NEX EXCHANGE
Formation Group (FRM) has been repaid its £5m loan for a development in Wembley and it retains a 40% share of the profit of the development. This cash has been used to invest in acquired a 3.44% stake in Proton Partners International, which has an operational proton beam therapy centre in South Wales with two more sites planned. A treatment unit in Abu Dhabi is expected to be launched in 2019.
Capital for Colleagues (CFCP) has loaned £600,000 to TG Engineering, which supplies steel and aluminium components to the aerospace and scientific sectors. The Dorset-based company will be 35%-owned by Capital for Colleagues and 20%-owned by the employee share ownership trust. The rest of the shares will be owned by the original founders and management.
IMC Exploration (IMCP) intends to focus on its main projects in Ireland. The interim loss was reduced from £99,000 to £75,000. There was net debt of £35,000 at the end of 2017.
Block Commodities (BLOC) has agreed to acquire a 21% stake South African fertiliser and plant products wholesaler VIPA Holdings. Block is paying £150,000 for new shares and acquiring £610,000 worth of existing shares in return for 748.5 million Block shares. VIPA is loss-making following the withdrawal of a major international trading partner. The ongoing focus will be fertiliser and the investment in Advanced Agricultural Holdings will be unwound with the 221.6 million shares issued as initial consideration returned to the company.
Primorus Investments (PRIM) has invested £500,000, at £22 a share, in Engage Technology Partners. This follows an initial subscription of £400,000 at £15 a share. Primorus owns 3.6% of Engage, which builds SaaS-based employee workflow software.
Hellenic Capital (HECP) had £272 in the bank at the end of 2017, but since then £179,000 has been raised at 0.5p a share. There was £120,000 generated from operations in 2017 but that was due to a £143,000 increase in creditors. An investment property in Leeds is in the books at £204,000, while the NAV was £58,000 at the end of 2017. The property is being sold for £235,000 and a £5,000 non-refundable deposit has been paid.
Globe Capital Ltd (GCAP) has raised £500,000 via subscription at 0.75p a share. The cash will finance a new office in Dubai. Valiant Investments (VALP) has raised £51,000 at 0.15p a share. The 84.7%-owned Flamethrower has acquired National-Preservation.com, which focuses on British railway heritage, and has nearly 10,000 registered users. Equatorial Mining and Exploration (EM.P) has raised £40,000 from an issue of 5% unsecured irredeemable convertible loan notes and a further £10,000 could come from the exercise of warrants. Via Developments (VIA1) has raised a further £590,000 from a debenture issue, taking the total raised to nearly £6m. The accounting reference date is being changed from March to September.
In 2017, Walls and Futures REIT (WAFR) achieved a total return on its portfolio of 11.5%, ahead of its benchmark total return of 7%.
DHAIS (DHAP) is leaving NEX on 18 April, nearly ten years after joining the market. The business is being streamlined and the focus is organic growth of the hearing aid operations. Shareholders owning 78.9% of DHAIS agree to the withdrawal so the company does not have to hold a general meeting.
AIM
Diurnal Group (DNL) is raising up to £11m at 190p a share in order to finance the launch of the Alkindi hormonal disease treatment for children in Europe and complete the development of Chronocourt in Europe and start a phase III study in the US. IP Group is converting its loan into shares.
Shares in VR Education (VRE) immediately went to a premium when trading commenced. It raised £6m at 10p a share and the share price ended the week at 12.25p. More than two million shares were traded during the week.
1Spatial (SPA) has sold Enables IT back to the founder for £1, while retaining a 19.9% stake. 1Spatial has also injected £150,000 into the business and loaned a further £85,000. The group will be able to focus on its geospatial data operations, which are performing better than expected. 1Spatial is on course to approach breakeven in the year to January 2019.
Marshall Motor Holdings (MMH) is outperforming new and used car markets, although like-for-like sales are still lower. Profit is expected to decline this year but Marshall should be able to continue its progressive dividend policy. There is a significant capex programme but the sale of the leasing business means that net debt is £2.2m.
Pennant International Group (PEN) already has nearly all of the £20.5m revenues forecast for 2018 covered by orders. Pre-tax profit is forecast to improve from £2.1m to £3.5m.
Amryt (AMYT) says that sales of Lojuxta were higher than expected last year. The figure was €11.9m, against the forecast €10.5m. There is still €20.5m in the bank.
Futura Medical (FUM) announced positive pharmacokinetic results for higher doses of the MED2002 erectile dysfunction treatment. This will enable US phase III trials to start later this year. There is £8.36m in cash plus tax credits due.
TechFinancials Inc (TECH) says that Cedex Holdings, where it could acquire a majority interest, has launched its token pre-sale event. One Ethereum (equivalent to £437) will equal 900 CEDEX coins. The blockchain-based online diamonds exchange says that there is strong pre-sale demand.
Genedrive (GDR) has started to sell its Genedrive HCV ID kit in the EMEA region. Sales in Asia Pacific should start in the next few weeks.
Consumer security software provider Kape Technologies (KAPE) improved its pre-tax profit from $4.8m to $6.7m. There is net cash of $69.5m. A 2018 profit of $8.3m is forecast.
Trevor Brown gas cut his stake in Feedback (FDBK) from 11.5% to 9.75%. Lindsay Melvin has taken on the role of finance director.
MAIN MARKET
Advanced foams supplier Zotefoams (ZTF) continues to benefit from investment in capacity and there is more to come. There was growth from all divisions and a good spread of revenues from different sectors. In 2017, revenues were 22% higher at £70.2m, while underlying earnings per share were 14% ahead at 16.6p. The dividend is 3% higher at 5.93p a share. The partnership with Nike to develop footwear technology and supply materials is yet to make a significant contribution.
BATM Advanced Communications (BVC) returned to profit last year and both its telecoms and biomedical divisions have good growth prospects. There is $24m in cash in the bank.
Sportech (SPO) has ended its formal sales process because no suitable offers were received. Trading has been poor and there will be asset write-offs in the 2017 figures. Andrew Gaughan has been appointed as chief executive.
Flying Brands Ltd (FBDU) has acquired Imaging Biometrics for $68,134 in cash and 11 million shares at 4p each, plus $75,000 to cover debt obligations. The final 6.2 million of these shares will be paid by the end of September 2018. The Wisconsin-based company has been managing the CE marking and FDA clearance process for Flying Brands’ StoneChecker visualisation software, as well as commercialising perfusion software IB Neuro, which provides additional information about tumours.
World Trade Systems (WTS) has submitted its application to the International Stock Exchange.
Hemogenyx Pharma (HEMO) announced a collaboration that will generate $250,000 for the blood stem cell-based treatments developer. The partner is a US-based leader in the field of blood cancer treatment and the deal involves the development of a type of humanised mice.
Andrew Hore