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EQTEC surges on new €22mln contract win

Last updated: 15:25 14 Jun 2018 BST, First published: 09:40 14 Jun 2018 BST

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EQTEC Plc (LON:EQT), the AIM-quoted firm which provides technology solutions for waste-to-energy products, has won a one-year contract worth up to €22mln.

The company has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Indonesian energy group CITRA, which will see EQTEC supply its gasifier technology for a 12-megawatt (MWe) power plant in Vietnam.

“We are delighted that our technology has been selected, on an exclusive basis, by CITRA for its 12MWe power plant,” said chief executive Luis Sanchez.

“The MOU formalizes the first step towards what can become a fruitful relationship with CITRA and ties in with our strategy of looking for opportunities to utilise EQTEC Gasifier Technology, directly or through EPC contractors, in the UK and across the globe.” Shares are up 40% to 0.88p.

UKOG boosted by Horse Hill flow test approval

UK Oil & Gas Investments PLC (LON:UKOG) shares also soared by 40% to 1.5p after UK authorities gave it the green light to test the Horse Hill discovery in south-east England.

The Gatwick Gusher, as it is also known, has been the subject of a lot of hype in recent years, with some involved in the project claiming there are tens of billions of barrels of oil underfoot.

The UK Oil and Gas Authority has approved a proposed 150-day extended production well test at Horse Hill, where both the conventional Portland and unconventional Kimmeridge zones will be flowed.

Specifically, the programme is a follow up to the 2016 testing, which saw aggregate oil flows at a rate of 1,688 barrels per day over short periods (three 30-90 hour tests).

“UKOG remains confident that the comprehensive long-term flow testing campaign will provide the necessary data to fully assess Horse Hill's commerciality and, most importantly, help meet our corporate target of first stable oil production and significant positive cash flow in 2019."

Revolution Bars bemoans Brits heading for the beer garden as it warns on profits

First the cold weather, now the hot: Revolution Bars Group PLC (LON:RBG) just can’t seem to catch a break.

The bar chain said the contrasting weather over the past few months has made trading “challenging and volatile”, so much so that it now expects underlying profits to miss market forecasts this year.

Many punters understandably stayed at home during the Beast from the East, but now the weather has turned nice (ish), it seems we’ve all made a beeline for the pub gardens.

Although Revolution reckons the weather has been the “most significant factor” in the weak performance, it also blamed disruption caused by a takeover battle last summer and the “prolonged absence” of a chief executive. Shares fell 10.6% to 140p.

Magnolia Petroleum doubles

Magnolia Petroleum PLC (LON:MAGP) is the day’s top riser, more than doubling to 0.88p.

The junior oiler said last week that it needed to sell assets pretty quickly in order to pay back a loan that its lender had called in.

Magnolia has now agreed to sell all of its stakes in North Dakota wells for US$1.5mln which will be used to “substantially clear” a large portion of its US$2mln lending facility.

Vernalis surges as it reveals talks with “several” prospective buyers

Vernalis plc (LON:VER) shares jumped by a fifth in early deals on Thursday after the cough medicine maker confirmed it has received “several approaches” from prospective buyers.

The company put itself up for sale back in March after carrying out a strategic review, which concluded that it was not “financially viable” to sustain the US arm of the business.

There are still a few assets that buyers are interested in though, including a pipeline of cancer drugs and various research collaborations.

Vernalis said it has now engaged in “detailed discussions” with a few of the interested parties and aims to complete the talks by the end of September. Shares rose 18% to 6.7p on Monday morning.

ValiRx in talks with possible partners

ValiRx Plc (LON:VAL)  was another on the rise this morning, climbing 18.9% to 2.68p.

The drug maker said it was continuing “advanced conversations” with several possible partners with whom it would look to advance its phase III-ready VAL401 lung cancer candidate, which has received plenty of positive feedback for patients and opinion leaders.

It also revealed that VAL401 had received a patent approval in New Zealand for use in pancreatic cancer patients, potentially opening it up to a new market.

Abzena looking at ways to raise money

Life sciences group Abzena plc (LON:ABZA) unveiled plans to drum up some much-needed funds, news which sent the stock down 28.9% to 13.2p.

The company is in talks to monetise its royalty-bearing Abzena Inside products. Should a deal materialise, the unnamed party would pay Abzena an upfront fee in return for a chunk of some of Abzena’s products’ future royalties.

Other Proactive news headlines:

Kazera Global PLC (LON:KZG) has confirmed that it has commissioned the MSA Group (MSA), a leading provider of exploration, mineral resources and reserve estimation, to carry out the targeted exploration programme.

Pre-clinical work by ImmuPharma PLC (LON:IMM) on P140, the peptide currently being developed as Lupuzor for the treatment of people with lupus, reveals it may have other potential indications.  The company's co-founder, Professor Sylviane Muller, and her team believe the drug could be deployed to treat an autoimmune disease called chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy, or CIDP.

Eland Oil & Gas PLC (LON:ELA) told investors that it has successfully drilled and completed the Opuama-9 well, which is due to handed over to the field’s production team in the coming week. The Nigeria focussed oil company, in a statement, said a production tree is currently being installed to the well.

ITM Power plc (LON:ITM) saw strong growth in its orders and tender opportunity pipelines in the latest financial year. The AIM-listed hydrogen energy company said in a trading update that its overall deal pipeline stood at £39mln, an increase of around 42% since June 2017 after recognising £10.4mln as income in the period.

Faron Pharmaceuticals Ltd (LON:FARN) has made some important observations while assessing the data from its unsuccessful phase III trial of Traumakine for acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). It has discovered that a sub-group of patients with higher levels of certain bio-markers (CD73 serum and MxA activation) showed a reduced mortality rate and increased ventilator-free days.

Primary Health Properties PLC (LON:PHP) has announced that a wholly owned subsidiary of PHP has acquired the Moredon Medical Centre (net assets acquired £6.1mln), a standing let investment property situated in Moredon, Swindon.

SDX Energy Inc (LON:SDX, CVE:SDX) has announced the spudding of the SRM-3 appraisal well onshore Egypt. The well is following up previous exploration success at the 12.75% owned South Ramadan project.

Motif Bio Plc (LON:MTFB) has completed a rolling submission of a New Drug Application (NDA) to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its new antibiotic Iclaprim.

Victoria Oil & Gas plc (LON:VOG) has revealed a refinancing of its debt with BGFIBank Cameroon. The company, which has had to suspended gas shipment to a key customer, initially entered into a US$26mln debt facility back in April 2016 and it said the balance stood at around US$20.5mln at the time of the refinancing.

Kibo Mining PLC (LON:KIBO) has reported its financial results for the full-year following a flurry of activity. The AIM-listed miner reported a pre-tax loss from ordinary activities of around £4.5mln, up from £3.5mln the year before, while its cash for the end of the period stood at £766,586, up from £382,339 last year.

Savannah Resources Plc (LON:SAV) has confirmed the cost of building a lithium mine at Mina do Barroso in Portugal will be around US$109mln.

Shanta Gold (LON:SHG), the East Africa-focused gold producer, announced that it has received irrevocable undertakings from holders of the company's outstanding unsecured subordinated convertible loan notes due April 2019  representing 76% by nominal value, to vote in favour of a buyback of approximately 33.33% of the notes currently held by third parties, and a 1-year extension to the maturity date. The firm said the arrangements will provide Shanta with increased flexibility to develop Ilunga, conduct exploration at NLGM and to identify targets close to the mine.

Bushveld Minerals (LON:BMN), the integrated vanadium producer with additional investments in coal, power, said redemption of the outstanding unsecured convertible bonds previously issued to Atlas Special Opportunities, LLC was settled in full for a final aggregate cash payment of £5.116mln. The company has received confirmation of settlement from Atlas.

Solo Oil PLC (LON:SOLO) said representatives of the resources investment group will be meeting at 2.30pm on Thursday 14 June 2018 with a small group of private investors, at their request, who due to their collective holdings have a significant interest in the company's shares. The firm said the meeting will be recorded and will be available for playback by other interested shareholders from the company's communications advisors, Buchanan at solo@buchanan.uk.com.

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