Hardman & Co Healthcare Index (HHI) has been running since 2009. Its main function is to highlight the attractions of life sciences investments over the long term. 2020 was an exceptional year, with the index rising 19.9% to 590.6, broadly in line with the FTSE AIM All-Share Index (+20.7%), but in complete contrast to the performances of the FTSE 100 (-14.3%) and FTSE All-Share (-12.5%) indices. A number of our life sciences companies really stepped up to meet the challenges posed by the COV...

TRX TISSUE REGENIX GROUP
AVO ADVANCED ONCOTHERAPY
STX SHIELD THERAPEUTICS
DNL DIURNAL GROUP
ARIX ARIX BIOSCIENCE
01/14/21 January 14, 2021 1 EN

UK Housebuilding Sector: Q1 2016 “Eat My Shorts, Man!”

​The Simpsons, as if you didn’t know, is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a satirical depiction of a working class lifestyle epitomised by the family members Homer, Marge, Bart (our hero), Lisa, and Maggie. The show is set in the fictional town of Springfield and parodies American culture, society, television and many aspects of the human condition. Since its debut on 17 December 1989, the series has broadcast 591 episodes over 27 ...

04/12/16 April 12, 2016 16 EN

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