Tag Archives: bmy

AQUIS STOCK EXCHANGE

Electrification technology developer Equipmake (EQIP) has raised £3m at 3p/share. Chief executive Ian Foley has subscribed for 6.67 million shares, although his stake will be diluted to 34.1%. The cash should last for six months and move the business towards cash breakeven. There was £2.48m in the bank at the end of May 2024. In the year to May 2024, the cash outflow from operations was £6.3m. The company estimates a requirement of £5.5m for working capital over the next 12 months. A potential licensing agreement could bring in £4.6m over a two-year period. Equipmake could reach cash breakeven in 2025-26. The focus is on higher margin work and bus repowering range will be rationalised. Costs are also being reduced, but it is investing in its commercial team.

Igraine (KING) has secured right of first refusal on current and future battery storage projects developed by GEM Energia. AIM-quoted Vela Technologies (VELA) is providing a loan facility with a minimum commitment of £200,000. Igraine will issue 35.5 million shares, which is 29.1% of the company, to GEM in return for the rights. David Levis, the chief executive of GEM, is joining the Igraine board as an executive director. He founded GEM to develop battery energy storage projects in the UK. It develops the projects up to the point where it either sells them or proceeds with the development itself. Igraine will have the right to receive 8% of the sales proceeds of a disposal or be involved in their further development. Initial sites will be sold to generate cash for Igraine and strengthen the balance sheet. Each site requires £150,000-£250,000 to secure grid connections and get to the ready to build stage. Every MW of capacity is valued at £120,000. After costs, a 100MW site could generate cash of more than £7m. There are four sites which are already in progress.

Oscillate (MUSH) has started hydrogen operations in Minnesota. A hydrogen soil-gas sensor has been bought and pre-field work started, which will provide data to enable further progress. Igraine has been diluted from 10.2% to 5.05% following the recent share issue.

Lift Global Ventures (LFT) says investee company Trans-Africa Energy has not received the £12m it was waiting for from an African investor. It is talking to alternative sources of finance for the energy infrastructure project in Ghana. The redemption date on the loan notes held by Lift Global Ventures has been extended to the end of 2024 and in return the value will be increased from £1m to £1.25m.

Ananda Developments (ANA) says two of its potential medicines, MRX2 and MRX2T, will be used in National Institute for Health and Care Research and NHS co-funded phase IIIa epilepsy clinical trials involving up to 500 patients. This could support marketing authorisation applications if the trials are successful.

EDX Medical Group (EDX) has raised £300,000 from a Saudi Arabian investor at 11p/share, which was a 22% premium to the market price.

Corporate businesses developer Macaulay Capital (MCAP) managing director David Horner has doubled his shareholding to 500,000 shares by buying 250,000 shares at 20p each. His family has a 24.9% stake. Marula Mining (MARU) director Jason Brewer has increased his shareholding by 340,000 shares at 5.38p each. That takes his stake, held through Gathoni Muchai Investments to 9.13%. Mike Cass has increased his stake in BWA Group (BWAP) to 15.1%. James and Alexandra Pace have a 5% stake in Shepherd Neame (SHEP).

AIM

Footwear retailer Shoe Zone (SHOE) says that poor weather hit second half sales, but it has traded in line with expectations. Full year revenues were 3% lower at £161.3m with a second half decline wiping out the interim growth. Trading did improve in August and September. Zeus forecasts a fall in pre-tax profit from £16.5m to £9.5m. The full year dividend will slip from 17.4p/share to 6.2p/share.

Disinfection products supplier Tristel (TSTL) beat expectations in the year to June 2024. There were initial revenues from the US, but they will take time to build up. Sales grew in nearly every market, with small dips in Australasia and China. A price increase in the UK, combined with higher volumes, helped hospital medical device decontamination jump 38%. The main growth in sales is in the UK and Europe. In the year to June 2024, revenues improved from £36m to £41.9m, while pre-tax profit rose from £6.2m to £8.2m. There was a reallocation of costs from overheads to cost of sales, so this affected comparatives. The total dividend was raised 29% to 13.52p/share.

Telecoms enterprise software provider Cerillion (CER) continues to grow faster than its underlying market. Revenues were 14% higher in the second half, enabling profit to be better than expected. There are record new orders and this underpins further growth in the next couple of years. The €12.4m order from the previously unnamed Virgin Media Ireland is contributing to the growth. It probably generated £6m last year. This is the first contract with a tier-1 telecoms company and could help to win other contracts with this level of business. In the year to September 2024, revenues were 12% ahead at £43.8m.

Online marketing services provider XL Media (XLM) is selling its North American business for up to $30m in cash, with $20m payable on completion and up to $10m in April – based on revenues and gross profit in 2024. Some cash should be redistributed to shareholders by the end of the year. The company will effectively become a cash shell.

EnergyPathways (EPP) has been asked by the UK government to participate in the Hydrogen Storage Business Model. This will help to define the new investment support scheme. The first Hydrogen Storage Allocation Round should be in 2025.

Seascape Energy Asia (SEA) has been awarded a 28% participating interest in a production sharing contract over the DEWA complex cluster, offshore Sarawak, Malaysia. Enquest owns 42% and Petroleum Sarawak holds 30%. The area has 12 gas discoveries in shallow water near to the coast. Six will be focused on and these have 500bcf of gas in place. Seascape Energy Asia will commit $600,000 for a detailed resource assessment and field development plan.

Specialist recruitment firm Gattaca (GATC) reported an underlying 2023-24 pre-tax profit decline from £3.7m to £2.9m on 5% lower net fee income of £40.1m. There was a 3% increase in net fee income for contract work, but permanent income dropped by one-third. Despite the decline, Gattaca is gaining market share. Costs have been reduced and the US business has been sold. There could be a modest improvement in profit this year.

Prospex Energy (PXEN) recently acquired a 7.2365% working interest in the onshore Spain Viura gas field, which recommenced production last week. The Viura 1B development well has encountered significant gas shows in the Utrillas-A reservoir and a new gas bearing reservoir interval below that. The well, which cost Prospex Energy €375,000, could contribute to production in November Flow testing results for the deeper reservoir will be available next year. There should be a significant upgrade to recoverable reserves. The European gas price is rising.

Musical instruments retailer Gear4Music (G4M) continues to recover with growth in the second quarter nearly offsetting the decline in the first quarter and further improvement in October. In the six months to September 2024, UK sales grew 4%, but European sales declined. Total sales were 1% lower at £61.7m. Gross margin has fallen back, but the interim loss will be reduced. Full year revenues are expected to be higher and pre-tax profit could jump from £1.1m to £2.8m.

Information and data publisher Merit Group (MRIT) has been hit by the ending of project work and the lack of replacement work. Sales resource is being added, but that will take time to boost revenues. Canaccord Genuity has changed its 2024-25 forecast from a £900,000 profit to a loss of £800,000 after a 11% reduction in expected revenues to £18.5m, which is lower than the 2022-23 figure. A return to profit is forecast for next year. There are management changes that are flagged for next year.

Ariana Resources (AAU) has reviewed the data for the Dokwe gold project in Zimbabwe. There are several zones of potential extensions to mineralisation. There are also gold-in-soil anomalies to follow up and drilling is planned. The in-pit resource is 1.2moz in two open pits at Dokwe Central and Dokwe North. Measured and indicated resources are 30Mt at 1.3g/t gold. Ariana Resources believes there could be annual production of up to 100,000 ounces of gold for up to 15 years. A revision of the pre-feasibility study is underway.

At the end of the week, property developer and investor Caledonian Trust (CNN), which has been on AIM for more than 29 years, announced its proposed departure. The direct annual cost of the quotation is £100,000 and liquidity is poor. A general meeting to gain shareholder approval will be held on 18 November. There is already support from holders of 85.3% of the shares. The quotation could end on 26 November. NAV is 195.1p/share.

Adams (ADA) is proposing the cancellation of the AIM quotation and sell off the company’s investments, many of which are also quoted on AIM, to return the cash to shareholders. Prior to this Adams will be buying back shares at 4p each. The estimated NAV is 3.72p/share. Liquidity is limited because Richard Griffiths owns 94% of Adams.  A general meeting will be held on 27 November and, if passed, the cancellation will be on 5 December.

MAIN MARKET

Advanced materials developer HeiQ (LON: HEIQ) has found growing its business difficult, particularly in textiles, flooring and antimicrobials and not recovery is expected until well into 2025. Another restructuring plan will cut costs and focus on certain facilities. Non-core operations will be scaled back. Some parts of the business may be sold, and outside finance is being sought for AeoniQ. Part of the cost cutting is giving up the listing. This should take effect on 19 November. Because the shares are on the transition category of the market since the restructuring of the Main Market, no shareholder vote is required. The shares will be traded by JP Jenkins. Daren Morecombe has increased his stake from 14.5% to 22%.

Bloomsbury Publishing (BMY) grew interim revenues by 32% to £179.8m, while pre-tax profit jumped from £17.7m to £26.6m. This is due to strong consumer division revenues due to strong sales of fantasy fiction and cookery books.

LED lighting and wiring accessories supplier Luceco (LUCE) increased third quarter revenues by 3% with residential EV charging the main growth area. However, excluding acquisitions, like-for-like revenues were 3.6% lower, partly due to phasing of orders so that there is a strong fourth quarter order book. Margins are improving. Net debt was £67m at the end of September 2024.

Andrew Hore