This will delve a little deeper on individual companies and focus on non-house stocks under £200m market capitalisation to raise awareness


15th May 2026

Alphabetically arranged

Share prices and market capitalisations taken from Alpha Terminal from the current price on the day of publication.

Top three shareholders are taken from the websites of the companies that we are writing about, unless there is a more up to date TR-1 notification RNS announcement.

 

Increasing clients' operational efficiencies

PEN Systems Go
VNET  Re-order Faster

Pennant International Group (PLC) 20.00p £9.53m (PEN.L) 
Last Reported in Friday Takeaway 19 September 2025 at 22.00p



Financial Calendar:
Year End 31 December, reported 23 March 2026, Interims to 30 June, reported 16 September 2025

Three Main Shareholders:
Brett Gordon 19.21%, Rockwood Strategic plc 15.01%, CC Powell Concert Party 13.18%

Key Investment Points:
Critical Sector, Converting Pipeline, Recovery Underway


A new customer contract for an initial £1.0m was reported on 11 May this week to supply a virtual training simulator developed specifically for a UK manufacturer of air defence applications. The initial order for Training Systems covers the design, development and testing of the simulator. Pennant expects a series of production orders to follow to support the training requirements of soldiers in operational battlefield environments, providing additional follow-on revenue opportunities.

On 2 February, a further Training Systems order was won, worth £0.6m, to supply a client in the nuclear sector with a part task trainer to support technical training.  Pennant’s software solutions support training for complex assets to maximise operational and maintenance efficiency. Key markets include Aerospace, Defence and Rail, and adjacent safety-critical markets such as Shipping, Nuclear and Space. Clients are defence departments and major OEMs worldwide such as Siemens and Eva Air.

The finals reported on 23 March for FY to 31 December 2025 reported on a challenging year in which the Group’s Training Systems business was restructured. Revenues fell to £9.7m from £13.8m last year. 60% of these revenues are now recurring in nature. The EBITDA loss of £0.4m compares to a £1.7m profit in 2024, with an adjusted loss before tax of £1.9m against a £0.3m loss in 2024. However, net debt is £0.54m, down from £2.3m in the prior period after surplus land and buildings were sold for £3.2m. There is a £1m facility with HSBC.

After restructuring, Pennant is strategically focused on high margin software and services to generate sustainable recurring and repeatable revenues and profitability. The defence industry’s growing focus is on operational readiness, data standardisation and equipment availability alongside rising defence budgets and the burgeoning technological complexity of military, aviation and rail platforms. This climate should engender demand for these solutions.

Pennant’s order book has £23.3m of contract value for delivery across the next 3 years, including circa £10m already scheduled for delivery in FY26 which should return the Group to a net cash position and profit before tax. The Board’s confidence in the recovery seems endorsed by the recent granting of 1m of options with a first exercise price of 40p.

Hybridan Comment: Recent contract wins suggest the anticipated recovery is underway.





Vianet Group 64.00p £18.19m (VNET.L) 

Financial Calendar:
Year End 31 March, reported 10 June 2025, Interims to 30 September, reported 2 December 2025

Top Three Shareholders:
James Dickson (Chairman & CEO) 18.52%, Gresham House 17.90%, Dowgate Group Ltd 6.24%

Key Investment Points:
Recurring Income, Scalable Platform, New CEO

Founded in 1995 and AIM-quoted since 2006, Vianet is a UK-based technology Company that specialises in internet-enabled, cloud-based telemetric services, data analytics, and contactless payment solutions. They help businesses in the hospitality, vending, and unattended retail sectors boost performance by providing real-time insights, machine monitoring, and stock management. Vianet supports 40,000 retail machines and 10,000 hospitality venues to boosts the performance of its 300+ customers. Vianet's established technology solutions deliver customers clear value by its ease of use, operational insight and efficiency.

The finals for FY 31 March 2026 are to be reported on 9 June and the Trading Update of 29 April anticipates revenue to be £15.5m compared to £15.3m in the prior year as growth was held back by timing delays rather than loss of contracts. Customer investment is beginning to normalise and as these delayed deployments convert, revenue momentum will increase.

The Trading Update reported that the EBITDA would be marginally ahead at £3.61m. Around 88% of revenue, £13.6m, is recurring and the gross margin is 69%. Net cash has improved to £0.44m from net debt of £0.38m in the prior year. The dividend has been increased from the prior year by 85% to 2.4p and we calculate this would be a 3.75% yield. The business focus remains on ‘enterprise’ style long term contracts and building recurring income which improves revenue visibility.

The hospitality services division provides clients real time inventory control and sales data as a dashboard on a screen, helping the client control costs and increase sales. The Unattended Retail Solutions platform delivers remote asset management, contactless payment and actional data on restocking. The installed base is expanding through a combination of new contract wins and extensions with existing customers. In the US, some key customer agreements have been established and although in the early stages, there are significant opportunities for scalable growth.

A new CEO appointment will become effective on 31 May. Craig Brocklehurst is an internal promotion and has a strong commercial instinct, has been a central figure within the business for several years, accumulating deep operational knowledge and an intimate understanding of the Group's customers, markets, and technology. He has been at the heart of several of Vianet's most significant milestones including the expansion of its recurring revenue base, the development of the hospitality and unattended retail platforms, and the cultivation of key long-term customer relationships. His track record of delivery makes him the natural choice to drive the Group forward. He is tasked with delivering the next growth phase with sharper operational execution, deeper customer engagement, and the scaling of its technology platform alongside expansion into the US market.

Hybridan Comment: The new CEO seems likely to report on a strong start to FY 2026, which  we calculate on a EV/EBITDA of 4.2x is not priced in.
 


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