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Andrew Hore Quoted Micro 24 September 2018

NEX EXCHANGE       

In the first half of 2018, Newbury Racecourse (NYR) increased media revenues by one-fifth and, along with growth in nursery and lodge revenues, this helped the racecourse operator to raise revenues by 5% to £7.33m even though two race days were lost to bad weather. Enough cash was generated to more than cover capital spending.

Block Commodities (BLCC) has signed a non-binding letter of intent with the Eelleet Network Corp, which intends to buy Block. There would be an all share recommended offer and the enlarged business would list on the Canadian Stock Exchange. Trading in Block shares has been suspended.

Ananda Developments (ANA) has obtained a £300,000 convertible loan facility with two directors, Charles Morgan and Melissa Sturgess. The annual interest rate is 10% and the conversion price is 0.75p a share. The manufacture of 15%-owned Liberty Herbal Technologies’ vaporisers and consumable packs containing four hapac sachets of 0.25g medicinal cannabis has commenced in China. AfriAg Global (AFRI) has applied for a medicinal cannabis licence in the UK. Fellow cannabis investment company Sativa Investments (SATI) has set up a German wholesaling subsidiary and it will invest €80,000 for a 60% stake.

In the six months to June 2018, St Mark Homes (SMAP) increased revenues from £71,000 to £139,000 and it made a small loss excluding negative goodwill release. The interim dividend was unchanged at 5.5p a share. The NAV is £5.9m, including £754,000 in cash, which is equivalent to 134p a share. St Mark is trying to gain planning permission for the commercial development in Sutton High Street. Two other properties in London are being redeveloped and sales have commenced. A development in Wembley should start in 2019.

TechFinancials Inc (TECH) reported a profit in the first half of 2018, but that was due to a change in the fair value of the option to acquire 90% of Cedex. Revenues fell 48% to $3.78m and the underlying loss of the fintech software provider increased from $282,000 to $971,000. The blockchain operations made an initial contribution of $1.23m to revenues. The B2C operations have ceased in Europe and the company wants to sell its subsidiary with a FSA licence. Higher regulations have hampered the B2B technology customers.

NQ Minerals (NQMI) reported an increased interim loss of $9.43m due to higher finance costs. Admin costs were flat. The development of the Hellyer gold project in Tasmania is progressing well and the first sales of concentrate should happen before the end of this year. Work continues towards a move to a standard listing.

Less than one month after asking for trading in the company’s 7% bonds 2021 to be suspended Positive Healthcare (DOC) has appointed Eric Walls and Wayne Harrison of KSA to advise on a liquidation process. Irregularities were identified at the principal operating subsidiary and Positive is unable to pay the next instalment of interest on the bonds.

Eight Capital Partners (MORE) had cash of £773,000 at the end of June 2018. That was before the former Cogenpower acquired €111,100 worth of 8% corporate bonds 2020 in Italian financial services company Finance Partners Group. Other financial services and technology investments are being considered.

EPE Special Opportunities (ESO) has been readmitted to NEX and AIM on 21 September, after it completed its migration from the Isle of Man to Bermuda.

AIM  

IT recruitment and consultancy Parity (PTY) remains on track for an improvement in pre-tax profit from £1.7m to £1.9m but cash generation is not as good as expected. Net debt is still expected to reduce from £1.6m to £900,000. The previously announced Primark managed services contract has started well, although another contract has been delayed. The consultancy business continues to contribute a growing proportion of profit.

Tlou Energy Ltd (TLOU) has agreed locations for pilot production at the Lesedi coal bed methane project in Botswana and the first well should be spudded in October.

N+1 Singer has upgraded its forecast for EKF Diagnostics (EKF) following the interim figures. There was a 5% decline in revenues to £20.4m, while underlying profit improved from £2.3m to £2.7m. Around £250,000 has been added to the profit, taking pre-tax profit to £7.7m. The launch of haemoglobin analyser DiaSpect following FDA approval will boost next year’s figures. The spin out of RenalytixAI continues and it will require a general meeting.

Audio products supplier Focusrite (TUNE) says full year revenues were in line with expectations of £75.4m, while cash of £22.8m is better than forecast. A pre-tax profit of £10.8m is forecast. There are concerns about US tariffs.

Tanfield (TAN) has warned that it may not get anything for its stake in Snorkel if the call option is exercised. Management has already said that it will write down the value of the investment to £19.1m ($25.3m), which already knocks 12p a share off NAV, but there is a disagreement about the interpretation of the original agreement.

Disappointing results from the Atopic Dermatitis study has led Realm Therapeutics (RLM) to appoint MTS Health Partners to advise on strategy alternatives. Realm is considered to be in an offer period. There was $21.3m in the bank at the end of August.

Short-term weakness in the oil palm price has held back the progress of plantations operator MP Evans (MPE) in the first half, but crude palm oil production is increasing in line with expectations (91,900 tons in the first half). That means that full year revenues are likely to be flat and pre-tax profit will be lower. Longer-term growth will come from increased production from more recently planted areas.

Online women’s fashion retailer Sosandar (SOS) is coming up to its first year on AIM and the growth momentum continues.

Huadong Medicine Aesthetics has launched its recommended 32p a share cash bid for Sinclair Pharma (SPH) and that values the company at £166.6m.

There has been a lot of activity at Frontier IP (FIPP) in the past week. The AB Sugar head of innovation Matthew White is joining the company as head of commercialisation. Recycled building materials developer Alusid has raised £1.34m, including the conversion of a £348,000 loan from Frontier IP, which has a 35.6% stake. The Alusid investment had been valued at £700,000 and the latest fundraising values it at £1.73m. The cash will be used by Alusid to invest in its manufacturing facility, which should start production in 2020. The total cost will be £10m. A new company has been set up to develop new antibiotics. Frontier IP has a 10% stake in Amprologix, which has been spun out of the University of Plymouth. The first product is likely to be a cream that contains epidermicin, which can kill antibiotic-resistant bacteria, including MRSA.

There was a switch in the mix of revenues at job screening services provider ClearStar Inc (CLSU) in the first half as revenues increased by 11% to $9.9m. The growth has come from Medical Information Systems, which has lower margins and this means that the overall loss is reducing more slowly than expected. The cash outflow is small. Net cash is $1.2m.

Diurnal Group (DNL) is going along as expected with the launch of its Alkindi paediatric adrenal insufficiency treatment in Germany but the market has been unnerved by a negative comment from a German government research organisation. It pointed out that the performance of Alkindi was not compared with another treatment which has not been given regulatory approval. This does not appear likely to affect the relationship with the German regulatory authorities. There will be news from the European phase III trial for Chronocort before the end of the year.

Stockdale has initiated research on professional services group Christie Group (CTG) and expects a full year profit of £3.5m. It has already achieved an interim profit of £1.75m.

VR Education (VRE) still had £4.9m in the bank at the end of June 2018. Since then there have been improvements to the ENGAGE platform ahead of the full commercial launch before the end of the year. The full version of Titanic VR was launched in August and it is set to be launched on Playstation.

Energy supplier Yu Group (YU.) continues to grow rapidly and it is moving into the water sector. Interim revenues jumped from £20.8m to £35.8m, while underlying pre-tax profit moved ahead from £1.15m to £1.8m. Growth is coming from the larger corporate sector which has held back margins because they are via brokers. The interim dividend is one-fifth higher at 1.2p a share. There was £18.2m in the bank at the end of June 2018.

N4 Pharma (N4P) has undertaken a strategic review following the failure of the reformulation of sildenafil to achieve its key targets in its clinical trial. It would cost a lot and increase risk if the company undertook further reformulation of this generic. The generics division has been closed and the focus will be the Nuvec delivery system. Initial results from research should be available before the end of the year. There was £1.6m in the bank at the end of June 2018.

MAIN MARKET  

Books publisher Quarto Group (QRT) increased interim revenues from $50.2m to $56.2m and the underlying loss fell from $8.7m to $6.6m. Net debt was $73.2m at the end of June 2018. Management is talking to banks to extend the bank facility until August 2020. Costs are being reduced.

Spinnaker Opportunities (SOP) intends to broaden its investment remit to include cannabis processing, as well as the energy and industrial sectors. Finance professional Alan Hume has joined the board of the standard list shell. He was previously an adviser to the company and until last year finance director of Zenith Energy (ZEN). Between 2010 and 2012 he was finance director of Xtract Energy (XTR).

Bluebird Merchant Ventures Ltd (BMV) has completed its feasibility report into the reopening of the Gubong gold mine and the joint venture with Southern Gold has started. Production of 10,000 ounces of gold is initially targeted.

Andrew Hore

Andrew Hore – Quoted Micro 16 April 2018

NEX EXCHANGE   

London Nusantara Plantations has become Panther Metals (PALM) and it has sent out notice of a general meeting on 1 May to enable directors to issue up to one billion shares. This power will expire after 15 months. The company is issuing 17 million shares at 0.1p a share to pay a £17,000 bill from an adviser.

Early Equity (EEQP) had £429,000 in the bank at the end of February 2018. The company raised £705,000 during the year and this has helped to increase the value of the investment portfolio from £594,000 to £1.01m. The NAV has increased from £639,000 to £1.54m. There are plans to raise more cash if its is required for additional investments.

Forbes Ventures (FOR) says that investee company Civilised Bank Ltd has released the banking licence it was granted by the Bank of England because it will not meet the mobilisation deadline. There have been delays in developing the IT needed by the bank so the intention is to reapply when the IT development is further advanced.

AIM

Oil palm plantations operator MP Evans (MPE) is starting to enjoy the benefits of its investment in planting oil palm but there is plenty more to come. The 2017 profit was boosted by a gain on discontinued operations of $68m. The underlying dividend improved from 15p a share to 17.75p a share and there should be continued growth as the plantations mature. The value of the business is estimated at £11 a share.

The Property Franchise Group (TPFG) increased revenues by 23% to £10.2m and this led to a one-third improvement in pre-tax profit to £4.3m. This was despite the loss by online estate agency EweMove, where new management has been put in place. The total dividend is 7.5p a share and there was a modest year-end net cash position. The tenant fee ban could hit the business in 2019 but there is time to mitigate the impact.

Parity (PTY) has completed its turnaround and from now on profit growth will come from growing the revenues. The IT recruitment side was hit by changes in tax treatment for freelancers working for government departments but underlying pre-tax profit was still improved from £1.4m to £1.7m. The recently announced Primark contract will help this year. The higher margin consultancy business continues to grow. Cash generation was better than expected with net debt falling from £4.4m to £1.6m. There should be net cash at the end of 2018. There is also the prospect of a dividend in the medium-term.

D4T4 Solutions (D4T4) had a strong fourth quarter and this strength is set to continue into the first few months of this financial year.

Rose Petroleum (ROSE) boss Matthew Idiens has nearly doubled his stake in the oil and gas company through the acquisition of 800,000 shares at an average price of 2.5p each. Finance director Christopher Eadie has bought 424,715 shares at an average of 2.35p each. Rose recently added to its land position in the Paradox Basin in Utah. Rose acquired a 75% working interest in 3,320 gross acres for $120,000. There has already been a 3D seismic survey of the acreage.

Frontier IP (FIPP) has increased its stake in Fieldwork Robotics by offering additional engineering and development support. That will help to develop a prototype for harvesting vegetables. The stake will rise from 21% to 27.5%.

Boku Inc (BOKU) is growing its revenues and the relatively stable cost base means that it could be on course for a profit in 2018. The direct mobile carrier billing company is expected to grow revenues from $24.4m to $32.7m in 2018 and that would be enough to make a profit. Additional services could further boost long-term revenues.

Starcom (STAR) published a positive AGM statement. First quarter revenues were much higher than expected at $1.5m, which is nearly double the first quarter of 2017. This should help to reduce the loss this year.

RedT Energy (RED) is raising £3.85m at 5.9p a share and this will be invested in growing its energy storage technology business.

MAIN MARKET    

Cadmium-free quantum dots developer Nanoco (NANO) had £8.7m in the bank at the end of January 2018, thanks to the £8m raised in November. The reported interim loss declined from £6.4m to £4.8m. There could be additional revenues in the second half from initial payments by the US partner funding the development of nano-particles for electronic devices. There should also be product revenues from the launch of gaming-focused computer displays in the second half. There should be £5.7m in the bank at the end of July 2018.

Dukemount Capital (DKE) says that it intends to increase the number of rooms and add office space in its second development. This will increase the rental income. These changes have been sparked by the potential housing association buyer of the assisted housing development. The architect will have to make changes to the plans and a two-month extension to the option period for the purchase from the current owner of the building.

China-focused health food products supplier World Trade Systems (WTS) increased its revenues from £8.7m to £19.6m in 2017. There reported profit more than doubled from £906,000 to £1.98m. There is £2.17m in the bank offset by £1.26m of borrowings.

Standard list shell AIQ Ltd (AIQ) has raised £115,000 at 20p a share. This should help to improve the limited liquidity of the shares. A one-for-40 open offer at the same share price could raise up to £253,000 more. The suspension of trading in the shares should be lifted on 19 April. The suspension price was 125p a share. In January, £4m was raised at 8p a share and the limited liquidity led to a ridiculous rise in the share price.

Andrew Hore

Finsbury Food Faces Up to A Deflationary Market

Finsbury Food Group FIF claims it produced a strongly resilient performance in the year to 1st July, as it faced the challenges of a deflationary market which saw group like for like revenue remain flat. A final dividend of 2p per share is to be paid making a total of 3p for the year, a rise of 7.1%.. Sales and profit margins both increased and on a like for like basis adjusted profit before tax rose by 5.6%. The competitive success of the company is illustrated by a 15% rise in sales to continental Europe.

Dairy Crest DCG expects that profit for the half year to 30th September will be ahead of last year after Clover and Frylight showed strong volume growth and Cathedral City remained “the nations favourite cheese”.  Problems remained with Country Life as sales volume was impacted by reduced promotional activity to try and mitigate the high price of cream. Seems a bit illogical to try and save money by reducing sales.

Hiscox HSX expects Hurricane Harvey will produce claims of some US$150m. which is within the range expected from a major hurricane. It is anticipated that 2017 will be a bad year for natural disasters. Harvey was the first major hurricane to hit landfall for 12 years and the aim is to pay claims quickly. Premiums, after a long period of decline, are expected to stabilise and then ti start increasing.

Petra Diamonds PDL Net profit after tax slumped by 69% for the year to 30th June as finances were impacted by delays in the expansion programme, the strength of the Rand against the dollar and rising costs, despite revenue for the year having rise by 11% on volume up by 8%. Basic earnings per share fell from 10.38 cents to 3.47cents. Net debt which is expected to start falling from the second half of 2018, rose from US$382m. to US$553m and lenders have agreed since the year end to waive two covenants. The signs for 2018 do not appear to be all that sparkling as like for like diamond prices fell by 3% at the first tender of the year.

MP Evans MPE is doubling its interim dividend after operating profit for the six months to 30th June more than tripled, following a 56% rise in crude palm oil production, at the same time as prices enjoyed a 10% rise. Crops rose by 26% as young trees began to mature.

Villas & houses for sale in Greece  – visit;   http://www.hiddengreece.net

Quoted Micro 4 September 2017

NEX EXCHANGE

Gowin New Energy Group Ltd (GWIN) is moving into the tea market, where its chief executive already has experience. Gowin intends to buy a 15% stake in a Cayman Islands-registered tea business and this new business will link up with experience of the industry that are based in Taiwan. The plan is to raise £5m from a preference share issue at 2p each, with an initial £2m raised, and use part of this cash as a loan to the new business. There will be a fixed annual preference dividend of 2%, while the loan will geerate 3% a year.

Walls & Futures REIT (WAFR) raised £1m when it joined the NEX Exchange Growth Market. There was £843,000 in the bank at the end of March 2017 and since then £475,000 has been spent on a building in Stroud that is being rented to a supported housing operator. The private rented housing portfolio, which is properties in the Wimbledon area, is worth £2.15m and the group NAV is £2.98m, equivalent to just over 90p a share. The focus is supported housing and there are plans to raise more cash from a placing and open offer in order to fund more property purchases.

Lombard Capital (LCAP) is close to finalising a 7.5% 2020 unsecured loan note series 2 issue to raise between £500,000 and £3m. This will be invested so that it provides a fixed income and capital return.

An impairment charge against the book value of the Royston Hill property meant that Etaireia (ETIP) lost £622,000 last year. The company expects to complete the purchase of properties at the Whitehouse Office Park having secured bridging finance. The current portfolio of properties should generate enough income to make the company profitable.

Block Energy (BLOK) has raised £250,000 at 0.85p a share and this cash will be used to finance the proposed move to AIM. Block has also issued 70 million shares to complete the acquisition of the 90% working interest in the Satskhenisi production sharing agreement in Gerogia. This means that Iskander Energy owns 13.3% of Block.

Healthcare recruitment company Positive Healthcare (DOC) reported revenues of £7.8m and a loss of £276,000 between November 2015 and March 2017. The two majority-owned subsidiaries were included for nine months.

Andrew Sparrow is replacing Malcolm Ball as chief executive of WMC Retail Partners (WELL). Crossword Cybersecurity (CCS) has appointed Rob Johnson, a former senior investment director at AIM-quoted Mercia Technologies, as chief operating officer.

Primorous Investments (PRIM) has made six investments in the past month and four of them are seeking to join AIM in 2018. Primorous has invested £400,000 in a £5.25m fundraising for software company Engage Technology Partners and £200,000 in online shopping and rewards firm WeShop. The other two potential AIM flotations are the investee companies Sport:80, where £100,000 was invested, and TruSpine Technologies, where £500,000 was invested to help TruSpine’s minimally invasive spine stabilisation devices to gain FDA clearance.

Doriemus (DOR) has filed a prospectus for an ASX listing. A 400-for-one share consolidation has been completed in advance of the listing. The new investing policy is focusing on oil and gas assets in Asia Pacific.

AIM

IT healthcare software and services provider EMIS (EMIS) reported a 1% increase in interim revenues to £79.2m even though the healthcare market is tough, particularly when it comes to hospital services. EMIS’s recurring revenues were 84% of the total. Profit was slightly lower. There could be a small fall in full year profit but the 10% increase in interim dividend to 12.9p a share indicates the strength of cash flow and the longer-term potential. Net cash was £10.5m at the end of June 2017. The newly created patient division is a growth area and the patient.info website is still being developed so that ecommerce revenues can be earned.

Digital TV software provider Mirada (MIRA) has secured a SaaS-based contract with ATN International and four of its cable networks in the Caribbean. In the past Mirada has been paid every time a viewer signs up for the service but this contract is based on recurring subscriber fees. There will still be an initial upfront payment for implementation services but the rest of the revenues will be generated on a monthly basis. Mirada is expected to release its 2016-17 annual report before the end of September so trading in the shares should not have to be suspended. Mirada will require additional working capital facilities and these are being negotiated.

MP Evans (MPE) is acquiring a 10,000 hectare estate in Indonesia for $108m, including the assumption of $20m of debt. This will be funded by the sale of the company’s minority stake in another estate. Infrastructure spending will cost a further $30m over five years. The estate is just starting to build up production and it will become more significant in a couple of years time. NAV is £11 a share and Peel Hunt expects this to rise by more than 5% a year as group production increases.

South America-focused gold miner Orosur Mining Inc (OMI) generated $9.7m from operations in the year to May 2017 thanks to lower operating costs and a higher gold price. There was net cash of $3m at the end of May 2017. Since the year end, Orosur has raised £3.2m at 14.7p a share and two new institutions invested in the placing. This will help to finance drilling at the Anza gold project in Colombia.

The administrator of Fairpoint Group (FRP) is selling off parts of the group but there is no chance that shareholders will get anything. Consumer claims business IVA Assurance is being sold for £450,000 plus cash balances on completion. Allixium, another consumer claims company, has been sold for £53,000. The original Debt Free Direct business has been sold to Aperture Debt Solutions for £1.34m but unlike the rest of the proceeds this cash will pay Debt Free Direct creditors rather than the creditors of the holding company. Legal subsidiary Simpson Millar has sold Simpson Millar Financial Services to its boss for £271,000 plus up to £250,000 over five years. This cash will go back into Simpson Millar.

Stockbroker Share (SHRE) will be paid £900,000 for work carried out relating to a potential partner that is not going ahead with a deal. Trading continues to be strong.

Pawnbroker and foreign currency services provider Ramsdens Holdings (RFX) says that its pre-tax profit will be higher than expected this year. This is thanks to strong foreign exchange trading results and a higher gold price.

Samuel Heath & Co (HSM) has appointed former Zeus Capital director Ross Andrews as a non-executive director.

Real Good Food (RGD) says that EBITDA will be half its previous, already downgraded, expectations at £1m. The company is in discussions with its bankers to change the conditions of its bank facility.

Educational services provider Wey Education (WEY) says revenues will increase from £1.5m to at least £2.4m and this will enable it to make a maiden pre-tax profit. There is still £909,000 in the bank. The figures for the year to August 2017 will be published in October. David Massie has taken his £33,000 annual salary in shares at 3.88p each.

Conroy Gold & Natural Resources (CGNR) has appointed Dr Karl Keegan and Brendan McMorrow as non-executive directors. Another general meeting has been requisitioned by Patrick O’Sullivan, who owns 28% of Conroy, and it will take place on 6 October. He had asked for assurances that new directors would not be appointed. The previous general meeting successfully removed six directors but Conroy said the proposed appointments of Patrick O’Sullivan, Paul Johnson and Gervaise Heddle did not comply with the company’s constitution and they are being proposed as directors again. A hearing will be held at the High Court in Dublin on 14 September and that could affect whether the three people are upheld as directors prior to the new general meeting. The plan is also to remove Professor Richard Conroy and Maureen Jones from the board.

Galileo Resources (GLR) has raised £1.09m at 2p a share to finance a joint venture with BMR Group (BMR) to develop the Star Zinc project in Lusaka, Zambia and also to finance exploration of the gold property in Nevada and the Glenover phosphate project in South Africa. Galileo had £1.1m in the bank at the end of March 2017. Galileo will lend $592,000 to BMR, which will be received once there is a settlement agreement with Bushbuck Resources for the acquisition of Star Zinc. This loan will eventually be swapped for 51% of the joint venture and $100,000 will be placed in escrow. Galileo can then increase that stake to 85% by funding $250,000 of work on the project.

Back office optimisation software provider eg solutions (EGS) has signed a five year master supply agreement that will be worth at least £8.12m. This will kick-in next year and increases the order book of recurring revenues to £22.9m. In the year to July 2017 revenues were at least £10.5m.

Cyber security software provider Defenx (DFX) has raised £1.25m from a convertible bond issue to add to the £1.74m raised from a share issue at 160p each. Defenx was trying to raise up to £2m via a bond auction carried out by UK Bond Network.

Robin Williams has taken over as chairman of FIH Group (FIH) and the company continues to seek acquisitions. There was £15.25m in the bank at the end of August 2017. Trading is expected to be flat this year with modest growth in the UK but quiet trading in the Falkland Islands with additional retail competition. The low oil price is too low to prompt development of oilfields around the islands.

Trading technology provider TechFinancials Inc (TECH) reported a dip in interim revenues from $9.86m to $6.97m mainly due to lower software licencing income. Pre-tax profit fell from $1.33m to $282,000. There was cash of $5.81m in bank at the end of June 2017.

MAIN MARKET

BATM Advanced Communications (BVC) is beginning to reap the benefits from past investment and the second half should show even more progress. Revenues have started to grow even though the corresponding first half included more significant sales of older networking products. Overall group interim revenues were 10% ahead at $49.8m with both divisions increasing their revenues. There was a 17% increase in R&D spending to $4m. There was an interim loss but Shore Capital still believes that BATM can break even this year.

Ross Group (RGP) continues to seek an acquisition that would provide a more significant business for the company. In the six months to June 2017, revenues grew 51% to £93,000, while the pre-tax profit was one-fifth higher at £17,000. The balance sheet is weak with net debt of £6m but the major shareholder is supportive. That level of debt might put off some potential acquisition targets.

Standard list shell Stranger Holdings (STHP) has signed non-binding heads of terms with Irish sustainable utility company Alchemy Utilities. This acquisition would be a reverse takeover. Alchemy is involved in waste to gas production, renewable energy and using waste energy to remove salt from water to produce drinking water (www.alchemyutilities.ie). Trading in the shares was suspended at 1.38p.

Standard list shell Derriston Capital (DERR) had £2.2m left in the bank at the end of June 2017. Derriston has changed its investing strategy from a focus on medtech to technology and high growth sectors.

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

MP Evans Dividends Surge As Palm Oil Back In Favour

M.P. Evans Group MPE enjoyed an excellent 2016 and like for like profit for the year to 31st December more than doubled, rising from  from $7.8m to $16m. Total dividends for 2016 will follow suit with a rise from 8.75p in 2015  to 20p  (including a special dividend of of 5p per share) and even more is promised for current  year when total payments of 25p per share are expected. The board is said to be excited about the addition of significant new plantations.

The share price after steadily declining for a number of years, has recognised the transformation in palm oil prospects, rising from  415p in mid October, to todays 750p.

Homeserve HSV updates that it has had a very good year and expects that results will be at the upper end of market expectations. Customer growth in the UK was at a fairly modest 1% but in the US, there was significant expansion. The CEO is delighted with the company’s performance and promises that there will be further strong growth in the current year.

Electrocomponents ECM Expects that after a strong fourth quarter, results for the year to the 31st March will be ahead of previous expectations and headline profit before tax will be ahead of current market consensus. Revenue growth in quarter 4 accelerated to 8%. strong recovery was seen in North American and Pacific growth and a continuation of robust growth in Europe.But, both revenue and profits have benefitted from significant foreign exchange movements and additional trading days in 2017.

Hardide HDD First half sales to the Oil & Gas sectors have more than doubled compared to 2016 and overall trading is comfortably ahead of both first and second half performances in 2016..

easyJet EZJ March passenger statistics showed a rise of 10.6% over March last year and load factor grew further to 92.7% up 1.4% on a year ago.

Murgitroyd Group MUR enjoyed a strong third quarter with a 6% rise in revenue over the previous year, leading to a much improved trading perfrmance, ahead of revised internal forecasts.

Looking F0r Villas & Houses For Sale in Greece – visit; http://www.hiddengreece.net

Quoted Micro 26 December 2016

ISDX / NEX

Diversified Gas & Oil (DOIL) has offered to repurchase its bonds for 105p each or, if the bondholders are outside of the US, they can receive ordinary shares at a discount of 20% to the AIM placing price. The AIM flotation has been delayed until late January and Diversified Gas & Oil plans to raise $40m – it had previously been $40m. The closing date for the offers is 13 January. This means that bondholders will receive interest until the end of 2016. So far, holders of 74% of the bonds have opted for the cash alternative and 1% the share alternative.

Western Selection (WESP) has increased its stake in AIM-quoted Bilby, following a profit warning and accounting adjustment announcement by the gas and electrical installation services provider. Western Selection bought 62,192 shares at 51.18p each, taking the stake to 6.04%. There is still £451,000 in the bank

Netalogue Technologies (NTLP) slipped into loss in the six months to September 2016. Revenues slumped from £552,000 to £317,000 and the ecommerce technology developer swung from a profit of £38,000 to a loss of £232,000. There is still £451,000 in the bank despite a cash outflow. Andrew Robathan has been appointed as chief executive. Deal activity has picked up but markets’ are still uncertain and business may take longer to come through than in the past.

Chinese medicines supplier MiLOC Group Ltd (ML.P) has extended its agreement with its skincare products distributor in Taiwan. The agreement will continue until the end of March 2017. The launch of a range of hair care products. Has been delayed until April. MiLOC has paid the first instalment of £320,513 as part of the endorsement agreement with BrandKing, while the same amount is payable by April.

Forbes Ventures (FOR) has taken an option over a potential investment in Primus Care (www.primuscareplc.com), which manages residential care services for children and the elderly. Forbes has the right to acquire £500,000 of convertible loan notes with a conversion price of 0.3p a share, lasting 18 months. The option expires on 30 December 2016.

CyberOwl, a spin-off from Crossword Cybersecurity (CCS), has raised an additional £510,000. The cash will fund further development of an early warning system for network security for uses such as the internet of things.

AIM

The award for the latest pre-Christmas warning announcement goes to TLA Worldwide (TLA). The sports agent and marketing business sneakily put out its announcement at 6.26pm on 23 December, having sadly been denied the chance to put it out on Christmas Eve because that is a Saturday. Poor ticket sales for the Australian 2016 International Champions Cup football tournament in July means that the agreement to promote the tournament has been ended. There is talk of another football event to replace this. Second half trading in the US sports management business was not as good as expected. This means that EBITDA will be 15% below previous expectations. That appears to mean that it will be lower than last year. The fact that, in September, the bid from AAPC fell through because it found it difficult to raise money, is less surprising given the trading. That bid cost the company $1m.

Kuala Lumpur Kepong has allowed its bid for MP Evans (MPE) to lapse after it receives acceptances equivalent to 13.2% of the oil palm plantations operator.

Price volatility in the energy trading market has made the autumn a tough trading period for Good Energy (GOOD) and it means that 2016 figures will be at the bottom end of market expectations. Trading has been more favourable in the past couple of weeks. Good Energy is recycling the investment in its 5MW solar site in Dorset, which is being sold to Eneco UK for £5.78m, while retaining an option over the power generated. There will be a disposal gain of more than £340,000, which will be recognised in 2017. The cash will fund further solar sites prior to the end of March, after which the current renewable obligation certificate subsidy will no longer be available.

Facilities management and security services provider Mortice Ltd (MORT) is raising £2.3m at 75p a share to help it to reduce dependence on working capital facilities. Some of these facilities have an annual interest rate of more than 9%. Mortice intends to spend more on the marketing of its Soteria remote surveillance services. First half revenues of $80m have been generated, with more than doubled facilities management revenues thanks to the UK business.

Italy-based PR firm SEC Group (SECG) is acquiring 60% of Martis Consulting for around €1m. Poland-based Martis provides public and corporate affairs services and the latest annual revenues were €1.69m and a pre-tax profit of €286,000. SEC is only acquiring the relevant assets and management will own the other 40%, while having the option to exchange these shares for shares in SEC.

Biopharmaceutical products and services developer and provider Abzena (ABZA) has signed a licence agreement with start-up immunomodulatory oncolytic viruses treatments developer Trieza Therapeutics Inc. The exclusive worldwide licence is for an undisclosed antibody sequence that Trieza wants to use with its own viral vector technology to develop oncology treatments. If the development is successful then up to $35m of milestone payments could be generated on top of any royalties from commercial sales. Abzena made an interim loss of £4.27m. Net debt was £9.38m at the end of September 2016.

Share (SHRE) has sold a further 40,000 shares in the London Stock Exchange and raised £1.12m. This takes the money raised from disposals in recent weeks to £1.66m. Share retains 60,000 shares in London Stock Exchange. Share has taken on up to 8,700 customer with more than £200m under management from Invesco Perpetual – which had not previously been named when the deal was announced. These are mainly ISA accounts.

Simon Fry, Jean-Pascal Tranie and Felipe Simonsen have joined the board of investment company Mercom Capital (MCC) and John Zorbas, Patrick Cross and Kyle Appleby have sold their shares and stepped down from the board. The exiting directors sold their shares at 20p each and returned 2p a share to the company. There are plans for Mercom to raise £3m at 30p a share and issue a warrant with each share that is exercisable at 80p a share for 180 days after issue. Existing shareholders will be issued one warrant, on the same terms, for every four shares they own. The placing price is much higher than that suggested in the initial proposals. This depends on resolutions being passed at the AGM in early January. The new investing strategy is to invest in established technology and media businesses. The name will be changed to Monchhichi.

Learning management systems provider NetDimensions (Holdings) Ltd (NETD) says that 2016 revenues will be at least $26m, up from $25.4m, and EBITDA will be $2m, compared with a loss of $500,000 in 2015. Bid discussions are continuing.

Redcentric (RCN) has reported interim figures which should show a real picture of the company‘s position. Internal systems are being improved and this will continue well into 2017. In the six months to September 2016, revenues edged up 2% to £53m, while there was a turnaround from a loss of £2.5m to a profit of £300,000. There was £7.29m generated from operations during the period and £5m came from the disposal of network assets. Net debt was £34.4m at the end of September 2016. Richard Griffiths and Kestrel have been picking up shares in the market.

NWF (NWF) has warned that a weak first quarter means that the interim figures will be lower than the same time last year but the full year outcome is still expected to be in line with expectations. Demand for feed has weakened at a time when ingredient costs have increased, while the fuel division has been hit by warm weather. The food distribution activities The interim figures will be published on 31 January.

Vislink (VLK) will seek shareholder approval for the disposal of its hardware division on 9 January. The acquirer xG Technology Inc will then seek to finalise the funding of the $16m (£13m) acquisition. If the disposal is completed early in 2017, then the forecast earnings per share will reduce from 1.3p a share to 1.2p a share. Trading in the fourth quarter of 2016 has benefited from the normal seasonal uplift but a £1.2m full year underlying loss is still expected. An additional £5.3m write-down will be required to bring down the book valuation of the hardware division. This appears to indicate a group NAV of around £16m., while net debt will be more than £10m

Diversis has posted the offer document for ServicePower Technologies (SVR). Diversis is offering 6p a share, which values ServicePower at £13.7m.

Collagen Solutions (COS) grew its interim revenues by 30% to £1.89m, but the loss quintupled to £418,000. Additional staff have been taken on and more spent on marketing and R&D. There was still £1.66m in the bank at the end of September 2016. House broker Cenkos expects net cash of £230,000 at the end of March 2017, while net debt is forecast at £3m one year later.

MAIN MARKET

Standard list shell Papillon Holdings (PPHP) has come to an agreement with main shareholders and directors to acquire Myclubbetting.com Ltd, where golfer Lee Westwood is a shareholder and ex-England manager Sam Allardyce was a shareholder – he said in August that he was giving up his shares (https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/1611113/sam-allardyce-drops-footie-betting-job-and-ditches-shares-after-sun-probe-finds-boss-lost-investors-4m/). The target is run by Neil Riches who used to run Worldlink, which was introduced to the standard list on 24 November 2011 at a notional valuation of £55m (at 250p a share), although it never got near that valuation when trading commenced. Worldlink was a mobile applications developer that had a similar business to Myclubbetting.com but fewer than two years later it was in liquidation. In August, The Sun said that Neil Riches claimed Myclubbetting.com would float on the Scandinavian First North market at a valuation of £75m. There is still due diligence and other matters to complete before the deal goes ahead. Papillon floated on 24 June and raised £824,000 at 1p a share.

World Trade Systems (WTS) is aiming to relist on the standard list in the first quarter of 2017 and additional funds will be raised at that time. This follows the establishment of Shimao (Suzhou) Biotechnology, which plans to sell healthcare products to consumers. Net liabilities were £1.12m at the end of June 2016. The loans from Kudrow totalling £800,000 are repayable by the end of July 2017 or when trading in the shares recommences and have a 5% interest charge. Trading in the shares has been suspended for more than eight years.

Aircraft leasing company Avation (AVAP) has acquired and delivered a new Airbus A321-200 to Vietjet, taking the number delivered to six. Avation has also sold its remaining five Fokker aircraft. WH Ireland forecasts a full year profit of $21.5m.

Andrew Hore

 

Quoted Micro 12 December 2016

ISDX

IMC Exploration (IMCP) and its partner Koza Ltd have started work on a mapping and rock sampling programme at the Goldmines River licence in County Wicklow and a licence in County Wexford. This work will help to prepare for the next phase of drilling.

African Potash (AFPO), which has lost its AIM quotation because of the resignation of its nominated adviser, has moved to ISDX, where Peterhouse is its corporate adviser. Dealings on ISDX commenced on 7 December. African Potash is attempting to build up a vertically integrated fertiliser mining, production and distribution business in the Republic of Congo.

Ashley House (ASH), which develops health and community care properties, is refinancing its loan from Rockpool through a £1.5m facility provided by Invescare Ltd, where Ashley non-executive deputy chairman Stephen Minion is one of the shareholders. The facility lasts until June 2018 and is secured against individual assets of the company.

Geologist Gareth Northam has been appointed to the board of Goldcrest Resources (GCRP). Goldcrest has raised £70,000 by issuing convertible loan notes to natural resources investor Pelamis Investments. The loan note is convertible into 28 million shares at 0.25p each – a price relating to after a planned 50:1 capital reorganisation.

Valiant Investments (VALP) has raised £40,000 at 0.1p a share in order to provide finance for 84.7%-owned apps developer Flamethrower. Kryptonite 1 (KR1) has raised £155,000 at 0.05p a share, while Imperial Minerals (IMPP) raised £35,000 at 2p a share.

AIM  (Latest AIM Journal available)

Fairpoint (FRP) made a profit warning just prior to the close on Friday but there was still time for the share price to halve. Dividend payments have been suspended. The legal services business has not been trading as well as hoped in November and December. The closure of the debt services business is on course to be completed in early 2017 but overheads are still higher than the management planned that they would be.

MP Evans (MPE) has sold its Malaysian joint venture and intends to pay a special dividend of 10p a share. The disposal will raise $100m and the deal valued the plantations at $13,000/hectare. That is more than the remaining assets are being valued at by the current bid. Kuala Lumpur Kepong has received 12.9% acceptances for its 740p a share bid. The disposal means that one-third of the cost of this bid will be covered by cash.

Expect more shares to come on to the market following the announcement that a further £1.15m of loan notes in CloudTag Inc (CTAG) have been converted into shares by L1 Capital. The conversion price is 6p but the market price has risen to more than twice that level. There are £50,000 of loan notes left.

AB Dynamics (ABDP) is raising additional cash to give it a larger buffer as it invests in its new facility. The automotive testing equipment manufacturer already had cash in the bank but it has raised £5.4m at 475p a share and it is offering shareholders the chance to subscribe up to £1m at the same share price.

Northacre (NTA) has been on AIM for 19 years but it has decided to end its association with the junior market. This is not a surprise because the main shareholder owns 94.3% of the company. That shareholder is offering to buy any shares at 100p each – a 35% premium to the previous market price.

Formation Group (FRM) has also decided to leave AIM but it is switching to ISDX. A general meeting will be held on 4 January and the property developer could join ISDX as early as 12 January of shareholders agree to the AIM cancellation.

Clean room equipment manufacturer MayAir (MAYA) says that it generated revenues of $52.4m in the ten months to October 2016 and there is an order book worth $20.4m most which should be recognised this year. This provides some comfort that MayAir can achieve full year expectations. Management still hopes to be moving into a new factory before the end of 2017.

Vianet (VNET) reported lower interim revenues but stripping out discontinued fuel-related activities revenues grew slightly thanks to the vending division. The core operations grew their profit contribution but higher losses from the technology business held back overall profit growth. In the six months to September 2016, pre-tax profit improved by 9% to £1.13m. The US loss in the leisure division was halved and the number of sites continues to grow, unlike the UK where the number of sites continue to decline. The vending division offers good potential for profit growth now that it is covering its costs and more of the additional revenues drop through to profit. The uses of the technology for the Internet of Things should help to boost growth. Net cash is £1.98m and the interim dividend is unchanged at 1.7p a share. A full year profit of £2.4m is forecast.

Gas and electrical services provider Bilby (BILB) is restating last year’s results. This will reduce reported pre-tax profit from £1.37m to £718,000. This is due to additional costs and disputed revenues. The share price is less than one-third of the level it peaked at less than 12 months ago. The interim figures will be published later this month.

Share (SHRE) has sold 20,000 shares in London Stock Exchange for £540,000. Share retains 100,000 shares in London Stock Exchange.

TV technology developer Mirada (MIRA) says the roll-out of its technology by izzi Telecom will be slower than expected and demand in Mexico is uncertain. This means revenues, particularly higher margin licence sales, will be delayed. This year the expected underlying loss is likely to be around £1.4m higher at £1.8m. Capitalised development spending is rising so there will be a significant cash outflow even when amortisation is taken into account. A pre-tax profit is not expected until 2018-19.

Armadale Capital (ACP) has announced a JORC compliant resource of 40.9 million tonnes @9.41% graphite content for the Mahenge Liandu project in Tanzania. This is a particularly high grade and it should be easy to extract – and that could be confirmed early next year. There will be additional drilling and a further upgrade could happen in the first half of 2017.

Evgen Pharma (EVG) reported interim figures in line with expectations and there is £5.5m left in the bank. This is enough to push ahead with two phase II clinical trials for SFX-01 and to investigate other potential uses. The results of the trials should be available in the first half of 2018. The US Food and Drug Administration has given orphan drug status to the treatment for subarachnoid haemorrhage.

Premier African Minerals (PREM) has decided not to increase its stake in Casa Mining from 4.5% to 30%.

MAIN MARKET

Project engineering consultancy Waterman Group (WTM) says that its performance has been in line with expectations in the first four months of this financial year. Exchange rates have helped to ensure a small increase in revenues in the period. This suggests that dividend growth will continue. Waterman has won work for the MoD, Brent Cross shopping centre and UK roads. The interim figures will be published in February. Michael Strong has been appointed as a non-executive director.

Andrew Hore

 

Quoted Micro 21 November 2016

ISDX

Crossword Cybersecurity (CCS) has raised £1.4m via a placing and subscription at 190p a share – the same as the current bid price – and the cash will be invested in sales and marketing and further cyber security product development. There was £668,000 in the bank at the end of June 2016. Chief executive Thomas Ilube subscribed for 132,103 shares but his holding has been diluted from 52.6% to 44.4%.

Brewer Daniel Thwaites (THW) made a small loss in the six months to September 2016 due to the impact of a loss on interest rate swaps of £5.7m due to the fall in sterling but the underlying business is still highly profitable. A 5% increase in revenues to £44m led to an improvement in operating profit from continuing operations from £7m to £7.4m. Investment in hotels and bars has offset the effect of the national living wage. However, the loss on interest rate swaps meant that a previous interim profit of £5.7m was turned into a loss of £300,000. An unchanged interim dividend of 1.1p a share was announced. Net debt was £34.9m at the end of September 2016 and more capital investment is planned. There are ongoing plans to relocate the brewery and offices and this should be completed in 2018. Thwaites has been named as preferred partner to redevelop Dee House, a grade II listed Georgian building, in Chester.

AIM cash shell Tengri Resources (TEN) has joined the ISDX Growth Market. The AIM quotation will be retained and it is seeking a technology acquisition. Tengri has paid Robust Resources $200,000 in cash, 4.3 million shares and sold Robust its shareholding in gold explorer Prospech in return for the relinquishment of a loan of $1.02m. Tengri has raised £650,000 from an issue of convertible loan stock – which would be equivalent to 65.5% of Tengri if converted – having previously raised £100,000 from a share issue at 5p a share. A general meeting is planned to reorganise the company’s capital and change the name of the company to Forbes Ventures – the ticker will be changed to FOR. The share price was 1p prior to joining ISDX and it ended the week at 2p (1.5p/2.5p).

Ganapati (GANP), the developer of apps for social media and games, has clarified the bonds it has issued to Japanese investors. They are three-year bonds, not two-year bonds as previously stated, with an option to renew for a further year. EveryMatrix Ltd is in talks with Ganapati’s Malta business to obtain an online casino licence but this will be dependent on Ganapati being granted a licence from the British Gambling Commission and a class 4 licence from the Malta Gaming Authority.

The Italian agent of Tracksure has subscribed for up to 4.55 million shares in Wheelsure Holdings (WHLP) in lieu of its commission on sales up until the end of August 2017. There will be an initial issue of 562,400 shares in lieu of commission of £5,624. Daniel Stewart has taken its fee for the previous fundraising by the company in the form of 500,000 shares at 1p each and 3.52 million warrants to subscribe for shares at 1p each.

FT8 (GFT) continues to assess potential fintech investments and decisions will be made on specific investments before the end of the year. A lack of financial resources remains a constraint. There was less than £3,000 in the bank at the end of June 2016. Opportunities have also been sought in the US that are in a similar sector to Homeland Health Care, where an FT8 investment provides technology for the employee benefits operations.

Hellenic Capital (HECP) has adopted a new pronged investment policy – UK property and African natural resources investments – but it is not changing its name to City and Commercial Investments. Hellenic will wait until it has made investments before deciding on a new name.

Investors have subscribed for just over 50% of the shares in the one-for-three open offer by St Mark Homes (SMAP). This has raised £694,000 at 105p a share.

Greenbrook Industries has increases its stake in Sandal (SAND) to 29.6%. The shares were transferred to Greenbrook as part of loan agreements with Robin Fuller and Kingswood Asset Management.

AIM

Kuala Lumpur Kepong has increased its bid for MP Evans (MPE) from 640p a share to 740p a share, which values the oil palm plantations operator at £415.4m. The bid will be declared unconditional if acceptances reach 50%. The bid has been rejected by MP Evans. This offer cannot be increased unless there is a rival bidder or the target recommends an increased offer. There is scope for a rival bidder.

Transport-related software and services provider Tracsis (TRCS) promised that the second half of its financial year would produce the vast majority of profit and it has delivered. In the year to July 2016, the underlying pre-tax profit improved from £5.6m to £6.7m. There is net cash of £10.7m with potential deferred consideration of £6.15m. The rail technology and services division grew organically and thanks to a contribution from software company Ontrac. The remote control monitoring equipment business generated lower revenues but this year it will benefit from a US contract. Traffic & data services benefited from a contribution from traffic planning services provider SEP in a stronger part of its financial year – the first half included a partial contribution during the off-season. Earnings per share were slightly flattered by a lower tax rate. This holds back potential earnings growth this year to around 9% even though pre-tax profit is forecast to improve to £8m helped by a full contribution from SEP.

Student accommodation developer and manager Watkin Jones (WJG) says that 2015-16 trading was in line with expectations. At the end of September 2016, there was a development pipeline of 21 developments with 6,814 beds. These should be delivered in 2017 and 2018. Management business Fresh Student Living has 12,337 beds under management. The full year figures will be published on 18 January.

Totally (TLY) has acquired sports physiotherapy provider Optimum Sports Performance Centre for an initial £400,000. This is an earnings enhancing deal. There are additional deferred payments of 100% of 2016 EBITDA and 75% of 2017 EBITDA. The total maximum payment is £650,000.

Immobile (IMO) reported a 22% increase in pre-tax profit to £3.3m in the six months to 2016 and the cash pile has reached £17.9m. Immobile provides services to enable mobile and digital commerce. Organic growth was 14% with particularly strong growth in India. Recurring revenues were 94% of the total revenues. The launch of IMIchat provides a further service that can be sold to the customer base. Immobile has won its first US mobile operator client and has yet to see the benefits of this. Kestrel Partners has taken its stake above 5%.

RedstoneConnect (REDS) has paid £2.4m for Commensus, which provides managed IT support services, and this should be earnings enhancing. The deal enables RedstoneConnect to offer cloud-hosting services and provides opportunities for cross-selling.

Sula Iron & Gold (SULA) has launched a placing and open offer to raise up to £1.47m at 0.21p a share. This will help to finance the development of the Ferensola gold project in Sierra Leone. Early next year there will be additional drilling in order to demonstrate the scale of the project.

FIH Group (FIH), formerly Falkland Island Holdings, has achieved 60% of this year’s forecast profit in the first half of the financial year. Normally there is a fairly even split. WH Ireland has maintained its full year profit forecast at £1.85m because the outcome will be dependent on how quickly art logistics services provider Momart fills its additional capacity. Net cash was £4.3m at the end of September 2016. The current share price of 218.5p is similar to NAV, excluding intangibles.

Fire and emergency services resource manager AssetCo (ASTO) has still to renew its main contract in Abu Dhabi. The renewal for the contract was due on 17 November and it is still being renegotiated so the contract will continue on existing terms until the new one is finalised. That should be before the end of the year. Trading is in line with expectations and it appears that the contract will be renewed. The £42m claim against former auditor Grant Thornton is still being pursued.

Tanzania-focused Edenville Energy (EDL) says that results of bulk sampling at the Mkomolo and Namwele deposits indicate that the coal is suitable to feed a power plant and requires little or no washing.

MAIN MARKET

Avation (AVAP) says that its dividends will be based in US dollars from now on. Management believes that it will receive proposals for the disposal of 22 ATR turboprop aircraft before the end of 2016. Avation is seeking a price that is well in excess of NAV and the deal will require shareholder approval. That could lead to a special dividend with part of the proceeds invested in further aircraft.

Marketing services firm Creston (CRE) has recommended a 125p a share bid from value investor DBAY Advisors Ltd, which values the target at £75.8m. Shareholders will also keep the 1.42p a share interim dividend. DBAY has been a Creston shareholder for more than two years.

Andrew Hore

 

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