The Lab IPO opens July 17

The Limners and Bards (The Lab) will be offering 189,138,050 ordinary shares at the subscription price of $1 each to the public and preferred applicants with only 50 million units of the amount earmarked for the general public.
The stock comes to the market with a PE of 10 times 2018 earnings on a pretax basis and about 8.3 times 2019 estimated earnings, if it is assumed that the increased profit in the first quarter of 2019, continues for the rest of the year. These PE are below the average of the market and is suggesting a bounce when listed.
Profit of $76.5 million was made in the year to October 2018 from revenues of $483 million reflecting a major improvement over a small loss in 2017 of $2 million from revenues of $291 million.
Unfortunately, the company has only reported interim figures, to January. With more than 6 months having elapsed since, there are no guidance on what has happened since and can be expected going forward. There are no forecasted earnings, even with fresh capital injection expected. Investors should not have to do wild guesses as to what the future may hold when management is in a far better position to guide them.
For the first quarter this year, revenues climbed 52 percent to $189 million from $124 million in 2018 while profit before tax grew just 16 percent to $42 million for earnings per share of 5.5 cents. Without any historical quarterly information or guidance of likely earnings, it is impossible to say what the out turn will be for the rest of the year. The 2018 fiscal year numbers, suggest that there are seasonality in its operations as the profit for the full 2018 year is just a little over twice the amount earned in the 2018 first quarter, even as revenues for the full year were 4 times that earned in the 2018 first quarter.
The offer opens July 17 and is scheduled close on July 31. Funds raised will be used for expansion and to finance a targeted acquisition. IC Insider.com will post a fuller report at a later date.