Boohoo’s boardroom coup of AIM-listed cosmetics brand Revolution Beauty Group plc provided some top-tier drama for the junior market this year.
A majority shareholder with a 26% stake, boohoo has been gunning for a total revamp of Revolution’s board; with this week’s resignation of Revolution’s now-former chief legal officer Elizabeth Lake, boohoo’s coup is effectively complete.
Lake’s resignation followed the resignations of chairman Derek Zissman and chief executive Bob Holt earlier this year after
Former Walgreens exec Lauren Brindley was brought in as the new boss, with boohoo deputy Alistair McGeorge becoming non-executive chair.
Lake was initially tipped to remain, but current non-executive director and former boohoo chief financial officer Neil Catto will now replace her, effective from the first day of 2024.
Three cheers for boohoo, but there’s little to celebrate on the chart, at least in the near term, with Revolution’s share price falling another 14% this week to 31.75p. That’s around 80% below the 2021 IPO price.
Revolution’s new board/boohoo’s lackeys have their work cut out for them.
Powerhouse Energy’s not-so-rudderless ship
Speaking of CLOs, Powerhouse Energy Group PLC (AIM:PHE)’s permanent appointment of Ben Brier to the role preceded a 60% rally for the waste-to-energy group this week. Powerhouse’s acting chief executive Paul Emmitt was also made permanent in late November.
Powerhouse’s rudders are firmly in place to focus on its tech, which can utilise waste plastic, end-of-life tyres and other waste streams to convert them efficiently and economically into synthetic gas.
In the small-cap funding world, Atlantic Lithium Ltd (AIM:ALL, OTCQX:ALLIF, ASX:A11) raised eight million Aussie bucks (£4.2 million) for its Ewoyaa lithium project in Ghana. A 16% technical share markdown ensued, though the placing’s 10% discount wasn’t half bad, given the price of money these days.
Jubilee Metals Group PLC (AIM:JLP, JSE:JBL, OTC:JUBPF) took a larger 19% discount on its £10 million placing at 5.5p to help fund its recently announced Green Copper project in Zambia. Shares dipped 14% throughout the week, but that money will come in handy as Jubilee gears up to process 350 million tonnes of waste rock in a joint venture with Dhabi-based International Resources Holding.
Another mining small cap, Power Metal Resources PLC (AIM:POW), was up 40% after announcing the completion of its pre-float fundraise ahead of the listing of its Canadian uranium assets, while mining and exploration minnow Kazera Global PLC (AIM:KZG) added 9% after cornerstone investor African Mineral Sands upped its stake in the group.
AIM All-Share heads the right direction
The FTSE AIM All-Share Index was bullish, adding around 2.3% to close the week above 740.
Equities collectively ripped ahead following the US Federal Reserve’s dovish rate hold on Wednesday.
The US central bank left its benchmark interest rate unchanged, as expected, but signalled rate cuts of as much as 75 basis points in the coming year.
The latest quarterly dot plot showed that most officials expect rates to be in the range of 4.4% to 4.9% by the end of next year, with a small majority anticipating at least three quarter-point cuts from current levels.
Although the Bank of England’s rate hold on Thursday didn’t come with a similarly dovish caveat, the market is firmly of the belief that lower rates are on their way, pricing in around 125 basis points worth of reductions in 2024.
"At the moment, we are more cautious because we need to see those more persistent elements of inflation, which we see in things like services prices, turn in the right direction quite decisively," said BoE boss Andrew Bailey.
More risers and fallers
Elsewhere on the small-cap movers table, XLMedia PLC (AIM:XLM, OTC:XLMDF) took a 20% haircut after the betting content specialist accompanied a warning about sales revenues with confirmation it had shelved plans to sell the company.
Tandem Group PLC (AIM:TND) slumped 13% as it warned poor sales of toys and garden products would mean results this year being well behind forecasts.
To close on a positive note, musicMagpie PLC had its best day in the stock market for months on Thursday as it confirmed a bumper day of Black Friday trading had turned its second half around.
Shares in the second-hand mobile phone, TVs, video games and books reseller closed the week 28% higher as it said underlying profits this year would now rise by 15% to £7.5 million.
But the top riser award goes to SmartSpace Software plc, which doubled its share price after telling the market it is mulling an 82p-per-share offer from Australia's Skedda Holdings Inc.
The provider of space management software is currently consulting with advisers and major shareholders.