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Andrew Hore – Quoted Micro 21 May 2018
NEX EXCHANGE
Newbury Racecourse (NYR) grew 2017 revenues from the nursery, hotel and media operations. There was a 11% increase in raceday attendances, which totalled 196,000 last year, leading to a 1% like-for-like rise in revenues. Overall revenues were 5% higher at £17.8m, while underlying pre-tax profit edged up from £178,000 to £188,000. There was a small cash outflow from operations. Capital investment meant that cash was reduced from £12.9m to £5.2m with more payments to come from the David Wilson Homes deal. A further £5.17m will be spent on upgrading the Pall Mall stand. There are concerns that the cutting of maximum stakes for gaming machines following the recent government announcement could hit bookmaker sponsorship and media rights revenues.
Block Commodities Ltd (BLCC) has a secured a strategic investment from Swarm Fund, which is a decentralised marketplace platform using blockchain. Investors will be able to participate in the FarmCoin asset-backed investment coin via the Swarm platform. FarmCoin is a joint venture between FinComEco and Block Commodities focused on the agriculture sector. There will be up to $45m of FarmCoin tokens issued.
National Milk Records (NMR) is holding a general meeting on 4 June in order to propose a reduction in capital that should put it in a position to have distributable reserves if it wants to pay a dividend.
Pre-IPO investor Primorus Investments (PRIM) had cash of £561,000 at the end of 2017. The NAV was £4.95m. This was after a £3.26m inflow from share issues.
AIM
Watkin Jones (WJG) has found a new chief executive but he will not be able to start until the beginning of 2018. Richard Simpson is joining from student accommodation developer Unite Group. The build to rent operations of Watkin Jones has secured a development arrangement for a site in Reading, which will have 315 apartments.
GAN (GAN) and Webis (WEB) are two companies that could benefit from the legalisation of online sports betting in the US. The Supreme Court of the United States has decided to overturn the Federal prohibition of sports betting. US sports betting could be worth $6bn by 2023. That covers online and onsite gambling. GAN can launch a sports betting service in New Jersey and Pennsylvania in the second half of this year – in time for the NFL season. GAN already has a deal with Betfair in New Jersey and adding sports betting will increase revenues. Webis has a US subsidiary called WatchandWager, which is based in California, a strong potential market for sports betting.
Genedrive (GDR) has agreed to sell its research and pharmacogenomics divisions to a director for up to £1.9m so that it can concentrate on its core Genedrive diagnostics platform. The initial payment is £1.15m with the rest deferred and subject to claims for R and D tax credits.
Lakehouse (LAKE) is acquiring heating and renewables services provider Just Energy Solutions, which fits with the company’s gas compliance businesses in the public sector and expands coverage in the industrial and commercial sectors. There is no upfront cost and payments will be dependent on profitability over two years. Lakehouse has also won a £55m, three year, Warm Homes contract with the Wales government.
Oil and gas demand is recovering at advanced coatings provider Hardide (HDD) but it is still well below previous levels. Other customers are enhancing growth and aerospace business is on the horizon. Interim revenues were 43% higher at £2.16m but the company is still loss-making. That will continue for a couple of years.
Angling Direct (ANG) increased revenues by 44% to £30.2m in the year to January 2018 and this led to an upgrade in forecast revenues for the current year. The fishing tackle retailer grew online sales by 54% but these tend to be lower margin. Pre-tax profit was £900,000 and it is expected to rise to £1.1m this year.
Online women’s fashion retailer Sosander (SOS) says that its full year revenues will be at least £1.34m. Like-for-like sales in the fourth quarter nearly quadrupled and gross margins are improving.
Portmeirion (PMP) has increased revenues by one-fifth in the first four months to 2018, although the second half of the year is always the more significant. Full year profit is still forecast to rise from £8.8m to £9.4m.
Churchill China (CHH) says that trading is ahead of the same period last year. The ceramic products manufacturer continues to have success in Europe and other export markets.
A new patent application has been filed for SkinBiotix by SkinBiotherapeutics (SBTX) and this covers the increasing of filaggrin levels in skin. Filaggrin is required for the formation of the outer layer of skin. Eczema sufferers have a low level of filaggrin.
The People’s Operator (TPOP) is increasing its UK subscribers but US numbers have declined so the performance was down in the first quarter of 2018. Churn is declining. Margins are better than expected. Even so, progress is too slow and an alternative strategy is required by the virtual mobile network business and it is considering divesting the US subscribers. That should cut cash burn by one-third.
A bathing water test by Molendotech, which is one of the investee companies of Frontier IP Group (FIPP), is being launched by Halma. This follows the agreement earlier this year.
Altona Energy (ANR) will begin a drilling programme on the Westfield tenement of the Arckaringa coal project during August. There could be 100mt of coal in the tenement. It will take three weeks to drill 15 holes to a depth of 120 metres.
Active Energy Group (AEG) intends to acquire a controlling interest in PowerWood Canada. Which owns forestry assets in Canada. This will secure feedstock for the roll-out of CoalSwitch, the biomass replacement for coal. There are plans to construct a 25 tonne per hour CoalSwitch plant in Alberta.
Servoca (SVCA) wants shareholders to agree to the cancellation of the AIM quotation. Management says that this will save £150,000 a year.
Volex (VLX) is buying Silcotec Europe for €18.1m and raising £36m at 75p a share. Silcotec supplies harnesses and electronic sub-assemblies to the medical, telecoms and computer industries and generated an operating profit of €3.1m.
Audioboom (BOOM) is not going ahead with the reverse takeover of Triton Digital Canada Inc because it could not raise the cash from a placing. A £700,000 break fee in cash (£90,000) and shares is payable. The audio business still requires more cash and that is why trading in the shares is still suspended.
MAIN MARKET
Sportech (SPO) has a strong presence in the US so it is in a good position to benefit from the legalisation of sports betting. It already has 90 licenced operator clients and its own network of off-track betting facilities in Connecticut.
The reasons behind founder Laurence Orbach increasing his stake in books publisher Quarto Group Inc (QRT) to 20.1% have become clear. Orbach was removed from the board in November 2012 but he has joined with 27% shareholder Lion Rock to unseat four non-executive directors at the AGM. Orbach and former finance director Mick Mousley have returned to the board, along with two nominees from Lion Rock. Orbach becomes executive chairman.
Shefa Yamim (SEFA) has completed bulk sampling in zone 1 and this should enable a resource estimate to be calculated.
Standard list shell Papillon Holdings (PPHP) has signed heads of terms for a 50% stake in CarCloud, a car sales-based fintech company. The deal to acquire energy storage systems developer Phestor is off. That follows the abortive takeover of Myclubbetting.
S&U (SUS) says non-prime car finance applications are 10% higher this year, although approval rates have fallen. Net receivables have increased by £48m to £258m.
North Midland Construction (NMD) has made a strong start to the year. There is a secured workload of £310m for this year and this should enable an improved financial performance this year.
World Trade Systems (WTS) wants to diversify its business outside of China. A new Taiwan-based health and fitness subsidiary is being incorporated. Kun Xin International will provide a loan facility of up to £3m to finance the new business. European opportunities are being sought.
Blood diseases treatments developer Hemogenyx Pharma (HEMO) has signed a development agreement with a global pharma company, which will provide Hemogenyx with free technical support and some intellectual property. The pharma company will be granted a research licence for anything jointly developed.
Andrew Hore
Andrew Hore – Quoted Micro 30 April 2018
NEX EXCHANGE
Chapel Down Group (CDGP) reported a 15% increase in annual sales to £11.8m. Wine sales were one-fifth higher at £8.12m with cider and beer sales, via associate Curious Drinks, were 7% ahead at £3.68m. Operating profit improved from £346,000 to £470,000 but there was a much larger loss from the Curious Drinks associate so pre-tax profit was lower. The new brewery should be open in the first quarter of 2019. Last year’s fundraising means that Chapel Down has a strong balance sheet and is in a good position to expand. Michael Spencer has increased his stake from 17.5% to 18.2%.
Adnams (ADB) says that beer volumes were nearly 5% higher in the first quarter, while spirit volumes were 30% ahead. However, the first half outcome will be lower than last time because the poor weather hit the company’s pubs and there are additional costs for updating the brewery and IT systems. The second half is expected to be stronger and also to benefit from cost savings.
PLACTAL (Play Data is Capital) has appointed Coinsilium Group Ltd (COIN) to advise on its token generation event for a decentralised mobile game advertising application. South Korea-developed PLACTAL will tokenise a gamer’s gaming data.
Cyber security technology developer Crossword Cybersecurity (CCS) more than doubled its revenues in 2017. The loss still increased from £950,000 to £1.24m despite the improvement in revenues from £345,000 to £737,000. The cash outflow was £1.06m, which left £490,000 in the bank. Since then, £2.16m was raised via a placing at 270p a share.
Early Equity (EEQP) is seeking to move to a standard listing. The company’s NAV was £1.54m, including £429,000, at the end of 2017
Sandal (SAND) has secured a term loan of up to £500,000 from major shareholder Greenbrook Industries Ltd and £250,000 would be used to buy back 862,068 shares from Greenbrook. The shares will be cancelled and this will enhance earnings per share. Shareholders are being asked to approve the share buy back.
The ownership of Via Developments (VIA1) has changed. It was 100%-owned by Pyramid Court Investments Ltd, which is owned by John Kahn. John Kahn directly owns 90%, Ivan McKeever 5% and David Harris. Stephen Kahn has an option to acquire a 45% stake from John Kahn.
Etaireia Investments (ETIP) has appointed Myles Cunliffe as executive chairman. He has two decades of experience as a finance broker and he founded online car finance provider Get Me Finance. More recently, he has been involved in property finance.
AIM
Automotive testing systems supplier AB Dynamics (ABDP) reported a 39% increase in revenues to £15.3m in the six months to February 2018. Underlying pre-tax profit was one-third higher at £3.3m. There is a strong order book so the outlook is positive. AB has moved into its new factory and this will provide additional capacity. A new subsidiary has been set up in Germany.
Nexus Infrastructure (NEXS) has warned that its TriConnex utility connections business is likely to report flat revenues and operating profit in 2018 even though its order book has grown. It is taking longer to get onto sites as the builders have to satisfy local government pre-conditions so revenues are slower coming through. The Tamdown infrastructure services provider should contribute a higher profit this year.
Safestyle UK (SFE) is not paying its 7.5p a share final dividend. The replacement windows and doors company wants to conserve its cash because it expects 2018 profit to be much lower than expected due to competitive pressures. Steve Halbert has resigned as chairman.
Panthera Resources (PAT) has been a warded an initial three-year exploration licence for Bassala in southern Mali. Several large gold anomalies have already been identified. Further soil sampling will help to provide drilling targets.
Osirium Technologies (OSI) is expanding in the UK and internationally. The cyber software supplier increased revenues from £478,000 to £648,000 but invoiced sales more than doubled so Osirium already has significant revenues it will recognise this year. There was £1m in the bank at the end of 2017. Since then, £4.2m has raised at 134p a share. It will take time for revenues to build up and losses are anticipated for the next couple of years at least.
Graphene technology developer Directa Plus (DCTA) has a strong base in a number of markets and they should help it grow its revenues over the coming years. A large chunk of the existing revenues come from the textiles sector. The environmental market could be a significant one for the company. Directa Plus has linked up with Sartec to commercialise its Grafysorber technology in the oil and gas sector. The plan is to develop a pilot plant to treat contaminated water. The most recent deal is for the potential use of Graphene Plus in the production of new and retreaded tyres. This is a development agreement with Marangoni, a major truck tyre manufacturer. A bespoke version of Graphene Plus will be developed and there could be a commercial launch in 2019.
There has been positive news from Futura Medical (FUM) concerning its MED2002 erectile dysfunction gel. A phase III efficacy study is being prepared following pharmacokinetic study information that suggests that higher dosages should increase efficacy. A rapid rate of absorption was demonstrated with peak levels in the bloodstream at between 10 and 12 minutes. Lombard Odier has trimmed its stake to below 18% after the uptick in the share price.
D4t4 Solutions (D4T4) says that full year profit will be slightly better than expected as revenues should hit £20m. Demand for Celebrus software remains strong and there is a greater interest in the recurring revenue-based offering. Net cash is £3.9m.
Driver Group (DRV) has sold and leased back its central admin offices in Haslingden, Lancashire. This generated £1.65m in cash. After taking into account rent from a sub-let the annual rental cost will be £105,000.
Tax Systems (TAX) reported revenues of £15.1m and pre-tax profit of £4.9m in its first full year in its current form. The corporation tax services provider has strong recurring revenues and is a strong cash generator. Net debt was £18.2m at the end of 2017. Cash generation will reduce this, although management wants to be acquisitive. It is taking its time, though, and has not gone through with a couple of deals because they did not meet the criteria.
Audioboom (BOOM) says that the structure and terms of its acquisition of Triton Digital Canada are going to change. Candy Ventures is providing a £1m convertible loan note so that the company has working capital while it waits for the deal to go ahead, although there is no certainty it will.
Access Intelligence (ACC) is raising £2.8m at 4p a share in order to invest in its Vuelio platform so that analytical information is better presented.
Volex (VLX) is paying up to 3.5 million shares for medical and industrial cables business MC Electronics. The North American company made a small loss on revenues of $19.1m in the year to October 2017.
Zoo Digital (ZOO) says that full year revenues will grow from $16.5m to at least $28m and EBITDA will improve from $1.8m to $2.3m. The main growth has come from localisation services.
MAIN MARKET
London and Associated Properties (LAS) has completed the £37.25m sale of its Brixton Markets assets. Andrew Perloff’s Maland Pension Fund, which has a 5.3% shareholding, has requested a resolution at the next annual meeting. Maland wants non-Heller family shareholders to be given a chance to realise their investment at no more than a 7.5% discount to net assets. The current share price is at a greater discount to NAV. The directors and Heller family own 56.6% of the company and they will vote against the resolution.
Bisichi Mining (BISI) has a portfolio of UK shopping centres that it owns jointly with London and Associated Properties and the Heller family are major shareholders. Bisichi owns the Black Wattle coal mine in South Africa. In 2017, revenues increased from £22.8m to £37.5m and pre-tax profit jumped from £630,000 to £1.94m. It would have been higher without a £1.83m write-off of a joint venture investment. A total dividend of 5p a share will be paid for 2017, which includes a 1p a share special dividend. Cavendish Asset Management owns 18.1% of Bisichi.
Nanoco (NANO) has extended its partnership with a major US corporation. Nanoco has won this latest development deal after a competitive process. The original deal was for sensor applications of Nanoco’s technology.
Ross Group (RGP) increased revenues from £59,000 to £335,000 and managed to swing from loss to profit in 2017. The profit was achieved after a provision for unpaid debts. Management still wants to find an acquisition to fully exploit the premium listing. Net debt is just over £6m but this is at zero interest rate.
Standard list shell daVictus (DVT) still had £484,000 in the bank at the end of 2017, down from £632,000 the previous year. Fellow shell Auctus Growth (AUCT) had £972,000 in cash, down from £1.01m. Neither has found a suitable acquisition.
Sure Ventures (SURE) has made its first virtual reality investment. The £500,000 investment in Immotion Group, which has developed VR cinema pods that are being placed in theme parks and museums. Sure is on the Specialist Fund Segment.
Andrew Hore
Brand CEO Alan Green discusses Prairie Mining #PDZ, Andalas Energy #ADL, Audioboom #BOOM & #ELA on Vox Markets podcast
Brand CEO Alan Green discusses Prairie Mining #PDZ, Andalas Energy #ADL, Audioboom #BOOM & Eland Oil & Gas #ELA with Justin Waite on the Vox Markets podcast. Interview is 32 minutes in.
Ian Pollard – Earthport Forced To Dive Deep Into The Jargon Drawer
Earthport EPO like so many companies faced with unexpected problems, management feels forced to dive deep into the jargon drawer in the false belief that if it can express itself in phraseology which only they and a few other of the initiated can understand, readers will be convinced that it must be doing a good job. The problem is fairly serious in that even as early in its financial year as now, it anticipates that revenue for the year to the 30th June 2018 will be 10%-15% below current expectations. That of course is nonsense in itself because those expectations are no longer the current ones, they are the previous ones which the company now no longer expects to be able to meet. The reasons for the rather dramatic changes in fortunes include delays in some expected contracts and a recent change at one client which on its own, will result in a loss of about 5% of projected 2018 revenue.
But help is at hand especially from various unspecified pipelines which get star billing in today’s update, in particular the new business pipeline which is stronger than at any time in the company’s history. Incremental transactions are also going to be ramped up and help will be forthcoming from international corridors, on boarding regulated business, receptivity at conferences, existing infrastructure will be leveraged and deep pocketed strategic partners will it seems, be prepared to dig deeply into those pockets. Fine sounding words indeed but what do they mean?. .Well basically it looks like they mean that cash flow beak even point will not be reached until 2019
Hunting plc HTG expects a modest profit for the full year with results strongly weighted towards the second half and following a strong second half performance from Hunting Titan. Restrictions on dividends have been lifted and payments will be resumed at an “appropriate time”
Redde plc REDD The positive start to the year announced in September and October has continued into December with sales continuing to show an increase over last year and trading profit also ahead. Interim results for the half year to the 31st December are expected to be announced on the 1st March.
Waterfront villas & houses for sale in Greece http://www.hiddengreece.net
Bovis Profits And Completions Tumble
Bovis Group BVS It is years since a major house builder produced such an appalling set of results. To do so at a time when the industry is in a long term boom illustrates the depth and severity of the problems which Bovis created for itself and to which management was too inept to find solutions. At least it now has a new CEO who has been in post since April and can hopefully start to get a grip on things.
Completions in the six months to the 30th June fell by 6% which is no surprise because at the same time the average selling price of a Bovis home rose by 9%, which the company appears to be trying to claim was not really a price increase as such but due to a change in mix. The result is that half year profit before tax fell by 31% and earnings per share by30%, whilst net debt more than quadrupled to over £32m. The company claims that the disaster is down to operational issues which can be fixed. The interim dividend remains unchanged but as a sweetener to shareholders they are promised that the full year dividend for 2017 will be increased by 5% and that for 2018 it they will get a further 20% increase. In addition, over the three years to 2020, special dividends equal to 134p per share will also be paid.
Since February customer rating levels are said to have improved significantly but they are still down at 74% which means that a quarter of Bovis customers are dissatisfied. One answer the company proposes is to focus on affordable housing and the second is to increase the number of houses built to 4,000 a year. In the current half year it completed 1,512.
Empyrean Energy EME is excited about the prospects for offshore China Block 29/11 and confirms that, based on its internal preliminary analysis, the Block contains prospects of truly significant scale and size. The three priority targets have the potential to contain 591m barrels of oil.
Molins MLN moved back into profit for the half year to the 30th June with last years half time loss of £0.3m being replaced by a statutory profit of £0.9m. Basic earnings per share of 4.3p similarly replaced a loss of 1.5p per share. The company claims that it is now positioning itself for sustained long term growth.
Villas & houses for sale in Greece – visit; http://www.hiddengreece.net
First Sales for Scottish Gold
Scotgold Resources SGZ has signed its first ever agreements for the sale of Scottish gold. This agreement covers the first refining batch (approximately 16oz) of Scottish Gold made available for jewellery (and only the second refining batch produced to date) from Scotgold’s Bulk Processing Trial (BPT) at the Cononish Gold and Silver Mine. The buyers are two of Scotland’s leading jewellery manufacturers.
Workspace Grp WKP is proposing a 40% increase in total dividends to 21.07p. per share after producing strong preliminary financial results for the year to 31st March led by growth in net rental income of 6.9%. Profit before tax was down on the previous year because of a smaller uplift in the property valuation. Recently completed projects have produced a strong letting performance and the total rent roll on like for like properties has grown by 14.5%. Demand for lettings remains healthy and there is a strong pipeline of refurbishments and redevelopments. Over the next three years delivery of over 1 million s.ft. of new and upgraded space is expected.
RPC Group plc RPC is to increase total dividends by 50% after a good trading performance saw revenue profit and cash flow all reach record levels for the year to the end of March, Revenue rose by 67%, adjusted operating profit by 77% and earnings per share by 54%. The proposed final dividend of 17.0p will make a total of 24p for the year.
Distil plc DIS saw 2016-17 turnover rise by 40% leading to its first ever profit, £10,000 compared to last years loss of £97,000. Growth in own brands was strong and further sustained growth is now expected.
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Quoted Micro 8 May 2017
NEX EXCHANGE
Mechan Controls (MECP) is selling its main subsidiary to its technical director and intends to sell its other business and return cash to shareholders. The core business is being sold for up to £2m, with a minimum of £1.64m, including £1.24m initially, payable. The final £360,000 is dependent on the buyers selling the 142,300 shares they own in Mechan Controls. This leaves the group with Nirvana Engineering, which made a pre-tax profit of £352,000 last year. The company is changing its name to Mandicon.
Wine maker Chapel Down Group (CDGP) is putting a brave face on the frosts at the end of April. These were the worst frosts in April for two decades. There was a patchy impact with some vineyards impacted and some not. The company says that it mitigates risk by sourcing fruit from a wider area. The potential crop will become clearer in June. A further 129 acres of vineyard will be planted in the rest of this year.
Bulgaria property investment company Black Sea Property (BSP) is still negotiating a loan from UniCredit Bulbank to finance the acquisition of the UniCredit Building. Black Sea Property is paying €10.52m for the building – a deposit of €1.04m has been paid – and €7.6m of this will come from a loan. Once this loan is secured then a share issue can be undertaken. It appears that the deal may not be completed in May as originally envisaged. Unicredit can remain in the building for six months after completion and does not have to pay rent. The deposit will be forfeited if the deal does not go ahead. Black Sea Property has extended the repayment date of £100,000 of the unsecured loan facility from Phoenix Capital to the end of July. Discussions continue about the assignment to Phoenix of the investment advisory agreement from AG Asset Management. Anthony Gardner-Hillman is stepping down from the board and a replacement should be appointed in the near future.
Ace Liberty and Stone (ALSP) has acquired the Grosvenor Casino site in George Street, Manchester for £4m. The annual rental is £300,000. Ace has also bought the company that owns Willow House in Aldershot for £1.05m.
Angelfish Investments (ANGP) says that the loan of £497,500 has been repaid with interest by 4 Navitas. The talks about a joint venture have ended and Angelfish is trying to recover professional fees and expenses. This means that Angelfish has £1.1m in the bank and a loan to One Media Enterprises of $425,500 and it is seeking pre-IPO investments. It should be remembered that Angelfish has £2.3m of preference shares in issue.
Early stage investor Primorus Investments (PRIM) says that cloud-based food service business Fresho has announced that annualised revenues through its platform is nearly A$100m. The platform connects wholesalers and suppliers to restaurants, hotels, independent supermarkets, hospitals, pubs and other retailers. Additional automation will help to boost margins. Primorus, which is also quoted on AIM, invested £175,000 in Fresho in September 2016. Another round of funding is expected early next year. That will provide an opportunity to revalue the existing investment.
Etaireia Investments (ETIP) is buying two office buildings at Whitehouse Office Park in Peterlee, County Durham, with 113 out of the 125 year lease left unexpired. The purchase price of £1.125m will be paid through a combination of 600 million shares at 0.1p a share, giving Taxspecialefx (Peterlee) LLP a 24.3% stake, and cash payment of £525,000 deferred for 12 months. Completion is expected within three months. The annual rental income is £99,500. The seller is entitled to 75% of rental income until the deferred payment is made.
Adnams (ADB) non-executive director Guy Heald has sold 310 B shares at £114 each, raising £35,340. He retains 15.9% of the B shares.
All Star Minerals (ASMO) has raised £40,500 at 0.075p a share. Equatorial Mining & Exploration (EM.P) has raised £14,000 via the exercising of warrants at 0.01p each and it has also issued 110 million irredeemable 0.01p convertible loan notes.
AIM
The new management team has spent 2016 restructuring Quantum Pharma (QP.). One part of the business has been closed and another may be divested. The focus is niche pharmaceuticals and specials. In the year to January 2017, pre-tax profit dropped from £10.1m £6.2m. There will be a recovery in profit this year but it will take another year for profit to get back to £10m.
Podcasts supplier Audioboom (BOOM) has increased its revenues from £192,000 to £1.31m although it continues to lose money. There is already more than £3m of recognised or pre-booked advertising for 2017. Audioboom has built up its user base and it has started to generate revenues on the back of that. The acquisition of advertising technology firm SONR should help to further target advertising. Audioboom will make a further loss this year and, even after raising around £5m, the net cash is expected to be less than £1m at the end of 2017.
Management spent a significant amount of time last year sorting out the operations that Inspiration Healthcare (IHC) inherited when it reversed into the AIM-quoted business. This meant that underlying profit was flat at £1.1m. Demand for pre-natal care equipment and services is rising. There is scope for further organic growth and for acquisitions.
Pennant International Group (PEN) says that Lockheed Martin has increased the size of a contract from £200,000 to £2.2m, with potential for me. The total order book is worth more than £35m.
A concept study for the CS pozzolan-perlite project has persuaded Sunrise Resources (SRES) to focus on the project. It is thought that the 100%-owned project should have low caped and operating expenses thanks to surface mining and simple production processes. The pozzolan mined can be used as a greener alternative to Portland cement. There are no defined resources yet.
Onshore oil and gas explorer Egdon Resources (EDR) has submitted a new planning application for the Wressle field development. This follows the rejection of the previous planning application by North Lincolnshire Council. Egdon is also appealing the original decision.
Verona Pharma (VRP) raised $80m at the time of its flotation on Nasdaq. The shares were issued at 132p each and the ADSs issued in the US at $13.50 each – one ADS represents eight shares. The ADSs are trading on the Nasdaq Global Market. Last month, respiratory disease treatment developer has received authorisation from the FDA to proceed with a clinical trial for RPL554.
Manufacturer of professional audio equipment Focusrite (TUNE) produced good interim figures thanks to strong sales in North America. Interim revenues were 24% higher at £32m with pre-tax profit 89% ahead at £4.6m. Net cash is £9.4m and the interim dividend was raised by 15% to 0.75p a share. . Edison has upgraded its 2016-17 pre-tax profit forecast from £8m to £8.5m.
The Article 6 Marital Trust has become the largest shareholder in FIH Group (FIH), with 28.9%, following the sale of shares by Blackfish Capital Alpha Fund and former bidder Staunton Holdings at 300p each. Edmund Rowland has stepped down as chairman.
PowerHouse Energy (PHE) has moved its ultra high temperature gasification waste to energy G3-UHt unit to the Thornton Science Park, operated by the University of Cheshire. This will enable further development and opportunities for demonstrating the technology.
LED lighting products developer Photonstar LED (PSL) has taken advantage of a sharp share price recovery to raise £465,000 at 1.25p. The cash will be used to roll-out new product ranges.
Sanderson Group (SND) says that interim figures are in line with expectations. The retail and manufacturing software provider increased interim revenues from £9.86m to £10.9m – just under 50% is recurring revenues. Digital retail revenues were one-fifth higher. Net cash was £4.51m at the end of March 2017. Full year pre-tax profit is expected to rise from £3.44m to £3.72m. The interims will be published on 24 May.
Strategic Minerals (SML) is acquiring its joint venture partner’s stake in Central Australia Rare Earths for £522,500. Larger amounts of funding will be required to explore the resource than originally thought. Cash generated from Cobre in New Mexico will be used to finance this investment.
Digital audio technology developer Frontier Smart Technologies (FST) says that its first half revenues is significantly ahead of last year and full year EBITDA is set to be well ahead of expectations with margins higher than anticipated. Analogue radio has been switched off in Norway and there is strong demand for digital radio across Europe. Smart audio contracts have been won and there will be a better indication of progress in the second half.
Gas producer Ascent Resources (AST) has re-entered the second well at the Petisovci gas field in Slovenia. The well is being prepared for production, which should take four weeks. There has been a further objection to the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control permit, which it requires to build a gas processing plant so more gas can be produced.
DP Poland (DPP) says that system sales grew by 21% in the first quarter of 2017. There have been eight stores added this year and a new commissary is under construction.
Accident prone Redcentric (RCN) appears to be sorting itself out but it is not out of the woods yet. Net debt is estimated at £39.5m at the end of March 2017 and the bank appears to support the company. Waivers have been received for covenant breaches and there were large exceptional charges. The underlying pre-tax profit is forecast to rise from £6.3m to £9.1m.
MAIN MARKET
Personal care products supplier InnovaDerma (IDP) has acquired the owner of the IP for Prolong, the only FDA-approved medical device for the treatment of premature ejaculation, a market valued at more than $1bn a year. This is part of a strategy to build up a life sciences division. Prolong is a non-prescription, vibrating medical device that is used in training in order to increase time between arousal and ejaculation. The device could cost between £250 and £300. InnovaDerma is paying £1m in shares, issued at a 25% discount to the market price minus the settlement of current liabilities at the current share price – estimated at £323,600. On top of this, a royalty of £11 per unit sold will be paid until the patent runs out in 2031 and if Prolong generates an operating margin of 20% in any year a bonus of £150,000 is payable. Prolong will be launched in North America in the second half of 2017 and Europe and Australia next year. InnovaDerma also announced that its self-tanning Skinny Tan products will be available on the ASOS website.
Opera Investments (OPRA) is going ahead with its acquisition of Kibo Gold from AIM-quoted Kibo Mining (KIBO) for £3.66m in shares at 6p each and moving from the standard list to AIM. The acquisition has the Imweru and Lubando gold projects in Tanzania. Opera is also raising £1.5m at 6p a share – it already had £486,000 in the bank. The Imweru project could be producing 50,000 ounces of gold a year within two years. Opera is changing its name to Katoro Gold.
Andrew Hore