All three of these UK shares are at interesting places in their businesses at present. Deliveroo, of course, had a well-publicised initial public offering (IPO). Volex is in a promising sector, and Futura Medical may be at an inflection point.
Now all three have released updates. I think this is a good time to take a closer look at their performance.
Deliveroo expects growth slowdown
Deliveroo has delivered impressive growth in the past year, partly due to the lockdown. This continues into the first quarter of the year. Its orders have risen by 114% from the year before. Its gross transaction value (GTV), which is the total value paid by customers, net of discounts and discretionary tips, rose by 130%.
The challenge though, is that Deliveroo does not expect this growth to continue. It expects GTV growth to be between 30% and 40% for the year, unchanged from estimates mentioned in its prospectus.
While it is undeniable that this is a sharp come-off, even at the forecast levels, growth is still quite strong. The company delivers in 50 cities worldwide, which increases the scope of its future expansion too. While it has been in a weak place since it started trading, I reckon that as and when its issues get resolved, investors will look more positively at the UK share.
Volex gets a boost from electric vehicles
The power cord and cable assembly supplier, Volex, just reported a huge increase in demand from electric vehicles (EV) customers. It was an increase of 187% for the year ending 4 April, 2021.
As a percentage of total revenues, those from EV-related sales are still small at 12%, however. But going by the policy push for the segment and increased consumer interest as well, I reckon it can drive growth for the company going forward.
Volex has already seen a share price doubling in less than a year, though. And going by the price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio at 36 times, it is pricey too. But then again, in the current markets many stocks have become pricey. And I reckon this stock market rally will continue, which makes this UK share at least one to consider for me.
Futura Medical share price stays elevated
Pharmaceutical company Futura Medical recently saw a sharp upturn in share price. It was driven by approval from the US authorities to conduct clinical trials for its erectile dysfunction treatment. It has also recently come closer to receiving an approval from the EU for over-the-counter sale of the product.
The second approval would start generating revenues for Futura Medical, which so far has none. It has reported a narrowing of losses in its latest annual results though, as expenses fell.
There has been little share price movement for the stock since. It has fallen from the heights it suddenly rose to as approval from the US happened. But it is still way above the levels it was trading at before the news came in. I think this is a UK share to look out for, though I am not buying now.
