reports
- David O'Brien
Strix Group - deal completed, debt eradicated
Strix Group has completed the disposal of Billi, receiving net proceeds of £105m after costs and completion account adjustments. The bulk of the proceeds will be utilised in repaying the Group’s indebtedness (£68m as of November 2025) and initiating a £10m share buyback programme. The disposal of Billi and the receipt of the consideration transform the balance sheet, with net cash of c.£35m currently. The return of £10m via a share buyback programme is to commence shortly, with a further distri...
- Andy Hanson
Strix (KETL LN) - Billi divestment completes - Corporate
The disposal of Billi was completed as scheduled on the 30th of January. Zeus introduce new estimates for the on-going business excluding the contribution of Billi. FY26 estimates are complicated by the change to a March year end and the inclusion of 13 months of Billi. FY27, the first clean twelve month period post the year end change and the divestment, shows Revenue of £95m and £9.5m of operating profit. The balance sheet is transformed post deal and Zeus estimate the year end net cash positi...
- David O'Brien
Debt-Free Reset: Proposed sale of Billi
The proposed disposal of Billi, conditional on shareholder approval, is transformational for the Group. Ahead of any movement in capital allocation, net cash would amount to c£37m on the repayment of all indebtedness. The net consideration of £107m equates to 45p/share, representing a premium to the current share price. Accordingly, we estimate the retained operating business is currently trading on EV/Sales and EV/EBITDA multiples of less than 0.7x and 3x-4x, respectively. Strix Group has rece...
- Andy Hanson
Strix (KETL LN) - Sale of Billi for £110m - Corporate
Strix has this morning announced the proposed disposal of Billi for £110.0m, marking the conclusion of an exceptional investment for the group since acquisition in November 2022. Initially funded through a £13m equity placing and an amortising loan, which has now been repaid, the investment has generated a significant increase in value over the £38m acquisition price. Following the disposal, which remains contingent on shareholder approval, net cash proceeds of £107m are expected, subject to com...
- Hybridan Team
- Jon Levinson
Hybridan Small Cap Feast: 26 November 2025
26th November 2025 @HybridanLLP * A corporate client of Hybridan LLP. ** Potential means Intention to Float (ITF) or similar announcement has been made. ***Arranged by type of listing and date of announcement. ****Alphabetically arranged and priced on Share Price and Market Capitalisation during the time of writing on the day of Publication. Dish of the Day Admissions: None Delistings: None What’s baking in the oven? Potential*...
- Andy Hanson
Strix (KETL LN) - Controls trading remains challenging - Corporate
Billi and the Consumer division continue to trade well with the stabilisation seen in Controls during Q3 seeing early signs of improvement in Q4. However, weakness persists, and our forecasts carried an element of assumed recovery into next year. This leads us to reduce revenue for FY26 by 2% to £165.5m resulting in a reduction of 10% in PBT to £14.9m (prev. £16.5m). New numbers still assume a recovery builds through Q1, but the quantum is lower post the reduction in revenue. The reduction in FY...
- David O'Brien
Strix Group - Is change afoot?
The trading update for the six months to September covers three areas: trading, indebtedness and the Board. With Billi and Consumer goods performing to plan, the Controls division remains the outlier, reflecting a slower than hoped for recovery in its markets. We have reduced estimates as a result, with adj. PBT / EPS declining by 9.7%. With declining profitability, the net debt/EBITDA covenant ratio has risen to 2.5x, albeit this remains below the leverage ceiling, and the Group has introduced...
- Andy Hanson
- David O'Brien
Focus on cash generation
The combination of new product launches, a broadening of the distribution/service network and an increase in the proportion of contract manufacturing activity has resulted in rising growth levels at Billi and a return to top-line progress in Consumer Goods. However, the “cash cow” Controls division struggled because of the indirect impact of US tariffs on its Chinese OEM customers, who fulfilled orders from inventories and reduced production activity. This resulted in the Group’s top-and-bottom-...
- Andy Hanson
- Charlie Williams
Strix (KETL LN) - H1 results - Corporate
Billi and Consumer Goods showed good top line progress over the course of H1-25. Billi confirmed double digit growth has continued with revenue of +10.4%(ccy). The 7.0% top line growth reported for the Consumer division highlights the strategic process, which is particularly impressive considering the rationalisation of the product portfolio over the last 18 months. The Controls division has been negatively affected by macro developments, most notably the indirect impact of tariffs, as OEMs have...
- Hybridan Team
- Jon Levinson
Hybridan Small Cap Feast: 30/07/2025
30th July 2025 @HybridanLLP Status of this Note and Disclaimer This document has been provided as a general market commentary and is issued to you by Hybridan LLP for information purposes only and should not be construed in any circumstances as investment advice; a recommendation; an offer to sell; nor solicitation of any offer to buy any security or other financial instrument. Nor shall it, or the fact of its distribution, form the basis of, or be relied upon in connection with, any contract re...
- David O'Brien
Growth reported in key segments
New product launches, coupled with distribution and service agreements across a wider geographical footprint have resulted in growth in Billi and Consumer Goods. The latter was achieved despite rationalisation of costs and product lines during the last two years. Billi has continued its low double-digit yoy revenue growth in H1 25. The one area of the business with exposure to the US is Controls and, in line with other global engineering outfits, it witnessed order deferrals during Q2 following ...
- Andy Hanson
- Charlie Williams
Strix (KETL LN) - H1 trading update - Corporate
Post an encouraging Q1 the Controls division has been impacted by the indirect effect of tariffs. Direct sales into the US are important but not overly significant at c. 10% of divisional sales and the controls themselves do not carry a tariff, but the products they are in do. This led to volatility in the market as Chinese OEMs have waited for greater visibility. This has impacted volumes during Q2 and, whilst showing some stabilisation, remain lower yoy. Zeus assume some of the lost sales are ...
- David O'Brien
A marked reduction in debt
The preliminary results from Strix ticked several boxes, including a significant reduction in indebtedness, profitability ahead of upwardly revised estimates and a refocused Consumer Goods division. The strong momentum experienced during Q4 ’24 continued into Q1 ’25, albeit this slowed within Kettle Controls during Q2 and reflecting the macroeconomic uncertainty. That said, the Board’s guidance on profitability remains unchanged. In view of the uncertainty attached to global trade currently, we...
- Andy Hanson
Strix (KETL LN) - FY24 results - Corporate
Revenue of £144.0m (AER) is ahead of Zeus’ £140.0m estimate and profitability is in line with the guidance provided in November and confirmed in January. Net debt of £63.7m (excl. leases and accrued interest) equates to 1.87x EBITDA, in line with the stated aim of being below 2.0x by year end and is c. £3.1m better than our estimate. Trading in the final few weeks appears to have been marginally better than Zeus had expected across all three divisions, but Billi remains the standout performer ac...
- David O'Brien
A positive end to the year bodes well
In the latest trading update from Strix Group management has reported that it remains comfortably within the previous guidance for FY24 of £18m-£19m at constant exchange rates (CER) and ahead of consensus estimates. December proved better than initially anticipated, which followed a challenging period from the start of Q3, particularly in its higher margin regulated kettle control markets in the UK and Germany. Q4 benefitted from a combination of product launches / new contracts within all three...
- Andy Hanson
- Charlie Williams
Strix (KETL LN) - Strong finish to FY24; good cash management puts lev...
Strix’s FY24 trading update (Dec Y/E) has indicated full year adj. PBT will be ahead of previously revised market expectations of £17.6m (Zeus: £17.5m), and, importantly, year-end leverage will be below 2.0x, a key threshold for the Group’s interest rate mechanism. Against a challenging economic backdrop, Strix had a stronger than expected finish to the year, particularly within its key Regulated markets, alongside Billi returning to double digit growth in Q4 2024. Today’s statement should provi...
Hybridan Small Cap Feast - 27 November 2024
Status of this Note and Disclaimer This document has been provided as a general market commentary and is issued to you by Hybridan LLP for information purposes only and should not be construed in any circumstances as investment advice; a recommendation; an offer to sell; nor solicitation of any offer to buy any security or other financial instrument. Nor shall it, or the fact of its distribution, form the basis of, or be relied upon in connection with, any contract relating to such action. The i...
- David O'Brien
Recent trading proves challenging
At the time of the interim results in September it was clear that Q3 trading had proven volatile. Unfortunately, this has continued into Q4, with the greatest weakness witnessed in the highest margin areas, compounding the impact of operational gearing. Should the share price decline further as this trading update is digested and test new lows, we feel this presents a strong medium-term opportunity. One should bear in mind that the Group owns one global brand and two premium regional brands (wit...
- Andy Hanson
Strix (KETL LN) - Weak operating environment in H2 - Corporate
Strix has released an update indicating that trading has remained weak since it announced its interim results (18 September). The weakness is focused on Regulated markets, and we note recent deterioration in macro data from the UK and particularly Germany, two of Strix’s most important and profitable end markets. Billi continues to maintain a strong market position and should achieve the double-digit growth run rate for Q4 FY24. Consumer Goods division is expected to be flat yoy in H2 which woul...
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