Tag Archives: fast

ISDX

Hearing aids and mobility products retailer DHAIS (DHAP) fell into loss in the first half on slightly lower revenues. Costs increased in the mobility division and the focus will be on the hearing aids business. A store in Swindon was sold but DHAIS is still selling hearing aids from the site. In the six months to December 2015, revenues dipped from £5.13m to £5.07m, while a profit of £21,000 was turned into a loss of £86,000. At 24.5p (22p/27p) a share, DHAIS is valued at £15.3m.

Globe Capital Ltd (GCAP) has bought Globe Capital Administration, which was incorporated in January 2016, for £1,250 and paid £12,500 for a 25% stake in Sterling Craig, which was incorporated on 11 December 2015.

Welney (WENP) still has options over tyre recycling business Mitre Rubber and cleaning company Cleanbrite Facilitation and has not made a decision on whether to proceed with either deal. Neither company had a business at the time of their most recent accounts. Another investment is being negotiated. There was £59 in the bank plus a Nasdaq listed investment worth £2,675 at the end of 2015.

AIM

Ultrasound training simulators developer Medaphor (MED) has raised £3.2m at 45p a share in order to finance working capital for its latest contract. Earlier this year, Medaphor’s US subsidiary has signed a long-term agreement with the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ABOG) for the use of its ScanTrainer as the simulator for its obstetrics and gynecology certification exams. ABOG undertakes 2,000 examinations each year. The cash will also be used to develop the US sales team and the continued product development. Hopefully, this will be enough cash to get Medaphor to profitability. Last year, Medaphor lost £1.7m on revenues of £2.2m.

Fastnet Equity (FAST) has published the acquisition document for Amryt Pharmaceuticals. The deal is valued at £29.6m and Fastnet is raising £10m at 24p a share (post one-for-eight share consolidation). Amryt has, conditional on the deal going ahead, agreed to acquire Germany-based Birken, which has developed a recently approved drug for partial thickness wounds and a potential orphan drug for the skin disorder epidermolysis bullosa called Episalvan, and Switzerland-based SomPharmacuticals, which is focusing on treatments for acromegaly and Cushing’s disease. Some of the cash will be used to fund a phase III clinical trial of Episalvan.

Digital Barriers (DGB) is selling its services business to its management for a nominal sum and this should reduce costs by £1m a year. The focus will be surveillance, security and safety technology, where organic revenue growth was 50% in the year to March 2016. The underlying loss has been reduced.

MAIN MARKET

Investment company Athelney Trust (ATY) is seeking to raise additional funds. This will help to spread costs over a larger capital base. The plan is to increase the share capital by up to 9.9%, which should also help to make the shares more liquid.

Aseana Properties Ltd (ASPL) is selling the Aloft Kuala Lumpur Sentral Hotel for a gross value of $104.6m. That should generate a gain of $35.9m to project NAV. The hotel was developed by Aseana and opened in March 2013. The transaction should be completed in the third quarter and marks a significant step in the plan to realise the company’s assets. Net gearing will be reduced from 1.12 times to 0.48 times NAV. There are plans for a $10m capital distribution and then will be further distributions after that.

Civil engineer and building services provider North Midland Construction (NMD) returned to profit in 2015but there is still no dividend. The board hopes to start paying dividends in the near future. In 2015, revenues improved from £193.2m to £217.6m. The core building division returned to profit and the group pre-tax loss of £2.97m to £606,000. This was helped by a reduction in the costs of legacy contracts. Net cash was £2.4m at the end of 2015.

Cleantech-focused investment company Menhaden Capital (MHN) is traded on the Main Market on the Social Stock Exchange offshoot of ISDX and it raised £80m last July. At the end of 2015, the NAV was 83.9p a share – a 14.1% decline even after initial costs are excluded. Management remains optimistic, particularly concerning its investment in solar energy products developer X-Elio.

ANDREW HORE