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Quoted Micro 27 June 2016
ISDX
Demand for the latest share issue from Good Energy (GOOD) was better than expected and the maximum size of the offer as raised from £3.1m to £3.8m. The company can only raise up to €5m without a prospectus and the movement in the exchange rate has helped Good Energy to raise more. Around 2,000 investors applied for shares at 208p each via the offer. The cash will be invested in the operational platform and to increase the portfolio of generating capacity. At the company’s AGM on 23 June, shareholders failed to pass the special resolutions on the directors’ authority to issue more shares and for the dis-application of pre-emption rights. Good Energy says that it will consult with shareholders if there is the need to issue more shares.
Leni Gas Cuba Ltd (CUBA) has taken a 10% stake in UK-based The Cuba Mountain Coffee Company for £27,300. The focus of the business is the promotion of coffee from the Guantanamo region of Cuba and it is in talks with the Cuban government about additional investment in capital to improve processing efficiency. This will enable Cuba Mountain Coffee to obtain the rights to a greater proportion of production so that it can be marketed internationally. The company’s own coffee brand is Alma de Cuba and the ecommerce platform is www.almacuba.com.
Nordic Energy (NORP) plans to appoint Turpin Baker Armstrong as liquidator and it has called a general meeting for the 30 June.
AIM
Professional services firm Sweett Group (CSG) is recommending a rival cash offer to the existing WSP bid. The 42p a share bid by asset management and construction consultancy services provider Currie & Brown is 20% higher than the previously recommended WSP offer and values Sweett at £29m. However, the Sweett directors cannot withdraw their acceptances for the WSP bid and the same is true for the Cyril Sweett Trustee Company. The meeting to vote on the WSP bid will be adjourned. Currie & Brown is part of The Dar Group international network of professional services and it has previously acquired parts of Sweett in Asia. The new bidder has offered a £9.45m debt facility to cover Sweett’s debt requirements when the existing borrowing facilities expire on 8 July.
Verona Pharma (VRP) has raised enough cash to fund up to phase III trials for its RPL554 COPD treatment for patients with chronic respiratory diseases and announced plans to obtain a Nasdaq listing. Verona raised £44.7m at 2.87p a share and £36m should be left in the bank by the end of 2016 and that is expected to fall to £14.5m by the end of 2017. In fact, further cash is likely to be raised from a Nasdaq listing, which could happen before the end of the year. Vivo Capital, OrbiMed and Abingworth have taken shares in the placing and they will each have a director on the board. The phase IIb study is due to start in the first half of 2017 and a partner could be signed up during 2018 if things go to plan.
Hornby (HRN) is raising up to £8m via a placing and one-for-6.77524 open offer at 27p a share in order to finance its turnaround plan. Banking facilities have also been renegotiated. One year ago, the toys and hobbies supplier raised £15m at 95p a share. Hornby plans to focus on its existing profitable and cash generative products and geographies and reduce its cost base. In the year to March 2016, Hornby lost £13.5m and net debt was £7.2m.
Malaysia-based cloud services provider RapidCloud International (RCI) says that it is adopting a more conservative accounting policy and it means that 2015 profit, due to be reported this week, will be lower than expected. House broker WH Ireland had forecast a 2015 profit equivalent to £320,000 according to Morningstar.co.uk, and it was expecting £570,000 in 2016. There will be changes to depreciation and amortisation charges, recognition of deferred revenues and deferred tax.
BDO has been appointed to liquidate shell company NBNK Investments (NBNK) following its inability to find a suitable bank or financial business acquisition. The AIM quotation was cancelled on 22 June. An initial distribution to shareholders is expected early in August. There was £19.7m in the bank at the end of 2015 – equivalent to just over 36p a share – but there will be liquidation costs.
Patent attorney Murgitroyd (MUR) is paying $2.43m for trade and assets of a Dallas-based IP software and services business with operations in the US and Nicaragua. This business had gross revenues of $860,000 in the 12 months to May 2016. Murgitroyd expects to report full year revenues of more than £42m, while pre-tax profit should be in line with expectations at around £4.3m.
NWF (NWF) says that its feeds division improved its profitability in the year to May 2016 even though the dairy market remains tough. Market share has increased, helped by acquisitions. The food distribution division continues to work at capacity and operating efficiency has improved. Fuels increased volumes even though the warm winter reduced demand. Overall trading is in line with expectations and the pre-tax profit should be around £8.25m. Net debt is lower than expected. The full year results will be published on 3 August.
Savannah Resources (SAV) has been granted reservation permits over the Somero and Erajarvi lithium projects in Finland. Savannah will start to compile data, map and undertake surface sampling in order to identify drill targets by the end of the year.
On Tuesday, rebel shareholders will attempt to unseat Jason Drummond, Nilesh Jagatia and Oliver Fattal from the board of former AIM company Teathers Financial. Matthew Turney, David Kipling and Stuart Langelaan have put themselves up for election to the board. Teathers, which was originally known as CA Sperati, left AIM on 6 June having failed to implement its investing policy. It says that there is an investor willing to invest £1m in the company so that it can finance further development of the Teathers app.
MAIN MARKET
Papillon Holdings (PPHP) is the latest standard list shell. Papillon, which was incorporated on 19 October 2015 and re-registered as a public company on 25 April, has raised £824,000 at 1p a share. Previously 50 million shares were issued at 0.1p a share. The share price ended the first day of trading on 24 June at 1.25p but the bid/offer spread is 1p/1.5p. Papillon directors Charles Tatnall and James Longley are also directors of Plutus PowerGen. Papillon is seeking to acquire an industrial or services business focused on the UK.
Engineer and plastic products supplier Tex Holdings (TXH) says that parts of the business have found it increasingly difficult to turn enquiries into orders but there are other businesses that are doing well this year. The plastics business is coming under pressure although the Derby site has improved its previously poor performance. Tex has secured a £2m loan repayable over five years and £2.5m of short-term facilities.
In the tender offer at 200p a share, Bioquell (BQE) shareholders tendered 20.4 million shares, which is 47% of the life sciences company’s share capital. Bioquell will acquire these shares for a total of £40.8m. It was willing to return up to £44m to shareholders.
ANDREW HORE
Quoted Micro 6 June 2016
ISDX
Capital for Colleagues (CFCP) has invested £770,000 in employee owned businesses in the six months to February 2016. Interim revenues grew from £257,000 to £364,000 but admin costs increased significantly so, excluding unrealised gains, the pre-tax profit dipped from £41,000 to £34,000. Unrealised gains slumped from £47,000 to £6,000. At 62.5p (60p/65p) a share, Capital for Colleagues is valued at £6m. The net asset value was £4.2m at the end of February 2016 and £1.15m has been raised since then. There are still plenty of opportunities for new investments as well as additional investment in existing investee companies.
Blockchain technology investor Coinsilium Group Ltd (COIN) reported a loss of £2.42m in the first 15 months of its existence to December 2015. That includes an investment impairment of £1.31m for an investment in Hive Labs. The investments are all early-stage so it will take time for them to bear fruit. More recently the company has branched out into providing training. The NAV was £2.33m at the end of 2015. At 4.1p (3.6p/4.6p) a share, Coinsilium is valued at £2.9m. There were seven trades in Coinsilium shares last week at prices between 3.2p and 4.25p. Five of these trades were the day before the results were announced. The most recent trade was 100,000 shares at 3.2p each. Coinsillium is one of the more frequently traded ISDX companies and there were seven trades in the previous week.
Contemporary art collector and trader V22 (V22O) says an independent valuation of its collection at the end of 2015 said that it was worth £1.67m, which is triple the amount invested in the collection. V22 also has a property portfolio and in May it paid £250,000 for a 125 year licence on a Grade II listed building in Forest Hill, which will provide exhibition and event space. In 2015, revenues grew from £568,000 to £822,000 and the loss declined from £78,000 to £34,000. Since then, V22 has raised £225,000 from selling half of its option interest in a company that owns the freehold to a building in South Bermondsey. V2 has already received £150,000 with £75,000 payable by the end of June. V22 retains an option over 15% of the holding company that owns the building. At 0.9p (0.85p/0.95p) a share, V22 is valued at £300,000. The NAV including the valuation of the art portfolio is 4.49p a share.
Cairn has resigned as the corporate adviser to Nordic Energy (NORP), whose shares are already suspended because it is unable to bring out its interim figures within the required time. At the end of 2015, Nordic relinquished its Danish oil and gas exploration licence because it was unable to fund the required work programme. Nordic had £42,551 in the bank at the end of May 2015. Former director Rudolf Kleiber has been awarded £14,210 for unfair dismissal and disability discrimination.
Carbon credits adviser China CDM Exchange Centre Ltd (CCEP) reported flat revenues of £1m in 2015 but profit dipped from £29,000 to £6,000. There was a cash inflow of £575,000, taking cash in the bank to £1.59m. The NAV is £46.1m, which is mainly based on carbon-related investments. At 0.25p (0.2p/0.3p) a share, China CDM is valued at £300,000, which is a large discount to the cash pile. There was a small trade of 936 shares at 0.2p each the day after the results were announced.
China-based LED products supplier Gowin New Energy Group Ltd (GWIN) reported a large loss for 2015 because of write-offs relating to the termination of contracts with its former manufacturing partner. The plan is to keep design and sales in-house but outsource production. There may also be opportunities for joint production development with other companies. This will reduce the company’s working capital requirements. There was cash of RMB1.3m in the bank at the end of 2015 but there are also shareholder loans of RMB12.6m.
Diversified Gas & Oil (DOIL) has raised a further £420,000, which is part of the additional £3.5m it wants to raise from the issue of 8.5% unsecured bonds. In 2015, revenues fell from $7.36m to $6.3m due to the lower oil price and there was a cash outflow from operations of $3.93m. The company continues to acquire oil and gas assets.
AIM
Constellation Software Inc has made a bid approach to Bond International Software (BDI) following the ending of a standstill agreement late last year. The potential offer price is 105p a share and Bond is still considering its options. Last month, Bond sold Strictly Education for £11.3m – £7m paid immediately and £4.3m to be paid within six months. The cash will be used to pay off borrowings, which were £5.9m. Bond had cash in the bank so this will have gone up following the transaction and there were plans to distribute some of the cash to shareholders. It was after this disposal was announced that Constellation converted non-voting shares and this gave it 29.9% of Bond. Constellation appears to have made the bid approach at this time so that it can retain the cash.
Air filtration and clean air equipment supplier MayAir (MAYA) has secured new contracts worth a total of $22.8m. The majority of this work will come from the installation of clean room equipment for two customers. There is also a contract to supply air filtration equipment for office buildings. The majority of these revenues will be generated this year. This is good news because a large contract was coming to an end. In 2015, MayAir’s revenues were $63.6m. Former broker Mirabaud forecast 2016 revenues of $75.5m. Cantor Fitzgerald has been appointed broker to the company.
Life sciences software provider Instem (INS) has acquired regulatory information management systems supplier Samarind for up to £2.5m and this has led to a profit upgrade. House broker N+1 Singer has increased its 2016 earnings per share forecast by 5% to 10.4p and the 2017 figure by 14% to 13p. Samarind adds post-marketing services to Instem’s existing regulatory reporting software. Two-thirds of Samarind’s revenues of £1.2m are recurring and most of the customer base is new to Instem.
Daily Internet (DAIP) moved into profit in the year to March 2016. Revenues grew by 22% to £4.76m and a loss of £140,000 was turned into a profit of £250,000. The managed hosting and internet services provider has been reducing its cost base and the benefits are yet to show through. There was £650,000 generated from operating activities and net cash was £206,000, although there is still potential contingent consideration of £435,000.
Building services provider Northern Bear (NTBR) says its net debt fell in the year to March 2016 and it intends to increase its dividend. Last year, net debt was £4.5m and the dividend was 1.5p a share, which was well covered by earnings of 8.5p a share. Earnings are set to be flat this year despite problematic weather conditions but the increased dividend should still be well covered. Reduced finance costs offset the effect of lower revenues.
Kefi Minerals (KEFI) says that it has reduced the funding requirements for the Tulu Kapi gold project from $145m to $130m following further refinements to the project and reductions in interest costs. At a gold price of $1,250/ounce, Kefi expects to generate $173m of cash in the first three years of production. All-in sustaining costs are $746/ounce. This is based on contract open pit mining and total production of 980,000 ounces of gold over ten years.
MAIN MARKET
Specialist electronics supplier Acal (ACL) reported underlying revenue growth of 3% in the year to March 2016. Including acquisitions, revenues rose from £271.1m to £297.2m – it would have been higher at constant exchange rates – and improved margins meant that pre-tax profit jumped from £11.8m to £14.4m. Trading conditions are not easy and this is likely to continue to be true for the rest of the first half although an improvement is expected later in the year.
ANDREW HORE
Quoted Micro 22 February 2016
ISDX
Etaireia Investments (ETIP) has raised £10,000 at 0.25p a share following its announcement that it has bought a freehold property in Sunderland partly owned by Etaireia director Baron Bloom. The 11,000 square foot Ivy Leaf Club is generating income of £31,200 a year. Etaireia paid 210 million shares at 0.1p a share for the property. Baron Bloom and Oliver Fattal were issued 105 million shares each. There are plans to change the use of the property from a social club to residential/student accommodation. At 0.04p (0.3p/0.4p) a share, Etaireia is valued at £600,000.
Brewer Daniel Thwaites (THW) has bought back 1.26% of its share capital for £862,500 (115p a share). Two directors have acquired a total of 115,000 shares at 115p each. Directors own 42.1% of the company.
LED lighting supplier Gowin New Energy Group Ltd (GWIN) says that convertible loan note holders owning the £250,000 worth of convertibles in issue have converted them into shares at 0.02p a share. The 125 million new shares are equivalent to 21.9% of the enlarged share capital. Tsai Cheng-Feng and Chao Chih-Feng each own 8.76% of the company and Dai Ming-Hsuan holds 4.38%. They did not previously own any shares.
Oil and gas explorer Nordic Energy (NORP) will not be able to publish its results in the allotted timescale so trading in the shares has been suspended. At the suspension price of 0.9p, Nordic is valued at £900,000.
Equatorial Mining & Exploration (EM.P), which still has plans to move to the lightly regulated standard list, has raised £360,000 from the issue of 8% unsecured, irredeemable convertible loan notes, with one warrant exercisable at 0.01p a share, attached to each of the 0.1p loan notes. There are 1.5 billion warrants in issue. The cash will go towards covering the costs of exploration in Nigeria and the expenses of the move to the standard list.
AIM
Facilities management services provider Mortice Ltd (MORT) has won a major new contract with the University of Hertfordshire. Mortice’s recently acquired subsidiary already worked for this client but the new ten year deal is worth more than £55m. The previous contract was worth £1.8m a year. The new deal includes planned maintenance, grounds maintenance, pest control, cleaning and hygiene services. The deal followed a seven month tender process. The contract should be earnings enhancing, although Mortice will have to invest £1m over the length of the contract.
Yokogawa Electric Corporation has tabled a rival bid for KBC Advanced Technologies (KBC). The offer is 210p a share and values KBC at £180.3m. Yokogawa is involved in industrial automation and it believes that the consulting and software skills offered by KBC will fit with this business. Aspen Technology Inc says that it will not increase its 185p a share offer.
Health insurance products provider Personal Group (PGH) is losing Royal Mail as a client for its core business but it could gain additional business for its home technology salary sacrifice business Let’s Connect. Personal will not be selling any more medical insurance products to Royal Mail staff from March but existing clients will still be paying for insurance through payroll deduction until the end of March 2017. Payments will then move to direct debit, although clients could choose to stop paying. Let’s Connect is negotiating with Royal Mail. An initial contract is expected to last four years. Last year’s trading was in line with expectations helped by the full year contribution from 2014 acquisition Let’s Connect.
Richard Ames is stepping down as chief executive of hobbies and toys company Hornby (HRN) following its profit warning in the previous week. In the UK, a strong Christmas was followed by subsequent weak sales. International sales are starting to improve following a period disrupted by the reorganisation of management in Europe. Even so, this year’s loss will be worse than forecast and there will be a £1m write-off. The underlying loss will be up to £6m. There is a danger that banking covenants could be breached. Roger Canham will become executive chairman.
Scientific instruments supplier Judges Scientific (JDG) is acquiring Hampshire-based CoolLED, which supplies illumination systems for fluorescence microscopy, for £3.5m plus up to £1m more dependent on performance. Operating profit has to be £1m in the year to June 2016 for the full earn out to be paid. In the 12 months to September 2015, the underlying operating profit was £750,000. Judges already owns one of CoolLED’s main customers.
Coal and transport services provider Hargreaves Services (HSP) reported halved revenues from continuing operations in the six months to November 2015. Underlying pre-tax profit slumped from £20.3m to £3.2m and this led to the interim dividend being slashed from 10p a share to 1.7p a share. Net debt was £30.8m at the end of November 2015. Hargreaves is reducing its dependence on coal, although all divisions reported lower profit. Coal production lost money and stocks have increased. There is potential to generate cash from the property portfolio.
Transport optimisation software and services provider Tracsis (TRCS) says that its revenues for the six months to January 2016 were more than £14m, up from £12m but profit will be lower due to acquisition costs and the disposal of the Australian traffic data operations. The seasonality of the acquisitions means that they will make a larger second half contribution. There was £8m in the bank at the end of January 2016.
MAIN MARKET
Standard-listed cash shell daVictus (DVT) is seeking to acquire a restaurant or bar franchise business that is operating in south east Asia. Trading started on 29 January and the share price has settled down at 11.25p. Jersey-based daVictus raised £1m at 10p a share but £335,000 of that went on expenses. Prior to the flotation, chief executive Richard Pincock owned 1.25 million shares which was then the whole of the share capital. Non-executive director Malcolm Groat is an ex-director of London Mining, which is a former AIM-quoted company that was placed in administration.
Construction services provider North Midland Construction (NMD) says that it will still make a profit this year despite one-off losses. It has sorted out most of its problem contracts and this will lead to an additional loss of £3.1m in 2015. That means the profit will be lower than originally envisaged. There is one more problem contract to sort out. North Midland Construction has an order book for 2016 that is worth £195m, which is similar to 2014 revenues.
Creightons (CRL) has acquired equipment, stock and manufacturing IP of Broad Oak Toiletries from its administrator for £600,000. Broad Oak was also involved in toiletries contract manufacture and the deal could add up to £3.2m to revenues in a full year – the business had previously generated annual revenues of more than £19m. The product range will be expanded.
World Trade Systems (WTS), which has been a fully listed shell for well over a decade, has sourced a potential deal with Suzhou Weibao Investment Co Ltd, which is a supplier of biotech and healthcare products. Suzhou Weibao will transfer its business activities to a subsidiary of WTS and its founder Dr Shao Chen will join the WTS board. The business activities will commence on 1 March. Suzhou Weibao will loan WTS £1m, which will pay off other loans, including those from current WTS majority shareholder Kudrow Finance. Avalon Enterprises and JH Global are injecting £50,000 into WTS at 2p a share.
Passenger aircraft leasing company Avation (AVAP) increased its revenues by 14% to $31.5m in the six months to December 2015. However, pre-tax profit fell from $6.98m to $5.57m, even though this includes a $305,000 gain on an aircraft disposal, due to higher interest costs. The financial benefits of the new aircraft added to the fleet have yet to show through.
TRADING FACILITIES
Folk2Folk, which is a lender focused on rural businesses, is planning to raise £1.5m through the issue of EIS eligible shares via Asset Match. Existing shareholders are raising £2m from selling existing shares. The offer price is £263 a share. This is a combined offer so investors will receive 57% existing shares and 43% new shares, which are eligible for EIS relief. The existing share capital is valued at £16m. Folk2Folk (www.Folk2Folk.com) has committed to make its shares tradable on Asset Match but this could take 12 months. Folk2Folk is a peer to peer finance business but it is an arranger and does not take the loans onto its balance sheet. Jane Dumeresque, is chief executive of Folk2Folk. She is a former finance director of fuel cells company AFC Energy and financial services firm Syndicate Asset Management, both quoted on AIM at the time. Minimum investment is £20,000.
ANDREW HORE