logo-loader

This week: Power shifts at CWR, GOAL on target and LBB blinks

Published: 08:48 27 Feb 2013 GMT

no_picture_pai

Last week saw the FTSE 100 close 10 points higher at 6,338 points and the AIM All Share 5 points lower at 746 points, though both indexes saw ups and downs mid week. The biggest news was the cutting of the UK’s AAA credit rating by Moody’s after a warning that growth would "remain sluggish" over the next few years, describing the government's debt reduction programme as facing significant "challenges". Other news includes UK unemployment for three months to December falling by 14,000 to 2.5m, and in Europe the inconclusive result in the Italian elections. The week ahead sees UK manufacturing PMI, mortgage approvals, and net mortgage lending data being announced.

ANCR Half year report, AVG £25m Agreement, CWR Board Changes, CNR Placing of £10m, EPO Trading Update, EKT Launch of wireless food hygiene monitor, ESG Partnership with MasterCard, FIP Phase Focus signs licensing agreement with Gatan, GOAL Final results, IKA License extension, IVO Circassia update, INCA Trading Update, ITM Update on  EcoIsland, LRL $20m Accelerated Programme, LBB UK distribution rights for BLINK, MSG Results & appointment, OMIP Preliminary Results, POS Extension of Contract, PDC Trading update, REM Lithium farm-in deal, REG Trading Update, SAR Report & Research Update, SUMM Advisory Board, SKR mining licence amendment, SUN Trading Update, SNG Preliminary results, SNX Acquisition, TEG Contract, TRX Successful study, TSTL Trading update,  VAL Commercial development update, XEN Research Agreement on OncoHist(TM) 

Animalcare Group (LON:ANCR

A leading supplier of veterinary medicines provided a half yearly report for the six months to 31 December 2012  in which it announced an increase in pre tax profits to £1.3m (from £1.1m in 2011) on the back of a 13 per cent increase in revenues to £6.1m (2011: £5.4m). Increases in revenues largely resulted from the strong growth in Licensed Veterinary Medicines whilst the Companion Animal Identification product group is showing evidence of recovery in performance with improved sales from database services. Animal Welfare Products sales have made progress. Cash on the balance sheet stood at £2.96m (2011: £1.75m).  With the launch of two veterinary medicines - Buprecare ampoules (an analgesic for cats and dogs) and Vitofyllin (for problems associated with canine ageing), the Group is trading in line with market expectations for the year as a whole and is targeting the launch of four veterinary medicines during this financial year.

Avingtrans (LON:AVG

Avingtrans, a manufacturer of critical components and associated services to the global aerospace, energy and medical sectors announced that it has signed a long term agreement with Safran Aircelle, an existing client of the PFW Farnborough, a business that Avingtrans acquired in December 2012. The contract, which is valued at circa £25m of revenue to Avingtrans over its duration of ten years, includes the existing scope of the commercial agreement between the two companies and is to supply various fabricated assemblies. 

Ceres Power Holdings (LON:CWR)

The Board of Ceres Power announced that Rex Vevers and Phil Whalen will step down from the Board as Finance Director and Technology Director respectively. Richard Preston is appointed to the Board as Finance Director, having been Financial Controller since June 2008. Prior to joining Ceres Power, Richard held a number of finance and business transformation roles at Cable & Wireless. He qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Ernst Young, is a Corporate Treasurer and graduated in Engineering & Management Studies from Cambridge University. In addition to these changes, the Board announced that Dr Mark Selby is appointed as the new Director of Technology for Ceres Power. Mark has been with Ceres since 2006 in the Controls and then Systems Engineering team, where he held the post of Senior Principal Engineer, System Performance. Prior to joining Ceres Power, he was a Senior Engineer of Controls at Ricardo UK Limited. 

Condor Gold (LON:CNR

Condor Gold, the AIM listed gold and silver exploration company focused on proving a large commercial open pit and underground reserve on its 2,375,000 oz gold at 4.6g/t resource at La India Project in Nicaragua, announced on 15 February 2013 that it had raised up to £10,000,000 before expenses by way of a Subscription Agreement with Regent Pacific Group Limited. The Placing was divided into three parts. The 2nd part of the Placing involved an underwritten placing of up to £2,000,000 Ordinary Shares at a price of £1.60 per Share. This has now been completed. Accordingly, investors other than Regent Pacific have subscribed for £1,762,200 and Regent Pacific has subscribed for £237,800 worth. Regent Pacific now holds 9.45 per cent of the Company's issued share capital.  Further announcements will be made in due course following the Further Placing. A Subscription Agreement was executed on 15th February 2013 with Regent Pacific, a diversified mining group listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, stock code 0757.HK for the initial £5,000,000. In connection with the Placing, Regent Pacific and any other subscriber under the Underwritten Placing will be granted a warrant to subscribe for new Ordinary Shares in the Capital of the Company on a 1:3 basis. 

Earthport (LON:EPO

The cross-border payments services provider today announced an update on trading for the six months ended 31 December 2012.  Revenue grew by approximately 32 per cent to over £1.80m compared to the period ended 31 December 2011. Transaction volumes increased 72 per cent compared to the period ended 31 December 2011. Nine new customers were signed in the period and eight customer implementations went live. Several major global financial institutions contracted to use the Earthport service, including Bank of America N.A. and BB&T. The country network expanded to a total of 55 countries, with several more in progress and existing network strengthened. The Company expects to announce the results for the period ended 31 December 2012 on Thursday 28 March 2013.

Elektron Technology (LON:EKT

Elektron Technology, the designer and manufacturer of precision engineered components, has launched Checkit, a wireless food safety monitoring device. Checkit is a simple to install device which helps restaurants and food outlets monitor food temperature, storage status and humidity. The smart wireless solution avoids the need for relying on manual checks. Checkit dramatically speeds up the time-consuming and costly processes of monitoring and reporting. It offers a fully-audited, automated system with secure electronic data storage for continuous monitoring of temperature, humidity, door status and hygiene checks in food production, service and the retail industries. Hand-held monitoring units collect food temperature and hygiene data at the press of a button, reducing the risk of human error. All data is time-stamped and downloaded to a centralised database, which automatically generates food safety compliance reports, and provides a full audit trail. The flexible, modular system is fully scalable for any type of food operation, from a single, local site through to demanding multi-site operations, using intuitive web-based software to configure, monitor and manage the complete network from one location. All food safety data is stored and archived centrally for trend analysis and food storage optimisation.

eServ Global (LON:ESG

eServGlobal, the global telecoms software vendor specialising in mobile money and value-added services, has reported an agreement to join the MasterCard Mobile Money Partnership Program (MMPP). This MasterCard programme was launched in February 2012 and is designed to help more than 2.5bn financially-underserved consumers around the world use their mobile phones to access mainstream financial services. MMPP complements eServGlobal’s open-loop mobile money solutions which link mobile wallets to the MasterCard network via companion cards. eServGlobal has more than 95 mobile and financial services customers in over 65 countries. 

Fusion IP (LON:FIP)* 

Fusion IP, the university commercialisation company which turns university research into business, last week announced that Sheffield based, Phase Focus Ltd, the portfolio company that is revolutionising microscopy and imaging with its lens-free Phase Focus Virtual Lens(R) technology, has announced that it has entered into an Licencing Agreement with Gatan, Inc. Gatan is the world's leading manufacturer of instrumentation and software used to enhance and extend the operation and performance of electron microscopes. The Licensing Agreement provides for joint development of a range of products, including a Phase Focus Virtual Lens "add-on" product for existing electron microscopes. Once fully-developed, the product will be marketed by Gatan through its world-wide sales and distribution network. The financial terms of the agreement are undisclosed. The Phase Focus Virtual Lens is a digital replacement for the conventional image-forming optics used in imaging and microscopy. As well as eliminating the limitations and aberrations of conventional lens-based instruments, it can be exploited to visualise and quantify numerous specimen attributes such as surface topography, thickness and refractive index variations, or electric and magnetic field phenomena. Fusion holds a 34 per cent shareholding in Phase Focus. 

Goals Soccer Centres (LON:GOAL

Goals Soccer Centres, the operator of outdoor 5-a-side soccer centres, announced final results for the year to 31 December 2012, which saw a seven per cent increase in revenues to £32.5m (2011: £30.4m) and adjusted profit before tax increased by three per cent to £9.5m (2011: £9.2m). The Company which has 43 centres in the UK and one in the US, saw disruption from the London Olympics, Jubilee celebrations, and European Championships, but made some progress. The Company continues to make progress in its debt reduction plan, with net debt falling to £50.2m (2011: £53.2m), though it was still able to deliver its first modular build centre at Chester, on time, on budget and performing in line with management expectations.

Ilika (LON:IKA

Ilika, the advanced cleantech materials company, has renewed and extended the scope of another existing contract with the same major existing customer for the development of its battery technology. This contract is in addition to the contract previously announced and regards the broadening of the scope of technical engagement within the battery field. The renewal marks the third phase of this contract with an order value of c. £160,000 for a two month programme of work with a follow-on phase expected, subject to satisfactory initial results being achieved.

Imperial Innovations Group (LON:IVO

Imperial Innovations Group, the technology commercialisation and investment group, has announced that its portfolio company Circassia, the speciality biopharmaceutical company focused on allergy, has seen strong results from its follow up phase II clinical trial. Patients saw a sustained improvement of their cat allergy symptoms two years after they started a four-dose, twelve week course of Circassia’s ToleroMune® cat allergy treatment. The phase II study originally measured the level of patients’ symptoms following the Toleromune® treatment, compared with placebo. Two years later, and having received no further ToleroMune® treatment, fifty of the original 202 patients were reassessed. The study showed that these patients maintained consistent symptom improvements both twelve and twenty four months after the start of the treatment and found that the treatment reduced symptoms by two and a half to three times the level achieved by other allergy therapies in similar studies. Circassia is currently conducting a phase III multinational study to test the safety and efficacy of the ToleroMune® treatment in approximately 1,200 subjects from the US, Canada and Europe and results are expected in 2014.

Incadea (LON:INCA

The Board of incadea, a leading provider of software solutions and services to the global automotive dealership industry, announced that, for the year ended 31 December 2012, the Company has delivered strong trading performance with revenues exceeding EUR28m and operating profits being in line with management expectations. The year ended 31 December 2012 was an eventful one for the Company with the IPO and listing in May, as well as building on the Board's initiatives to open and develop new emerging markets opportunities in line with the strategy outlined at the time of the IPO. The process of winning considerable market share with global OEMs such as VW, BMW and Qoros has shown positive results. BRIC market opportunities are growing at a much faster rate than most of the EU and incadea expects further new global OEM clients to be signed up during 2013. incadea continues to invest in its technology, which is seen as market leader, and are seeing increasing demand from our clients, particularly outside Europe, for their cloud/SaaS business model. Accordingly, as the Group signs up more of the cloud/SaaS business models the Board expects to see the Company's revenue stream move to more of an annuity profile. The Board recognises that a rental model provides higher quality earnings with lower licence revenue risk, as well as potentially higher lifetime revenues from individual contracts. As the proportion of the Group's revenue derived from the rental model increases, visibility of the Company's revenue and earnings will continue to improve. Current trading already allows incadea to see robust organic growth over last year with a pipeline supporting solid revenue visibility. The Group's balance sheet remains strong allowing it to continue its expansion plans uninterrupted. 

ITM Power (LON:ITM

The energy storage and clean fuel company provided an update on its relationship with EcoIsland Partnership CIC, where it made reference to an announcement made by that company. That announcement stated ITM Power remains and will continue to be their National Hydrogen Partner in the EcoIsland Project, having worked closely with the Company for more than two years. Technologies  provided include a clean fuel vehicle refuelling plant, consideration of utilising hydrogen for energy storage using the Island's gas grid and the possibility of creating a larger hydrogen store to give the Island a long term energy storage solution.  The Company also announced the sale of its first reference plant in Japan based on the HPac platform and is now is now selling products more actively in Japan.

Leyshon Resources (LON:LRL

Leyshon this morning announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Pacific Asia Petroleum Limited (PAPL), has commenced the previously announced $20m accelerated exploration and appraisal programme on its Zijinshan Gas Project, located on the eastern fringe of the prolific Ordos Gas Basin in Central China ahead of schedule. Following the positive results from drilling at both ZJS5 and ZJS6, which intersected multiple potential pay zones, the contractors were mobilised to the project and all necessary approvals obtained prior to the Spring Festival enabling an immediate start to operations on return. As a result the programme is currently two weeks ahead of schedule with over 150 kilometres of the planned 300km seismic lines already surveyed. Flow tests to determine whether commercial flow rates can be established from selected pay zones are expected to commence mid-March as planned, depending on the weather. PAPL has a 100 per cent interest in the exploration phase of the Production Sharing Contract (PSC) with PetroChina, which has the right to buy back a 40 per cent interest at the development stage. The Company is well placed to carry out its 2013 exploration and appraisal programme with a strong cash position of $45m (unaudited).

LiteBulb Group (LON:LBB) 

LiteBulb Group, the provider of innovative product solutions from identification through to retail distribution, has received exclusive UK distribution rights for the BLINK Mints confectionery product range and that it has secured an initial purchase order from WH Smith. LiteBulb will supply the BLINK Mints range of confectionery products to circa 315 WH Smith stores nationwide. BLINK Mints is a range of sugar free sweets that come in a wide variety of flavours, each of which is presented in individual, stylish and collectible tins. BLINK Mints are already successfully sold across countries in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East which gives LiteBulb confidence that these will prove popular with retailers in the UK. 

Milestone Group (LON:MSG)* 

Milestone, a provider of digital media and technology solutions, announced the appointment of Ximo Peris as Youth Development Director for the Passion Project. The Passion Project is a social engagement programme that uses Sport and Media to inspire young people to explore their passions and skills which are then matched with vocational and employment opportunities. The Company also announced its full year results: revenues increased by 391 per cent albeit from a small base to £776,391 (2011: £155,987). The Group made a loss for the year of £1,395,630 (2011: £1,198,552), after amortisation charges of £248,779 (2011: £50,866) and tax credit of £65,590 (2011: £nil). The Group has incurred costs in relation to integrating Oil, in the development of its software products and in the planning and preparation of the Passion Project. Foundations are now in place for the Group to leverage and scale its business and operations going forwards as well as launching new revenue generating projects.  The Company's short term borrowings increased to £422,114 (2011: £283,007). During the period, Milestone launched The Passion Project - which will include a number of revenue generating elements; re-developed OnSide, the mobilised risk assessment tool, in use with Charlton Athletic Community Trust; and trialed their modified SFK educational materials into fifty UK primary schools. 

One Media IP Group (LON:OMIP)* 

One Media IP Group last week announced its preliminary results for the year ended 31 October 2012. One Media increased revenue 26 per cent to £2,089,941 and pre-tax profits were up 29 per cent to £427,888. One Media announced the acquisition of fifteen further music, video and spoken word catalogues, investing £643,341 in the process. Two dividends were declared and paid, totalling £70,974 in the year. Post year end, One Media acquired the Men & Motors catalogue of rights with over 3,000 episodes of this iconic TV programme. The Group continues a policy of not manufacturing physical products and remains faithful to the business model of expanding digital rights library in all arenas.

Plexus Holdings (LON:POS)

Plexus Holdings, the oil and gas engineering services business and owner of the proprietary POS-GRIP(R) method of wellhead engineering, announced that Maersk Oil North Sea UK Limited has agreed to exercise two, one year extension options attached to an original contract awarded to Plexus to supply its High Pressure/ High Temperature (HP/HT) POS-GRIP(R) wellhead technology, casing support and mudline suspension services for an exploration programme in the North Sea. The initial contract was announced on 15 December 2009 with an estimated value of £3m for three wells over a period of three years. Following the exercise of the two extension options the contract has, subject to finalisation, now been increased by a minimum of one well with an estimated value of £1.5m, and will run to the end of 2014. 

Printing.com (LON:PDC

Print product service provider to consumers and small and medium sized businesses announced a trading update in which it stated that trading in the second half of the year has proved softer than anticipated across the Group's various European channels and together with the increased marketing expenditure on new initiatives (Templatecloud.com and W3P, the latter of which has seen licenses granted in the UK generating monthly 'system fees' along with incremental print revenues) means it is likely it will be materially behind market expectations in the current year. The Board does however intend to recommend the payment of a final dividend at the same level as the previous year.

Rare Earth Minerals (LON:REM)

REM has signed an agreement with Canadian company Bacanora Minerals Ltd (TSX:BCN CAD$0.30/CAD$15.43m) to participate in drilling and project evaluation of the extensions of its new 60m tonne La Ventana high grade Lithium discovery in northern Mexico. The farm-in licences cover the 34 square kilometre El Sauz and Fleur concessions adjacent to and along strike from Bacanora's La Ventana discovery. The La Ventana discovery is stated by Bacanora to contain 930,000 tonnes of Lithium Carbonate Equivalent (LCE) in the 60m Tonnes of ore. 

Rare Earths Global (LON:REG)

Rare Earths Global a mining services group focused on the extraction, separation, refinement and trading of rare earth elements, oxides and other related products, reported that the Rare Earth industry both domestically in the People's Republic of China (PRC) and internationally is going through a period of rapid change and development. The uncertainty this has caused, coupled with a fall in rare-earth prices (up to 60 per cent since the beginning of 2012), has meant that REG will not meet market expectations for the financial year ended 31 December 2012 and as a result expects to report a normalised loss for 2012. In addition, given the current uncertainty, the Board has not been able to progress its discussions with Credit Suisse regarding its proposed US$50m debt facility. The Board continues with the strategy as set out at the time of the Company's flotation on AIM which now includes numerous potential opportunities regarding possible joint ventures which would provide the optimum approach to carrying out this stated strategy. A further update will be made to the market in due course. The management believes that the long term outlook for the price of REOs (and more specifically Heavy Rare Earth Elements) is positive. 

Sareum Holdings (LON:SAR)*

Sareum, the specialist cancer drug discovery business, announced its half-yearly results for the six month period ended 31 December 2012, and also gave a research update. Cash at the period end was £380,000 (2011: £530,000), and the loss on ordinary activities (after taxation) was £269,000 (2011: loss of £327,000). 

Safety pharmacology studies performed to date on the Chk1 programme's pre-clinical development candidate have been favourable.  Oral bioavailability has been demonstrated in three species, and several peer reviewed articles on the programme's lead compounds have been published, describing their efficacy in pre-clinical models as single agents, and in combination with chemo- and radio- therapy. Head-to-head studies continue between two advanced lead molecules, on the Aurora+FLT3 programme with the aim of selecting a pre-clinical development candidate by mid-2013. The recent grant of a US patent, that protects Sareum’s intellectual property on this programme, should strengthen its negotiating position. Lead  optimisation  studies  on TYK2 are  progressing  and  further  compounds have been designed  and synthesised with improved potency  and selectivity, which has been validated  in cellular studies. On the VEGFR-3 (FLT4) programme, Sareum has prioritised spend on other programmes whilst it investigates grant funding opportunities alongside a partner with the necessary biology expertise to assist it in the progression of this programme.  The Board is currently reviewing options for the future development of the Chk1 programme.  The options, which are either to continue licence discussions with third parties or to progress it further before licensing at a later stage, both have benefits. The former option will provide  an earlier return but the latter option  is  one  which  the  Company  believes  may  provide a greater return to shareholders.  Sareum’s management believes its negotiating position remains a strong one and therefore both options are available to them and their partners. 

 Summit Corporation (LON:SUMM)* 

Drug discovery and development company advancing therapies for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) and C. difficile infections, announced the formation of an Advisory Board a few weeks ago to support the scientific and clinical development of its utrophin modulator programme for the treatment of the fatal genetic disease DMD.  The Board brings together six world-renowned scientists and clinicians with expertise in the field of neuromuscular diseases, and particularly DMD. The members of Summit’s DMD Advisory Board are Kate Bushby, MD, Professor of Neuromuscular Genetics at Newcastle University, Deputy Director of MRC Centre for Neuromuscular Diseases at London and Newcastle; Kay E Davies, MA, DPhil, DBE, FMedSci, FRS, Dr Lee’s Professor of Anatomy, Director MRC Functional Genomics Unit, and Associate Head of the Medical Sciences Division at the University of Oxford; Kenneth H Fischbeck, MD, NIH Distinguished Investigator and Chief of the Neurogenetics Branch at National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke; Louis M Kunkel, PhD, Professor of Pediatrics and Genetics at Harvard Medical School, and Director of Program in Genomics at Boston Children’s Hospital; Francesco Muntoni, MD, PhD, Chair of Paediatric Neurology at the Institute of Child Health, London, and Director of the Dubowitz Neuromuscular Centre at University College London; and H Lee Sweeney, PhD, William Maul Massey Professor, Chairman of Physiology, and Director of the Center for Orphan Disease Research and Therapy at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine.  

Sunkar Resources (LON:SKR

Sunkar last week announced that the Ministry of Industry and New Technologies of the Republic of Kazakhstan (MINT) has approved changes to the Company's mining plan and Work Programme commitments regarding the development of the Chilisai phosphate deposit. The new mining plan reflects changes in the mining commitments, which were proposed by the Company to MINT in February 2012 and which have now been accepted. The Company mined 307,000 tonnes of ore in 2012 thereby satisfying the revised commitment. 

Surgical Innovations Group (LON:SUN

Designer and manufacturer of creative solutions for minimally invasive surgery (MIS) last week provided a trading update for the financial year ended 31 December 2012. SI saw substantially improved trading across both SI Brand and OEM segments in the second half of 2012, driven by increased product demand resulting in contracted orders for delivery in 2012 of £5.6m. This represents an 85 per cent improvement on first half performance; however due to manufacturing capacity constraints at the existing Leeds facility and a delay in US regulatory approval in the final month of the year, £1m of these orders were recognised as revenue in the first week of the financial year ending 31 December 2013.   As a consequence total revenue reported for the 12 months to 31 December 2012 is now expected to be £7.6m (FY 2011: £7.6m). Following the strategic decision to promote SI Branded products, which now represent 68 per cent of overall revenues (FY 2011: 62 per cent), gross margins are expected to have improved by three basis points to 50.3 per cent (FY 2011: 47.3 per cent). Adjusted EBITDA for the period is ahead of the previous year at £2.85m (2011: £2.8m). SI ended the year with short term borrowings of £1.4m against bank facilities provided by HSBC of £2.0m. Given the revenue recognition of £1m in January 2013, the current financial year has started well and provides a sound platform for the remainder of the current financial year. The Company will announce its preliminary results for the year ended 31 December 2012 on Tuesday, 9 April 2013.

Synairgen (LON:SNG

The respiratory drug discovery and development company with a focus on viral defence of the lungs announced its audited results for the year ended 31 December 2012. Positive data was announced in April 2012 from the Phase II proof of concept trial of inhaled interferon beta (SNG001) being developed for the treatment or prevention of virus-induced asthma exacerbations and the positive Phase II clinical trial data triggered comprehensive business development activity. Multiple parties are conducting detailed technical and commercial evaluations of SNG001. Synairgen aims to finalise arrangements with a primary partner to enable commencement of follow-on clinical trial activity during the 2013 - 2014 virus season. Biomarker analysis of Phase II study samples has commenced and the Company is continuing to map out the different regulatory and clinical paths required to progress SNG001 to market in asthma and COPD. Synairgen has commenced engagement with the US government to investigate the potential of SNG001 as a broad spectrum anti-viral treatment. The Balance sheet was strengthened with a fundraising of £2.5m completed in July 2012. Research and development expenditure for the year was £1.5m (six months ended 31 December 2011: £1.8m). The post-tax loss for the year was £2.3m (six months ended 31 December 2011: £2.0m) and cash at 31 December 2012 was £3.1m (31 December 2011: £3.4m). 

Synectics (LON:SNX)

Synectics (formerly Quadnetics Group), a leader in the design, integration and control of advanced surveillance technology and networked security systems, announced a 100 per acquisition of Indanet AG following a renegotiation of the original terms of the acquisition of the business. The Company originally agreed to the acquisition in July 2011 for a maximum consideration of EUR10m, by the initial payment of EUR2m for 51 per cent and further consideration of between EUR1 m and EUR8 m for the remaining 49 per cent of Indanet would be payable in three tranches between 2013 and 2015, dependent on Indanet's profits for the period from completion to 31 May 2015. A varying of the terms meant that EUR1.64m was paid for the entire outstanding share capital in Indanet, which therefore means 100 per cent of the shares was acquired for EUR3.64m.

The TEG Group (LON:TEG

The TEG Group, the green technology company which develops and operates organic composting and energy plants, has announced that its subsidiary, TEG Environmental Ltd., has entered into a contract with a major waste management company, for organic waste composting at a number of its sites. The contract is for a six year term and will commence in Q2 2013. The volume of waste is expected to be approximately 15,000 tonnes per annum and the overall revenues will be in the region of £2m over the period of the contract. 

Tissue Regenix Group (LON:TRX)

Tissue Regenix, the regenerative medical device company that is targeting the fast-growing market for soft-tissue knee (meniscus) repairs reported that a pre-clinical study to assess the safety of Tissue Regenix's dCELL(R) meniscus has delivered positive results. This paves the way for clinical studies to begin in Europe, following regulatory review. Key findings at the conclusion of the study indicate that the device is safe with no adverse or inflammatory responses related to the device detected. In addition there were signs of cells entering the dCELL(R) meniscus and signs of remodeling (characterised by the appearance of collagen - a key component of healthy tissue), which indicate that the meniscus is successfully integrating with the existing tissue. 

Tristel (LON:TSTL)

Tristel, the manufacturer of infection prevention, contamination controls and hygiene products, provided a trading update for the six months ended 31 December 2012. The endoscopy business has seen a sharper than expected decline in recent months and will not recover to the levels anticipated. This will result in an adjusted pre-tax loss for the half, of approximately £0.6m although management is confident of a profitable (pre-exceptional) full year to 30 June 2013. Other business segments performed in line with management expectations, with the exception of China and the UK veterinary business. In China the acceleration of sales has been slower than expected, however the operation has been restructured and streamlined, and the portfolio of approved products has been expanded following the licence grant for the Wipes System. The veterinary market in the United Kingdom has seen solid progress but behind internal forecasts. Underlining its confidence in the Company's prospects, the Board proposes to maintain its dividend policy, paying an interim dividend of 0.08p per share in April 2013. Tristel had a small overdraft at the half year, but expects to be cash generative in the second half and remains well capitalised to drive its future growth. 

ValiRx (LON:VAL)* 

ValiRx, a life science company in clinical development with anti-cancer diagnostics and therapeutics for personalised medicine, last week announced the appointment of Samuel Ogunsalu as CCO to assist the Group in building and adding value to its portfolio of technologies and to coordinate ValiRx's commercial strategy. Samuel has a background in Microbiology and Biochemical engineering and has 15 years' experience in the identification and commercialisation of early and mid-stage life-science opportunities and in the out-licensing of portfolio technologies. Previously, he has provided advice and helped coordinate on the commercialisation of AIM-listed biotech companies in the UK as well as small-cap US listed companies. He has previously held positions as the Head of Commercialisation and the sector specialist for Life-Sciences at the Knowledge East Partnership, as well as the Principle Executive of Commercial Development at Queen Mary Innovation Limited, the technology development and Innovation Company, out of Queen Mary College, University of London. In both roles, he facilitated company and technology development and positioned companies or their technologies, such that they achieved maximum capital or asset sale for out-licensing and sale. He has negotiated and closed on a number of license and collaborative deals with a range of companies as well as providing a number of exits for early investors in Biotechnology in the biotech and pharmaceutical space. 

Xenetic Biosciences (LON:XEN

Xenetic Biosciences, a bio-pharmaceutical company specialising in the development of high-value differentiated biological and vaccines and novel cancer drugs, announced that it has signed a broad research agreement for OncoHist(TM) with one of the world's leading cancer institutes, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Massachusetts. Dana-Farber will be conducting extensive research on the Mode of Action of OncoHist(TM) in relation to its specific targeting of cells in the Acute Myeloid Leukaemia indication as well as exploring OncoHist(TM) application in resistance-to-treatment scenarios. Xenetic sees this work as the commencement of a long-term commitment to OncoHist(TM) candidate development, leading ultimately to its clinical evaluation for Acute Myeloid Leukaemia in the USA after confirmation of its efficacy by SynBio LLC. Xenetic's Co-development partner, SynBio LCC, is currently conducting Phase I/IIa clinical trials in Russia for the indications of both Acute Myeloid Leukaemia and Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma and the interim reports are due later this year. 

*A corporate client of Hybridan LLP

 

Oriole Resources outlines 2023 achievements and future exploration plans

Oriole Resources PLC (AIM:ORR) CEO Tim Livesey and chief financial officer Bob Smeeton join Proactive's Stephen Gunnion with details of the company's 2023 financial and operational performance. Livesey highlighted successful exploration programs in Cameroon, at the Bibemi and Mbe projects,...

53 minutes ago