Chancellor Rishi Sunak s Budget was clear – when it comes to business, the Government wants to support enterprising, innovative companies that can help make the UK a force to be reckoned with in the 2020s and beyond.
1Spatial is just such a business. Spun out of Cambridge University more than 40 years ago, 1Spatial has pioneered sophisticated software that allows public and private sector customers to create detailed digital maps at local, regional and national level.
The shares are 35p and should increase materially as chief executive Claire Milverton rolls out her strategy for growth.
On target: 1Spatial s mapping software helps California firefighters, who last year faced record-breaking blazes
Midas recommended CentralNic in 2017, when the shares were 52p. Last week, the stock closed at 81p after boss Ben Crawford unveiled a 121 per cent surge in sales.
Based in Northwich, Cheshire, Dechra s products are available in more than 70 countries and last week, longstanding chief executive Ian Page posted upbeat half-year results to December 31, including an 8 per cent increase in the dividend to 11.11p.
For the full year, brokers forecast a 12 per cent increase in sales to £576 million, with profits up 18 per cent to £137 million and a dividend of 37.7p, compared with 34.3p last year.
MIDAS VERDICT: Midas first recommended Dechra in 2008, when the shares were £3.97. Today, they are £34.30, so they have risen more than eightfold in the past 13 years and dividends have risen every year too.
Longstanding shareholders may feel the time is right to sell a chunk of stock and bank profits but they should retain at least a quarter of their shares. The pet market is booming. Dechra is a well-run business and prospects are sound.
EuroBox is a respected player in a fast-growing market. The share offer, at £1.03, looks attractive, particularly as the company is committed to long-term dividend
growth.
For investors, this presents a number of opportunities. Some companies are helping people to manage conditions associated with being overweight.
Some are developing ingredients that actively encourage healthy eating or weight loss. Some are making it simple and easy to exercise more. And some are focusing on plus-size customers so they can wear clothes that both look good and feel good.
Several of these firms offer long-term growth potential, as governments, medics and individuals wage the battle of the bulge.
N BROWN - Larger clothes retailer
Look at virtually any clothing group and they will offer options for the more rounded consumer. Invariably however, these are the same garments as those on sale to skinnier customers, only larger.