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Andrew Hore – Quoted Micro 28 May 2018
NEX EXCHANGE
Sativa Investments (SATI) has made two investments in the past week. A C$200,000 investment in Rapid Dose Therapeutics Inc has been made prior to a flotation. The company’s QuickStrip fast-dissolving strip technology can be used to deliver medicinal cannabis. The other investment is in Veritas Pharma. A further C$200,000 is being invested in Veritas, which develops and commercialises medicinal cannabis treatments for chronic pain and palliative care.
Gunsynd (GUN) says that Danish software business FastBase Inc is delaying its flotation. An AIM quotation was originally planned but it may come to the standard list. There may also be a corporate transaction. Gunsynd has a 10% stake in Sunshine Minerals, which has announced that the authorities in the Solomon Islands intends to issue a prospecting licence for its nickel project as long as it gains right of access with land owners.
Wheelsure Holdings (WHLP) reported halved revenues in the six months to February 2018. Orders for the company’s rail systems and technology have been disappointing due to tight budgets and admin delays. The interim revenues fell from £104,000 to £46,000.
Walls and Futures REIT (WAFR) raised £80,000 from an open offer at 94p a share.
Capital for Colleagues (CFCP) had a NAV of 41.5p a share at the end of February 2018, down from 43.5p a share one year earlier. The employee-owned business investor invested £324,000 in the latest six month period. There is £789,000 in the bank.
AIM
Stride Gaming (STR) intends to get rid of its poorly performing social gaming business and concentrate on growing its online gaming operations internationally. Licences are being applied for and Italy should be up and running in the near future. As expected increased regulation and tax are holding back profit. Revenues should grow this year but pre-tax profit is expected to decline from £18.9m to £14.2m and be flat next year.
Watkin Jones (WJG) increased its revenues by 18% to £158.3m in the first half. Pre-tax profit was 12% ahead at £23.6m. Student accommodation developments remain the core but build to let developments will become more important over the coming years. There is even potential for a separate operation focused on build to let. Full year pre-tax profit is expected to be £48.1m.
Sanderson (SND) put in a strong first half performance. The enterprise software provider had an initial contribution from Anisa but even so the like-for-like profit was higher even though like-for-like revenues only edged up. The retail business was the main driver of profit growth and the improved order book, which increased from £2.78m to £8.61m. The like-for-like order book was 16% higher. The interim dividend was increased by 14% to 1.25p a share. Earnings per share rose by 44% to 2.3p a share, helped by a lower tax charge.
Oxford Metrics (OMG) has completed the disposal of its Yotta Surveying business to Ginger Group. The sale of the highways surveying business will generate £1.3m in cash. Oxford Metrics still owns the Yotta software.
GetBusy (GETB) has made a strong start to 2018 with revenues 17% ahead in the first four months of the year. Stockdale expects the software company to increase its profit from £1m to £1.6m this year.
River and Mercantile has sold its shares in InterQuest (ITQ) and Chisbridge has increased its stake to 51.4%. This comes at a time when InterQuest is seeking to cancel the AIM quotation and investors are being offered 24p a share.
Best of the Best (BOTB) has received the full £4.5m VAT claim from the HMRC. There will be fees and costs to offset against this. On the negative side, HMRC says that the company owes retrospective remote gaming duty for a period of four years.
Frontier Smart Technologies (FST) says tough trading in the second quarter will hit the full year outcome. Expectations have been downgraded to revenues of £34.9m and EBITDA of £800,000. There will be an EBITDA loss of £1.5m in the first half. Excess stock levels hit orders for the digital radio division. Smart audio revenues are expected to grow slower than envisaged originally because of competition in the market. Development spending is being reduced.
Magnolia Petroleum (MAGP) wants to cancel its AIM quotation. The oil and gas producer estimates that it will save £100,000 a year by leaving AIM. The strategy is to sell assets in order to reduce debt.
Clear Leisure (CLP) is raising £600,000 at 0.95p a share. The cash will be invested in the bitcoin data mining business and fund continued litigation.
MAIN MARKET
Trading in the shares of Path Investments (PATH) remains suspended and the AIM flotation continues to be delayed. The acquisition of a 50% stake in an onshore gas field in Germany is progressing. The 2017 annual report should be published in June.
Fandango Holdings (FHP) has secured two potential factoring and financial services acquisitions. The standard list shell would issue 908.4 million shares for the acquisition. Trading in the shares has been suspended.
Predator Oil and Gas (PRD) joined the standard list on 24 May. The share price edged up from 2.8p to 2.88p. The flotation raised £1.3m to finance the plan to acquire oil and gas assets in Trinidad and Tobago and Ireland.
Bisichi Mining (BISI) has acquired five shops in west Ealing (via a joint venture) for £5.6m. Bisichi and its main shareholder London and Associated Property will each own 45% with the other 10% owned by Metroprop Real Estate. The annual rental income is £140,000 and there is planning consent for 20 flats.
Life sciences company Bioquell (BQE) has sold its defence business for an initial £400,000. Up to £600,000 more could become due depending on winning a particular contract in the next 12 months. This business is lumpy and it made a small loss last year.
WideCells (WDC) is still finalising its 2017 accounts. The stem cell services provider is offering the chance for small investors to invest up to £450,000, via a bookbuild using the Teathers app and that was due to close on 21 May but it will be extended until the results are published. Trading in the shares remains suspended.
Andrew Hore
Quoted Micro 17 July 2017
NEX EXCHANGE
Renewable electricity supplier Good Energy (GOOD) says rival Ecotricity, which owns 25.3% of Good Energy, has requisitioned a general meeting to get two directors, Dale Vince and Simon Crowfoot, on the board. Ecotricity founder Dale Vince believes that because of the significant stake he deserves representation on the board but Good Energy argues that it would not be in its interest to have a rival on the board with access to group information. Vince has been critical of contracts between Good Energy and chief executive Juliet Davenport’s husband. Ecotricity also owns Forest Green Rovers which was promoted to League Two at the end of last season. Annual revenues £126.5m, including £1m from football club. In the year to April 2016, revenues were £126.5m, including £1m from the football club. In 2016, Good Energy generated revenues of £90.4m. Both companies are profitable. Ecotricity had net debt of £97m at the end of April 2016, while Good Energy had net debt of £55m at the end of 2016. Gary Peagram (former Good Energy finance director between 2010 and 2014) was appointed as Ecotricity finance director on 6 April 2017 but he left on 6 July.
MetalNRG (MNRG) has acquired 18.18% of US Cobalt and an option to purchase the rest. The main interest is the Columbia Pass high grade cobalt exploration and development project in Nevada. The initial stake will cost $200,000 (£118,000) and the option cost $50,000 (£30,000) in shares at 1.5p each. If it takes up the option, MetalNRG will pay £724,000 in shares at 1.5p a share. The vendors will also receive 40 million warrants exercisable at prices up to 10p a share. MetalNRG has also set up an Australian cobalt subsidiary. MetalNRG chief executive Paul Johnson has bought 300,000 shares at 1.5p each, taking his family’s stake to 11%.
Hydro Hotel, Eastbourne (HYDP) is starting to benefit from its new general manager’s strategic programme. Interim revenues grew from £1.33m to £1.52m but the loss increased because of repair costs. The second half generates all the profit.
Milamber Ventures (MLVP) has launched the Milamber Education Technology Fund in partnership with Innvotec. This is a hybrid EIS and SEIS fund. Milamber will help to identify potential education technology investments and Innvotec will raise funds and manage the fund.
Global Halal verification e-marketplace operator DagangHalal (DGHL) says it is taking longer than expected to penetrate markets. Management is considering widening the scope of the business. This could mean the acquisition of producers of Halal products.
Bulgaria-focused property company Black Sea Property (BSP) has gained the official approvals to acquire the UniCredit building and the purchase should be completed by the end of September. A deposit of €1.04m has been paid out of the total purchase price of €10.5m and Black Sea Property is raising the rest of the cash. If the cash is not raised then the deposit will be forfeited. Phoenix Capital Management is taking over from AG Asset Management as investment adviser but the same team will be handling the task. Phoenix owns Mamferay Holdings, which owns 28.65% of Black Sea Property and has lent it £100,000 in the form of a convertible which has to be repaid by 31 July.
AIM
Nostra Terra Oil & Gas (NTOG) has withdrawn its general meeting requisition at Magnolia Petroleum (MAGP) after it became clear that it had no chance of winning any of the votes.
Chisbridge Ltd has received acceptances totalling 49.6% for its 42p a share cash offer for InterQuest Group (ITQ) and the bid has been extended until 31 July. This means that independent shareholders owning 6.92% of the company have accepted the bid, which is up from just short of 3% previously.
First half trading at Pennant International (PEN) was strong and the order book was more than £42m at the end of June 2017. The order book stretches out into 2020 and there is a pipeline of other potential orders. Full year pre-tax profit is forecast to increase from £2.2m to £2.4m. There is a possibility of a return to paying dividends but that might have to wait until next year.
In the year to March 2017, AdEPT Telecom (ADT) reported a 19% increase in revenues to £34.4m, while underlying pre-tax profit improved from £5.5m to £6.9m. Net debt was £15.5m at the end of March 2017, following spending on acquisitions. The total dividend also rose by 19% to 7.75p a share. The growth in managed services is helping margins to improve. A profit of £7.4m is forecast for this year.
Premier Technical Services Group (PTSG) has increased its revolving credit facility from £10m to £12m and doubled the overdraft facility to £8m. This will provide additional working capital and funds for acquisitions following the recent purchase of Brooke Edge Industrial Chimneys Ltd for £14m.
Savannah Resources (SAV) has raised £1.3m at 5.25p a share and there is one warrant for every two shares issued exercisable at 6p. Two directors have subscribed for £500,000 worth of shares, including chief executive David Archer, and Al Marjan Ltd has subscribed £520,000 to take its stake to 29.3%. The money will be used on the lithium project in Portugal, the Mutamba heavy mineral sands project in Mozambique and the copper project in Oman.
The sale by Stanley Gibbons (SGI) of part of its interiors division to Millicent has been delayed. The buyer has not obtained the £2.25m initial payment because of a change in financial backers. Millicent has until the end of July to complete the acquisition.
Arian Silver Corp (AGQ) has raised £600,000 a 0.5p a unit, which is one share and one warrant exercisable at 0.6p. The cash will be spent on exploration of the three lithium projects where Arian has an option.
Botswana Diamonds (BOD) has discovered a group 2 kimberlite pipe on the Ontevreden licence held by Vutomi joint venture. A 1.5 hectares to 2.5 hectares area is thought to contain high levels of garnet. Drilling will help to better understand of the kimberlite and to find out if it is diamondiferous. A refined grade estimate has been published for the Frischgewaagt project in South Africa. This estimate has a range of 64cpht to 110cpht. The dyke system covers 7.5 kilometres.
Interim revenues will grow by two-fifths at cloud-based software provider Cloudcall Group (CALL) and recurring revenues will be 61% higher. The second quarter was the strongest quarter ever for new orders. Annualised revenues are £7m.
Camper & Nicholsons Marina Investments Ltd (CNMI) is raising £3.3m via a one-for-four open offer at 8p a share, a premium of 33% over the market price. The NAV was €0.154 a share at the end of 2016.
DX (Group) (DX.) has announced that its chief executive and finance director are leaving. The business is being reorganised into two divisions. Revenues are expected to be £292m in the year to June 2017. Net debt was £19.1m.
Sphere Medical (SPHR) is in discussions with potential investors in a share issue. A shortage of sensors has hampered first half sales of blood monitor Proxima 4.
Ramsdens Holdings (RFX) admits that there has been unauthorised access to its IT system but there should be minimal disruption to the pawnbroking business. Trading continues to be strong.
House broker Northland has increased its profit forecasts for online gaming marketing services provider Veltyco Group (VLTY) following its interim trading update. The 2017 pre-tax profit forecast has been upgraded from €4.62m to €5.82m, up from €1.74m in 2016. The 2018 profit forecast is €7.63m.
Rich Pro Investments Ltd has launched a 2.1p a share cash bid for ASA Resource Group (ASA) but the mining company has yet to recommend the offer. The bid values ASA at £35.5m. Rich Pro argues that the high level of creditors and other uncertainties makes its bid attractive.
Angling Direct (ANG) raised £9m at 64p a share when it joined AIM. The group has 15 stores and the retailer wants to be a consolidator in the fishing tackle market.
Venture Life Group (VLG) says that interim revenues will be 28% higher at £7.8m and like-for-like growth was 18%. New product listings will help further growth in the second half.
An interim trading statement by ClearStar Inc (CLSU) suggests that it should be able to meet expectations this year. The employee background checks provider says that the improving employment levels in the US and international growth are helping growth, as is the demand for medical testing. Interim revenues are expected to increase by 12% to $8.9m. A full year loss is still expected.
Sunrise Resources (SRES) is starting drilling at its CS pozzolan-perlite project and it should take around one week to complete. Eleven trenches have been excavated and ten of them contain pozzolan and/or perlite. Sample results will be available in fewer than ten weeks.
Housebuilding infrastructure services provider Nexus Infrastructure (NEXS) has joined AIM. Although £35m was raised by existing shareholders via a placing at 185p a share, the company, which was valued at £70.5m, is not raising any new money. There is already cash in the bank. The share price ended the first week at 188p. In the year to September 2016, revenues grew from £130.9m to £135.7m. That growth appears modest but a change in the mix of business helped underlying pre-tax profit improve from £9.4m to £11m. However, the latest interim profit was lower because of delays to contracts for earthworks business Tamdown. At the end of May 2017, the group order book was worth £187m.
Abzena (ABZA) has secured another licensing deal for its ThioBridge antibody drug conjugate linker technology with a Taiwan pharma company. The value of the deal could be up to £128m in development and commercial milestones.
House broker finnCap has upgraded its 2016-17 forecast for Mortice Ltd (MORT) after a positive trading statement by the security and facilities management services provider. The pre-tax profit forecast has been raised from $5m to $5.3m. Trading in the first quarter of the current financial year shows a 12% increase in revenues even though currencies have moved against Mortice and there were similar increases for each part of the group. Like-for-like growth was 5%.
MAIN MARKET
Standard list shell Rockpool Acquisitions (ROC) floated on 12 July and the share price ended the week at 10.5p. Rockpool is raising £1.085m at 10p a share, having previously issued 1.875 million shares at 8p each.
Fandango Holdings (FHP) also joined the standard list on 12 July. The shell raised £840,000 at 1p a share and is seeking to acquire a company valued at between £1m and £20m. The share price ended the week at 1.25p (1p/1.5p).
PV Crystalox Solar (PVCS) is closing its silicon ingot block manufacturing facility in the UK in the third quarter. The blocks will be sourced from an external supplier. The judgement relating to a customer which failed to buy the amount of wafers it was supposed to is expected by the end of September.
Andrew Hore
Quoted Micro 12 June 2017
NEX EXCHANGE
Brewer and pubs operator Daniel Thwaites (THW) says that net debt has increased from £34.1m to £47.6m at the end of March 2017 because of investment in the brewery and pubs plus acquisitions. The benefits of this investment is starting to show through. Full year revenues from continuing operations were slightly lower at £84.4m, while operating profit improved from £11.5m to £12.1m. The total dividend is unchanged at 4.46p a share.
Churchill Mining (GHL) has switched from AIM to NEX although trading in the shares remains suspended. Churchill’s main focus is the international arbitration claim against the Indonesian government.
Good Energy (GOOD) received applications for more than £10m of the corporate bonds on offer. The energy supplier has closed the online offer but postal applications close on 12 June – assuming the maximum application level of £20m has not been reached before this.
Coinsilium Group Ltd (COIN) has invested £56,000 in Singapore-based Indorse Pte Ltd, which is developing Indorse, a blockchain-powered professional social network. Coinsilium will also receive a number of Indorse digital tokens in the next few months.
China CDM Exchange Centre Ltd (CCEP) reported a decline in full year revenues from £1m to £898,000. Pre-tax profit fell by two-thirds to just over £2,000. There is £2.3m in the bank and the NAV was £52.1m at the end of 2016. The company is investing in blockchain technology as part of its growth strategy.
Asia Wealth Group Holdings Ltd (AWLP) says that the 45,000 shares it owns in Ray Alliance Financial Advisers have been transferred to the other two Ray Alliance shareholders without any authorisation. Asia Wealth paid $318,000 for the shares back in 2012. Asia Wealth has demanded that the shares are transferred back.
Valiant Investments (VALP) has raised £45,000 at 0.1p a share. The cash will provide working capital and provide the ability to invest more in apps business Flamethrower.
AIM
DX Group (DX.) has renegotiated the terms of the merger with Menzies Distribution which involves the payment of £40m in cash and shares equivalent to 65% of the enlarged share capital – this includes a 5% stake that will be held by the John Menzies pension fund. DX will still have to take on 17% of the pension fund. Cost savings of £10m a year are expected and a dividend is promised. Rebel shareholder Gatemore is backing the revised transaction. Things are still not running smoothly, though. The City of London police is investigating an allegation concerning DX.
MP Evans (MPE) harvested 180,000 tonnes of oil palm fruit bunches in the first five months of 2017, which is one-quarter higher than in the same period of 2016. This is due to a mixture of improving weather conditions and maturing plants. In the same period, palm oil production increased from 37,900 tonnes to 60.100 tonnes. The average selling price has increased by $51/tonne to $606/tonne, while palm kernel prices moved from $414/tonne to $503/tonne. There could be some downward pressure on prices in the second half.
Somero Enterprises Inc (SOM) has announced a special dividend of 13.3 cents a share on top of the normal dividend. This will cost $7.5m and leave the construction equipment company with much more than $10m in the bank even before allowing for cash generated so far this year. Shareholders on the register on 28 July will receive the dividend. Trading in Europe has been strong and the only disappointment has been North America where business has been delayed.
Best of the Best (BOTB) is also paying a special dividend out of its cash pile. Full year revenues grew 7% to £10.8m, while pre-tax profit improved from £1.1m to £1.5m. A normal dividend of 1.4p a share will be paid plus an additional 6.5p a share as a special dividend. There are also plans for the competitions organiser to increase marketing spending.
Waste to energy systems developer PowerHouse Energy Group (PHE) has secured a collaboration agreement with a UK partner that will provide two tranches of funding for the demonstration unit and five systems. The total funding will be up to £500,000.
DP Poland (DPP) has raised £5.25m at 43p a share. The cash will help finance 15 new Domino Pizza stores in Poland this year and finance loans for sub-franchise store openings in 2019.
Trading in Savannah Petroleum (SAVP) shares has been suspended following an exclusive agreement to buy the oil and gas assets of a west Africa-focused company. The structure of the transaction has been agreed in outline and it will involve debt, shares and cash. Due diligence has been going on since January. The shares will remain suspended until a document is published for the reverse takeover.
Nostra Terra Oil & Gas (NTOG) says that the general meeting requisition at US-focused oil and gas company Magnolia Petroleum (MAGP) is by former chief executive and founder Steven Snead using the shares that Nostra Terra has agreed to purchase. The proposals include the removal of chief executive Rita Whittington and the appointment the Magnolia board of Ewen Ainsworth, chairman of Nostra Terra, and Donald Phillips.
Vianet Group (VNET) has restructured its business into two divisions: smart zones and smart machines. Smart zones is based on the fluid measurement and telemetry business with pubs. The US business is moving towards breakeven. The smart machines division is focused on vending machines and there is a significant addressable market. There was a dip in underlying pre-tax profit form £2.8m to £2.6m last year, with a small improvement forecast for this year. The dividend is set to continue to be unchanged at 5.7p a share.
LiDCO (LID) has received 510k clearance from the FDA for the LiDCO Unity version 2. This will enable LiDCO to offer a high usage programme for a fixed annual licence fee. The head of US operations is already in place and ready to push ahead with the strategy. LiDCO is expected to move into profit in the year to January 2019.
Shareholders are trying to requisition a general meeting at Irish gold explorer Conroy Gold and Natural Resources (CGNR) in order to remove six directors. Seamus FitzPatrick, James Jones, Dr Sorca Conroy, Louis Maguire, Michael Power and David Wathen are the directors that the requistioners wants removed and replace them with Patrick O’Sullivan, Paul Johnson and Gervaise Heddle. The three directors not affected by the requisition are Professor Richard Conroy, Maureen Jones and Professor Garth Earls.
Disruptive Capital has made a bid approach to Stanley Gibbons (SGI).
MAIN MARKET
Telecoms services provider Toople (TOOP) raised £1.41m, before expenses of £150,000, and five million shares were issued to directors’ in lieu of a portion of the fees that they are owned. The subscription and offer are still open. On the day of the announcement, the share price fell 1.13p to 2.13p. There was a cash outflow of £552,000 in the six months to March 2017.
Rainbow Rare Earths (RBW) has discovered several unrecorded veins at Gasagwe, which suggests that there is plenty of upside in the mineralisation resources at the Gakara rare earth project in Burundi. Mine construction is on course to deliver rare earth concentrate before the end of 2017.
WideCells Group (WDC) says that it is authorised to sell its CellPlan financial product that helps people to afford stem cells treatment. There are plans to start selling CellPlan to Biovault stem cell storage customers.
Cathay International Holdings (CTI) says that its 50.56%-owned subsidiary Lansen Pharmaceutical plans to pay a special dividend.
Andrew Hore
Quoted Micro 5 June 2017
NEX EXCHANGE
National Milk Records (NMRP) is raising £7.33m at 65p a share in order to help finance the withdrawal from the Milk Pension Fund. Like Genus, National Milk Records was part of the Milk Marketing Board and that is why it has part responsibility for the Milk Pension Fund. There will be a one-off contribution of £10.1m to the fund and £4.68m will be paid in cash and shares to Genus. National Milk Records is also selling its loss-making generic products reseller Inimex to Genus for a nominal amount and entering a collaboration agreement with the animal genetics company. There would be a requirement to finance the fund up until 2076 if the deal does not go ahead. A New Zealand-based farmer cooperative and Singapore-based fund manager Working Capital Management are among the investors subscribing for the shares.
Contemporary art collector and workspace provider V22 (V22O) moved into profit in 2016. The £1m profit was helped by a £225,000 gain on the sale of half of the option to acquire part of the freehold of its Peckham building and a £225,000 notional gain on the remaining option. There was also other operating income of £621,000. Stripping these items out, there would have been a slightly higher loss. Revenues grew from £822,000 to £1.24m. There was £64,000 in the bank at the end of 2016. NAV, including a valuation of the art portfolio, is 7.31p a share. Demand for studio space is strong at a time when it is become less affordable. This puts V22 in a strong position. V22 has agreed a ten year lease on premises in Shoreditch and is the preferred bidder for a 125 year lease on The Priory in Orpington.
Blockchain-focused investment company Coinsilium Group Ltd (COIN) has raised £250,000 at 2.2p a share to finance further investments. In 2016, Coinsilium increased revenues from £12,000 to £209,000. There was a total loss of £738,000, including a £317,000 loss on disposals and investment impairments of £160,000 – admittedly down from £1.31m the previous year. The NAV was £1.43m at the end of 2016.
Kryptonite 1 (KR1) is also seeking blockchain investments. This includes subscribing for shares in Satoshipay. It has also invested in five initial token offerings and three of them are already being traded and have performed well.
London Nusantara Plantations (PALM) is selling its stake in Next Oasis for £124,000. This was in the 2016 balance sheet at a valuation of £112,000 and the proceeds will boost the 2016 cash pile from £83,000. London Nusantara has been quoted for three years and it is still seeking to acquire plantation assets and it has widened its geographic search to Indonesia, as well as considering the palm oil mill sector and generating income from oil palm waste.
Early Equity (EEQP) has signed a memorandum of understanding with Malaysian multi-level marketing business Early Infinity, which has a distribution agreement with healthcare products supplier Yicom, where Early Equity owns 32.1%. The plan is for Early Equity to buy up to 30% of Early Infinity. Trading in Early Equity shares has been suspended.
Ganapati (GANP) has obtained a class 4 gaming licence in Malta and this should widen the potential market for its games. A tech office has been set up in Romania.
Halal services provider DagangHalal (DGHL) has raised £3.1m at 26.5p a share and this will leave managing director Francis Chong with a 29.9% stake. Revenues fell last year and there were significant asset write downs.
Middle East-focused investment company Indigo Holdings (INGO) had £906,000 in the bank at the end of 2016 and it raised £818,000 in February. Around £650,000 of that cash has been invested in three companies.
Restructuring and slow LED product sales meant that Gowin New Energy Group Ltd (GWIN) reported a slump in revenues from RMB652,000 to RMB28,000, while the loss was RMB6.94m. There is RMB2.08m of cash in the bank but there is more than that figure in shareholder loans because of the significant cash outflow during the year.
MiLOC Group Ltd (ML.P) increased its revenues from HK$8.31m to HK$10.9m in 2016 and the loss fell from HK$17.1m to HK$11.5m. The company’s clinics and traditional Chinese medicines generate the revenues and the TCM PLUS skincare products are expected to make a substantial contribution in the future. Last year, there was a large one-off cost relating to TCM PLUS. A hair care range is planned.
Equatorial Mining & Exploration (EM.P) intends to apply for a small scale mining lease for a coal mining prospect in Nigeria. Equatorial lost £1.55m in 2016 but £1.24m of this was a non-cash share-based payment charge. The cash outflow from operations was £383,000. Brett Clark has stepped down from the board following the failure to secure the acquisition of a Mexican gold project.
Healthcare staff provider Healthperm Resourcing Ltd (HPR) reported a £3.1m loss on revenues of £2,000 for 2016 but the business should generate more significant revenues this year. Steve Howson has become chief executive, while the former incumbent David Sumner became non-executive co-chairman. Two groups of overseas recruits have started work in the UK.
Ecovista (EVTP) has raised £470,000 via an issue of convertible loan notes. The conversion price is 0.05p a share. Any loan notes not converted will be repayable on 30 May 2018. Ace Liberty and Stone (ALSP) has raised £64,500 from a placing at 75p a share with most of the shares bought by Bijan Daneshmand, thereby taking his stake to 5.16%.
NQ Minerals (NQMI) lost £2.39m in 2016 but this was before the acquisition of the Hellyer gold mine in Tasmania. The main asset of All Star Minerals (ASMO) is its stake in NQ Minerals. This stake was valued at £414,000 at the end of 2016. The 2016 loss was £187,000, including a £28,000 write down in the NQ Minerals stake.
AIM
Touchstone Innovations (IVO), the former Imperial Innovations, has rejected the bid from rival University-focused technology businesses developer IP Group. The initial approach was made in April and some major shareholders were keen to pursue the merger. The main problems concerned valuation and corporate governance.
It does not appear that Tanfield Group (TAN) is going to be able to sell its 49% stake in access platforms manufacturer Snorkel in the near future because it continues to lose money. The value of the stake in the books is £36.3m – equivalent to 23.2p a share. This value can be achieved if Snorkel makes an annualised trailing EBITDA of $25m in any 12 month period up until September 2018. However, Snorkel is losing money and after September 2018 there is no fixed amount that Tanfield would receive if it sold its stake. Jon Pither has stepped down from the Tanfield board.
Acoustic insulation manufacturer Autins Group (AUTG) has appointed Michael Jennings as chief executive. He has been interim chief executive since February. Interim figures will be published on 13 June.
Draganfly Investments (DRG) has appointed mining engineer Luke Bryan as executive chairman. Edward Bayman will step down as chairman but continue on the board.
Hostels operator Safestay (SSTY) is planning to buy three hostels from Equity Point. The hostels are in Barcelona, Prague and Lisbon and they generate revenues of €1.6m. Safestay is loaning €3.6m to Equity Point and the plan is to swap the hostels for this debt.
Stanley Gibbons Ltd (SGI) has sold its 25% stake in Masterpiece London for £1.4m. The stake was valued in the books at £6,000. This is part of the strategy to focus on stamps and coins.
A general meeting has been requisitioned at Magnolia Petroleum (MAGP) in order to make changes to the board. At the end of May, Nostra Terra Oil & Gas (NTOG) acquired a 10.9% stake in Magnolia from former chief executive Steven Snead but the requisitioner has not been named.
Adams (ADA) has launched an underwritten one-for-one open offer to raise £1.03m at 2.5p a share. The investment focus is the technology and life sciences sectors. Richard Griffiths, who owns 29.9% of Adams, is underwriting the open offer. The announcement says that Adams has four AIM-quoted investments but only one of the companies mentioned, Oxford Pharmascience, is on AIM the others are fully listed.
TLA Worldwide (TLA), which published a profit warning at 6.26pm on 23 December 2016, thinks that it will be able to report its 2016 figures on 30 June. It will need to do this or trading in the shares will be suspended. TLA has warned that it will have to write-off some of the money owed to it.
Pembridge Resources (PERE) plans to move from AIM to the more lightly regulated standard listing. This will enable it to be more flexible in what it invests in and the level of stakes that it acquires. The main hurdle for a standard listing is getting the prospectus approved by the UKLA. Once that is done companies do not have the level of regulation they would if they were on AIM.
MAIN MARKET
Second half trading has been strong for car manuals publisher Haynes Publishing (HYNS). Pre-tax profit is expected to be two-fifths higher than last year. Haynes has benefited from lowering its costs and positive exchange rate movements. The new Haynes OnDemand video service will be launched this year but there will be a write down of the costs of the previous platform in the 2016-17 figures. The full year figures will be published on 13 September.
Telecoms services provider Toople (TOOP) is trying to raise up to £2m because it is running short of cash. Members of the PrimaryBid crowdfunding platform have been offered the chance to subscribe for shares at 2p each. A minimum of £1m needs to be raised. Even if the maximum is raised then the cash is unlikely to last long unless the cash outflow is stemmed in the near future.
Acorn Growth has changed its name to Vordere (VOR). This follows the proposed acquisition of German properties, which will be paid for by a share issue at 17p each. The shell company was originally known as Acorn Minerals when it joined the standard list at a placing price of 20p a share in October 2012.
Andrew Hore
Quoted Micro 9 November 2015
ISDX
Leni Gas Cuba Ltd (CUBA) joined ISDX on 2 November and its shares went to a sharp discount to the 5p a share offer price. The share price ended the week at 1.875p (1.5p/2/25p), which values Leni Gas Cuba at £9.3m, which is still more than double the pro forma net asset value of the company. There have been 2.3 million shares traded at prices ranging from 1.25p to 2.5p. Most of the cash that has been raised by the company was at 2p a share but the majority of shares in issue at the end of July 2015 were issued at 0.01p a share. Leni Gas Cuba has set up a joint venture trading company with Cuba-focused Groombridge Trading Corporation, which is a Canadian company with approvals to trade in Cuba.
Chapel Down (CDGP) brewing subsidiary Curious Brew has raised £790.500 in its crowdfunding offer via Seedrs.com. This is more than double the level a fortnight ago. The minimum investment is £1m and the maximum is £3.65m and the offer closes in 112 days. Meanwhile, the wine maker has reported its second largest harvest, following last year’s record harvest. Chapel Down is holding a general meeting to get permission to issue a new type of share. The growth shares will be issued to management and will only have value if the Chapel Down share price exceeds 33.6p. The management will each receive £2,000 of ordinary shares in returning for giving up redundancy and other employment rights. There will be a total of just over 18.1 million growth shares. If the share price reaches 60p then the board says that the growth shares would have a value equivalent to 14% of the market capitalisation of Chapel Down, which is £32.8m at 32.5p (31p/34p) a share.
Capital for Colleagues (CFCP) is investing £200,000 in Cotswold Valves Ltd, a Stroud-based supplier of specialist valves for the process industries. This will give the employee owned businesses investor a 49% stake in Cotswold Valves, while the cash has been used to provide the company’s employee ownership trust with the funds to acquire the other 51% from the retiring owner. Capital for Colleagues has also made a further loan of £75,000 to The Homebuilding Centre.
Via Developments (VIA1) joined ISDX on 5 November having issued £530,000 7% debenture stock 2020. The Manchester-based residential property development funder is raising up to £3.5m.
Western Selection (WSE) has acquired 600,000 shares in AIM-quoted Northbridge Industrial Services (NBI), taking its stake to 13.6%. Western Selection director David Marshall is a non- executive director of the electrical testing and oil equipment rental business and along with chief executive Eric Hook and chairman Peter Harris a total of 4.6% of the share capital was acquired. Investec halved its stake to 3.74%. Although the share price has recovered since these purchases, it is still well below the peak of just over 600p less than 15 months ago. The share price was more than 300p six months ago. Northbridge depends on demand from the oil and gas sector and it has slumped into loss this year. Reduced need for capital investment and working capital means that net debt could be halved to £9m in the two years to the end of 2016 despite reported losses and the expected final dividend of 1p a share. Banking covenants are being renegotiated. At 91p a share, Northbridge is trading at a discount to its net tangible assets of around one-quarter.
AIM
Transportation software and services supplier Tracsis (TRCS) has reported another set of better than expected full year results. The underlying profit for the year to July 2015 improved from £5m to £5.8m. The total dividend was increased from 0.8p a share to 1p a share. As expected, the revenues from remote condition monitoring equipment fell sharply due to ordering patterns. This was made up for by a full year contribution from software company Datasys and organic growth. There was net cash of £13.3m at the end of July 2015, with just over £2m of this spent on two subsequent acquisitions. SEP provides event parking and management services and fits into the traffic and data division. Mobile analytics provider Citi Logik, where Tracsis acquired a 29% stake, analyses the interaction of people and transport via the Vodafone network. WH Ireland forecasts a 2015-16 profit of £6.2m but history shows that the final outcome should be better than that, particularly if the remote condition monitoring orders pick up faster than forecast. The shares are trading on 24 times prospective earnings.
Document storage services provider Restore (RST) is paying £55.7m for Wincanton’s records management business and this will consolidate the AIM company’s number two position in the sector. The purchase will be financed by a £34m placing at 260p a share and new debt facilities, which total £80m. Wincanton Records Management has operations in the UK and Ireland and the occupancy level of its premises is 71%. In the year to March 2015, the business made a pre-central charges operating profit of £4.9m on revenues of £22.4m. Last year, Restore’s document management division made an operating profit of £11.5m on revenues of £37.4m.
Alliance Pharma (APH) has agreed compensation of £6.7m in settlement of its claims against Sanofi following the suspension of manufacturing of bladder cancer treatment ImmuCyst in the middle of 2012. Alliance hopes to recommence selling ImmuCyst in the UK before the end of this year but there could be supply constraints. Net debt was £26.5m at the end of June 2015.
Premature ejaculation treatment developer Plethora Solutions (PLE) has agreed in principal to an all share bid from Hong Kong listed Regent Pacific. Regent is offering 15.7076 shares for each Plethora share, which on 3 November valued Plethora at £102.9m or 12.5p a share. Regent already owns 29.9% of Plethora and it will be able to provide the finance to help commercialise the PSD502 premature ejaculation treatment.
NWF (NWF) has boosted its fuels division through the acquisition of Staffordshire Fuels, which will increase its annual fuels volume by 8%. The business was established in 1996 and sells 32 million litres a year under the Jet brand.
EKF Diagnostics (EKF), which recently ended talks with potential bidders, says that it will not have to pay any earn out for molecular diagnostics business Selah Genomics. EKF paid an initial $32m (£19.2m) when the return of the shares in escrow is taken into account. The total cost was going to be up to $70.6m (£42.3m).
Magnolia Petroleum (MAGP) says that Continental Resources is drilling 10 wells on the Woodford formation in Oklahoma. Magnolia has a 0.525% working interest in each of these wells. Five will be drilled in November and the rest next March. Gas is being targeted. Magnolia has proven reserves independently valued at $21m and these reserves are still profitable at the current oil price. Magnolia’s share of the production of the wells it is interested in is running at 309 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
MAIN MARKET
CIC Gold Group Ltd (CICG) has announced the potential acquisition of Gobi Minerals Ltd for £5.6m in shares at 2p each but it depends on a share issue raising sufficient cash for the deal to go ahead. Trading in the shares was suspended at 1.4p a share. Due diligence still needs to be completed on the acquisition. Gobi owns 100% of the mineral title to the Tsagaan Suvarga gold and copper prospect in the South Gobi region of Mongolia. There is no proven resource in this mineral interest so the valuation appears high but it is hard to judge without further information. HE Barsbold Ulambayar will be appointed as chief operating officer.
Commercial aircraft leasing company Avation (AVAP) is acquiring an eight year old Boeing 737 operated by a major Chinese airline. The remaining leases term is 5.5 years. This is the first Boeing aircraft acquired by Avation and it takes the number of aircraft owned to 34. .
Electronics designer and distributor Acal (ACL) has acquired magnetic components Flux AS for £3.7m. Flux will broaden the product range and provide an additional customer base. Next year’s profit forecast has been edged up slightly to 18.6p a share.