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Andrew Hore – Quoted Micro 12 April 2021
AQUIS STOCK EXCHANGE
Virgata Services is making a 50p a share cash offer for Walls & Futures REIT (WAFR) and that is a 52% discount to net assets at the end of September 2020. It is a premium to the market price prior to the announcement, but management recommends shareholders take no action. The bid values Walls & Futures REIT at £1.9m. Six shareholders own more than 80% of the company. Roy Nominees holds 33.2% and Standard Life Trustee Co Ltd holds 22.9%. Virgata is owned by the family office of the Goetstouwers family, and it has a property portfolio worth €80m, plus stakes in developments in the Netherlands. All the interests are outside of the UK.
Love Hemp (LIFE) plans to move to the Main Market later this year and has raised £5m at 3.5p a share. The cash will finance a global market campaign for its CBD and hemp products.
Sativa Wellness Inc (SWEL) has raised C$3.6m from the first tranche of its private placement. Sativa is offering two and eight day quarantine tests for travellers returning to the UK.
Good Energy (GOOD) is appointing Nigel Pocklington as chief executive. He is the former chief commercial director at Moneysupermarket.com. He starts on 1 May. Good Energy is making a further £1m investment, via a convertible, in electric vehicle mapping services provider Zap-Map’s parent company Next Green Car. Good Energy already owns 50.1% of Next Green Car. Zap-Map covers more than 95% of the UK public electric vehicle charging points.
KR1 (KR1) has invested a further $150,000 in Moonbeam Network for 30,000 GLMR tokens, taking the total owned to 130,000 tokens.
On 6 April, Coinsilium (COIN) $3.13m of cryptocurrency and tokens, up from $1.98m two months earlier.
Gunsynd (GUN) says that investee company Low 6 is on course to float in the second quarter of 2021. The B2B pool betting firm has 122,000 users.
Clean Invest Africa (CIA) has signed a memorandum of understanding Exagogi for the development of opportunities in India for CoalTech. India has high stockpiles of coal fines waste, which CoalTech can clean-up.
A general meeting has been requisitioned by shareholders at Early Equity (EEQP).
Evrensel Capital Partners has not subscribed the £250,000 for shares in Truspine Technologies (TSP) that it promised last September. TruSpine has raised £35,000 at 10p a share, taking the total raised in the latest fundraising to £620,500.
Tectonic Gold (TTAU) has raised £634,000 following the exercise of warrants at 0.7p each. Tectonic has raised A$215,000 from selling part of its holding in VOX Royalty Corp.
EPE Special Opportunities (ESO) had a nav of 448.15p a share at the end of March 2021.
Chris Akers has reduced his stake in Quetzal Capital (QTZ) from 17.2% to 12.3%.
Gowin New Energy (GWIN) has appointed Novum Securities as corporate adviser and trading in the shares has recommenced.
AIM
Minds + Machines (LSE: MMX) is selling its business and assets to GoDaddy for $120m (£87m) and this is equivalent to 8.8p a share, after transaction costs. ICANN needs to provide approval for the transfer of the top level domains. The company will become a shell.
Mobile phone and technology recycler and reseller musicMagpie could have an enterprise value of between £180m and £220m when it plans to join AIM later in April. The company buys and resells smartphones, computers, CDs, DVDs, books and other products that might have ended up in landfill. The market for pre-owned technology and media is estimated to be growing at 10% a year. In the year to November 2020, revenues were £153.4m and EBITDA was £13.9m.
Demand remains strong from the rail sector for software and consultancy services from Tracsis (TRCS), although the data and events businesses had a tougher time. Interim profit declined in the first half. finnCap forecasts a recovery in full year pre-tax profit from £8.3m to £9.1m, before a much larger increase in 2021-22 assuming trading is nearer to past levels. The Williams rail review is due to be published and this could provide additional opportunities for Tracsis.
International payment services provider Equals (EQLS) increased business revenues in 2020, but a slump in consumer revenues due to the lack of travel. Total revenues were 4% ahead at £29m and Equals made a small profit. In the first quarter of 2021, revenues were flat at £8m and again this masks business growth, plus the comparatives were strong in this period. Canaccord Genuity has upgraded its 2021 pre-tax profit forecast from £3.8m to £4.2m.
FIH Group (FIH) lost money in the UK last year, but this was more than offset by profits in the Falklands. The art distribution and Portsmouth Ferry operations were hit by Covid-19 lockdowns.
Oil palm plantation operator Dekel Agri-Vision (DKL) produced 71,500MT in the first quarter. Crude palm oil sales were 27% higher at 13,921MT and average realised prices are one-fifth higher. Dekel is on course to make a pre-tax profit in 2021.
Arena Events (ARE) has been successful in its bid for the business and assets of Aztec Schaffer. Arena will pay $3.35m for a 50% stake in a new joint venture owner of the assets and there will be a debt financing package of $18.25m.
MAIN MARKET
Sales of new and used cars by Lookers (LOOK) fell by 10% last year. However, it appears to have gained market share in new cars. Peel Hunt has increased its 2021 pre-tax profit forecast by £11m to £34.8m.
Stranger Holdings (STHP) has signed heads of terms to acquire Technology Minerals, which itself is involved in acquisitions of businesses producing battery raw materials and recycling batteries. These include Recyclus Group, which Stranger has previously considered buying. League of Angels founder Barney Battles has been appointed as a non-executive director.
Caerus Mineral Resources (CMRS) is acquiring PR Ploutonic Resources. This includes the Troulli, Kokkinapetra and St Nicholas copper and gold licences. Caerus is paying £750,000 in shares.
Argo Blockchain (ARB) says March revenues were at a record level of £6.57m. This reflects the installation of additional equipment and a higher bitcoin price.
Tirupati Graphite (TGR) achieved record graphite production in the first quarter of 2021. Work continues on increasing capacity at the Sahamamy project in Madagascar.
Anemoi International (AMOI) has raised £240,000 at 4p per depositary interest.
Andrew Hore
Andrew Hore – Quoted Micro 22 March 2021
AQUIS STOCK EXCHANGE
Rogue Baron (SHNJ) has sold a shipment of 857 cases of Shinju Japanese whisky in the US. Each case of six bottles sells for up to $150. There was a total of 9,000 bottles of Shinju sold in 2020. US sales are growing so quickly that the company has decided to focus on the market and delay moves into other markets.
KR1 (KR1) has invested a further $150,000 in Vega Protocol in exchange for 194,999.17 VEGA tokens and made an initial $200,000 investment in the Starks Network. KR1 has also generated a further 77,542.92 Polkadot tokens and they were sold for $1.85m. KR1 still has nearly 3.5 million Polkadot tokens. Mona Elisa has been appointed as a non-executive director.
Block Commodities (BLCC) and Century Cobalt Corporation have entered an option agreement to acquire a 70% interest in a medicinal cannabis licence granted to Magnus Cannabis Group in Zimbabwe. Each of the buyers will hold a 35% interest. The option fee is £50,000. The payment for the interest will be £1.5m in Block shares at 0.07p each and £1.5m of Century Cobalt shares. Block no longer intends to acquire Sierra Leone-based Greenbelt Company.
Chris Akers has increased his stake in Quetzal Capital (WENP) from 9.4% to 15.2%.
Love Hemp (LIFE) has signed a five-year sponsorship agreement with UFC.
David Rigoli is joining the board of Veni Vidi Vici (VVV) and he has an interest in electric vehicle commodities.
AfriAg Global (AFRI) is holding a general meeting on 12 April to gain shareholder approval for the reverse takeover of Apollon Formularies Ltd. AfriAg will change its name to Apollon Formularies.
Wheelsure Holdings (WHLP) has raised £25,000 at 13.5p a share.
AIM
Online fashion retailer In The Style (ITS) joined AIM last week. The share price increased from the 200p placing price to 235p. Existing shareholders raised £46.8m from share sales, while there was £9.1m net raised by the company. There will be more investment in the technology platform and there are plans for an international version of the company’s app.
Underlying 2020 revenues at digital payments business Boku (BOKU) were one-fifth higher at $56.4m helped by a six-month contribution from Fortumo. Profit grew even though there was a higher loss from the identity division. There was net cash of more than $50m at the end of 2020, although that includes cash held on behalf of others. In 2021, there should be further growth in digital payments and an improved performance by the identity division.
Trading at document management and technology recycling business Restore (REST) has continued to improve since the second quarter of last year. In 2020, revenues fell from £216m to 3183m, while pre-tax profit dipped from £36m to £23m. This year pre-tax profit should be getting back towards the 2019 level. There are opportunities for further add-on acquisitions.
Futura Medical (FUM) says that erectile dysfunction topical gel formulation MED3000 should be certified as a class 2B medical device which can be obtained without a prescription. This could happen by May. US approval is also progressing.
Diagnostic data provider and analyser Diaceutics (DXRX) was able to launch its DXRX platform at the end of 2020 and it is already winning projects and building up recurring revenues. In 2020, revenues declined from £13.4m to £12.7m and Diaceutics fell into loss. It should return to profit this year.
Renewable energy company Bion (BION) has opened an office in the UK in order to expand in Europe. Two biogas plants in Malaysia are selling electricity generated from biogas produced from palm oil mill effluent. Another two plants will be generating electricity in the next few months.
Trans-Siberian Gold (TSG) has recommended a 118p a share mandatory cash offer from Horvik, which has already agreed to acquire a 51.2% stake.
Telit Communications (TCM) is releasing DBAY Advisers from its restriction on making a bid within six months of previously ending bid talks.
Waterford Finance and Investment is making a mandatory offer for former AIM company Gulfsands Petroleum having bought the stake previously owned by ME Investments for £3.43m. Waterford is also taking ownership of the convertible loan notes owned by ME. Waterford had a 37.3% stake in Gulfsands and it is deemed to be acting in concert with Blake Holdings, owned by Richard Griffiths and James Ede-Golightly. The Waterford stake in the Syria-focused oil and gas company has increased to 52.45% and the combined stake is 83.93%. The bid is 4.035p a share.
CEPS (CEPS) subsidiary Hickton Group has acquired gas and electrical safety consultancy Millington Lord for up to £1.1m.
Dye and Durham no longer intends to bid for IDOX (IDOX), which has sold its Netherlands grants consultancy.
Tremor International (TRMR) has made a filing with the SEC ahead of a potential US listing. Tremor believes it would get a rating more in line with US Ad Tech companies.
Kodal Minerals (KOD) has raised £3.5m at 0.125p a share. This will be used to develop the Bougouni lithium project in Mali and to fund exploration of three gold projects.
MAIN MARKET
Caerus Mineral Resources (CMRS) joined the standard list last Friday after raising £1.92m net at 10p a share. The share price rose to 13p. Caerus is exploring for copper, gold and silver in Cyprus, having acquired New Cyprus Copper, which owns 70% of a company with 12 exploration licences in four project areas in Cyprus. Completion of a work programme will earn a further 20% stake in the subsidiary with the opportunity to acquire the other 10% within 12 months of the work programme for A$2m.
Supply@ME (SYME) has signed heads of agreement to acquire Singapore-based commodities trade enabler TradeFlow Capital Management.
Standard list shell Marwyn Acquisitions Company 1 (MAC1) is raising £130m at 100p a share. Vin Murria has joined the board and she will be investing £17.5m for a 13.1% stake. Murria is likely to seek a large international software acquisition for this vehicle.
Sanofi is terminating its licence agreement with Oxford Biomedica (OXB) but there should not be any significant impact on medium-term revenues.
Toople (TOOP) continues to reduce monthly cash burn. The proceeds of a sale of 1.05 million shares at 0.06p each by the wife of the boss of a subsidiary will be used to repay a £462,000 loan.
OTAQ (OTAQ) has invested $150,000 and converted its loan notes in Minnowtech, which has developed an imaging product using OTAQ sonar technology. This gives OTAQ a 15.2% stake.
CML Microsystems (CML) says shareholders should receive 50p a share in cash by 26 March. Net cash will be more than £30m after this payment, which comes out of the proceeds of the disposal of the storage division. The continuing communications business generated slightly higher revenues in the second half than in the first half. Orders are improving.
Antimicrobial materials technology developer HeiQ (HEIQ) has signed a five-year contract with ICP, which develops thin film coatings for packaging. ICP will use HeiQ Viroblock in its coatings. This could be worth $8m in the first two years. Over five years the royalty revenues should be $30m. This follows a deal with Berger Paints, which could generate $600,000 over one year.
BATM Advanced Communications (BVC) has received around $29m for the completed disposal of NGSoft. The cash will be reinvested in network function virtualisation and molecular diagnostics.
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 8 March 2021
AQUIS STOCK EXCHANGE
Installation services provider and engineer Field Systems Designs Holdings (FSD) reported a dip in interim revenues due to Covid-19 and lack of work in the water sector. In the six months to November 2020, revenues halved from £11.5m to £5.7m and the loss increased to £209,000. Net assets improved from £3.87m to £3.93m with cash increasing from £4.34m to £5.6m. There are signs of water projects being announced.
Gunsynd (GUN) says its investee company Rogue Baron should join the Access segment on around 12 March. Gunsynd will own 28.48% of the drinks company and retain £111,000 of convertible loan notes.
Forbes Ventures (FOR) says that a £40m tranche of two-year notes is expected to take place in Malta in the middle of March. A further £60m should be listed within two months of the first tranche. A subsidiary of Forbes will receive a one-off fee of 2% of the funds raised.
Capital for Colleagues (CFCP) had net assets of 57.96p a share at the end of February 2021. There was cash of £2.68m. It has subsequently sold the investment in Anthesis Consulting for £1.15m. This was previously valued at £705,000.
Upper Thames Holdings (UPPT) is changing its name to Valereum Blockchain. The company has initiated the launch of the first series of securitised derivative tokens on a regulated cryptocurrency exchange, which should happen within two months. This will enable trading in currency and other products.
KR1 (KR1) has raised nearly $256,000 by selling tokens in Stake DAO. KR1 still has the rights to more than 700,000 SDT tokens and these will vest over 23 months. KR1 has spent $75,000 of the cash on a stake in LazyLedger Labs.
Exploration by Wishbone Gold (WSBN) has identified high grade silver and base metals potential at the Cottesloe project in Patersons Range Western Australia.
Coinsilium Group Ltd (COIN) is linking with 10%-owned Indorse to launch a Non-Fungible Token development studio in Gibraltar.
Quetzal Capital (WENP) has appointed Peterhouse as corporate adviser and raised £432,000 at 0.7p a share. Chris Akers will own a 9.4% stake.
Block Commodities (BLCC) has appointed First Sentinel as corporate adviser and trading in the share has recommenced. Altona Rare Earths (ANR) has appointed Optiva Securities as broker, and it hopes to move to the standard list in the second quarter.
World High Life has changed its name to Love Hemp Group (LIFE). It has appointed Hannam and Partners as financial advisor. Chris Cleverly and Elias Pungong have left the board.
AIM
Coral Products (CRU) has completed the sale of two plastic mouldings businesses and acquired Customised Packaging for £1.25m in cash and shares issued at 11p each. If 2021 profit is greater than £250,000 the vendors will receive 30% of the excess profit (capped at £250,000). Customised Packaging generated revenues of £2.3m in 2020. The Manchester-based business designs plastic products using sheet extrusion technology and vacuum forming capability. WH Ireland has been appointed as nominated adviser and broker.
Interims from parcel and freight delivery company DX (LSE:DX.) showed a 7% rise in revenues to £182.7m with strong growth in freight offsetting a fall in the express division. That enabled DX to move from loss to a pre-tax profit of £3.8m. New depots are being opened because of the demand for the company’s services, while the document exchange business is being revamped. Non-executive director Paul Goodson has acquired 176,810 shares at an average price of 28.25p.
In 2020, Franchise Brands (FRAN) improved pre-tax profit from £4.07m to £4.84m, helped by a full contribution from Willow Pumps. The dividend was increased from 0.95p a share to 1.1p a share. Income returned to growth in the fourth quarter and there has been a good start to 2021. That sparked a forecast upgrade for pre-tax profit to £6.1m.
The bid for AFH Financial (AFHP) has been increased from 463p a share to 480p a share.
BlueRock Diamonds (BRD) has raised £1.5m at 40p a share. This cash will be used to complete the weather delayed installation of the new processing plant at the Kareevlei diamond mine so that annual production can be raised to one million tonnes. There have been 29 production days lost to rain. The first two diamond tenders of 2021 have achieved an average diamond price of $423/carat, which is higher than the average price assumed for the full year.
Maestrano (MNO) has taken advantage of its strong share price to raise £2m at 13p a share. This will help to grow revenues of the Corridor.ai digital surveying platform for the rail sector. There is still manual rail survey business that can be done digitally.
In 2020, the revenues of MTI Wireless Edge (MWE) rose by 2% to $40.9m, while pre-tax profit jumped from $3.41m to $4.06m. The net cash position was better than expected at $9.44m. The dividend has been increased by one-quarter to 2.5 cents a share. The antennas business is winning larger 5G orders and the electronic components division is converting design wins into production orders.
Virgin Wines (VINO) ended the week at 225.5p a share, having floated at 197p a share.
Prospex Energy (PXEN) has completed the purchase of a 49.9% stake in the El Romeral gas and power operation in Spain. There is potential to increase production from the three producing gas wells and this could also help increase the amount of electricity generated from the 8.1MW power station, which is running well below capacity. An offshore gas well should start production later this year.
Safestay (SSTY) has sold the smallest of its three hostels in Barcelona for the book value of €900,000. Safestay is due to the final consideration of €1.18m for one of the other Barcelona hostels.
MAIN MARKET
Caerus Mineral is acquiring New Cyprus Copper and joining the standard list. A placing has raised £2.25m at 10p. There is a portfolio of exploration licences in Cyprus. There is potential for near-term mining of resources on closed copper mines and extensions of existing orebodies.
Argo Blockchain (ARB) says from this month chief executive Peter Wall will be paid in Bitcoin and other employees will be given the chance to follow suit. Argo held 599 Bitcoin at the end of February, having mined 129 (equivalent to £4.34m) during the month.
Emmerson (EML) plans to switch from the standard list to AIM ahead of the commencement of construction of its mine at the Khemisset potash project.
HeiQ (HEIQ) is acquiring 51% of Chrisal NV, a profitable industrial biotechnology company that has developed a symbiotic interior cleaner called Synbio with enhanced cleaning performance.
Castillo Copper (CCZ) expects the modelling of a JORC resource for the Big One deposit should be completed shortly. Drilling will resume when the wet season ends.
Boston International Holdings (BIH) is not going ahead with the reverse takeover of invoice factor Alexanders Discount. The shares remain suspended.
Starcrest Education The Belt and Road (OBOR) says that the purchase of 60% of The London School of Science and Technology is unlikely to happen before June.
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 28 December 2020
AQUIS STOCK EXCHANGE
TruSpine Technologies (TSP) has delayed the application for FDA approval of its Cervi-LOK spinal device for up to three months. This is due to a lack of testing time because of Covid-19. Computer modelling has enabled the company to make minor modifications, which widens the market for the device. A £250,000 cash injection is expected by 5 January.
Daniel Thwaites (THW) reopened its pubs in early July and up until the end of September sales were running at three-quarters of the previous year. Due to the lockdown in the first three months of the period, the interim revenues were 59% lower at £21.8m and the business moved into loss. Net debt was £66.6m at the end of September 2020. There are total borrowing facilities of £90m.
KR1 (KR1) has made two more investments. There is a $200,000 investment in Tidal Finance in return for 222,222,222.22 Tidal tokens. A further $200,000 is invested in HydraDX and the number of tokens has not been determined as yet.
Coinsilium Group Ltd (COIN) has more than £1m of cryptocurrency and tokens with a further $127,000 of RIF tokens due to vest over 23 months.
Tectonic Gold (TTAU) has drilled 11 holes at the Specimen Hill prospect in Queensland. Gold/ copper/silver mineralisation was intersected in the first three holes. The other eight holes have similar characteristics.
Belvedere Leisure (BELV) has entered into an exclusivity agreement to purchase the 160 acre site known as Barnsoul Park in Dumfries and Galloway for £1.4m. The deal is subject to due diligence and 12 weeks after completion there are plans to install at least 28 lodges as part of an upgrade of the park. Bookings will be taken for June 2021 onwards if the deal goes ahead. In two years, there should be more than 150 lodges.
Upper Thames Holdings (UPPT) has non-binding heads of agreement for the purchase of a 10% stake in Sweden-based Ridercam, which supplies mobile camera systems for theme park rides.
Gunsynd (GUN) says that Angold Resources has completed the acquisition of Federal Gold Corp and trading in Angold shares will begin on the TSX Venture Exchange on 31 December. Gunsynd owns 712,500 shares.
Newbury Racecourse (NYR) has appointed Allenby Capital as its corporate adviser.
AIM
Applegreen (APGN) is recommending a €5.75 a share bid from the company’s founders, which values the company at €718.1m. The roadside convenience retailer floated on AIM in 2015 at 277p a share. Applegreen has 559 sites.
Coral Products (CRU) its core mouldings business at Haydock and Interpack to One51 ES Plastics for £7.9m. That is nearly as much as the current market capitalisation, while pro forma net cash is expected to be £6.6m. One51 acquired Straight in 2014. Coral will still own the Haydock freehold and the annual rent will be £300,000. The deal required shareholder approval because it is deemed to constitute a change of business. The remaining subsidiaries are Tatra Rotalac, which produces plastic extrusions and mouldings, and Global One Pak, which supplies lotion pumps and trigger sprays. They generated full year revenues of £5.4m and are profitable prior to central costs. Pro forma NAV is £13.6m.
Equatorial Palm Oil (PAL) has agreed to acquire Capital Metals for £15.8m. The company is raising £2.09m at 12p a share (following a 20-for-one consolidation). Capital has an interest in the Eastern Minerals project in Sri Lanka. There is a JORC resource of 17.2Mt with an average grade of 17.6% total heavy minerals. The Environmental Impact Assessment should be published soon. First production could be in 2022.
Hargreaves Services (HSP) has sold its remaining speciality coal stocks to its German joint venture company for £24m. Hargreaves will market the coal on the joint venture’s behalf for commission. There will be a £3m goodwill write-off, but the profit impact should be neutral.
Duke Royalty Ltd (DUKE) has exited its investment in IT firm Welltel (Ireland) for £15.4m. This represents an IRR of 27%. There have been follow-on investments in two other royalty companies. Duke has invested £3.1m in recreational vehicle parts wholesaler MRDB, which will use the cash to help buy vendor loan notes for £4.9m. Duke will own 30% of MRDB. Monthly payments will be £147,000. A further £1m has been invested in Irish insurance brokerage company BHPC.
IXICO (IXI) has secured a £3.4m contract to provide data analytics services for rare neurodegenerative condition, SCA3 (Machado-Joseph disease). This will last more than four years.
Driver Group (DRV) chairman Steven Norris has bought 46,000 shares at 53.5p each. He owns 293,062 shares.
Sutton Harbour (SUH) has purchased a 1.5 acre site to the east of Sutton Harbour. Two residential developments totalling 200 units are planned for the site. A planning application has been submitted for another residential and commercial development at Sugar Quay. The company has also gained permission for event pontoons in the harbour.
Microsaic Systems (MSYS) has not received a definitive offer and the board has decided to end bid talks. It has also failed to secure the cash it requires and KRE Corporate Recovery has been appointed to advise on alternatives, such as selling assets. There is a possibility that an administrator may be appointed.
TMT Investments (TMT) received $40.9m for its stake in CRM company Pipedrive Inc and this increases its cash to $42m. It will repay the shareholder loan of $3m.
MAIN MARKET
Residential developer One Heritage Group (OHG) has raised £930,000 at 10p a share when it joined the standard list. This valued the company at £3m. The shares ended the week at 11p. The initial focus is north west England and One Heritage redevelops and refurbishes buildings and has a lettings operation. The company has a marketing network in Hong Kong and also sells developments to institutional investors.
Standard list shell Pineapple Power Corporation (PNPL) raised £1.3m at 3p a share. The focus is renewable and clean energy. The share price increased to 3.25p.
Construction and water infrastructure company nmcn (NMCN) says that its full year loss will be £16.5m. That includes £5.3m of prior year adjustments. There should be a small cash outflow. The one bright area is telecoms, where capital investment by clients increased. The order book is valued at £200m. Shore Capital has been appointed broker.
Andrew Hore
Andrew Hore – Quoted Micro 21 December 2020
AQUIS STOCK EXCHANGE
Employee ownership investor and adviser Capital for Colleagues (CFCP) increased its NAV by 21% to 52.69p a share in the year to August 2020. There were realised gains of £307,000 and a £1.35m increase in the fair value of investments. There was cash of £388,000 at the end of August 2020. Management hope to pay a 2020-21 dividend of at least 1p a share. Cobrio Fund Partners has increased its stake from 4.58% to 7.55% and they were nearly five months late in announcing this.
Gunsynd (GUN) has made a £200,000 investment in Low 6, a sports betting platform. Low 6 partners with sports teams and plans to float in 2021. Gunsynd has invested a further A$800,000 in Rincon Resources at 20 cents a share as part of its ASX listing on 21 December.
A successful planning permission application for a Sutton development St Mark Homes (SMAP) has led to the announcement of an interim dividend of 3p a share. The ex-dividend date is 29 December. Approval has been gained for additional retail space, which could be let to a large retailer, at an existing development in Sutton plus a new building with 30 apartments. There are also new developments in Hanwell, Finchley and Muswell Hill.
KR1 (KR1) has made two new investments. There was $150,000 invested in 15 million Lido tokens and $200,000 in 797,043.48 Swarm tokens. KR1 has also generated a further 141,564.69 Polkadot tokens since August. These have been sold for $797,000. KR1 still owns 3.5 million Polkadot tokens.
Good Energy (GOOD) has announced three strategic partnerships for its mobility as a service offer. Mina Energy has technology to make home charging more effective. Home Energy Infrastructure can arrange funding for installing EV charging infrastructure. Select Car Leasing can lease the vehicles.
Sativa Wellness (SWEL) says the EU has concluded that CBD is not a drug within the meaning of the UN single convention on narcotic drugs 1961. It therefore qualifies as a food. The company is preparing a novel food dossier for the UK Food Standards Agency in parallel with the EU. The UN has voted to remove cannabis from Schedule IV, the category of the world’s most dangerous drugs, while in the US there has been a bill passed to decriminalise cannabis at the national level.
World High Life (LIFE) has secured a listing for Love Hemp with Boots.
SulNOx Group (SNOX) shareholders have signed an option agreement with Rigworld Group, which could purchase 20 million shares at 40p each up until 31 March. This includes the whole of Nistad Group’s 14.6% stake.
Shareholders in Black Sea Property (BSP) have voted against four resolutions at its AGM, although they did vote for four other resolutions including one to retain the Aquis quotation. The two resolutions relating to Alex Borrelli were withdrawn and he has resigned from the board. Trading in the shares has been suspended until a new non-executive director is appointed.
Imperial X (IMPP) has 450,000 shares in Canada-based Imperial Helium and has subscribed for C$110,000 convertible debentures, which will be converted at a 20% discount to the IPO price.
Vulcan Industries (VULC) has raised £365,000 at 5.5p a share.
AIM
DP Poland (DPP) has agreed the acquisition of rival Poland-based pizza restaurant group Dominium for £22.7m in shares and loan notes of €7.5m. DP Poland raised £3.5m at 8p a share, while 21.8 million of the consideration shares were sold at the same price. The combined group will be one of the top three pizza chains in Poland.
Radio frequency communications networks developer CyanConnode (CYAN) has managed its cash well and continues to grow revenues. In the six months to September 2020, revenues were £1.5m and the loss was £1.37m. In the two months since the period end, revenues have been around £1m. The order book in India is worth £19m, which is equivalent to one million units, and these orders could be deployed over the next two years. There are also orders in Thailand and Sweden.
Construction dispute and property services provider Driver Group (DRV) maintained its profit in the second half of the year to September 2020. Underlying pre-tax profit still declined from £3m to £2.5m on revenues 9% lower at £53.1m. The higher margin Diales expert witness business continues to grow. Net cash was £8.2m at the end of September 2020. The final dividend is 0.75p a share.
Codemasters (CDM) has withdrawn is recommendation of the Take-Two Interactive bid and switched its support to the Electronic Arts offer of 604p a share.
Two companies have decided not to make an offer for Telit Communications (TCM) and that leaves u-blox as the only potential bidder left.
K3 Capital (K3C) is trading strongly and finnCap has upgraded its 2020-21 earnings forecast from 11.4p a share to 11.9p a share. There have been cross-selling benefits from recent acquisitions. The acquisitions business has performed well and there is longer-term potential from the Quantuma insolvency business.
Carpets retailer United Carpets (UCG) has decided to leave AIM and it is launching a tender offer of 6.25p a share for up to 29 million shares.
Property services provider Fletcher King (FLK) fell into loss in the six months to October 2020. Revenues from asset management and fund management clients was steady, but other revenues were weak. There is £3.1m of cash in the bank.
NWF (NWF) says that the fuels division has traded positively, and it has recommenced the process of assessing acquisitions. The new food warehouse is fully utilised, but the volatile demand has hit profitability. Feed volumes were slightly lower than the year before.
Summerway Capital (SWC) is switching its investing policy to the software sector and Vin Murria, who has built up AIM-quoted software companies in the past, is joining the board.
Yourgene Health (YGEN) had a steady first half with Covid-19 testing revenues helping to offset lower demand for other products.
Kodal Minerals (KOD) is acquiring the Fatou gold project in southern Mali. There is a mineral resource of 350,000 ounces of gold and potential to increase the figure.
Touchstone Exploration (TXP) has secured a gas sales agreement covering all production from the Ortoire block in Trinidad.
Trinity Exploration (TRIN) has signed an agreement with the National Gas Company of Trinidad to develop new projects in the Caribbean. This includes renewable energy, stranded gas and a micro liquefied national gas business.
MAIN MARKET
BATM (BVM) is investing $3m in Ador Diagnostics as part of a $10m funding. This will be spent on further develop its technology. BATM has a 36.7% stake.
Contango Holdings (CGO) has a potential 1.8 million ounces gold resource at an average grade of 1g/t at the Garolo gold project in Mali. There is further gold at greater depths. The first gold production could be before the end of 2021.
Spinnaker Opportunities (SOP) has conditionally agreed an all-share acquisition of Kanabo Research and has advanced a further £100,000 to the medicinal cannabis company.
Kin and Carta (KCT) has sold healthcare communications business Hive for £13.8m. The business contributed pre-tax profit of £1.2m last year.
Andrew Hore
Andrew Hore – Quoted Micro 23 November 2020
AQUIS STOCK EXCHANGE
Daniel Thwaites (THW) had a strong eleven months in the year to March 2020, but the final month was unsurprisingly poor for the brewer and pubs operator. Full year revenues edged up from £96.9m to £98.1m, while pre-tax profit fell from £4.5m to £3.6m. Net debt was reduced from £69.7m to £65.4m, helped by property disposals. No dividends are planned in the near future.
EPE Special Opportunities (ESO) has taken advantage of the strong Luceco (LUCE) share price and sold four million shares for total proceeds of £10m. EPE still owns a 24.9% stake.
KR1 (KR1) has participated in token generation by four platforms. There was a follow-on participation in a Plasm Network distribution event, while KR1 has also received tokens from ChainX, Edgeware and Phala Network. The Phala Network tokens have been sold for nearly $124,000.
BWA (BWAP) has given St George’s Eco-Mining Corp until 27 November to repurchase the company’s investment in Kings of the North Corp.
Tectonic Gold (TTAU) says that the first hole drilled at the Specimen Hill prospect in Queensland has signs of gold bearing mineralisation. A second hole is underway.
Evrima (EVA) and partner Power Metal Resources (POW) have published a drilling update for the Molopo Farms complex in Botswana. The first hole has been completed at the nickel sulphide and platinum project. This confirmed that it is a feeder zone. Samples will be tested. There is a four-hole drilling programme.
Cadence Minerals (KDNC) owns 30% of mining and exploration leases that form part of the Yangibana rare earth deposit. Drilling has confirmed that recent drilling results show an economic mineralised corridor 8km long.
Gledhow Investments (GDH) has taken a 4.82% stake in IamFire (FIRE).
NQ Minerals (NQMI) has raised £835,000 at 5.5p a share, which is below the 7p a share that a UK institutional investor paid last month. Early Equity (EEQP) raised £105,000 at 0.5p a share.
AIM
Trackwise Designs (TWD) is raising a further £11m at 200p in order to finance a new Improved Harness Technology (IHT) manufacturing site to quadruple capacity. That is a large discount to the market price of 320p. A further £1m could be raised via an open offer. Back in March, there was a £5.87m fundraising at 80p a share. That was at the time of the purchase of Stevenage Circuits for up to £2.457m. The rest of that cash was earmarked for capacity expansion. The subsequent orders received by Trackwise mean that further investment in capacity is required. The funding dilutes short-term earnings per share.
Agricultural supplies group Wynnstay (WYN) had a strong end to its financial year, particularly September and October. Feed sales were better than expected. There will be one-off costs for closing three sites. Shore Capital has upgraded its underlying pre-tax profit forecast from £6.7m to £8.1m. The dividend is likely to be maintained at 14p a share.
Immunodiagnostic Systems Holdings (IDH) has broken its record and published interim figures at 6.22pm on Friday. Revenues fell by 27% and the company made a bigger loss.
Staffline (STAF) is selling its apprenticeships business to Babington Business College for a nominal fee. The business was losing money in the first half of 2020, although it was a lower loss than the year before. Staffline will concentrate on recruitment and adult skills training.
Bion (BION) is establishing a biogas consortium with three other companies in Malaysia. The plan is to formalise the partnership so that a special purpose vehicle that would be 55%-owned by Bion will own and operate biogas assets of Bion and Green Lagoon Technology. The new venture would be the largest owner of biogas plants in Malaysia. Shareholders will have to approve the deal if it goes ahead. Bion will work with the other two companies to develop waste-to-energy projects.
Trading is ahead of expectations at Somero Enterprises (SOM) and this should enable a significant supplementary dividend for 2020. The concrete levelling equipment supplier is expected to end the year with net cash of $26m.
Dekel Agri-Vision (DKL) has completed the acquisition of the stake in the Cote d’Ivoire cashew nut processing project that takes its shareholding to 52%. October palm oil production was 1,818 metric tonnes and 1,843 metric tonnes was sold. The average price improved to €636/tonne.
Mirada (MIRA) has integrated Disney+ into its Iris platform for Televisa’s izzi pay TV platform in Mexico.
Invinity Energy Systems (IES) has gained a contract to deliver a 0.5MWh vanadium flow battery system to a site in California. This should generate £480,000in 2021. There is also an order for two smaller battery modules.
Three potential bidders are assessing offers for Telit Communications (TCM) and the latest is u-blox, which is considering an all-share offer worth 250p a share. DBAY Advisors and Lantronix are the other potential bidders.
MAIN MARKET
Packaging supplier Macfarlane (MACF) says that trading in the four months to October 2020 is ahead of the same period in 2019. Full year pre-tax profit is expected to be similar to last year at around £14m. It was previously expected to be more than 10% lower. Arden forecasts a total 2020 dividend of 2.4p a share.
Emmerson (EML) has completed the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment for the Khemisset potash project in northern Morocco.
Petra Diamonds (PDL) has an agreement in principle for a restructuring that involves the raising of money from a loan note issue and the remainder of the loan notes will be converted into shares equivalent to 91% of the enlarged share capital.
Thalassa (THAL) has invested £300,000 in foreign exchange and international payments firm Cornerstone FS for a 3.65% stake. This follows a £3m investment in 8% convertible loan notes in payment systems company Tappit Technologies.
Andrew Hore
Andrew Hore – Quoted Micro 16 November 2020
AQUIS STOCK EXCHANGE
Robert Labrum is executive chairman of Primorus Investments (PRIM) following the resignation of Jeremy Taylor Firth and fellow director Alastair Clayton. Primorus is undertaking a strategic review of the business, following the sale of its stake in Greatland Gold (GGP). Other investments include TruSpine Technologies (TSP). Primorus does not have any debt and it has decided not to go ahead with a share buy back.
EPE Special Opportunities (ESO) had a net asset value of 345.7p a share at the end of August 2020. Since then, the investment company has made a $2.5m investment in a segregated account of Prelude Structured Alternative Masters Fund, which invests in distressed credit opportunities.
Youth training services provider Harrogate Group joined the Aquis Stock Exchange on 9 November. The current share price is 3p (2p/4p).
Gunsynd (GUN) is raising £1.13m at 1p a share. This cash will be used to make further investments.
Evrima (EVA) has exercised its option agreement to increase its stake in KKME from 2.4% to 19.6%. This cost £138,000 and this was paid in the form of 2.3 million shares plus the award of 2.3 million warrants at an exercise price of 12 pa share, lasting three years. KKME’s main project is Molopo Farms Complex, which could be a nickel sulphide project. There is an earn-in agreement with AIM-quoted Power Metals (POW) and four holes have been drilled.
KR1 (KR1) has earned 40,270.1 tokens in Kusama, which is described as an incentivised canary network for the Polkadot blockchain project. This stake did not cost anything.
Lombard Capital (LCAP) says progress with the development of a recycling business has been held back by the suspension of trading in the shares. The main asset is a freehold waste recycling site. There was £3,630 in cash in the bank on 30 June 2020. There are net liabilities of £100,000.
Sumner Group Mining has left the Aquis Stock Exchange.
AIM
Digital brand protection services provider Brandshield is reversing into Two Shield Investments (TSI) in an all share deal that values the 80% not already owned by Two Shields at £13.2m. A placing will raise £3.2m at 20p a share, following a 200-for-one share consolidation. Brandshield has developed technology that can be used to protect the brands of clients and get illegal sites and information taken down. Revenues of $1.51m in the first half of 2020 were nearly as much as for the whole of 2019. Two Shields has mining investments that could provide further funds for the core business in the future.
Insolvency litigation finance provider Manolete Partners (MANO) generated cash before new investments in the six months to September 2020. One major case has extended payment term s so there was a working capital outflow during the period. After the announcement of the interims another case was completed, and this will realise £2.8m in cash out of the total settlement of £7.5m. That will be paid over a two year period. Net debt was £5.4m and there are additional facilities that can be sued to finance additional cases.
Zoo Digital (ZOO) generated additional revenues from localisation services on past films and TV programmes in the first half, while production of new programming was delayed by the problems relating to Covid-19. Back catalogue work and higher dubbing revenues more than offset the reduction subtitling revenues. Interim revenues were 15% ahead at $16.4m. Forecasts have been upgraded and a $1.4m pre-tax profit is expected for the full year.
Three directors in Anexo (ANX) are selling a combined 29% of the credit hire and legal services firm to institutional investor DBAY at 150p a share, which is a premium to the market price. DBAY has the finance to provide backing to Anexo in order to expand its business.
Healthcare services provider Totally (TLY) moved into profit in the first half even though revenues were hit by the lack of elective surgeries in the period. Revenues increased by 9% to £54.1m, helped by a full contribution from urgent care business Greenbrook. Net cash is £12.3m and there is an unchanged interim dividend of 0.25p a share. Activity levels have been improving although there is still uncertainty due to lockdowns and restrictions around the UK and Ireland.
One Media IP (OMIP) increased revenues by 14% to £4m on the back of the strong music streaming market in the recent financial year. A 2019-20 pre-tax profit of £600,000 is forecast. That is slightly better than forecast. There is £6.7m in cash and there should be news of acquisitions and partnerships with artists over the coming months. The TCAT anti-piracy software service will be managed as a separate business. Dr Ed Vernon will head up the new Belfast-based venture and take a 8% stake.
MAIN MARKET
OTAQ (OTAQ) is acquiring the assets of ROS Technology for up to £300,000. ROS is a developer of electronic and mechanical products in sectors including aquaculture and offshore. The former owner Dr Peter Robinson was the designer of OTAQ’s SealFence product. He is an important addition to the development team. ROS made a pre-tax profit on full year revenues of £312,000.
Auctus Growth (AUCT) has agreed the acquisition of HeiQ Materials AG, which is a materials innovation company focusing on the apparel, medical and home textile markets, for £119.6m via a share issue at 112p a share post one-for-three share consolidation. A placing and subscription will raise £20m at the same price, while the vendors of the business will sell £40m of the shares they are issued. The company’s name will be changed to HeiQ.
Matomy Media (MTMY) has agreed to merge with Global Auto Max in an all share deal. Global Auto Max imports vehicles made by Toyota, Jeep, Chrysler, Fiat, Mercedes-Benz, Hyundai, VW, Volvo and Ford. Turnover was ILS355m.
Conduit Holdings plans to join the standard list in December. An offer could raise up to $1.1bn in order to finance the newly established reinsurance underwriting business. The focus is property, casualty and speciality insurance. There are no legacy losses to hamper the business.
Andrew Hore
Andrew Hore – Quoted Micro 19 October 2020
AQUIS STOCK EXCHANGE
Arbuthnot Banking (ARBB) remains profitable and loan balances have increased by 3% to £1.6bn. Deposit balances are 14% higher at £2.23bn. Assets under management are 4% ahead.
Wine maker Chapel Down (CDGP) has produced a better quality harvest than 2018 and yields are better than expected. More wine can be released for sale next year.
A general meeting has been requisitioned at SulNOx Group (SNOX) by three shareholders. They want to remove the entire board and appoint four new directors.
KR1 (KR1) has generated just over $1m from the sale of tokens in the Polkadot project at $5.12 each. That is a small proportion of the stake and KR1 still owns more than 3.5 million tokens.
NQ Minerals (NQMI) continues to increase production at the Hellyer mine. In the third quarter lead concentrate production was 11,865 tonnes and zinc concentrate production was 4,585 tonnes. Production rates are still increasing.
Wishbone Gold (WSBN) reported a reduction in interim revenues from $6.56m to $3.64m. There was a $224,000 outflow from operations.
Altona Energy (ANR) has extended its fundraising until 11 November. The plan is to raise up to £500,000 at 6.5p a share.
Trading has been suspended in the shares of medicinal cannabis company Freyherr International (FRYR) because trading has been difficult, and the auditing of last year’s accounts has not been completed.
VI Mining (VIM) is asking shareholders to approve of the withdrawal from the Aquis Stock Exchange.
Eastinco Mining (EM.P) has published full year and interim figures. The company remains loss-making. There was £173,000 in the bank at the end of June 2020.
TechFinancials (TECH) is stopping the development of its Footies ticketing technology because of the uncertainty surrounding events. It has also ended its investment in Cedex due to lack of cash. All B2B brokerage technology activities will end at the beginning of November. New opportunities are being assessed.
AIM
Synairgen (SNG) is raising up to £87m via a placing and open offer at 175p a share. This will finance a phase III trial for SNG001 for the treatment of Covid-19. That will start before the end of the year. Results are expected in the middle of next year. Synairgen will also invest in scaling up its manufacturing.
More good news from Touchstone Exploration (TXP) which has made another significant gas discovery in Trinidad. The Chinook-1 discovery is the third in a row. This means that Touchstone should be highly cash generative next year enabling it to fund more exploration.
LiDCO (LID) had already outlined its interim figures in a trading statement so the move into profit thanks to high monitor sales to the NHS was not a surprise. There is likely to be a second half loss, but the heart monitoring equipment supplier will still be profitable for the full year. There have been delays in winning hup recurring revenue contracts, but these revenues have reached an annual rate of £3m. There was £3.1m in the bank at the end of July 2020.
BlueRock Diamonds (BRD) increased production in the third quarter from 3,973 carats one year ago to 5,577 carats. Sales were much lower at 3,803 carats because there was one sale during the quarter. The average price realised has fallen from $432/carat to $330/carat. That was expected due to the change in mix of stones with only one high value stone sold during the period. An updated resource estimate is expected in the near future. BlueRock is hosting a shareholder conference call at 7pm on 22 October. Anyone wanting to participate should go to www.facebook.com/valuethemarkets or www.twitter.com/valuethemarkets.
SkinBioTherapeutics (SBTX) is raising money to accelerate the progress of AxisBiotix, which is involved in the development of food supplements for psoriasis treatment. This could be generating revenues in the year to June 2022. A placing at 16p a share raised £4m with up to £500,000 to come from an open offer at the same price. Some cash will be available to fund development of other microbiome-related products. This cash should last until the end of 2022.
Billing and customer relationship management software provider Cerillion (LSE:CER) says that its year-end order book is at a record level and the full year figures will be slightly better than expected.
ThinkSmart (TSL) is returning A$6.5m of cash to shareholders. There will be a 4.575 cents a share capital reduction and a 1.525 cents a share unfranked dividend. ThinkSmart has around £10m in the bank. The current exchange rate is 55p for each A$1. The distribution is worth £3.6m, so around one-third of the available cash.
Seeing Machines (SEE) is increasing its potential market by developing its driver monitoring system into vehicle occupant monitoring system. This is an additional revenue opportunity of A$350m.
Angling Direct (ANG) managed to stay profitable in the first half as online sales helped to offset the closure of retail sites in the period. The fishing products retailer has a strong balance sheet and shop sales bounced back after reopening. A pre-tax profit of £400,000 is forecast for the full year, rising to £1.5m next year.
Netcall (NET) is acquiring robotic process automation technology company Automagica in order to enhance its contact centre products. Automagica has its own technology. Netcall’s full year revenues increased from £22.9m to £25.1m, while pre-tax profit increased from £1.3m to £1.8m. Margins are improving.
MAIN MARKET
Motor dealer Lookers (LOOK) says third quarter trading was better than expected. New and used car volumes increased by 13.6% compared with the same period the previous year. Lookers has outperformed the market. Aftersales revenues were also higher. Net debt was £22.5m at the end of September 2020.
Electronic products supplier DiscoverIE (DSCV) says that first half sales fell by 6%, but orders were ahead of sales in September. A dividend will be announced with the interims in November.
Construction and infrastructure firm nmcn (NMCN) has reviewed major contracts and this will lead to a loss this year. The main problem has been water contracts and some of the charges may relate to other periods. This follows the departure of the chief executive and finance director.
Nanoco (NANO) has a cash outflow to £300,000 a month. There is net cash of £5.2m and that should last until July 2022. The non-cadmium quantum dots technology developer lost £4.9m in the year to July 2020.
Andrew Hore