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Salt Lake Potash #SO4 & Australian Potash ASX: #APC to Study Benefits of Cost Sharing at Lake Wells
Salt Lake Potash#SO4 & Australian Potash ASX: #APC to Study Benefits of Cost Sharing at Lake Wells
Highlights:
- Salt Lake Potash Limited (ASX/AIM: SO4) and Australian Potash Limited (ASX: APC) have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding and Co-operation Agreement to study the potentially very substantial benefits of sharing infrastructure and other costs at Lake Wells
- The Companies will conduct a joint study into the merits of developing aspects of their respective Lake Wells projects together (the ‘Study’)
- The Study will initially focus on a shared costs model around infrastructure developments
- The Study will also address at a high-level the potential for cost sharing on common evaporation and salt processing developments
- Both Companies’ projects at Lake Wells will proceed independently in parallel with the Study with no impact on either Company’s timelines
Salt Lake Potash Limited (ASX/AIM: SO4) and Australian Potash Limited (ASX: APC) are pleased to advise that the Companies have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding and Co-operation Agreement to undertake a joint study of the potential benefits of development cost sharing for each Company’s project developments at Lake Wells.
The Companies’ substantial project holdings at Lake Wells are contiguous with many common infrastructure elements, including access roads, proximity to the Leonora rail terminals, and potential power and fresh water solutions. Both Companies anticipate substantial potential Capex and Opex benefits from some level of infrastructure sharing, with further potential benefits arising from shared or common evaporation and salt processing facilities.
A paleochannel extending in excess of 140 kilometres traverses the Companies combined tenement holding over Lake Wells. Recently both APC and SO4 have been granted initial Mining Leases over their respective projects at Lake Wells.
APC’s scoping study released in March 2017 indicated a staged development producing 150,000 tpa rising to 300,000 tpai of premium grade Sulphate of Potash (SOP) from its stand-alone development. APC has a 2012 JORC Mineral Resource Estimate (calculated from drainable porosity) of 14.7 Mti of SOP (derived from a total of 72 Mt contained in total porosity).
SO4’s scoping study released in August 2016 indicated a staged development producing 200,000 tpa rising to 400,000 tpa on a fully ramped basis. SO4 has reported a total JORC Mineral Resource at Lake Wells of 80-85 Mt of SOP (Stored Resource).
Logistics and Infrastructure
Each Company’s project is based on heavy haulage road transport from Lake Wells to the rail head at either Malcolm (280kms) or Leonora (300kms), utilising the same haulage route. There is compelling logic in pursuing the economies of scale inherent in a (larger) shared solution as well as sharing the capital costs for road upgrades, haulage equipment and other transport and handling facilities. There is similar synergy potential in shared power, air transport, accommodation and process water costs.
Both projects have very similar brine chemistry given they are essentially hosted on the same paleochannel. Naturally they will also experience the same climatic conditions, meaning the process flowsheets for each project should be very similar. This offers the opportunity for potential additional savings by a co-operative arrangement extending to evaporation and salt processing facilities.
The Companies have agreed to constitute a joint study team to carry out an initial assessment of the merits of infrastructure cooperation. The team will also conduct a high-level review of potential benefits of upstream operational synergies. A substantial part of the Study work will be outsourced to independent engineers and both Companies intend to continue with their independent project developments in parallel with the Study.
Follow Salt Lake Potash on Twitter @LakePotash
For further information please visit www.saltlakepotash.com.au or contact:
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Matt Syme/Clint McGhie |
Salt Lake Potash Limited |
Tel: +61 8 9322 6322 |
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Jo Battershill |
Salt Lake Potash Limited |
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7478 3900 |
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Colin Aaronson/Richard Tonthat/Ben Roberts |
Grant Thornton UK LLP (Nominated Adviser) |
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7383 5100 |
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Derrick Lee/Beth McKiernan |
Cenkos Securities plc (Joint Broker) |
Tel: +44 (0) 131 220 6939 |
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Jerry Keen/Toby Gibbs
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Shore Capital (Joint broker) |
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7468 7967
|
Competent Person Statements
The information in this Announcement that relates to APC’s Exploration Targets and Mineral Resources is based on information that was compiled by Mr Duncan Gareth Storey. Mr Storey is a Director and Consulting Hydrogeologist with AQ2, a firm that provides consulting services to the Company. Neither Mr Storey nor AQ2 own either directly or indirectly any securities in the issued capital of the Company. Mr Storey has 30 years of international experience. He is a Chartered Geologist with, and Fellow of, the Geological Society of London (a Recognised Professional Organisation under the JORC Code 2012). My Storey has experience in the assessment and development of paleochannel aquifers, including the development of hypersaline brines in Western Australia. His experience and expertise are such that he qualifies as a Competent Person as defined in the 2012 edition of the “Australian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore reserves”. Mr Storey consents to the inclusion in this report of the matters based on this information in the form and context as it appears.
The information in this Announcement that relates to Salt Lake Potash Limited’s Mineral Resources is extracted from the reports entitled ‘Lake Wells Resource Increased by 193% to 85Mt of SOP’ dated 22 February 2016 and ‘Significant Maiden SOP Resource of 29Mt at Lake Wells’ dated 11 November 2015. These announcements are available to view on www.saltlakepotash.com.au. The information in the original ASX Announcements that related to Mineral Resources was based on, and fairly represents, information compiled by Mr Ben Jeuken, who is a member Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and a member of the International Association of Hydrogeologists. Mr Jeuken is employed by Groundwater Science Pty Ltd, an independent consulting company. Mr Jeuken has sufficient experience, which is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity, which he is undertaking to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2012 Edition of the ‘Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves’. Salt Lake Potash Limited confirms that it is not aware of any new information or data that materially affects the information included in the original market announcement and, in the case of estimates of Mineral Resources, that all material assumptions and technical parameters underpinning the estimates in the relevant market announcement continue to apply and have not materially changed. Salt Lake Potash Limited confirms that the form and context in which the Competent Person’s findings are presented have not been materially modified from the original market announcement.
The information in this Announcement that relates to Salt Lake Potash Limited’s Lake Wells Scoping Study is extracted from the report entitled ‘Scoping Study Confirms Potential Confirms Lake Wells Potential’ dated 29 August 2016. The Announcement is available to view on www.saltlakepotash.com.au. The information in the original announcement that relates to processing, infrastructure and cost estimation are based on and fairly represents information compiled or reviewed by Mr Zeyad El-Ansary, who is a Competent Person as a member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. Mr Zeyad El-Ansary has 9 years’ experience relevant to the activities undertaken for preparation of these report sections and is a employed by Amec Foster Wheeler. Mr Zeyad El-Ansary consents to the inclusion in the report/press release of the matters based on their information in the form and context in which it appears. Salt Lake Potash Limited confirms that it is not aware of any new information or data that materially affects the information included in the original market announcement. Salt Lake Potash Limited confirms that the form and context in which the Competent Person’s findings are presented have not been materially modified from the original market announcement.
Production Target
Australian Potash Limited’s Lake Wells SOP Project’s Production Target, as stated in this Announcement is based on the it’s Scoping Study as released in the ASX announcement of 23 March 2017 ‘Scoping Study Confirms Exceptional Economics of APC’s 100% Owned Lake Wells Potash Project In WA’. That announcement contains the relevant statements, data and consents referred to in this announcement. Apart from that which is disclosed in this document, Australian Potash Limited, its directors, officers and agents: 1. Are not aware of any new information that materially affects the information contained in the 23 March 2017 announcement, and 2. State that the material assumptions and technical parameters underpinning the estimates in the 23 March 2017 announcement continue to apply and have not materially changed.
Salt Lake Potash Limited’s Lake Wells Production Target stated in this Announcement is based on it’s Scoping Study as released to the ASX on 29 August 2016. The information in relation to the Production Target that Salt Lake Potash Limited is required to include in a public report in accordance with ASX Listing Rule 5.16 and 5.17 was included in its ASX Announcement released on 29 August 2016. Salt Lake Potash Limited confirms that the material assumptions underpinning the Production Target referenced in the 29 August 2016 release continue to apply and have not materially changed.
Note
i Refer to ASX announcement 23 March 2017 ‘Scoping Study Confirms Exceptional Economics of APC’s 100% Owned Lake Wells Potash Project In WA’. That announcement contains the relevant statements, data and consents referred to in this announcement. Apart from that which is disclosed in this document, Australian Potash Limited, its directors, officers and agents: 1. Are not aware of any new information that materially affects the information contained in the 23 March 2017 announcement, and 2. State that the material assumptions and technical parameters underpinning the estimates in the 23 March 2017 announcement continue to apply and have not materially changed.
The Companies will conduct a joint study into the merits of developing aspects of their respective Lake Wells projects together (the ‘Study’) The Study will initially focus on a shared costs model around infrastructure developments
Andrew Hore – Quoted Micro 30 July 2018
NEX EXCHANGE
Milamber Ventures (MLVP) has signed heads of terms for the acquisition of health and social care training provider Orchard Rock. Milamber will pay up to £1.9m in cash and shares. If the deal goes ahead then there will be an initial cash payment of £800,000. A further £200,000 is payable when the management handover is completed and up to £900,000 is payable in shares depending on EBITDA. In the year to April 2018, Orchard Rock achieved revenues of £980,000 and EBITDA of £374,000. The deal includes a 15% stake in digital learning business YourHippo in return for £100,000 in shares. At the AGM, shareholders voted through the authorities required for equity and debt funding for the Orchard Rock deal. Two new private investors have acquired 166,668 shares at 9p each.
Smart home products supplier Sandal (SAND) says that its smart home products revenues exceeded £1m in the year to May 2018. This growth did not quite offset the fall in the PowerConnections division due to destocking. Two product ranges have been discontinued at a stock write-off cost of £72,000. According to Equity Development, MiHome revenues could almost double this year and they would represent most of the growth in group revenues and help Sandal to move into profit. In 2019-20, MiHome should be generating the majority of group revenues.
Peru-based VI Mining (VIM) is acquiring the Cushuro gold project for $27.5m in (5.75 million) shares from Karmin Exploration. Karmin has restrictions on selling shares until 2 March 2020. Cushuro is in the same region as the existing two silver and gold projects.
MetalNRG (MNRG) is acquiring the Gold Ridge project in Arizona, which includes three mines that were previously producing gold. MetalNRG will pay $700,000 in cash and shares to Winston Gold Corporation.
South Africa-based social impact investor Inqo Investments Ltd (INQO) had R2.9m in cash at the end of February 2018. There are also loans of R784,000 to offset against that. Full year revenues increased from R17m to R23m, but the lack of other income meant that Inqo has fallen back into loss. The Kazuko game reserve is achieving better room rates and higher occupancy, helped by the weak Rand. Honey producer Bee Sweet Honey generated revenues from the May 2017 harvest but not from the November one because of bad weather. There was also an interest contribution from Four One Financial Services.
Crispin Freeman, non-executive director of Hydro Hotel, Eastbourne (HYDP), has bought 600 shares at 740p each, thereby taking his stake to 6,600 shares.
AIM
Pennant International Group (PEN) has achieved three-fifths of its 2018 profit forecast in the first half. The defence training services provider expects to report a more than doubled interim profit of £2.1m on the back of a 30% increase in revenues. The order book is worth £30m. A full year profit of £3.5m is forecast. This is without a contribution from the potential Middle East contract.
Geospatial data technology developer 1Spatial (SPA) is raising £8m at 3.75p and this cash will be deployed to repay the overdraft, develop additional technology and win new customers.
APC Technology Group (APC) has raised £2.54m at 6.75p a share in order to help finance the £2.2m acquisition of Aspen Electronics, although £500,000 is being paid in shares. This has sparked a one-third upgrade in the Stockdale 2018-19 earnings per share forecast to 0.75p. Aspen distributes RF and microwave components.
Tern (TERN) is raising £2.9m at 26p a share. This cash will help to develop its investee companies, particularly cyber security business Device Authority. Tern has a 50% stake in Internet of Things business InVMA, which has acquired the IP of AMIHO Technology, which has developed technology for the connectivity for the smart energy sector.
Judges Scientific (JDG) continues to benefit from currency movements and operating profit will show progress at the interim stage. The interims will be published on 18 September. There should be less of second half bias this year. At the end of June 2018, the order book stood at more than 14 weeks.
Holders Technology (HDT) moved back into profit in the six months to May 2018 and both PCB and LED businesses increased their revenues. An interim loss of £53,000 was turned into a profit of £65,000. The interim dividend is unchanged at 0.25p a share. NAV is 96p a share, which is double the current share price.
Online gaming marketing services provider Veltyco (VLTY) has made consistent progress since reversing into an AIM shell but this has come to a halt. Marketing revenues continue to grow but the progress of 51%-owned Bet90 has been slower than expected, sparking the decision to spend more on marketing. This means that group EBITDA will be lower than expected. Altair Entertainment owes Veltyco €3.4m and it has agreed to pay €300,000 a month. Veltyco had €1m in the bank at the end of June 2018.
Financial services provider STM Group (STM) says first half trading was in line with expectations. The Harbour acquisition should be fully integrated with STM Malta by the end of August. STM is recruiting additional directors and management.
Wynnstay Properties (WSP) is acquiring units 10-15 in Petersfield Business Park for £3.83m. The current annual rent is just over £203,000.
Beximco Pharmaceuticals (BXP) is exporting its fourth product to the US. The latest product is an anti-diabetic drug, which is the generic equivalent of Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Glucophage.
MAIN MARKET
Bioquell (BQE) increased its revenues by 9% to £15.7m in the first half of 2018. The bio decontamination services provider generated like-for-like revenues growth of 15% at constant currency rates. Pre-tax profit is two-fifths higher at £1.96m, although that includes a £76,000 gain on disposal. There is £15m in the bank.
Telecoms services provider Toople (TOOP) had a slightly more successful third quarter. Gross profit was 57% higher than the third quarter of the previous year. That follows flat gross profit at the interim stage. However, gross profit needs to be much higher to cover overheads.
Laurence Orbach has stepped down as a director of book publisher Quarto Group (QRT).
Andrew Hore
Andrew Hore – Quoted Micro 15 January 2018
NEX EXCHANGE
Wines maker Chapel Down Group (CDGP) says that its open offer at 50p a share was oversubscribed. Excess applications will be scaled back. The additional £1.47m raised takes the total to £20m. BlackRock holds a 5.79% stake and Nigel Wray owns 16.2%.
Startup Giants (SUG) has made its first investment since floating. An undisclosed investment has been made in Go Show Ltd, which operates a brand marketplace designed to enable product placement deals (www.goshow.net), and it will be released when milestones have been achieved. Go Show initially applied for funding in 2015 and it has been mentored by Startup Giants. There is a target for revenue generation of up to £1m within 12 months. An accelerator round has also been launched by Startup Giants. It is aimed at early stage, UK-registered companies.
Coinsilium Group Ltd (COIN) has increased its shareholding in Indorse from 3% to 6.5% at cost of S$175,000. There is an option to acquire a further 3.5%, at the same cost, to take the stake to 10%. Indorse completed a token sales last September and those tokens are currently valued at $34m. The Indorse platform is designed to enable users to generate income from sharing their skills and validating the claims of others.
African Potash Ltd (AFPO) has entered into an agreement with Gibraltar-based TokenCommunities Ltd. This deal will help the blockchain joint venture that has also already been announced with FinComEco Ltd, which is developing platforms for agricultural markets in sub-Saharan Africa. TokenCommunities will advise on the deployment of tokens. The chain will link smallholder farmers, traders, brokers, storage, transportation and commodity buyers. There are plans for microloans to farmers at an annual interest rate of 12%, which is lower than existing rates. African Potash has completed the raising of £400,000 at 0.025p a share.
Black Sea Property (BSP) has completed the €2.76m purchase of four plots of land with permission to develop a camping complex. It has also invested €3.37 to help finance the development of the site, which could be completed by the middle of the year. Black Sea Property raised €3.53m at €0.01 a share late last year.
Lake Acquisitions (U.P) says that the contingent value rights holders will not get a distribution for 2017. The cumulative relevant revenues from the eligible nuclear power output was £41.1m. The cumulative base revenues were £41.9m.
UK Oil and Gas Investments (UKOG) has decided to drop its NEX Exchange quotation on 31 January. That is just over 27 months after it joined. The company says that there have been low levels of trading on NEX and it still has its primary quotation on AIM. Interestingly, oil and gas company UK Oil and Gas was formed many years ago out of the shell of a former technology equipment business, yet it is still classed under the technology hardware and equipment sub-sector of the technology sector in the AIM statistics.
Nexus Infrastructure (NEXS) reported maiden full year results as a quoted company that were slightly better than expected. The housebuilding infrastructure provider reported a dip in pre-tax profit from £10.8m to £9.1m on flat revenues of £135m. The total dividend is 6.3p a share. A 2017-18 pre-tax profit of £10.8m is forecast.
Ilika (IKA) reported a significant cash outflow in the first half but the outflow should be reduced in the second half. Interim revenues trebled to £1m and full year revenues of £2.9m are forecast. The loss is reducing. There are licensing proposals with a handful of potential customers and any one of these could transform the fortunes of Ilika.
EKF Diagnostics (EKF) has confirmed that trading was strong in 2017 and EBITDA will be much better than the £8.8m forecast. EKF plans to spin-off its sTNFR biomarker technology into a separate company. This technology has no value in the balance sheet.
Hormonal disease treatments developer Diurnal Group (DNL) says that its Akindi treatment has performed well in a food matrix study in the US and it will be able to move onto the next stage in the process of gaining US approval. European approval for Akindi is expected in a matter of weeks. There was £14m in the bank at the end of 2017. The interims will be published on 12 March.
Lombard Risk Management (LRM) is recommending a 13p a share cash bid, which was nearly double the market price. The bid from rival financial services technology supplier is valued at £52.1m.
Somero Enterprises (SOM) has sparked another forecast upgrade with the 2017 pre-tax profit forecast rising 8% to $25.9m. Net cash should be at least $18.5m and that could rise by around $10m by the end of 2018. That leaves room for another special dividend as well as growth in the ongoing dividend. The tax changes in the US had already led to a one-fifth increase in the 2018 earnings per share forecast to 34.4 cents, which has been raised again to 36.8 cents.
Engineer Avingtrans (AVG) says that trading is on track and the integration of Hayward Tyler continues. A pre-tax profit of £2.2m is forecast for the year to May 2018 and this should generate nearly enough earnings to cover the forecast dividend of 3.6p a share.
Tough market conditions and adverse currency movements have not stopped motor dealer Marshall Motor Holdings (MMH) trading ahead of expectations. Forecasts had already been upgraded and the 2017 pre-tax profit estimate has been raised a further 2% to £28.8m. However, a decline in pre-tax profit to £23.5m is forecast for 2018.
Smart meter communications technology provider CyanConnode (CYAN) continues to progress but the timing of orders has been delayed. The order book is worth $100m but 2017 revenues were £1.2m and the loss more than £10m. This year’s revenues are forecast to be £10m and the loss £7m. There should be enough cash to last the whole of 2018.
Strategic Minerals (SML) generated fourth quarter revenues of $2.14m from magnetite ore sales at Cobre. The 2017 total revenues of $5.64m were quadruple the previous year. Strategic had $3.8m in the bank at the end of 2017.
Online Blockchain (OBC) has taken advantage of its rising share price to raise £1m at 100p a share.
Fashion retailer Footasylum (FOOT) increased revenues by one-third to £89.8m in the 18 weeks to 30 December 2017. The fastest growth came from e-commerce. The revenues for the 44 weeks to 30 December 2017 also improved by one-third to £173m. These are not like-for-like increases and six stores were opened in the past 18 weeks.
There was a small decline in the full year revenues of Shoe Zone (SHOE) from £159.8m to £157.8m. The shoes retailer did improve its gross margin from 62% to 63.2% but higher admin and distribution costs offset this and pre-tax profit fell from £10.3m to £9.5m. The total dividend was edged up from 10.1p a share to 10.2p a share. Net cash was £11.8m at the end of September 2017. The pension fund liability has fallen from £13.1m to £7.1m. Consumer demand and currency movements remain the main challenges.
BNN Technology (BNN) directors Harry Keiley and Lord Mancroft are following the nominated adviser out of the door. Mark Hanson becomes non-executive chairman.
Film completion contracts provider FFI Holdings (FFI) has acquired the motorsports entertainment insurance book of business from All Risks for $1.825m. The acquisition has been made by Reel Media, which itself was acquired before Christmas for $7.25m in total.
Background checking services provider ClearStar (CLSU) traded in line with expectations in 2017. Revenues were 11% higher at $17.8m and the loss was reduced. There was net cash of $1m. The loss should be further reduced in 2018.
Masawara (MASA) and Kimberly Enterprises (KBE) both plan to leave AIM. Two shareholders own 90% of Masawara. Minority shareholders are being offered 25p a share or the chance to convert the shares into preference shares. Eastern European property investor Kimberly has net liabilities of €24.1m and sold most of its property assets. The lease agreement for the Marina Dorcol project has been terminated.
Allergy Therapeutics (AGY) has completed the enrolment of its 560 plus patient phase III trial for a treatment for patients with allergic rhino conjunctivitis due to birch pollen. The results of the trial should be available before the end of this year. The potential market is worth around £3bn.
Two large clinical trial contracts have been delayed and this means that Cambridge Cognition (COG) 2017 revenues will be 18% lower than expected. This means that there will be a loss for the year.
Telematics equipment and services provider Quartix (QTX) pleased the market by growing its 2017 revenues by 5% to £24.4m. This means that earnings per share forecasts have been raised from 11.8p to 12.3p.
Geospatial software company 1Spatial (SPA) has won a five-year contract from the state of Michigan in the US worth $766,000. Liontrust has sold all its 9.35% stake.
Xeros Technology Group (XSG) has launched its domestic washing machine that can cut the use of water, detergent and energy by up to 50%. A second development agreement has been signed with a commercial washing machines manufacturer.
Oracle Power (ORCP) is acquiring the minority stake in coal mining lease owner Sindh Carbon Energy for up to £3.6m in shares.
APC Technology Group (APC) has acquired electronic components distributor First Byte Micro for £1.2m. In 2016, First Byte made a pre-tax profit of £194,000 on revenues of £1.3m.
Reconstruction Capital II (RC2) has acquired stakes in two funds that own 60% of Romanian paints and coatings supplier Policolor. This will mean that Reconstruction Capital II has an effective stake of 55.36% in Policolor and make it easier to liquidate the investment.
BOS Global (BOS) wants to raise £1.2m at 1.25p a share to settle debts and provide working capital. The software company says the directors will not be paid until April and one of them, William Giles, will subscribe up to £300,000 in the placing and open offer.
Connemara Mining (CON) has announced drilling results from the Mine River gold project in Wicklow and Wexford. Most of the intersections contained gold at grades of less than 1g/t but two were more positive with 4.53g/t over eight metres and 16.1g/t over two metres.
Versarien (VRS) is collaborating with an Asia-based global textiles manufacturer on incorporating graphene into fabrics via yarns and finishes.
MAIN MARKET
E-commerce-focused cash shell AIQ Ltd (AIQ) soared as trading commenced on the standard list and trading in the shares had to be suspended after three days. There appear to have been nearly 1.4 million shares traded over three days, which is 2.8% of the shares in issue. Cayman Islands-based AIQ, raised £3.6m after expenses, at 8p a share. The suspension price is 125p. That means that the quotation and £3.6m in cash are valued at £62.5m. The plan is to seek an e-commerce acquisition, which has a strong management and is near to cash generation.
Bio-decontamination products supplier Bioquell (BQE) has completed the £122,000 disposal of the UK AirFlow parts and manufacturing business and received the final £70,000 for the sale of the service business. There was already net cash of £14.5m at the end of 2017. Full year revenues were better than expected at £29.3m, up from £26.8m and pre-exceptional profit will be much better, even before the £250,000 gain on the Airflow disposals. The 2017 figures will be published on 7 March.
Software supplier Gresham Technologies (GHT) says 2017 revenues were 24% ahead to £21.3m and more of these revenues are coming from Clareti enterprise data integrity software. There is £8.5m in the bank. Kestrel has trimmed its stake from 14.9% to 12.5%.
BATM Advanced Communications (BVC) has won a cyber communication technology contract with a government worth $4m over 12 months. Delivery will start in the second quarter of 2018.
Thomas Charlton has further increased his stake in North Midland Construction (NMD) from 7.24% to 8.2%. This appears to have sparked a recovery in the share price.
Avocet Mining (AVM) has deferred the completion the sale of its Burkina Faso assets for $5m. The buyer, the Balaji group of companies, wants more time to settle a claim from International Royalty Corporation, a creditor of the holding company of the assets. Avocet has received a deposit of $500,000.
Bluebird Merchant Ventures Ltd (BMV) has announced the results of preliminary grab samples from the Gubong gold mine. The majority of samples had gold grades of more than 1g/t and silver grades of 10g/t or more.
Zenith Energy Ltd (ZEN) has entered an exclusivity agreement for the acquisition of production and exploration licences in a Central Asian country. Azerbaijan-focused Zenith would be acquiring assets in a proven petroleum system and they produce 250 barrels of oil per day.
Rainbow Rare Earths (RBW) has started drilling at the Gakara project in Burundi. Gakara has an estimated in situ-grade of 47%-67% total rare earth oxide. The drilling is focused on the production area at Gasagwe and anomalies that have been identified. The first results will be in April. A second phase of drilling is planned later in the year and this could produce a JORC-compliant resource before the end of 2018. Production is building up and the run rate target for the end of 2018 is 5,000tpa. In December, Rainbow raised £2.8m at 14p a share in an oversubscribed placing. The cash will be used to acquire capital equipment.
Corporate news review Thursday 21st September 2017
APC Technology APC says unaudited FY results to 31 Aug 2017 are expected to show revenue of £15.6m (2016: £17.9m), gross profit of £5.5m (2016: £6.4m), an operating profit before interest, amortisation, depreciation and exceptional costs of £0.8m (2016: £0.3m) and a PBT in the region of £0.2m, the first PBT since Aug 2014.
Compass Group CPG says CEO Richard Cousins has decided to step down on 30 Sept 2018. He will be succeeded by Dominic Blakemore, currently COO Europe.
IG Group IGG reports a record Q1 in relatively quiet financial markets, with revenues 21% of the last quarter at £135.2m.
Mitchells & Butlers MAB says the weather in August and September has adversely affected the market, but it remains encouraged that its like-for-like sales performance continues to outperform the market. As such MAB expects to deliver a full year performance in line with the Board’s expectations.
NCC Group NCC said it continues to trade in line with expectations for the full year.
SCISYS SSY reports half year results to 30 June 2017. Half year adjusted operating profit rose 18% to £1.3m, on revenues up 23% to £27.2m. Order book stands at a record £64m, and the interim dividend is up 11% at 0.59p. Chairman Mike Love said the company currently expects to deliver FY results at the upper end of current guidance.
Quoted Micro 17 April 2017
NEX EXCHANGE
Capital for Colleagues (CFCP) is raising £2.02m via a one-for-two open offer to existing shareholders at 42p a share and there are already commitments for 57% of this investment. The closing date is 27 April. The NAV was 43.5p a share at the end of February, which was hit by a write-off of a major investment. There are new investors will to take up shares worth £819,000 of they are not taken up in the open offer, or if there are not enough shares available additional shares will be issued.
Coinsilium Group Ltd (COIN) is joining forces with Oraclise to develop a smart contract system that can be used for the next generation of blockchain applications. The system will manage token issuance. There are already funds that trade in these tokens, which can be swapped for ownership rights in assets. Specific markets have been identified. The full details will be announced on Thursday.
Goldcrest Resources (GCRP) is acquiring a 100% interest in the Norio onshore production sharing agreement and has an option for a farm-in agreement to acquire 70% of Block VIII, which includes the East Khavtiskhevi onshore field. These assets are in Georgia and the current production at Norio is 25 barrels of oil per day. There are plans to increase production at Norio to 250 barrels of oil per day, which will enable Goldcrest to start generating cash during this year. Goldcrest has paid $380,000 and will issue $300,000 of shares at 0.5p each for 38% of Norio and then has the option to pay $620,000 plus $250,000 for the other 62%. Money will be raised by selling the existing gold exploration assets in Ghana.
Gunsynd (GUN) has received £3,000 in cash and 300,000 shares in Integumen in final consideration for the original skin treatment assets that Gunsynd, then known as Evocutis, sold in 2015.
Valiant Investments (VALP) has raised £47,750 at 0.1p a share.
AIM
Carpets manufacturer Victoria (VCP) says trading is ahead of expectations for the year to 1 April 2017. The performance has been helped by the integration of acquisitions in the UK and Australia. The new chief executive arrived too late in the financial year to have an impact.
MayAir Group (MAYA) improved full year revenues by 3% to $65.6m but pre-tax profit slumped from $7.5m to $5.9m because of a delayed contract. This contract has been completed and there should be a partial recovery in profit this year. The air filtration equipment supplier is on course to open its new facility.
D4T4 Solutions (D4T4) says that its earnings will be slightly ahead of expectations as higher margin software sales more than made up for lower project revenues. The 2016-17 pre-tax profit forecast has been edged up to £4.1m. There was £5.1m in the bank at the end of March 2017. There is still uncertainty about potential demand from a Japanese customer.
Arian Silver Corp (AGQ) has signed an option to acquire three lithium exploration projects in Mexico for up to $200,000 payable over 12 months.
Strategic Minerals (SML) has secured a deal to supply 400,000 tons of magnetite a year at a market based price over several years – depending on Strategic continuing to have access to the Cobre magnetite stockpile. This should double annual sales with a maintained margin.
More good news from software provider Cerillion (CER). Interim revenues have grown from £6.9m to £7.5m and EBITDA moved ahead from £1.1m to £1.5m. The interim figures will be announced in the middle of June.
Full year contributions from all its hostels meant that 2016 revenues generated by Safestay (SSTY) rose from £4m to £7.4m but it remained loss-making. NAV is 58p a share and the company is trading at a small discount to this figure. There has been a subsequent £12.6m sale and leaseback of the Elephant & Castle and Edinburgh hostels and a new £18.4m, five year secured debt facility provided by HSBC. This will reduce the cost of borrowings.
First Property Group (FPO) had funds under management of £475m at the end of March 2017, up from £353m a year earlier. Profit is expected to be in line with expectations before the recently announced sale of a property in Romania. The full year figures will be published on 8 June.
EMIS Group (EMIS) has appointed Andy Thorburn as its new chief executive. In the past four years, Thorburn has been chief operating officer of Caribbean-focused communications group Digicel. Prior to this has worked for a number of software companies and BT.
Dolphin Fund has decided not to proceed with a bid for FIH Group (FIH) because of the uncertainty caused by the attitude of the Falkland Islands government. Dolphin cannot make a bid for six months unless there is a rival bid announced.
Hague and London Oil (HNL) plans to acquire the Netherlands-based assets of Tullow Oil for an initial €9.75m with the potential to pay a further €20m. There are capital spending requirements for these assets which are generating revenues. Operating spending is estimated to be $21/barrel in 2017. The finance for the deal is being negotiated.
Gas and electrical services provider Bilby (BILB) is beginning to win work from the framework contracts it has been appointed to and this will boost the 2017-18 financial year. Northland has been appointed nominated adviser and broker.
Franchised property services provider Hunters Property (HUNT) grew its pre-tax profit from £1.42m to £1.85m in 2016. The dividend was increased from 1.5p a share to 1.9p a share. The subsequent acquisition of Besley Hill takes the group into south west England and the number of outlets has risen past 200. House broker Dowgate Capital forecasts a 2017 underlying pre-tax profit of £1.91m earnings per share may be slightly lower.
A reduction in admin expenses helped APC Technology (APC) to return to profit in the first half. Revenues declined from £9.5m to £8.3m but this was due to a large Morrison contract in the corresponding period. The core electronic components distribution business grew revenues by one-fifth. The underlying pre-tax profit was £200,000.
The second largest shareholder in Hornby (HRN) is requisitioning a general meeting to remove Roger Canham as chairman and from the board and replace him with Ian Anton.
MAIN MARKET
WideCells (WDC) has raised an additional £649,000 at 12p a share in order to accelerate the growth of its three divisions and develop a client relationship management system. Last July’s placing raised £2m at 11p a share. The CellPlan stem cell insurance product is selling better than expected. The stem cell storage facility will be operational in the second quarter and the company has applied for a research licence. The additional funds will help to finance additional appointments for its WideAcademy education and training business.
Andrew Hore