But the shares took a tumble today, dropping 18% by the time of writing, to 4.05p, caused by a 27% fall in revenue for the six months to December 2015. That was, we were told, due to the deferment of some orders combined with increasing project lead time. The deferments were known in October, so might the price fall be a bit of an over-reaction?

Well, there was an increased net loss, of A$1.3m, and the firm reported cash reserves of just A$0.9m — although a new patent licence agreed after the end of the period should bring CAP-XX an up-front payment of at least A$2.4m. There are no forecasts for profits yet — in fact, there are no forecasts at all —  so it’s hard to quantify. A big risk or a company with great potential? Possibly both.

Pretty skin

We also had interim results from Sinclair Pharma (LSE: SPH) today. They were greeted with a little more enthusiasm and the share price gained 3.4% to 34.6p as a result. Sinclair, which specialises in aesthetic dermatology (skin lifiting, collagen stimulation, and things like that), reported a loss of £14.1m for the period, up from £10.7m, with a 2.8p loss per share compared to 2.1p a year previously.

That came from an expected fall in sales to £7.7m, from £10.5m, attributed to “planned distributor de-stocking“. But the third quarter is expected to bring revenue in excess of £8m, and along with an amendment to the payment terms for Sinclair’s acquisition of AQTIS Medical BV, that pleased the markets. The disposal of Sinclair’s non-aesthetics brought in £132m, enabling it to clear all debt and leaving net cash of £75.4m at 31 December.

With losses expected to continue for at least the next two years, making any valuation of the company pretty difficult, it’s a big risk — but it could be one worth taking.

A great start

Since flotation in February 2014, shares in Manx Telecom (LSE: MANX) have put on 34% to reach 215p. And on top of that, the company paid out a 5.6% dividend for 2014, and has just announced a 5% rise in its 2015 dividend to 10.4p — yielding 4.8% on today’s elevated share price.

Revenues were pretty flat for the year, but underlying pre-tax profit gained 27.9% with underlying EPS up 19.4%, and the company recorded strong operational cash flow of £25.4m. How does it do so well? Having a monopoly on fixed-line communications in the Isle of Man certainly helps (and the firm has just renewed its government contract for another five years), and it also has about three quarters of the island’s mobile business.

With 4G rollouts continuing (after helping boost mobile revenues by 9.3% in 2015), forecasts suggest more of the same over the next couple of years, with the firm’s progressive dividend policy set to boost the annual cash handout by 5% per year.

The post Should You Buy Cap-XX Limited, Sinclair Pharma PLC And Manx Telecom PLC After Today’s Results? appeared first on The Twelfth Magpie.

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Alan Oscroft has no position in any shares mentioned. The Motley Fool UK has no position in any of the shares mentioned. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors.

I’ll start with Prudential (LSE: PRU), which is down 19% over the past 12 months to 1,313p, and up just a fraction from its 12-month low just a few days ago. Prudential is aptly named, and it’s pretty much a byword for a conservatively well-managed company. It was never stretched, and sailed through the financial crisis practically without even noticing it.

And now its shares can be picked up on a P/E multiple of 12 based on expected earnings for the year just ended, dropping to 11 on December 2016 forecasts. The forecast dividend yield for 2016 is up to 3.4%. That’s not the highest in the sector, but in accordance with the Pru’s approach it would be around 2.7 times covered by earnings.

The third quarter was very solid again, with new business profit up 13% after strong growth in UK and Asian business, leading chief executive Mike Wells to speak of optimism, even in the long-term outlook for Asia. To me, Prudential looks like one of those investments where you surely can’t lose.

Cheap bank

I’ve not been much of a fan of Royal Bank of Scotland (LSE: RBS) since the post-crash recovery started, largely because it’s been the slowest to get its act back together. But with the dreadful start to 2016 helping push the bank’s shares down 32% in 12 months to 249p, taking in a new 52-week low just a few days ago, even I can’t ignore it.

The bank came through the 2015 Bank of England stress tests reasonably comfortably, and is poised to report its first proper profit for years when 2015 results are revealed — due on 26 February. The latest estimates, which surely can’t be far out at this stage, would suggest a P/E of 10.4, which looks cheap.

Dividends should be back in the coming year, and though there’s only a modest 0.4% yield forecast, 2017 should see that being hiked significantly. On its own fundamentals, RBS looks a decent investment to me — but I’d still steer clear of it while I’m seeing better bargains in the shape of Lloyds and Barclays.

Picks and shovels

Volex (LSE: VLX), the maker of a multitude of cabling and interconnect products, was something of a late September dog when a profit warning caused the share price to tumble, contributing to a 47% fall from July’s peak to today’s 44.5p.

But we had a management restructuring in December, and the City bods are predicting a more-than-doubling in EPS for the year to March 2016, which would give us a P/E of only around 11 — and a further 50% EPS rise penciled in for 2017 would drop that as low as 7.5, which looks super cheap to me, despite the absence of dividends.

In these bearish times people are usually looking for safety, but we mustn’t forget that there are still smaller cap growth opportunities out there, and Volex looks like a promising candidate to me.

The post 3 Unmissable Bear Market Bargains: Prudential plc, Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc, Volex PLC? appeared first on The Twelfth Magpie.

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Alan Oscroft owns shares in Lloyds Banking Group. The Motley Fool UK has recommended Barclays. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors.