NEX EXCHANGE
Kryptonite 1 (KR1) has invested $100,000 in the initial coin offering of the Omisego project, which is being developed to enable decentralised payments and remittances, acquiring 365,199 tokens. A further $200,000 has been invested in a similar offering by the Insurex platform, a marketplace for insurance products, and $100,000 invested in tokens in the Agrello project, which is building an artificial intelligence-based interface for smart contracts.
Good Energy (GOOD) has agreed with Ecotricity that there should be a short deferral of the latter’s general meeting requisition. Good Energy still believes that “any nominee remunerated by Ecotricity” that joined the board would not act independently because of a conflict of interest. An appeal for planning permission for the Big Field onshore wind farm in Cornwall. Good Energy has switched its nominated adviser and broker from Arden to Investec.
e-commerce technology provider Netalogue Technologies (NTLP) says that strong second half trading made up for a weak first half. In the year to March 2017, revenues slipped from £1.12m to £1.04m and made a loss before restructuring coats of £11,000 compared with a pre-tax profit of £70,000 the previous year. This does mean that the second half profit was £221,000. Cash in the bank increased from £549,000 to £614,000, mainly due to lower debtors. There was a net increase in intangible assets of £67,000. New clients include AIM-quoted Conviviality, Enterprise Inns and Marstons. The full benefits of management changes and improved marketing are still to show through in the figures.
Ecovista (EVTP) has sold its subsidiary that owns 2 Willow Cottage and adjoining land near to Stanstead Airport for its book value of £400,000. However, the original cost of the investment was £500,000 and management was hoping to gain planning permission for car storage. It is unclear whether the former subsidiary still owns the same assets or whether any have been transferred elsewhere. The cash will be reinvested in other property.
V22 (V22O) has received planning permission for Silvertown Studios at the Royal Docks in London. V22 owns 51% of the company developing the studios, along with the landowners the Greater London Authority and The Silvertown Partnership, and a private investor owns the rest. There will be up to 200 workspaces and exhibition spaces. This development is part of £3.5bn Silvertown regeneration project.
Online games company Ganapati (GANP) has agreed a debt for equity swap with major Japanese shareholders. Shares will be issued at 52p each and £610,000 of debt will be capitalised. The current share price is 55p (45p/65p).
AIM
Morning sickness treatment Diclectin has not gained marketing authorisation from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Authority in the UK, which is a blow to the strategy of Alliance Pharma (APH). The effectiveness of Diclectin is being questioned in Canada, where around 50% of pregnant women are prescribed the drug, and it is claimed that there are flaws in the original study of the treatment from four decades ago. In 2015, Alliance in-licenced Diclectin for the UK, and subsequently nine other countries, for £1.5m. Alliance hoped to begin sales in the UK by the end of the year and it was estimated that the potential annual revenues in all the in-licenced markets were £40m.
Fiserv has postponed the court meeting for its 2.9p a share bid for mobile banking technology developer Monitise (MONI) because some substantial shareholders have been unhappy about the level of the bid. The Monitise board still recommends the bid, which values the company at £70m. Full year revenues have fallen from £67.6m to £50.9m and the trend is set to continue. The new FINkit platform has yet to secure a contract.
Mortice Ltd (MORT) reported full year revenues 37% higher at $181m and more than trebled pre-tax profit of $5.35m. Net debt was $13.5m at the end of March 2017. Facilities management services grew revenues the fastest and it moved into profit but security revenues also grew strongly. Around three-fifths of the growth in revenues came through acquisitions but there was significant organic growth particularly in the core Indian business.
Minds + Machines Group (MMX) says that renewal rates for .vip have been 75%. There were 317,000 renewals and new registrations have risen by 49% since the beginning of the year. The .vip suffix accounted for 59% of 2016 gross billings and finnCap estimates that renewal revenues could be $6.1m this year. There will be more news about the strategic review with the interims in September.
ANGLE (AGL) says that there were positive results from a 400 patient ovarian cancer study using the Parsortix liquid biopsy technology and a breast cancer clinical study should report in the first half of next year. There are also pilot studies for other cancers. Any single cancer could provide a significant market for the Parsortix diagnostic technology. Sales for research use are taking time to build up but revenues did improve from £361,000 to £398,000. At the end of April 2017, there was £5.5m in the bank with more than £1m of R&D tax credits due to be received. That cash could last one year but this will depend on how quickly the research revenues grow and if there are any potential deals.
Crop enhancement technology developer Plant Impact (PIM) is raising £4m at 31p a share, which was a 6% premium to the market price. This will more than double the existing cash balance of £3.2m. The cash will be spent on R&D and product development.
Gear4music (G4M) says trading is in line with expectations. The musical instruments retailer expects second half weighted revenues this year. First half revenue growth will be modest but full revenue growth of 42% is anticipated. Investment in new European distribution centres will increase costs, including depreciation, and this is forecast to lead to a decline in full year pre-tax profit from £2.7m to £2.4m this year, before increasing to £3.3m the following year.
Quartix Holdings (QTX) reported flat interim revenues of £11.5m and pre-tax profit of £3.4m. The interim dividend of the telematics business has been increased by 9% to 2.4p a share and a special dividend is expected later in the year. Insurance business has recovered so full year revenues could be slightly higher, while pre-tax profit could be flat at £6.7m.
Conroy Gold & Natural Resources (CGNR) is holding a requisitioned general meeting in Dublin on 4 August. Patrick O’Sullivan, who owns 28% of Conroy, wants to remove six directors: Seamus FitzPatrick, James Jones, Dr Sorca Conroy, Louis Maguire, Michael Power and David Wathen and replace them with Patrick O’Sullivan, Paul Johnson and Gervaise Heddle. The three directors not affected by the requisition are Professor Richard Conroy, Maureen Jones and Professor Garth Earls. The indicated resources at Clontibret in Monaghan have been increased by 23% to 310,000 ounces of gold.
Interactive entertainment company Tencent has taken invested £17.7m in Frontier Developments (FDEV) and it is expected to promote games developed by the AIM company. The 9% stake was acquired at 523.2p a share.
MAIN MARKET
Specialist smaller companies-focused investment trust Athelney Trust (ATY) increased its NAV by 7% to 268.7p a share by the end of the first half of 2017. This is after the payment of a final dividend of 8.6p a share. Athelney nearly doubled its money on Lavendon when it was taken over and it has also sold its stakes in Beazley, Hiscox and Novae. New investments include The PRS REIT, Murgitroyd, Safecharge, Hostelworld, Ibstock, Crest Nicholson and Debenhams. According to the company the uncertainty in the country and the economy means that: “A sensible aim would be to try to hang onto the gains made in the first half”.
Senterra Energy (SEN) is being readmitted to the standard list on 31 July as United Oil & Gas (UOG) following the acquisition of UOG Holdings.
Biodecontamination services provider Bioquell (BQE) says that its full year profit will be better than expectations. Bioquell increased its interim revenues by 19% to £14.3m and pre-tax profit more than trebled to £1.4m. Net cash was £11.8m at the end of June 2017, compared with a market value of just over £46m at 199.5p a share.
Sealand Capital Galaxy Ltd (SCGL) has signed a memorandum of understanding to acquire at least 51% of China-based mobile games developer Rightyoo. The acquisition discussions are still at an early stage and the deal has to be approved by the Chinese authorities. Rightyoo has an agreement with communications technology firm Huawei to help it to distribute its games. Management believes that the deal will help to add traffic to Sealand’s social networking platforms.
Andrew Hore