There was a flurry of fundraisings on London's junior market this week, a sign that investor confidence is building as we head into summer.
Helix Exploration PLC (AIM:HEX, OTCQB:HHEXF) led the charge. It brought in £16 million to expand its helium footprint in Oklahoma, with a separate retail offer set to add up to £1.6 million more. The shares still slipped around 21% over the week, but backers are clearly playing the long game.
Ilika PLC (AIM:IKA, OTCQX:ILIKF, FRA:I8A) and MedPal AI plc (AIM:MPAL) each bagged £5 million, though for very different ends. Ilika will use its cash to push the commercial phase of its solid-state batteries, which power everything from medical devices to electric vehicles. Medpal, off 17%, wants to fund an acquisition plus stock and patient acquisition ahead of the UK launch of the first oral GLP-1 weight-loss pill, oral Wegovy.
Pain and gain
For all three, it is short-term pain for shareholders in return for longer-term gain. It also shows AIM doing exactly what it is meant to do: handing growth companies a source of capital.
That serious money stands in contrast to Oracle Power PLC (AIM:ORCP). It scraped together £500,000, ostensibly to bankroll exploration of its Australian gold project. How far that sum stretches is anyone's guess. It will almost certainly be back at the well before long. The shares fell 23%.
Down 50% this week and topping the small-cap fallers was Huddled Group PLC (AIM:HUD, FRA:6XK). The AIM-listed online retailer took a major haircut to complete a £1.2 million share subscription.
Solid week
Turning to the wider market, the AIM All-Share enjoyed a second week in the green, gaining 1.2% to sit at 778 on Friday. It more or less kept pace with the FTSE 100, which was up 1.4%.
Oxford BioDynamics PLC (AIM:OBD, FRA:LMQ, OTC:OXBOF) fell 33% this week after what was, on the face of it, a flurry of good news. Trading is in line with expectations, a new CEO has been appointed who has a stellar reputation, and the company bagged a US contract sales partnership.
The devil, however, was buried in the full-year results, and it speaks to anxiety around the company's cash position. While it has extended the runway beyond next month, OXB did say it is in discussions to refill the coffers. That was enough for traders to take fright and mark down the stock savagely.
The week's biggest riser was Empyrean Energy PLC (AIM:EME, FRA:E1E), up 33%, as investors kept chasing the stock higher on progress at the Mako gas field in Indonesia.
Making Mako
On June 22, the project operator signed a deal covering engineering, procurement, construction and transport, pushing the $320 million development into its execution phase. Empyrean holds an 8.5% stake in Mako.
Celsius Resources Ltd (ASX:CLA, AIM:CLA, FRA:FX8) shares rose 27% after it agreed to sell its 95% stake in Namibia's Opuwo cobalt-copper project to a Chinalco unit for US$15 million, or about A$21.7 million. The proceeds will fund its Philippine copper-gold pivot, subject to arbitration and shareholder approval.
tinyBuild Inc (LSE:TBLD), the video games publisher and developer, jumped 22% after CEO Alex Nichiporchik splashed his cash to buy 200,000 shares. Executives know their business better than anyone. When they buy with their own money, it signals genuine confidence that the shares are undervalued and prospects are improving.
Uncovering value
And finally, EMV Capital (AIM:EMVC, FRA:NTK1) has moved to make its investment case easier to grasp, a shift management hopes will help narrow the gap between its share price and the value of the assets it owns.
The deep tech and life sciences investor said this week it would deconsolidate two holdings, Glycotest and ProAxsis, after fundraisings cut its stake in each below 50%. From 30 June, both count as associates rather than subsidiaries.
Chief executive Ilian Iliev said the change makes the group easier to understand. With both firms out of the consolidated accounts, the results will more clearly reflect EMV's core venture capital and fund management operations.
That should give shareholders, analysts and co-investors a cleaner read on the underlying value. The shares trade at more than a 50% discount to last published NAV.
