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Quoted Micro 27 February 2023
AQUIS STOCK EXCHANGE
National Milk Records (NMRP) increased interim revenues by 5% to £12m, while pre-tax profit improved from £750,000 to £790,000. A tax credit meant that earnings increased by a higher percentage. Net debt is £900,000. The main growth was in the core milk testing services, although genomics revenues rose from £173,000 to £336,000. Price increases will help margins in the second half. Full year pre-tax profit is expected to decline from £2.4m to £1.9m. Managing director Andy Warne is taking leave due to illness and the finance director is assuming operational control.
There are problems with the acquisition of a 19.8% stake in skincare products supplier Lush by Silverwood Brands (SLWD) because Lush is refusing to register the change of ownership of the shares. Silverwood Brands is paying £216.8m for the stake and no reason was given for the refusal to record the transfer of the shares.
Samarkand (SMK) has benefitted from the easing of Covid restrictions in China. Although there was a short-term rise in infections, consumer confidence is improving since Chinese New Year. The Chinese government is keen to boost consumption. Partner brands using the company’s Nomad software platform are planning for growth this year and more premium beauty brands have been added to the platform. Samarkand could be profitable in the next financial year.
Invinity Energy Systems (IES) raised £21.5m at 32p a share with up for £4m more to come from a two-for-19 open offer. Taiwan-based Everbrite Technology is investing £2.5m in the placing. The cash will be used for working capital, which is expected to last until the middle of 2024. At that time the next generation Mistral grid scale vanadium battery will be ready for launch. The company will not need to draw down the $10m convertible loan facility.
In the year to October 2022, Hydro Hotel Eastbourne (HYDP) turnover improved from £2.79m to £4.4m, but pre-tax profit dipped from £457,000 to £445,000 because of the lack of government assistance. Trading remains tough. Cash improved to £1.59m.
Shore has upgraded its forecasts for Arbuthnot Banking Group (ARBB) with 2022 earnings increased by 11%. This reflects the benefits of higher interest rates with deposit rates lagging base rates. The 2022 pre-tax profit forecast is £29.5m and the 2023 forecast has been increased £28.5m to £40m. Estimated tangible NAV is 1194p a share.
Shareholders in Walls & Futures REIT (WAFR) have voted in favour of the resolutions enabling strategic investor Vengrove to raise cash for the company through a share issue. The number of shares in issue will be ten times as many as currently in issue. This will help Walls and Futures REIT scale up. Investments will be made in affordable rental housing, education property, service stations and car parks and community buildings. Pax Homes will be sold to Joseph McTaggart, so the group will no longer be a developer. The company’s name will be changed to Social Infrastructure REIT.
In the six months to November 2022, installation and engineering group Field Systems Designs Holdings (FSD) increased revenues from £2.6m to £6.7m and returned to profit in the period. Cash declined from £3.71m to £3.15m. Water companies are accelerating their spending under the current five-year programme and this provides a positive outlook for the business.
Marula Mining (MARU) has increased its stake in the Kinusi copper project in Tanzania from 49% to 75% for up to $550.000. The initial payment is $150,000 in cash and shares. There is high-grade copper mineralisation at the project.
Guanajuato Silver Company Ltd (GSVR) announced drilling results from the San Ignacio mine. There are some high-grade silver intersections plus gold. A new area of thick mineralisation may have been found. This should lead to a significant increase in resources.
Peterhouse has resigned as corporate adviser to Hot Rocks Investments (HRIP) and terms are being agreed with a replacement.
Harry Hyman increased his stake in Oberon Investments (OBE) from 3.75% to 4.23%.
Pharma C Investments (PCIL) has appointed broker Jeremy Woodgate to its board.
AIM
Cancer treatments developer Redx Pharma (REDX) is merging with Jounce Therapeutics and the AIM company’s shareholders will own 63% of the enlarged group. They will receive 0.2105 of a Jounce share for each Redx share. Jounce will be renamed Redx Inc and retain its Nasdaq listing.
Cleantech Lithium (CTL) plans a listing on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX). Canaccord Genuity (Australia) and Fox Davies are joint lead managers to the listing, which is expected to happen in the third quarter of 2023. The Chile-focused lithium projects developer has 31% of its shareholders linked to Australia while other potential shareholders are not able to invest in other markets. The AIM quotation will be retained.
Medical disinfection products supplier Tristel (TSTL) is back to past growth rates, helped by price increases. The UK was the fastest growing market. In the six months to December 2022, revenues were 15% ahead at £17.5m and the growth rate was greater if discontinued products are excluded. Pre-tax profit improved from £2.13m to £3.08m. The tax charge is higher, so earnings growth was slower. The interim dividend is maintained at 2.62p a share. Net cash is £8.42m. Progress is being made with the FDA approval for medical device decontamination product DUO ULT. Tristel is spending £3m on FDA approval. To reflect that it has renegotiated the US distribution agreement with Parker Labs.
Engineering business Avingtrans (AVG) increased revenues from £44.5m to £50m in the six months to November 2022 and profit improved. The engineering operations have been hit by supply problems, but there is growth in nuclear and North Sea demand. There is 90% cover for the full year revenues forecast. The medical division is progressing towards the launch of a new imaging product by the end of 2023.
ZOO Digital (ZOO) has signed up a second major Hollywood studio to its cloud-based ZOOstudio ERP service offering subtitling, dubbing and other video services. ZOOstudio will be embedded in the client’s own internal technology platform. Tougher markets in the US mean that film studios and streaming platforms are seeking to grow in international markets, thereby increasing demand for the services offered by ZOO Digital.
Digital services provider Made Tech Group (MTEC) increased interim revenues by 76% to £20.6m, but pre-tax profit fell from £1m to £300,000. Singer still expects full year pre-tax profit to improve from £2.3m to £3.4m. Fewer contractors are being used and margins should rise in the second half. More than £60m of additional bookings have been gained so far in 2022-23.
Circle Property (CRC) has conditionally disposed of Concorde Park in Maidenhead for £12.3m. Somerset House in Birmingham is being sold for £15.2m and Victory House in Northampton is being sold for £2.75m That leaves one property to sell. There is already £32.6m in the bank prior to these disposals. B share issues are planned March and April to return cash to shareholders. The AIM quotation is likely to be cancelled in May.
ECR Minerals (ECR) has published drilling data from the Blue Moon prospect at Bailieston, Victoria with one of the holes at 84.9 metres depth reporting a composite grade of 6.35 metres at 4.56g/t. The rig is moving to the Brewery Lane property at Creswick.
Conroy Gold & Natural Resources (CGNR) made a high-grade gold discovery in a new area of the Longford-Down Massif. Visible gold is present. The grades are between 12.8g/t and 123g/t at the Mines Royal option area in Northern Ireland. Exploration is being carried out with joint venture partner Demir Export.
Snowfall has hit production at the Pakrut gold mine operated by China Nonferrous Gold (CNG). The Tajikistan mine has been hit by avalanches and landslides that have damaged power supply. Operations will be suspended for at least one month.
MAIN MARKET
Roquefort Therapeutics (ROQ) has signed an exclusive licence and royalty agreement with Randox Laboratories for its Midkine antibody portfolio. The ten-year licence excludes Japan and enables Randox to use the Midkine portfolio for medical diagnostics. The two firms will collaborate on potential cancer uses. Roquefort could generate more than £5m over the length of the agreement.
Trifast (TRI) chief executive Mark Belton has resigned after a disappointing trading statement. The fasteners supplier has been hit by Asian destocking. The forecast earnings for 2022-23 have been reduced by 38% to 5.1p a share.
Providence Equity is interested in making a 105p a share offer for Hyve Group (HYVE), which is a small fraction of the flotation share price.
Andrew Hore
Quoted Micro 3 October 2022
AQUIS STOCK EXCHANGE
Kent brewer Shepherd Neame (LON: SHEP) returned to profit in the year to June 2022. The total dividend is 18.5p a share. Net assets increased from 1140p a share to 1194p a share, while net debt is back to pre-pandemic levels at £75.3m. Pubs and hotel revenues are still lower than in 2018-19. Beer volumes have more than recovered, although own beer volumes are 8% lower than three years ago. In the 13 weeks to 24 September 2022, like-for-like retail sales are 9% ahead, while own beer volumes were 1.2% higher – including a 14% improvement in own beer volumes.
Property investor Ace Liberty and Stone (ALSP) increased pre-tax profit by 49% to £2.07m in the year to April 2022. Net assets are 6% higher at £34m. Net debt has reduced from £54.8m to £44.6m. A dividend of 3.4p a share has been announced that will cost £2m.
VSA has downgraded its forecasts for battery storage technology developer Invinity Energy Systems (IES) following interim figures. First half revenues were £1.4m and the order book is worth £13m – mainly relating to the second half. However, 2022 revenues were downgraded from £14.1m to £11m. Next year’s revenues have been upgraded from £20.6m to £23.7m. Cash is likely to run out later next year.
All Things Considered (ATC) investee company Driift has acquired interactive live streaming events platform Dreamstage, which has been used by Driift for its own events. Deezer will invest a further £4m into the combined business. Music management business All Things Considered increased interim revenues by 19% to £6m and the loss was reduced. Net cash is £1.5m. A full year loss is expected compared with previous expectations of a £600,000 profit.
Wine maker Chapel Down Group (CDGP) increased interim revenues by 4% to £6.88m. Sparkling wine revenues were 35% higher. Pre-tax profit improved by 6% to £489,000. The company started harvesting in August and a strong yield is anticipated.
KR1 (KR1) is not immune to the decline in values of digital assets. The value of intangible assets fell by £155.5m in the period, which more than offset realised gains of £2.5m and income of £16.6m. Net assets have declined by nearly three-quarters and NAV is 30.6p a share.
St Mark Homes (SMAP) reported an increased interim loss and NAV fell from 120p a share to 116p a share. As current projects complete management will consider paying a dividend.
Coinsilium (LON: COIN) reported a net fair value gain on financial assets of £163,000 in the first half of 2022. However, the value of cryptocurrency assets has declined. Net assets have fallen from £5.84m to £4.57m.
ProBiotix Health (PBX) generated sales of £306,000, down £537,000 in the first half of 2022. Orders worth £1.12m have been received since the beginning of the year, so the second half revenues should be stronger, as well as higher than last year.
In the six months to June 2022, the value of the equity stakes held by Cadence Minerals (KDNC) fell from £12m to £5.75m. The main decline was in the value of the stake in AIM-quoted European Metals Holdings. There was £1.99m in the bank at the end of the period.
NFT Investments (NFT) has been hit by a reduction in the value of cryptocurrency, particularly Bitcoin. That means that NAV has fallen to £30.1m, including £20.4m in cash. There was a revaluation reduction of £265,000, but that was offset by exchange gains of £362,000, leaving the value of investments at £6.47m. At 0.91p, down 4.21% on the week, the share price is less than one-third of the NAV of 3p a share.
Thixotropic gels manufacturer Unigel Group (UNX) joined the Access segment of the Aquis Stock Exchange in August. There was £800,000 raised at 64p a share. The gels are used in the fibre optic industry. A maiden trading statement says that interim pre-tax profit was 94% ahead at £940,000. New products and higher selling prices boosted revenues and current trading is described as robust.
Clean Invest Africa (CIA) was the worst performer on the Aquis Stock Exchange last week. Loan notes have been converted into shares helping the company turn net liabilities into net assets of £1.72m at the end of June 2022. The company’s CoalTech technology is proven in palletising coal fines or coal waste and management believes that other materials could be palletised.
Hydrogen Utopia International (HUI) had £3.2m left in the bank at the end of June 2022. There were no revenues in the first half. There was progress with waste plastic to energy project developments.
Wishbone Gold (WSBN) had £2.38m in the bank at the end of June 2022. Drilling has commenced in Western Australia and Queensland in recent months.
Screwless spinal stabilisation systems developer TruSpine Technologies (TSP) had £3,471 in cash at the end of March 2022. There was a £390,000 cash outflow from operating activities and £1m of development spending capitalised. TruSpine subsequently entered into a funding agreement with Proffitt Brothers and $100,000 has been received.
Helium Ventures (HEV) is considering widening its investment strategy because of the lack of suitable helium investments. If a suitable acquisition is identified, then shareholders would be asked for their approval.
AIM
Investment in the medical imaging business is holding back short-term profit at engineer Avingtrans (AVG). In the year to May 2022, revenues were 2% ahead at 3100.4m and pre-tax profit rose from £7.6m to £8.3m. Demand from the nuclear sector is growing, but profit growth this year will be modest because of additional medical imaging costs. Net cash was £16.7m at the end of May 2022.
Online building and maintenance products retailer CMO Holdings (CMO) has been hit by softening demand for its products. There was still like-for-like revenue growth in first half of 2022, although Total Tiles sales fell because of tough comparatives. Even if the market gets tougher, there is still potential for growth because of the low share of online sales in the building materials sector.
Crownpeak Holdings is making an agreed 30p a share cash bid for omnichannel retail merchandising software provider Attraqt Group (ATQT). The plan is to combine Attraqt’s merchandising technology the Digital Experience Platform owned by Crownpeak. The share price has not been as high as the bid price since May, and it reached its all-time low of 17.5p prior to the bid.
Sustainable biopesticides developer Eden Research (EDEN) has obtained US EPA approval for its three active ingredients and two formulated products. Mevalone (a biofungicide) and Cedroz (a nematicide) sales should start next year via existing distribution partners. State approvals are required before launching in an individual state. Eden Research reduced its interim loss, but cash is still flowing out of the business. There was a cash outflow of £1.9m in the first half, including capitalised development costs and £1.85m was in the bank at the end of June 2020. R&D tax credits will help to replenish cash, but more will be required in the near future if Eden Research is going to take full advantage of the EPA approval.
Xeros Technology (XSG) has signed a joint development agreement with a global domestic washing machine component manufacturer for its XFilter microfibre filtration technology. A full licence dela could be agreed in six months. A placing raised £6m at 5p a share and a six-for-seven open offer could raise up to £1m more. In March 2021, a placing and open offer at 240p a share raised £9m. There was £2.6m of cash at the end of August 2022 and the cash outflow is £500.000 a month.
Digital transformation services TPXimpact (TPX) had a management overhaul last week because trading has been below expectations and there were complications with the integration of the businesses acquired. Chief executive Neal Gandhi and finance director Oliver Rigby. Bjorn Conway is the new chief executive. The order book is increasing in value, but revenue expectations have been cut from £97.4m to £90m. Operating costs are rising. and profit expectations have nearly halved.
musicMagpie (MMAG) has been hit be weak consumer spending with lower sales of technology. Rental income from pre-owned mobiles is growing, though, and that is good for longer-term revenues. The original pre-owned books and music operations are trading as expected. The second half should still be better than the first half, although a full year pre-tax loss is forecast on flat revenues. A small profit is forecast for 2023. Net debt is expected to be £8m at the end of the year.
Structural steel supplier Billington (BILN) increased interim revenues by 22% to £46.2m with nearly doubled pre-tax profit of £1.47m. finnCap has increased its 2022 earnings forecast by one-third to 26.4p a share.
Employee benefits services and insurance provider Personal Group (PGH) has increased revenues by 6%, but profit has declined due to higher insurance claims costs and investment in sales. The benefits of the investment will show through next year and insurance revenues will also recover.
MAIN MARKET
Shell company Milton Capital (MII) intends to float on the Main Market in the coming week. There will be £1m raised at 1p a share and the investors will get two warrants for each share and they are exercisable at 1.5p a share. Total flotation costs are capped at £50,000 and the first year’s operating costs will also be £50,000. The directors will not take salaries. Instead, they will receive a success fee on the completion of a reverse takeover. The initial focus is the technology sector.
Vehicle and property bridging loans both grew in the first half at S&U (SUS) and total net receivables were £370m at the end of July. Credit quality remains high. Pre-tax profit was 5% ahead at £20.9m. The first interim dividend was raised from 33p a share to 35p a share.
Rockwood Strategic (RKW) has transferred from AIM to the Main Market. Rockwood Strategic management believes that there are plenty of undervalued smaller companies that it can invest in and help to grow.
Hawkwing (HNG) is keeping up with the traditions of its previous incarnation TLA Worldwide and published its interim figures after the market closed at the end of the week. The standard list shell had cash of £2.03m at the end of June 2022. There are also more than £16m of convertible loan notes. It has loaned Internet Fusion Group £13.7m and plans a reverse takeover.
Andrew Hore
Quoted Micro 28 February 2022
AQUIS STOCK EXCHANGE
Good Energy (GOOD) has finalised the sale price of its electricity generation assets. There was deferred consideration of up to £8.1m. The deferred payment has been set at £4.8m, taking the total payment to £21.2m. The rest of the cash was not paid due to a third-party yield assessment and other due diligence.
Samarkand Group (SMK) has signed a three-year agreement with Revolution Beauty Group (REVB) and it will incorporate the cosmetics company’s existing Tmall Global Flagship store via the Nomad technology, which will make it easier to sell in China. Samarkand will be exclusive ecommerce partner for China. Revolution Beauty has bought the assets of US cosmetics brand BH Cosmetics for $3.9m. Badass with Heart (BH) Cosmetics are vegan and cruelty-free.
Hydrogen Utopia International (HUI) says that it has been advised to apply for a loan under a new programme launched by the Poland authorities. The share price has slumped to 7.5p since the flotation at the beginning of the year.
KR1 (KR1) is participating in the HydraDX crowdloan and Polkadot parachain auction. KR1 contributed 350,000 DOT to secure a parachain slot in the ongoing round and these will be held for 96 days before being returned and KR1 will also receive HydraDX tokens. KR1 is already due to receive 45 million HydraDX tokens due to previous backing of a seed funding round. HydraDX is a protocol to enable frictionless liquidity for crypto assets. All assets can be put into one shared liquidity pool.
Cadence Minerals (KDNC) says that its joint venture rare earths project Yangibana in Western Australia has a NPV8 of $1.01bn, which is an 84% increase on the previous estimate. The $20m project to build the core infrastructure has begun. There was a 48.9% take-up of the recent open offer, which raised £745,000.
Forbes Ventures (FOR) is considering re-domiciling from the Cayman Islands to the UK. This could reduce costs. The medium-term focus includes the potential launch of a blockchain-focused venture fund.
Valereum (VLRM) has exercised its option to take its stake in the Gibraltar Stock Exchange from 80% to 90%.
SuperSeed Capital (WWW) managing director Mads Jensen has bought 24.200 shares at 98p each, taking his stake to 82.1%.
AIM
Hargreaves Services (HSP) has secured a deal for the development and sale of two large distribution units, which will be 191,000 square feet and 375,000 square feet respectively, at the 50%-owned Unity site. Detailed planning permissions are required for the sites and that should be obtained by the end of the year. The deal will be fully completed within 12 months of construction. The total revenues should be more than £50m for the joint venture and Hargreaves should have all or most of its 50% distributed to it, depending on the requirements of the joint venture. On top of this, another 4.6 acres at Blindwells is being sold to Ogilvie Homes. There will be 77 homes built and the deal should generate minimum revenues of £3.5m. The contracts are conditional, and they will not have an immediate effect on the figures.
Synairgen (SNG) announced disappointing phase III data for the SPRINTER trial for SNG001 use in hospitalised Covid-19 patients. The headline data for the trial did not meet primary or secondary endpoints. There is still an ACTIV-2 phase III trail being carried out in mild to moderate Covid-19 patients and other studies where SNG001 could be included.
Sylvania Platinum (SLP) plans to spend some of its cash pile on further increases in production. First half production of platinum group metals was 32,376 ounces, down from 36,335 ounces, and full year production should be between 66,000 and 68,000 ounces. Interim revenues fell from $84.9m to $69.1m, while pre-tax profit slumped from $57.4m to $34.9m. The decline in the Rand exchange rate exacerbated cost increases. A dividend of 2.25p a share will be paid. Short-term investment focus is on additional capacity and extending the life of the chrome recovery operations. In the next three years Sylvania will decide whether to construct new plants on the eastern and/or western limbs of the Bushveld complex.
Transense Technologies (TRT) moved into profit in the six months to December 2021 thanks to growing royalty income from iTrack tyre pressure monitors. Interim revenues improved from £895,000 to £1.2m with a loss of £53,000 turned into a pre-tax profit of £82,000. That is before any tax credits. There are more than £23m of tax losses available to offset against corporation tax. There is £1.07m in the bank and that is set to rise to £1.34m in June 2022.
Seeing Machines (SEE) says interim revenues are 19% ahead at A$21.7m. Revenues of A$56.1m, up from A$46.6m, are forecast for the year to June 2022. There are nine vehicle models that have commenced production that are installing the company’s driver monitoring system. Seeing Machines has also deployed a pilot fatigue detection system for Air Ambulance Victoria. This deal could be worth A$1m over a ten-year period.
Avingtrans (AVG) reported a small decline in interim revenues to £45.1m following the ending of lower margin work in the medical imaging business. Improved margins meant that there was little change in the pre-tax profit, which was £3.6m. The interim dividend is 1.6p a share.
Analysts have raised their full year pre-tax profit forecast for Netcall (NET) following the interim figures. Annualised contract value was £19.8m at the end of 2021. The 2021-22 earnings forecast was increased by 6% to 1.7p a share.
Outsourcing services provider iEnergizer Ltd (IBPO) says it will have another record financial year in 2021-22. The forecast yield is 4.9%.
Tristel (TSTL) is exiting non-core activities to focus on its medical device decontamination and surface cleaning products. In the six months to December 2021, revenues from continuing activities fell 7% to £13.6m. That was due to a large one-off order in the corresponding period. There is underlying growth. There is a £2.4m impairment charge for the discontinued activities. Underlying earnings fell 28% to 4.3p a share. The plans for FDA filings for the company’s products are on course.
Ventilation and door components supplier Titon (TON) warns that supply problems and higher costs are hampering sales and margins. Titon is trying to increase prices to cover higher costs. Overall revenues are slightly higher than in the first four months of the previous financial year, but the overseas operations are loss-making. There is still £4.2m in cash on the balance sheet. A new chief executive is being recruited.
Orchard Funding (ORCH) has raised £2.59m after expenses from its bond offer.
MAIN MARKET
Packaging manufacturer and distributor Macfarlane Group (MACF) increased revenues from continuing operations by 26% to £264.5m in 2021. Pre-tax profit is 50% ahead at £18.7m. The labels division was sold at the end of 2021, and it made a loss. Net cash is £2.5m and the pension scheme surplus is £8.3m. The total dividend is one-quarter higher at 3.2p a share. There is continuing inflationary pressure and supply problems.
Maternity wear brand Seraphine Group (BUMP) says that sales grew in the seventeen weeks to the end of January 2022, although February has been tougher. That means revenues will be below expectations, while lower margins mean that there will be little in the way of profit for the full year. The problems include an underestimation of sales tax and duties in newer markets. This is not the first profit warning. Last July, Seraphine floated at 295p, and the share price has fallen to 58.5p.
Seraphim Space Investment Trust (SSIT) has performed strongly since it floated and there is more to come. The original fundraising was at 100p a share and the NAV at the end of 2021 was 104.7p a share. That is before the announcement of the reversal of Italy-based space logistics company D-Orbit into Nasdaq-listed Breeze Holdings Acquisition Corp, which should be completed by the autumn. There was still £70m in the bank at the end of 2021, although more investments have been agreed since then.
Fasteners supplier Trifast (TRI) says that there is consistent year-on-year growth in monthly revenues. Higher cost are being passed on and there are signs that supply chain costs are stabilising.
Alkemy Capital Investments (ALK) plans to enter into a lease at a Teesside chemical engineering park and the land will be used to build a lithium hydroxide processing facility through a new subsidiary called Tees Valley Lithium. The facility is anticipated to produce 24,000 tonnes a year of lithium hydroxide monohydrate for energy storage markets. This is a reverse takeover and trading in the shares has been suspended.
Kanabo Group (KNB) has acquired The GP Service, a telemedicine provider, for £13.5m in shares at 12.65p each. The business provides NHS video and online consultations and can electronically deliver prescriptions. Consultation services are also offered to corporate clients. GP Service will provide a way of marketing Kanabo’s CBD products. Kanabo raised £2.25m at 8p a share.
Cannabis-based drug developer Oxford Cannabinoid Technologies (OCTP) still had £12m in the bank at the end of November 2021. Cost savings worth £130,000 a year have been made so the cash can last longer. Two compounds are expected to enter phase 1 clinical trials in the next 12 months. Two The year end is being changed from May to April.
Andrew Hore
Andrew Hore – Quoted Micro 15 March 2021
AQUIS STOCK EXCHANGE
Rogue Baron (SHNJ) joined the Aquis Stock Exchange on Friday. The company is a spirits brand developer, and its focus is the Shinju Japanese whisky brand and specialist tequila Copa Imperial Tequila. The idea is to build these and other niche brands to the point where larger drinks companies will want to acquire the brand. There was £755,000 raised at 7p a share. The share price ended the first day of trading at 8p (7p/9p).
Gunsynd (GUN) has already more than trebled the value of its investment In Rogue Baron, which was worth more than £1.8m, including accrued convertible interest, at the time of flotation. Gunsynd holds a 28.5% stake. Chris Akers has increased his stake in Gunsynd from 5.36% to 6.19%.
Sativa Wellness (SWEL) has taken more than £1.1m of bookings for its Covid-19 testing clinic business. This has been achieved by the Bath clinic and a further clinic has opened, plus 13 in-pharmacy and two mobile clinics. There could be 30 clinics by the end of April, ready for the easing of lockdown.
KR1 (KR1) has invested $200,000 into Automata Network’s seed funding round.
IamFire (FIRE) made a loss of £162,000 in the six months to October 2020. During the period, investments were made in WeShop and Bio2pure.
Upper Thames Holdings (UPPT) has net liabilities of £83,000 at the end of 2020 and since then £516,000 has been raised. The board will seek approval to change the company’s name to Valereum Blockchain.
Quetzal Capital (WENP) is raising £3m at 4p a share and issuing enough warrants exercisable at 8p to raise a further £3m. This will help to fund a reverse takeover or investment. NQ Minerals (NQMI) has raised a further £255,000 at 7p a share. Bluebell Investment and Consulting has invested £25,000 in Wheelsure Holdings (WHLP) at 13.5p a share, which represents a 4.9% stake. Altona Rare Earths (ANR) has raised a total of £800,000 at 6.5p a share from placings.
Western Selection (WESP) has increased its stake in Bilby (BILB) by 698,737 shares at an average share price of 35.11p each. This takes the stake to 12.2%.
All Star Minerals (ASMO) has appointed SP Angel as broker.
AIM
AMTE Power (AMTE) raised more than initially expected in the flotation and this should provide the cash required for investment in the battery cells development business. AMTE raised £11.3m at 175p a share. The share price jumped to 233.5p on the first day of dealings. The battery cells nearing commercialisation are aimed at the high-performance vehicles, oil and gas equipment and energy storage markets. There are currently 16 potential clients that products are being developed for.
Engineer Avingtrans (LON: AVG) is raising £35m from the sale of the Peter Brotherhood business that came with the £52.7m acquisition of Hayward Tyler in September 2017. Peter Brotherhood was estimated to be worth £9.3m of that cost. Borrowings will be paid off. Net cash is expected to be £22m at the end of May 2021.
Kape Technologies (KAPE) is acquiring Webselenese for $149.1m. This provides the group with a consumer platform for privacy and security content, which will generate information and data on consumer trends. In 2020, the acquired business generated revenues of $64.5m and EBITDA of $30.7m. In 2021, Kape is expected to increase earnings from 15.8p a share to 25.4p a share.
Billing and customer relationship management software provider Cerillion (CER) has won a Middle East contract worth £5m over five years. The implementation will take up to 18 months.
Getech (GTC) is raising up to £6.25m via a placing and open offer at 22p a share. The cash will be invested in developing hydrogen products and services.
Online merchandising technology provider Attraqt (ATQT) improved its full year revenues by 8% to £21m, helped by an initial contribution from AI firm Aleph. The loss was reduced from £4.4m to £2.6m. Annualised recurring revenues were £21.1m at the end of 2020. A £500,000 loss is forecast for 2021 before a move into profit in 2022.
Cloud-based PCI payment services provider PCI Pal (PCIP) is gaining momentum in the US. In the six months to December 2020, revenues rose by 56% to £3.2m. More of these revenues are coming via channel partners. Total annual contract revenues were 59% ahead at £8.3m. There should be enough cash in the bank to get the company to the point where it is generating cash.
Shoe Zone (SHOE) says that it does not expect to pay a dividend until at least 2025. The footwear retailer expects to continue to lose money this year. The stores are closed at the moment.ch
Online women’s fashion retailer Sosandar (SOS) has agreed to sell a specialist collection of its products through Marks and Spencer (MKS). This follows deals with Next and John Lewis.
Coral Products (CRU) is repaying its £1.6m property mortgage out of the proceeds of its recent disposal. The £2.5m valuation of the Haydock site is expected to be increased in the next accounts. Coral has also repaid £500,000 of its CBIL loan with the other £433,333 likely to be paid before the year-end.
Business restructuring company Begbies Traynor (BEG) is acquiring of David Rubin & Partners for up to £25m. This takes the group’s market share to 12%. There is an initial £12m payable and the rest depends on performance over five years. Begbies raised £22m at 105.5p a share to help finance the deal, which should be immediately earnings enhancing.
Arden has upgraded its Dekel Agri-Vision (DKL) forecasts due to higher crude palm oil and palm kernel oil prices. This means that Arden expects Dekel to be profitable in 2021.
MAIN MARKET
Avation (AVAP) is raising £7.5m at 110p a share and this provides additional cash at a difficult time for the airline industry. NAV was previously 174p a share. Avation could continue to lose money for the next two years Net debt will still be more than $1bn.
Challenger Acquisitions (CHAL) is entering into a deal to acquire Cindrigo Energy, which owns Cindrigo Ltd, the company where a previous offer lapsed. The business is a developer of renewable energy projects using Swedish expertise in waste-to-energy and biomass. The shareholders of the target company will own 96.5% of the enlarged business.
Kanabo (KNB) has signed a production and supply agreement with PharmaCann Polska for cartridges containing Kanabo’s medicinal cannabis formulations. The initial production capacity is up to 36,000 cartridges. FastForward Innovations (FFWD) has sold its stake in Kanabo for a profit of £140,000. FastForward has also sold its Cellular Goods (CBX) for a £54,000 gain.
Argo Blockchain (ARB) has raised £26.8m at 200p a share and this cash will fund the purchase of a further stake in Pluto Digital Assets. The £7.3m investment in Pluto will maintain the Argo stake at 25%. AIM-quoted Pires Investments (PIRI) owns 6.4% of Pluto.
The Financial Reporting Council has started an investigation into the audit of motor dealer Lookers (LOOK) by Deloitte for 2017 and 2018.
Wheaton Precious Metals (WPM) is increasing its first quarterly dividend by 30% to 13 cents a share. The strategy is to pay 30% of average cash generated by operating activities in the previous four quarters.
Pharmaceuticals developer Nuformix (NFX) is raising £1.565m at 2p a share. This cash will finance preclinical studies for the NXP002 inhaled formulation for lung disease and further research and development of formulations. Nuformix is waiting to see whether Oxilio will option the NXP001 cancer treatment. This option expires on 24 March.
Andrew Hore
Andrew Hore – Quoted Micro 15 February 2021
AQUIS STOCK EXCHANGE
Oberon Investments Group (OBE) has joined the Access segment following the reversal of the wealth management business into standard list shell Baskerville Capital. Assets under administration are more than £400m. Oberon was formed in 2017 and acquired investment manager MD Barnard. It also has a corporate broking business, and it is joint broker to MyHealthChecked (MHC). There was £1.44m raised at 4p a share at the time of the reversal.
Brewer Curious Drinks is being placed into administration and the business will be acquired by Risk Capital Partners, which was founded by Luke Johnson. This will have to be agreed by the HMRC and the secured creditor HSBC. There should be no redundancies Majority owner Chapel Down Group (CDGP) is offering small shareholders in Curious Drinks a share swap. There will be 1.57 Chapel Down shares issued for each Curious Drinks share. In 2015, Curious Drinks raised £1.71m via a crowdfunding with Seedrs, which equates to a market capitalisation of £17.7m. That funding was equivalent to 9.66% of Curious Drinks and there were 886 shareholders. The share swap should provide around 50% of the initial investment. There will be less than 1% dilution for Chapel Down shareholders. Chapel Down net debt will be slashed from £7.2m to £100,000. There was a loan from Chapel Down to Curious Drinks of £7.77m included in the 2019 accounts.
Coinsilium (COIN) holds $1.98m of cryptocurrency and tokens, which is a 17% increase in fewer than three weeks.
Gunsynd (GUN) has sold all its shares in Angold Resources. This raised £163,000. Chris Akers has increased his stake in Gunsynd to 5.36%.
Tectonic Gold (TTAU) continues to have a 100% success rate for its exploration drilling. According to managing director Brett Boynton the latest hole shows “multiple stacked veins somewhat like a palm tree spraying out mineralised fronds from the primary fault zone”.
NQ Minerals (NQMI) has raised £301,000 at 7p a share from one institution and private investors. Vulcan Industries (VULC) has raised a further £185,000 with some shares placed at 3.6p and some at 4p.
Western Selection (WESP) has bought a further 150,000 shares in Bilby (BILB) at 29.8p each. The total stake is 11%.
AIM
Joules (JOUL) has acquired the Garden Trading Company, which takes it into the home and garden market and adds annual revenues of £168m. Joules is paying £4.5m in cash and 2.83 million shares. Peel Hunt has increased its 2021-22 pre-tax profit forecast by £2m to £10.6m.
Engineer Avingtrans (AVG) maintained its interim revenues at £54.1m and the stemming of losses at recent acquisitions has helped pre-tax profit to nearly double to £3.5m. It offset the lower demand from the oil and gas sector. The recent merging of the MRI operations with Magnetica, will enable niche MRI products to be developed, but it will take time for the revenues to come through. Meanwhile, Avingtrans is stopping supplying third parties. The valuable Luton site could be sold in the next year or so if market conditions allow.
Kromek (KMK) is raising up to £13m via a placing and open offer at 15p a share. The cash will be used to accelerate the commercialisation of its bio-security products and boost the marketing of medical imaging and nuclear detection products. Intuitive Investments Group (IIG) is investing £250,000 in the placing.
Packaging manufacturer Robinson (RBN) is acquiring blow moulded containers producer Dhela Plast for up to £7.7m. There will be additional investment of £2.4m in the Danish company. The customer sectors are similar to Robinson and the deal widens its geographic reach.
MAIN MARKET
Motor finance provider S & U (SUS) expects a rebound in demand when lockdown restrictions are eased. In the past two months new deal transactions are running at nearly 80% of previous levels. Investment in Aspen Bridging has been increased because of the strong demand. A second interim dividend of 25p a share has been announced.
A planned demerger of assets by Aseana Properties Ltd (ASPL) has been stopped because the banks have not agreed to the proposal.
Castillo Copper Ltd (CCZ) confirms an extension to the 100%-owned Big One deposit and JORC modelling is underway.
Argo Blockchain (ARB) intends to acre 320 acres in Texas where it will build a new mining facility in the next 12 months. The overall cost will be $17.5m in shares.
UP Global Sourcing (UPGS) grew interim sales by 11%. Beldray represented 28% of sales, with the next biggest contributions coming from licenced brands Salter and Russel Hobbs.
One Heritage Group (OHG) is taking advantage of the share price rise over the past two months to raise £548,500 at 30p a share. The residential developer floated before Christmas at 10p a share. One Heritage plans to buy an office block in Stockport, which can be converted into residential. Plus House will cost £725,000.
Tirupati Graphite (TGR) is increasing the planned flake graphite capacity of the first module at the Vatomina project by 50% to 9,000 tonnes a year. The project will be commissioned in the second quarter. Carboflamex and other expandable graphite products produced by the company have gained certification to be sold in the EU.
Avation (AVAP) has entered into a lease with an Asian airline for an ATR72-600 aeroplane, which should be delivered in March.
Andrew Hore
Andrew Hore – Quoted Micro 11 January 2021
AQUIS STOCK EXCHANGE
Standard list shell Baskerville Capital (BASK) plans to switch its quotation to the Access segment of the Aquis Stock Exchange. This move will happen at the time of the reverse takeover of Oberon Investments, the owner of fund manager MD Barnard. The transfer to the Access segment is expected to happen on 5 February, although this depends on completion of the deal.
Walls and Futures REIT (WAFR) increased its NAV to £3.96m at the end of September 2020. The Southfields property has been sold for £660,000, which was a small discount to the previous book value. The remaining residential property will be sold in the next few months. The company will then concentrate on specialist supported housing.
KR1 (KR1) has sold its remaining holding of FunFair tokens for an average price of 2.0207 cents each. That raised $1.28m, which is more than treble the cost.
Wishbone Gold (WSBN) expects the analysis of the aerial magnetic survey of the Red Setter project in Western Australia will be available before the end of the first quarter of 2021.
All Star Minerals (ASMO) continues to review opportunities in the mining sector in Africa. The deal is likely to be funded by a share issue, but more cash will be required.
Arbuthnot Banking (ARBB) non-executive director Nigel boardman has increased his shareholding from 5,020 shares to 11,348 shares. Shepherd Neame (SHEP) director JB Neame has sold 4,000 shares at 690p each and bought back 2,000 shares at 691.5p for an ISA.
Vulcan Industries (VULC) has raised £150,000 in share issues at 5p a share and 5.5p a share. TruSpine Technologies (TSP) is still waiting to receive £250,000 from Evrensel Capital Partners.
Peel Hunt has been approved as an AQSE corporate adviser.
AIM
Capital equipment manufacturer Mpac (MPAC) did better than expected last year although pre-tax profit is still likely to decline from £7.5m to £6.2m. net cash is £5m following the payment of £10m for Switchback last autumn. The order book is worth more than £55m, compared to 2020 revenues of £83m. The focus on healthcare and pharma has helped Mpac.
Judges Scientific (JDG) had a strong second half in 2020 and this has led WH Ireland to increase its 2020 pre-tax profit forecast from £12.1m to £13.5m. The 2021 figure has been maintained at £15.1m. Full year results will be announced on 23 March.
Fashion retailer Joules (JOUL) offset weak high street sales prior to Christmas with strong growth in online sales. Even so, continued uncertainty means that Peel Hunt has reduced its 2020-21 pre-tax profit forecast from £5.4m to £3.5m. Net cash is £13m.
Motor dealer Cambria Automobiles (CAMB) says trading the three months to November 2020 was ahead of the same period last year even though the market remains uncertain.
Wealth management firm Mattioli Woods (MTW) had more than £10bn of client assets by the end of November 2020. Gross discretionary assets under management are £2.9bn. Management is still seeking acquisition opportunities and there is £18m of cash in the bank.
Creo Medical (CREO) has received 510(k) clearance from the FDA for its MicroBlate soft tissue ablation devices. This broadens the range of products with approvals.
AssetCo (ASTO) has acquired a 2.9% stake in investment manager River and Mercantile at 186p a share. This cost £4.7m. There is still around £26m in cash available since the payment from Grant Thornton and after the tender offer to shareholders.
Avingtrans (AVG) is merging its two medical equipment businesses with Australia-based MRI technology developer Magnetica and it will own 59% of the enlarged business after also injecting A$600,000. A further £3.2m investment could increase the stake to 61.2%. The combined business is loss-making but the increased scale will help it to move towards profitability.
Telit Communications (TCM) has ended bid discussions with u-blox, although the potential bidder is still interested in making an offer. An all-share bid of 250p a share was indicated.
Tekmar (TGP) has secured a contract to design and manufacture subsea scour protection for a quay development project, which is worth more than £4m. That will be recognised in this financial year.
IntegraFin has decided not to bid for Nucleus Financial Group (NUC), which increased assets under administration by 8% to £17.4bn in the three months to December 2020. Inflows of funds increased, and outflows fell.
Eqtec (EQT) has signed a memorandum of understanding with Greece-based Nobilis Pro Energy, which will enable Eqtec to be involved in its partner’s pipeline of gasification projects opportunities in Thessalia and central Greece. A joint venture will be formalised.
MAIN MARKET
One Heritage Group (OHG) has acquired a site on Bank Street, Sheffield for £880,000. The final development cost is expected to be £2.9m and gross development value should be £3.6m. The residential developer says that its Burnley development will not be completed until later in the first quarter. Construction of the Waterloo Place development in Salford should commence in the second quarter.
Argo Blockchain (ARB) mined 96 Bitcoin during December. The increase in the bitcoin price means that these are valued at £1.63m. Argo holds 209 Bitcoin. The sharp rise in the share price has led to the exercising of warrants and options. This has raised £1.63m.
Tirupati Graphite (TGR) is on track to commission the Vatomina graphite project in the second quarter and build production to 6,000tpa. Tirupati raised £6m at 45p a share when it floated at the end of last year and the share price has risen to 83p.
Rainbow Rare Earths (RBW) has completed its drilling programme at the Phalaborwa rare earths project under budget and the results are expected before the end of the first quarter.
Pembridge Resources (PERE) has raised £570,000 at 4p each and this should be enough cash to take the company into next year.
Andrew Hore
Andrew Hore – Quoted Micro 5 October 2020
AQUIS STOCK EXCHANGE
Wine and beer maker Chapel Down (CDGP) made a similar interim loss this year. Wine revenues were one-fifth ahead even though sales were lost in pubs and the company’s own retail site. Online sales offset those declines. Wine stocks have increased by one-third to £11m. Beer and cider sales fell by 38% and gross profit slump by 59%. There was £5.83m in cash at the end of June 2020.
Coinsilium Group Ltd (COIN) reported an increase in interim revenues from £109,000 to £140,000. Reversal of impairments and unrealised gains helped to generate a pre-tax profit of £27,000, down from £242,000 because of lower unrealised gains. NAV was £2.52m, including cash of £129,000, at the end of June 2020. Since then, there has been an increase in the value of cryptocurrency and tokens held by the company.
Western Selection (WESP) has sold its stake in AIM-quoted Brand Architekts (BAR) and raised £1.43m at 109.78p a share. The shares were valued at £1.63m in the recent balance sheet. Peter Gyllenhammr increased his stake in Brand Architekts from 6.1% to 10.5%.
KR1 (KR1) reported an interim pre-tax profit of £522,000, including an unrealised gain of £711,000. The NAV was 6.18p a share at the end of June 2020. The latest digital asset investment is $100,000 in the Moonbeam Network project. This is a smart contract platform and KR1 will receive Glimmer tokens that will power Moonbeam’s blockchain.
Incanthera (INC) has announced positive data for a skin sensitisation study for skin cancer technology Sol. This shows it to be non-irritant. ImmuPharma has subscribed £250,000 for shares at 9.5p each. That takes the stake to 15.3%. A total of £350,000 was raised with directors subscribing for the other £100,000.
Housebuilder St Mark Homes (SMAP) has an NAV of 125p a share, compared with a share price of 87.5p (85p/90p). There was a swing from interim profit to loss.
Gunsynd (GUN) has invested £58,000 in gold explorer Angold Resources, subject to its reversal into ZTR Acquisition, which was formerly Oyster Oil and Gas, where Gunsynd already has a stake.
Property investor Ace Liberty and Stone (ALSP) has completed the £1.43m acquisition of a property in Scarborough leased to Skipton Building Society. It has exchanged contracts on a Carlisle property costing £1.71m.
NQ Minerals (NQMI) says that processing rates at the Hellyer gold mine have increased to 165 tonnes per hour. The average annualised production rate was 1.23Mtpa in July and August.
Gowin New Energy Group (GWIN) says it is near to appointing a new corporate adviser so that trading can resume in the shares. Management is working towards launching a tea business.
Primorus Investments (PRIM) has invested £1m in construction payments software company Zuuse. Thi is part of a £2.2m fundraising to pay for a transaction expected in the next few weeks. Primorus already owned shares and warrants in Zuuse, so it owns 1.7% of fully diluted share capital. Primorus has sold six million Greatland Gold (GGP) shares at an average price of 14.8p each. That leaves Primorus with 20 million Greatland shares.
Capital for Colleagues (CFCP) had an NAV of 51.53p a share at the end of May 2020.
IFA group AFH Financial (AFHP) says that business is recovering and it continues to be profitable and cash generative.
Eurocann International (BUD) is changing its name to DiscovOre (ORE) and the investing strategy broadened to include natural resources as well as cannabis-related activities.
SativaWellness Group Inc (SWEL) has been readmitted to the AQSE growth market following the reverse takeover of the company.
AIM
Avingtrans (AVG) improved its 2019-20 pre-tax profit from £5.3m to £5.9m despite loss contributions from recent acquisitions. One of those acquisitions, Booth Industries, has won a £36m doors contract for HS2. finnCap forecasts a 2020-21 pre-tax profit of £7.3m and Avingtrans is likely to reinstate the dividend.
Demand for the type of data erasure and cyber security services provided by Blancco (BLTG) remains strong, although April and May were tough. In the year to June 2020, revenues improved from £30.5m to £33.4m, helped by acquisitions. Pre-tax profit grew from £3m to £3.9m. Investec expects further profit improvement to £4.3m this year, but it will be second half weighted.
Geospatial services provider 1Spatial (SPA) reported an 8% rise in interim revenues to £11.7m, although the core business revenues made up a greater proportion of the total. There was an interim loss but positive operating cashflow of £1.7m. Net cash was £3.4m. 1Spatial could make a small full year profit.
Grant Thornton has decided to settle litigation with AssetCo (ASTO) rather than appeal the court judgement. This means that AssetCo can access the £28.6m lodged with the court plus the balance of money owed by Grant Thornton. Once this is received, AssetCo will have cash of £55m and net assets of around £52m. The market capitalisation already takes this into account.
The FDA has approved adrenal treatment Alkindi in the US and Diurnal (DNL) should receive a $2.5m milestone payment from distributor Eaton pharmaceuticals when sales start next year. That is on top of licence income. That means that Diurnal’s cash will last longer.
New Trend Lifestyle Group (NTLG) changes its name to Conduity Capital (CCAP) on 5 October. The former activities have been sold and Conduity becomes a shell.
Erris Resources (ERIS) plans to buy a 50% stake in Zinnwald lithium project owner Deutsche Lithium from Bacanora Lithium (BCN) in exchange for shares and a net profit royalty.
Yu Group (YU.) reported a decline in first half revenues from £56.6m to £45.9m due to lower energy consumption by its commercial energy customers. There was a lower loss in the period but reduced working capital requirements meant that there was a significant cash inflow from operating activities. There was £17.9m in the bank at the end of June 2020. Management has invested in marketing in order to win new business.
Intelligent Ultrasound (MED) is launching its first AI software product alongside GE Healthcare. GE has 480,000 ultrasound machines in use and the AI software will be integrated in a range of women’s health ultrasound machines. It could be rolled out across other machines in the future.
M and C Saatchi (SAA) has failed to publish its results and trading in the shares has been suspended. Windar Photonics (WHPO), Clear Leisure (CLP), Malvern International (MLVN), Tri-Star Resources (TSTR) and Hydrodec (HYR) have had share trading suspended for the same reason. The acquisition of Bristol Energy customers will boost scale and help Yu to move towards profitability.
MAIN MARKET
Car finance provider S and U (SUS) generated revenues of £42.8m in the six months to July 2020. That was a 3% decline, but the effects of the Covid-19 lockdown will be greater in the second half. Net receivables were down by 6% to £281.9m, but new loan volumes fell by one-third in the first half. Bad debt provisions were increased by £13.8m to £21.7m and this led pre-tax profit to slump from £17.1m to £6.3m. The property bridging loan business made a lower profit contribution, although the market has subsequently inproved. Even so, a dividend of 22p a share was announced, down from 34p a share.
Guild Esports (GILD) raised £20m at 8p a share. The share price ended the first day of trading at 8.15p.
Mining shell Critical Metals (CRTM) joined the standard list on 29 September. The placing price was 5p and the price was 5.5p at the end of the week.
Toople (TOOP) is on course to achieve £1.6m of annualised cost savings from integrating DMSL. The focus is on margin rather than just growing revenues.
Ross Group (RGP) reported a reduced loss of £830,000, down from £3.15m, in the first half of 2020. There were no revenues, but the company is trying to build up supply chain operations.
InnovaDerma (IDP) reported full year figures in line with its trading statement in July. The skincare products supplier slumped into loss due to higher marketing costs. There was cash of £1.2m at the end of June 2020.
Newspaper publishing consolidator National World (NWOR) had £4.31m in the bank at the end of June 2020. It is still evaluating acquisition opportunities.
Andrew Hore
Andrew Hore – Quoted Micro 4 November 2019
NEX EXCHANGE
Chapel Down Group (CDGP) has managed to generate 92% of 2018’s record harvest in volume terms for the company’s wines. This was achieved even though the weather was not as good this summer. Some vineyards produced their first crop and are still maturing.
Belvedere Leisure Resorts plans to gain a quotation on the NEX Growth Market for its bonds on 22 November. The company is a subsidiary of Belvedere Leisure Park, which owns a site in Dumfries & Galloway with planning permission for a lodge park resort of 444 holiday lodges. The park will be built by Landal GreenParks. The bonds will offer a coupon 6.25%. An initial £10m of bonds will be admitted with a maximum of £25m expected to be raised.
First Sentinel (FSEN) is seeking shareholder approval to issue Green Finance preference shares, which would be quoted on NEX. The cash raised will be invested in the renewable energy sector. A general meeting will be held on 18 November. Warrants have been exercised at 10p a share and this has raised £400,000 for First Sentinel.
Mechanical and electrical design and installation company Field Systems Design Holding (FSD) reported a decline in revenues from £25.9m to £21.8m in the year to May 2019. Higher gross margins meant that the decline in the pre-tax profit was limited and it fell from £625,000 to £553,000. Water generated four-fifths of revenues, up from 48% the previous year. There are no solid spending forecasts, as yet, for the latest water capital investment period for between 2020 and 2025. This causes some medium-term uncertainty. The order book is worth £8.2m, compared with £12m one year earlier. There is a pension surplus.
KR1 (KR1) has made three more investments in blockchain-related tokens. A $100,000 cash investment and payment for advisory expertise will earn 1.017% of Vega tokens issued. Vega is developing a decentralised and censorship-resistant blockchain trading platform. A further $266,220 has been invested in Edgeware smart-contract platform tokens and they will be locked up for 12 months. KR1 will receive 1,000 Ether and this will translate into 3.8 million Edgeware tokens. KR1 has spent $50,000 on a minimum stake of 0.625% in Commonwealth Labs, which is helping to market the Edgeware platform.
Allenby Capital has published a research note on cannabis products supplier Sativa Investments (SATI) and it forecasts revenues of £1.64m in 2019 and £5.15m next year. This will not be enough to make Sativa profitable. Allenby believes that it may have to raise £6m next year to cover its cash outflows and maintain net cash. Sativa has changed the brand name from George Botanicals to Goodbody Botanicals.
Imperial X (IMPP) has raised £347,000 at 2.5p a share. This represents 27.3% of the enlarged share capital.
NQ Minerals (NQMI) increased lead concentrate production at the Hellyer mine from 5,452 tonnes in the second quarter to 6,656 tonnes in the third quarter, but zinc and pyrite concentrate production declined. However, recovery levels have improved for both lead and zinc.
BWA Group (BWAP) intends to sell its investments in Prepaid Card Services and a mining project in Cameroon. They are in the balance sheet at a value of £608,000. The focus will be gold explorer Kings of the North. St-Georges Eco-Mining is converting £300,000 of the £2.45m of convertible loan notes at 0.5p a share. This is equivalent to 23.75% of the enlarged share capital. The loan notes were issued to acquired Kings of the North Corp. BWA is still waiting for £88,000 of the £100,000 of convertibles issued for cash.
Black Sea Property (BSP) has published its 2018 accounts, but it will have to publish its interims before trading in the shares recommences. Management says that it is addressing the accounting concerns of its auditor BDO. The NAV was 0.95 cents a share at the end of 2018.
Asia Wealth Group Holdings (AWLP) reported a drop in revenues from $1.24m to $797,000. This meant that the company fell into loss. There is $726,000 in the bank at the end of August 2019.
Ganapati (GANP) improved its interim revenues from £2.19m to £2.33m, but higher admin expenses meant that the reported loss more than trebled to £8.5m. The company continues to develop its online gaming platform.
TechFinancials (TECH) has completed the sale of a loss-making asset for €100,000.
Queros Capital Partners (QCP) is asking shareholders to approve the ending of the NEX quotation. The general meeting will be held on 14 November.
AIM
Duke Royalty (DUKE) has made a follow-on investment in Lynx Equity, to help the company to finance the purchase of Denmark-based steel staircases supplier Sundby Trapper. This means that Duke has exposure of £12m in Lynx and it will receive annual distributions of £1.6m.
Space management software supplier Smartspace Software (SMRT) is paying £3.2m in cash and shares for Australia-based Space Connect, a provider of cloud-based workplace management software for room booking, desk management, catering and workspace analytics. This will save up to £1.2m a year on product development over two years. The software can be rolled-out in the UK. Smartspace made an interim loss of £4m.
An investor group intends to increase its stake in Petrel Resources (PET) from 29.99% to 51% via a share issue at 1.25p each. They will offer potential oil and gas-related investments to Petrel.
Cabot Energy (CAB) has decided to ditch its AIM quotation on 3 December, but it intends to have its shares matched on Asset Match. This will have to be approved by shareholders. The Canada-focused oil and gas company wants to reduce its overheads.
RedT Energy (RED) plans to merge with Avalon Battery Corporation and combine the best features of each company’s technology. Bushveld Minerals (BMN) is providing an interim loan facility prior to the raising of £23m of new funds.
Avingtrans (AVG) is already reaping the benefits of the acquisition of Booth Industries, thanks to a £7.2m safety doors contract from the government. That means that £12m of orders have been won since the purchase in June.
Safestay (SSTY) is buying a hostel in Athens for €1.5m. The hostel has been operating since 2008 and has an 18-year lease. Safestay has also completed the purchase of the Best Western Glasgow City hotel for £3.15m and this will be transformed into a 200-bed hostel.
MAIN MARKET
Stevia producer PureCircle (PURE) has won a legal decision in its patent litigation with SweeGen, which challenged the patent. It will pursue Federal District court litigation against SweeGen. The patent is for the process of producing Reb M stevia sweetener via bioconversion. The shares remain suspended because it has not published the results for the year to June 2019.
Meditor is considering a 5p a share offer for carpets retailer Carpetright (CPR) and without this offer thee would need to be a refinancing of £80m of debt and additional working capital.
Motor dealer Lookers (LOOK) has warned that its 2019 figures will be even worse than previously thought and chief executive Andy Bruce and chief operating officer Nigel McMinn have left the board. The pre-tax forecast has been cut from £38.7m to £15.5m, compared with £53.9m in 2018. Third quarter new car unit sales fell by 3.2% (on a like-for-like basis), compared with the market decline of 0.6%.
InnovaDerma (IDP) is launching a new topical product in Superdrug before the end of June. The full details will be announced nearer the launch.
The chairman and chief executive of Rainbow Rare Earths (RBW) have acquired 5.46 million shares at 3p each and they have a combined shareholding of 27.5%. Further cost reductions have been identified for the Gakara project in Burundi. A further 100 tonnes of rare earth oxides concentrate were shipped in October. Production levels will fall in the short-term as the production focus moves to a mechanised operation.
Cryptominer Argo Blockchain (ARB) has doubled its mining equipment order and changed the machines it is buying. The cost has been reduced from $13.1m to $9.51m. The machines are more efficient. The current machine orders will increase capacity by 240%.
Resources cash shell Mila Resources (MILA) is still seeking a deal. There was £429,000 in cash at the end of June 2019. Another shell, Bermele (BERM), is also still seeking a deal. It had £682,000 in cash at the end of July 2019.
Blencowe Resources (BRES) is acquiring the Orom graphite project in Uganda for £2m in shares at 6p each. This is subject to a fundraising.
Iconic Labs (ICON) slipped out its results for the 18 months to June 2019 at 6.28pm on 31 October. They show a £6.12m loss, of which, £308,000 was from continuing operations. Net liabilities were £1.67m.
Andrew Hore
Andrew Hore Quoted Micro 17 June 2019
NEX EXCHANGE
Renewable energy supplier Good Energy (GOOD) says that holding back on operating expenditure has offset the downturn in demand due to warmer weather. Profit will be weighted to the first half. Good is investing in electric vehicle platform Zap-Map.
Brewer Daniel Thwaites (THW) reported a more than halved pre-tax profit from £9.8m to £4.5m. Turnover improved from £92.2m to £96.9m and the profit decline was mainly due to a non-cash swing from gain to loss on swaps and a pension adjustment. Operating profit was flat at £12.9m. The Inns business improved its profit and individual pubs are making a higher profit contribution, but hotels profit declined. The total dividend was maintained at 3.36p a share. Net debt was £69.7m at the end of March 2019, while NAV was £180.7m. The pension liability has fallen from £34.9m to £24.8m.
KR1 (KR1) has sold 70,079 tokens in the Cosmos Network for $361,000. The average cost of the tokens was $0.10 each and they were sold for $5.14 each. KR1 has also generate a further 7,008 tokens from staking activities and these were sold for $6.93 each.
There was a sharp rise in the share price of TechFinancials Inc (TECH) but much of this gain was lost by the end of the week. There does not appear to be a reason for the rise. Full year results should be published this week. There will be an operating loss. There was $1.1m in the bank at the end of May 2019. The company is still waiting for approval from the Seychelles authorities for the €100,000 disposal of MarketFinancials. There will be write-downs of the value of diamond trading blockchain developer CEDEX and MarketFinancials.
EPE Special Opportunities Ltd (ESO) had a NAV of 272.02p a share at the end of May 2019. The company intends to start buying back shares and these purchases could exceed 25% of the average daily volume of ordinary shares.
Shareholders have approved the plan of Oyster Oil and Gas to distribute the shares of its main subsidiary to settle indebtedness and certain creditors. These include Gunsynd (GUN) although the exact shareholding has yet to be announced. Production sharing contracts in Madagascar and Djibouti are owned by the subsidiary. Gunsynd has raised £500,000 at 0.037p a share.
Trading in Via Developments (VIA1) debentures has recommenced following the publication of figures for 18 months to September 2018. The company has net liabilities of £329,000 with long-term debt of £5.68m offset by cash of £91,000. A subsidiary is securing debt and equity for a project that will generate management fees fir Via, but that won’t happen until September.
Clean Invest Africa (CIA) is holding a general meeting on 3 July in order to gain shareholder approval for the acquisition of the 97.5% of Coal Tech and its related business that it does not own for £27.2m in shares at 2.75p each. CoalTech transforms discarded coal into coal pellets.
Lombard Odier sold 1.65 million shares in Chapel Down Group (CDGP) at 75p a share, reducing its stake to 11.5%. Chief executive Frazer Thompson exercised 2.39 million options at 12.5p a share and finance director Richard Woodhouse exercised 200,000 options at 10p a share and all these shares were sold at 75p each.
AIM
Frontier Smart Technologies (FST) has received another bid approach. Previous potential bidder Science Group (SAG) has built up a 28.3% stake in Frontier so it is in a strong position. It says that it does not intend to sell the shares to another bidder and could block any move to cancel the AIM quotation.
Park Group (PARK) increased investment in the business last year and this knocked underlying pre-tax profit progress which was flat at £12.5m, before asset write-downs. The dividend was increased by 5% to 3.2p a share. There was a smaller contribution from Christmas savings, but growth from corporate promotions and incentives offset that. Increasingly, business is card-based. There was £36.9m of the company’s own cash at the end of March 2019. There will be a dip in profit this year due to higher overheads and profit growth should resume in 2020-21. Chief executive Ian O’Doherty has bought 30,000 shares at 69.5p each.
Stanley Gibbons (SGB) has resolved claims against former management at antique dealer Mallett and this will result in a cash inflow of £850,000 over 12 months.
Safestyle (SSTY) has acquired the freehold of a 161 bed hostel in Pisa for €3.25m. This takes the company’s portfolio to 14 hostels, including the Paris site that is under construction.
Last year was about OnTheMarket (OTMP) building up the number of agencies on its property portal and increasing the number of homebuyers looking at the properties advertised. The rival to Rightmove and Zoopla needs to convert these agencies into fee payers and that process has just started. OnTheMarket will continue to be loss-making this year with higher marketing spending likely to offset higher revenues. Cash is expected to fall from £15.7m to £6.6m at the end of January 2019.
NWF (NWF) did better than expected in the year to May 2019. The feeds business was slightly behind the previous year, but new business helped the food warehouse business to significantly improve its performance and fuels did better than expected despite the milder winter, although behind the previous year. The results will be published on 30 July.
Industrial equipment distributor HC Slingsby (SLNG) says that pressure on margin means that operating profit in the four months to April 2019 is lower, even though revenues are slightly higher. Uncertainty over Brexit is affecting levels of demand in the first half of 2019. Net debt was £1.3m at the end of May 2019.
The actuarial deficit on the Molins UK Pension Fund has been cut from £69.9m to £35.2m over a three-year period. Mpac (MPAC) believes the deficit should be eliminated by July 2024. That is based on maintained payments into the scheme.
Filta (FLTA) says that its figures will be more skewed towards the second half. This is partly down to the integration of the Watbio grease management business. There has been growth in the FiltaSeal business and the North American FiltaFry fryer management franchise business.
Avingtrans (AVG) has acquired the Booth Industries specialist door manufacturing business from the administrator of Redhall (RHL) for £1.8m in cash. Booth made a pre-tax profit of £300,000 last year.
MAIN MARKET
Full year results from fasteners supplier Trifast (TRI) were slightly better than expected. Revenues were 6% ahead at £209m, while re-tax profit was a similar percentage higher at £23.5m. The dividend was increased by 10% to 4.25p a share. Trading remains tough.
Aquila Services (AQSG) has acquired education and sports consultancy Oaks Consultancy for up to £1.7m in cash and shares. In the year to March 2019, Oaks made a pre-tax profit of £254,000 on revenues of £909,000.
Bluebird Merchant Ventures Ltd (BMV) is converting $2.89m of loans into 121.5 million shares. Management made most of the loans and chief executive Colin Patterson will end up with 19.1% of Bluebird. Bluebird is debt-free.
Standard list shell Safe Harbour Holdings (SHH) lost £2.3m in 2018 due to overheads and due diligence costs. There is still £26.9m in the bank.
Andrew Hore
Ian Pollard – M&S #MKS Admits Defeat
Marks & Spencer M&S Bad news for Waitrose, as the the bonds between the two behemoths grow ever closer. with M&S and Ocado announcing a new 50/50 joint venture which is intended to transform online grocery shopping for UK consumers.Significantly the new venture will trade as Ocado.com which must be a clear indication as to who will be holding the reins, although lip service is paid to the M&S brand and its leading food quality and innovation.Of course a major announcement like this can not come without the necessary jargon and the unintended admission. Thus the joint venture is seen as a strategically compelling route to unlock growth for M&S Food – an admission that growth in M&S Food has become blocked with the implication that it has lost its way as any Saturday afternoon shopper can tell. Steve Rowe and Ocado see it as combining the magic of two iconic and much-loved retail brands. We shall see
Taylor Wimpey TW claims 2018 as another strong year which produced record revenues, a very strong start to 2019 and continued strong demand for Wimpey homes. Profit before tax for the year to 31st December rose by 18.9% and basic earnings per share by 18.2%. A total dividend of c.£600 million will be paid in 2019, subject to shareholder approval and confirm the intention to make further material cash returns in 2020 and beyond.
Ted Baker plc TED updates that pre-tax profit for the Year to 26th January has been adversely affected by three non-cash impacts: Foreign exchange movements in the final week of the financial year, is the first. Systems upgrades have allowed the identification of additional costs which arose during the second half but will now provide robust controls to prevent a recurrence; Thirdly a more prudent view has been taken on aged stock, resulting in an unanticipated write-down in value of approximately £5m. Profit before tax is now expected to be in the region of £63m.
Avingtrans AVG Revenue from continuing operations increased from £26.9m. to £47.7m in the half year to the 30th November, whilst adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations more than tripled to £3.6m from £1.1m. Adjusted Profit Before Tax shot up to £1.6m following 2018’s half years loss of £0.1m and the interim dividend is increased by 7.7% to 1.4p per share.
Redde plc REDD Another set of good results showing further growth in earnings for the half year to the 31st December, claims the CEO, as earnings rise by 14.9% and profit before tax by 7.6%. It is anticipated that the second half will be a tougher comparison against the benefits which last years extreme weather, kindly generated for the company. The interim dividend is maintained at 5.5p per share
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