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Ian Pollard – Copper And Oil & Gas Recoveries Help Weatherly & Hardide
Weatherly International WTN saw a noticeable improvement in the copper price during the year to 30th June, since when they have improved even further and reached three year highs. Operating and environmental challenges during the year meant that production fell below target but the board is cautiously optimistic about prospects for the current year.
Hardide HDD. Sales for the year to 30th September soared by 51% and reached record levels as demand from the oil & gas market recovered. The recovery continued throughout the year with second half sales up by 14%. The annual loss fell to £0.74m. from the previous years £1.3m before exceptional items. There are further signs of growth potential in the civil aerospace market and the company has gained full Aerobus Approved Supplier status for its UK site.
BAE Systems plc BA has entered into a £5bn contract with the government of Quatar for the supply of 24 Typhoon aircraft, with delivery expected to start late in 2022. In service support and a training package are also included.
Marlowe MRL Adjusted continuing revenue rose by 104% in the half year to the 30th September and adjusted profit before tax was up by 90%. The company has a well developed pipeline of acquisition opportunities and is well positioned to continue to gain further market share.
Sosander plc SOS Trading from the 31st August to the end of November has exceeded management expectations. Following new funds raised in November the business now has significant momentum with the ability to acquire a wider and larger range of products and accelerate media and marketing activities.
Premaitha Health NIPT has further expanded its European customer base with the addition of four new laboratories which will be full installed early in 2018 with the expectations that they will perform over 9,000 NIPT tests per year across the whole of Europe, generating annual income for the company of over £1m.
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Successes For Small UK Technology Companies
Premaitha Health NIPT Revenue for the half year to 30th September rose by 130% and gross profit by 50%. Loss before tax declined from £4.4m to £3.6m The company which develops non invasive pre natal screening systems now supplies over 50 UK hospitals and the Iona Test is installed in 13 laboratories across Europe, Russia, the Middle East and Asia.
Westminster Group WSG has seen a continuation of the momentum which developed in the first half and considerable progress has been made on a number of fronts, including securing new airport security and training contracts at airports worldwide. Recently high level support from the UK government has resulted in introductions to a number of potential opportunities in the middle east.
CH Bailey plc BLEY Turnover for the half year to 30th September rose by 22% over last year, resulting in a profit of £361,000 compared to last years loss of £717,000. The resumption of orders from the TATA plant at Port Talbot and the possibility of orders from Hinckley Pointenable the company to take a more positive view of the future.
Treat the family for Christmas; Buy them a villa in Greece – visit; http://www.hiddengreece.net
Quoted Micro 18 January 2016
ISDX
Blockchain technology companies investor Coinsilium Group Ltd (COIN) has made two investments since it joined ISDX. Coinsilium has invested $50,000 (paid in Bitcoin) for the equivalent of a 1% stake in RSK Labs Ltd, and co-investment partners have invested the same amount. RKS developed Rootstock, a platform that is a sidechain of the Bitcoin blockchain. This technology enables transactions that can be set up to complete autonomously when pre-set conditions are met. Rootstock should be launched in the middle of 2016. RSK raised a total of $350,000 and the company’s valuation is $5m. Coinsilium has also increased its stake in Fuzo Ltd, which has developed a SIM card technology focused on adults that do not have a bank account. A $29,000 investment has taken Coinsilium’s stake in Fuzo to 13.6% – the total investment is $300,000. The valuation after the latest investment is $3m, which values the stake at $408,000. The Coinsilium share price has fallen back from the 10p flotation price. At 8p (6.5p/9.5p) a share, Coinsilium is valued at £5.7m. There were 15 trades during last week, which makes Coinsilium one of the more regularly traded ISDX companies.
Cyber security products developer Crossword Cybersecurity (CCS) has joined up with MHA MacIntyre Hudson to co-market Crossword’s Rizikon cyber risk analysis tool to the accountant’s small and medium-sized clients. Rizikon was developed at City University and it is Crossword’s first product. At 175p (150p/200p) a share, Crossword is valued at £4.2m.
Business incubator Milamber Ventures (MLVP) has acquired a 10% stake in White Cobalt, which develops technology platforms to help businesses to be more efficient and cope with growth. Milamber issued 166,667 of its own shares at 18p each in payment for the stake. This makes Steve Stovold, who founded White Cobalt in 2011, the fifth largest shareholder in Milamber with 4.7%. Powwownow founders Paul Lees and Andrew Pearce have each bought 50,000 shares in Milamber at 18p each. This cash will be used in a joint venture between their new business Thortful and Milamber. At 13p (12p/14p) a share, Milamber is valued at £455,000.
David Grierson has joined the board of investment company Lombard Capital (LCAP). He has been working in the timber and contracting sectors for four decades. Mark Jackson and Graham Jones have both left the board. At 6p (5p/7p) a share, Lombard is valued at £136,000.
AIM
Human microbiome-based products developer OptiBiotix Health (OPTI) has signed an agreement with KSF Acquisition UK, which will finance the assessment of the benefits of OptiBiotix’s SlimBiome weight management products when it used alongside SlimFast products. SlimBiome affects appetite, metabolism and energy harvest which fits with the SlimFast meal replacement products. Kainos Capital acquired SlimFast from Unilever in July 2014 and KSF is its UK offshoot with rights to the SlimFast brand in UK, Ireland and Germany.
Curtis Banks (CBP) will become the second largest SIPP provider following the acquisition of Suffolk Life from Legal & General for £45m. The enlarged group will have 65,000 SIPPs with assets of £18bn under administration. Suffolk Life made a profit of £1.3m in 2014 and there should be synergy benefits from the combination. A placing at 320p a share has raised £27m. The deal enhances 2016 earnings from 14.9p to 15.8p.
Management Resources Solutions (MRS) plans to acquire civil construction equipment and services provider Bachmann Plant Hire Pty for up to A$13.4m and the acquisition will more than double group revenues. There is an initial payment of A$8.2m in cash and the taking on of finance debt, while the rest is dependent on performance in 2016, 2017 and 2018. Bachmann provides earthworks equipment and operators in Queensland, Australia. There is a fleet of more than 200 vehicles and revenues were A$21.7m and pre-tax profit A$2m in the year to June 2015. MRS already supplies technical and strategic services to the oil and gas, construction and resources sectors. Project management activity has offset a decline in consulting work. This deal is a reverse takeover and the shareholder meeting is on 28 January.
Financial software and consulting services provider First Derivatives (FDP) has acquired Kx consultancy QuntumKDB for up to £2.2m, with £500,000 of this depending on the achievement of targets in the first 12 months. This deal will be earnings enhancing in the first full year. Quantum made a profit of £300,000 in the year to September 2015. First Derivatives has also signed a memorandum of understanding with Utilismart, which is expected to use Kx software for smart grid applications.
Interactive gaming operator Netplay TV (NPT) has extended its agreement with ITV for three years until 2019. Jackpot 247 has been on ITV since 2010 and Netplay will combine this TV exposure with its developing mobile platforms. Talks about the purchase of Sportech’s pools business have ended and NetPlay is not involved in the bidding process.
The UK National Screening Committee (NSC) is recommending that the IONA non-invasive test developed by Premaitha Health (NIPT) should be offered by the NHS to high risk pregnant women as part of the foetal anomaly screening programme. This will reduce the need for invasive testing.
Cambria Automobiles (CAMB) is paying £10.8m for a Land Rover franchise in Welwyn Garden City – Cambria has Jaguar and Aston Martin franchises nearby. In 2015, the franchise generated a pre-tax profit of £2.5m on revenues of £54m and it will be immediately earnings enhancing. A Jaguar franchise in Exeter is being sold for £1.3m and the Aston Martin franchise on the site will be closed. These businesses generated £500,000 profit in 2015. This leaves Cambria with 44 franchises and 17 brands. Cambria says that its first half trading is well ahead of the same period last year.
Ramblers Metals & Minerals (RMM) has completed the all share acquisition of Thundermin Resources. This means that Rambler owns 100% of the Little Deer and Whales Back copper projects. These have previously been mined and still include copper mineralisation. The infrastructure at the Ming mine could be used if the mines are brought back into production.
MAIN MARKET
Standard list shell RockRose Energy (RRE), which is headed by former Igas boss Andrew Austin, floated on 13 January and the shares ended the first week at 51.5p. RockRose raised £4.4m at 50p a share, having previously raised £600,000, but the costs of the flotation were £833,000. The company is capitalised at £5m at the placing price – so the net cash covers 83% of the valuation. The focus is UK onshore and offshore oil and gas assets which are in production and have significant reserves. The cash will help to finance the costs of due diligence and acquiring suitable assets.
Cash shell Falcon Acquisitions Ltd (FAL) will join the standard list on 18 January. A placing raised £1.6m at 10p, which capitalises the company at £2.04m, and there is a secondary fundraising may raise up to £2m at a share price to be set between 10p and 30p. There was already £265,000 in the bank before the flotation so there is cash of £1.65m after costs of £220,000. The focus is acquiring businesses involved in online, mobile and video broadcasting. Any target is likely to be worth up to £30m. The board includes directors from previous standard list shell Challenger Acquisitions.
Africa-focused oil and gas company Aminex (AEX) has secured a gas sales agreement with Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation for the Kilwani North gas field, where Aminex has a 55.575% interest. Solo Oil has until the end of January to take up an option to buy an additional 6.5% stake in the field from Aminex, which would take its stake to 12.675%. A pre-determined level of production will be purchased each year and an invoice will be issued each month. The initial gas price is $3.07/mcf and there will be an annual indexation of the gas price.
Andrew Hore
Quoted Micro 21 December 2015
ISDX
Asia-focused investment company DKG Capital (DKGP) is acquiring a 30% stake in Hong Kong-based Ronix Resource Co, which provides concierge VIP services for the travel and leisure sector, for £600,000 in cash and shares. Ronix is completing the acquisition of online betting and gaming business Global Media Ltd, which has an agreement with a Malaysian firm for the referral of VIP customers as well as jointly developing an online gaming services. DKG plans to raise £200,000 from a placing early in 2016. At 1.75p (1.5p/2p) a share, DKG is valued at £900,000.
Carduus Housing (CHP2) is acquiring 15 properties for £1.19m and £2.5m of 6.25% bonds 2020 have been admitted to ISDX. The freehold properties being acquired are two/three bedroom homes in southern Glasgow. The first seven properties have been bought and the others will be acquired in January. The homes will be rented out and managed by a housing association.
Investment company Gledhow Investments (GDH) has been hit by the decline in the value of its investments in resources companies. No new investments were made last year. The NAV fell from £626,000 to £497,000, including cash of £247,000, at the end of September 2015. At 0.75p (0.5p/1p) a share, Gledhow is valued at £370,000.
Investment company Lombard Capital (LCAP) has a new major shareholder. Mark Jackson has sold his 28.8% stake in Lombard at 10p a share to David Grierson. That is a large premium to the market price of 6p (5p/7p) a share.
AIM
Molecular diagnostics company Premaitha Health (NIPT) has secured a £5m loans and warrants investment from Thermo Fisher. Premaitha’s man product is the IONA test, which is used to screen the foetus to assess if there are any genetic disorders. Thermo Fisher supplies the DNA sequencing instruments used to assess the IONA pre-natal test. European countries are starting to offer reimbursement for the use of the test. The first country is Switzerland. The additional cash will be used to further develop the test. Premaitha had £6.6m in the bank at the end of September 2015. The Thermo Fisher deal provides backing for Premaitha’s IP litigation with Illumina, which could drag on for some time.
Tungsten Corp (TUNG) is selling its bank to concentrate on its trade finance operations. Tungsten will receive £30m for the bank, which is in the books for £25.4m. It could take up to 12 months to complete the disposal. Tungsten remains heavily loss-making and there was £15.9m in the bank at the end of October 2015 – excluding the bank. Even with cost savings, cash could be running low by the time the money comes in for the bank.
Fit-out and projects contractor Styles & Wood (STY) has been retained by TSB as contractor for branch refurbishment after the bank reduced the number of contractors in the framework agreement from five to two. This should generate at least £10m a year for Styles & Wood over the next five years. Group revenues were £97m in 2014. Even though the first half profit was small, house broker Shore forecasts 2015 earnings per share of 29.5p, rising to 37.2p a share in 2016. The balance sheet has been strengthened following a refinancing of Styles’ preference shares earlier this year. Net debt, including preference shares, was £6.42m at the end of June 2015 and cash flow should be strong from now on.
Business information provider Progressive Digital Media Group (PRO) intends to acquire healthcare business information provider GlobalData Holding and sell its non-core print assets to the owners of the GlobalData. An all-share deal is likely to leave the sellers with just over one-third of the enlarged group. Progressive will have three legs: healthcare, consumer and technology. In July, Progressive bought information assets from Informa for £25m.
NWF Group (NWF) says that trading is in line with expectations and net debt continues to be reduced. Lower milk prices continue to hamper the feeds division, while the food distribution division used overflow capacity and the fuels distribution division did better than expected in the summer months – although the warm winter could hold back second half progress. The interims will be published on 2 February.
Online video content revenues generator Rightster (RSTR) is raising £10m at 5p a share – a premium to the market price. The cash will help to finance the restructuring of the business and cover continuing losses. Rightster wants to focus on enterprise customers and create targeted channels to attract certain consumer groupings. Investment in production teams and other specialists will be required. The placing is being backed by Woodford and Invesco. The number of shares in issue will be increased by nearly 60%. Ashley Mackenzie, a founder of one of the companies acquired by the group, took on the role of chief executive in November.
Thor Mining (THR) has agreed to sell its gold assets in Australia to PC Gold for A$3.5m. The deal includes the Spring Hill and Dundas gold projects. There is an initial deposit of A$150,000 with the rest of the first tranche of A$2m to acquire a 60% stake in the projects due early next year, followed by a further A$1.5m within 12 months to acquire the rest. There are also royalty payments of A$6/ounce unless the gold selling price goes above A$1,500/ounce when the payment goes up to A$14/ounce. The initial cash will pay off A$1.2m loan taken out to acquire the rest of Spring Hill. The rest of the cash will be invested in the company’s tungsten projects in Australia and the US.
Sunrise Resources (SRES) has signed a 25 year lease agreement with EP Minerals for its County Line diatomite project in Nevada. Sunrise will not have to spend any more of its own money developing the project. This project could be up and running and generating a royalty stream for Sunrise within 18 months. There is an initial payment of $450,000 in 18 months and then minimum royalty payments each year. Sunrise has acquired a second industrial minerals project in Nevada. The Pozz Ash project could be a source of natural pozzolan, which is an alternative additive to cement.
MAIN MARKET
Standard list company General Industries (GNI) is paying £1.2m for Murja from founders Richard Murphy and Christopher Jack. Murja is a treasury management consultancy and the deal has been passed by the FCA. When the acquisition is completed Richard Murphy will become an executive director. General Industries has already acquired affordable housing adviser Altair Consultancy & Advisory Services and this should provide additional client for Murja. An interim dividend of 0.22p a share is being paid on 21 December.
Standard list shell Opera Investments (OPRA) continues to try and raise cash to enable it to complete the acquisition of SoloPower Systems but it is taking longer than expected. The original announcement of heads of terms was on 20 July and trading in the shares was suspended. US-based SoloPower manufactures solar photovoltaic cells and modules from thin-film copper, indium, gallium and selenium materials and its current owner is Hudson Clean Energy Partners. SoloPower believes that its thin film solar products are cheaper to produce and install than those of its competitors. The deal is valued at $220m based on an all share acquisition at 28p a share. The plan is to raise at least $40m. An initial £1.06m net was raised at 10p a share last April. Because Opera is not on AIM there is no limit on the time that the shares can be suspended.
Andrew Hore