Proactive Spotlight:
Aim is about to lose one of its success stories: Sirius Minerals PLC (LON:SXX).
The potash miner confirmed it will move to the London Stock Exchange’s main market late next month as it updated on progress at its Woodsmith mine in North Yorkshire.
Sirius said work on routes in and out of the area has begun, while site preparation earthworks are slated to get underway in the second quarter.
The group also said it was making “good progress” in clearing the conditions outlined in the project's planning agreements.
In short the £1bn first phase of the fertiliser mine development is on time and on budget.
Meanwhile, CloudTag Inc (LON:CTAG) said its shares will be delisted from Aim but added that it would seek a return to listed status in due course.
Cloudtag’s nominated adviser tendered its resignation a month ago and the company has not appointed a replacement, which means under Aim’s rules it cannot retain its listing.
The developer of wearable devices that monitor health, wellbeing and fitness is still in the pre-revenue stage will continue as a private company, it said in its full-year results statement.
Other Proactive news headlines:
Sound Energy PLC (LON:SOU) has confirmed a large extension to the Tendrara gas field, albeit the TE-8 well's primary target was found to be of a lower quality at this location (some 12 kms from the previous wells). At the same time, however, Sound's new well did encounter a separate gas-bearing petroleum system. Overall the results help de-risk what continues to look like a very significant project.
The outcome of Sound Energy PLC’s (LON:SOU) latest well was described as a “mitigated success” by WH Ireland analyst Brendan Long.
Marketing analytics group Ebiquity plc (LON:EBQ) has hailed 2016 as a year of “both progress and change” as it reported a solid rise in full-year profits and revenues. The AIM-listed group saw its underlying pre-tax profits rise by 5.5% to £11.8mln in the full-year to December 31, up from £11.2mln a year earlier, as revenues increased by 9.1% to £83.6mln.
Tomco Energy PLC (LON:TMC) is rebooting its Utah oil shale project, with a new start-up called TurboShale which will explore new technologies that could potentially unlock the oil at the Holliday shale project.
eSports promoter Gfinity Plc (LON:GFIN) revealed rising revenues and narrowing losses for its first half as the growth company continues to build momentum in its events and commercial partnerships.
2016 may have been a year of shocks, but niche lender S & U Plc (LON:SUS) did its usual thing and turned in a record performance. Shares opened 4.8% higher at 2,194p as the company revealed a 29% year-on-year increase in profit before tax.
Women’s fertility specialist Concepta PLC (LON:CPT) has brought in the current chief executive of Philips UK and Ireland, Neil Mesher, as its new non-executive director with immediate effect.
Silence Therapeutics PLC (LON:SLN) chief executive Ali Mortazavi called 2016 a year of “transformation and transition” both for the science around which the company is based and for the business itself.
WATCH: Silence boss says new technology a “game changer” …
Shares in Akers Biosciences Inc (NASDAQ:AKER LON:AKR) shot up 15% after it said it had won a first order for its rapid, over-the-counter cholesterol self-test. First Check Diagnostics, the exclusive distributor in the US, will sell it under its "First Check" brand, through retailers such as CVS, Rite Aid, Target, Kmart and others.
Clinical trial specialist Ergomed Plc (LON:ERGO) lifted 2016 revenues by nearly a third as its drug monitoring business continued to power ahead.
Clinical trial software specialist Instem Plc (LON:INS) notched up big increases in recurring revenues in the year just ended. Profits in 2016 were £23,000 (£361,000 loss), though on an adjusted basis there was a dip to £700,000 from £1.7mln.
Amryt Pharma PLC (LON:AMYT) shares jumped 14% as it started a phase III trial for Episalvan, its treatment for rare skin condition Epidermolysis Bullosa.
Property fund manager and investor First Property Group PLC (LON:FPO) has sold off one of its Romanian properties for a total consideration of €3.2 million The sale of the logistics warehouse in Ploiesti – one of the group’s three directly-held properties in Romania – will results in a profit before tax of €1mln.
Challenger Acquisitions Limited (LON:CHAL) rocketed higher on the appointment of veteran financier Gene Stice to the board. Currently the chief executive of consultancy firm Nuovo Corporate, he will focus on potential acquisition opportunities in the leisure and entertainment sectors. Gert Reider is to step down from Challenger’s board following the listing of another of his vehicles, Falcon Media.
In an AGM statement, Quartix Holdings plc (LON:QTX) said trading for the two months to February 28 has been in line to deliver management's expectations for the full year.
Heavy buying by the directors of Ortac Resources Ltd (LON:OTC) boosted the junior miner for a second day. Nick von Schirnding, a non-executive, bought 260,000 shares at 3.5p per share to follow the purchase yesterday of 300,00 shares at 3.75p by the Carter Capital Pension Scheme, where Anthony Balme, Ortac’s executive chairman, is a beneficiary.
ClearStar, Inc. (LON:CLST) hailed the ‘gig economy’ as the personnel background check specialist posted another year-on-year rise in revenues and gross profits. As the company flagged back in its January trading update, revenue for the 12 months to 31 December 2016 came in at US$16mln, a 3% year-on-year rise.
WATCH: This year “all been about execution”, says ClearStar boss …
IronRidge Resources Limited (LON:IRR) has inked a joint-venture agreement with Major Star, holder of a portfolio of gold exploration targets in the Ivory Coast.
During 2016 Patagonia Gold plc (LON:PGD) sold 24,572 ounces of gold equivalent at an average gross price of US$1,232.50 per ounce.
Premier African Minerals Limited (LON:PREM) said it has amended the terms of an existing US$300,000 loan agreement with George Roach through the grant of conversion rights into new ordinary shares at a price of 0.5p each, the same price as under the PrimaryBid offer announced yesterday.
Obtala Limited (AIM:OBT) is raising £8mln in total via conditional subscription agreement with Wealth Rank Limited, which will give the Hong Kong-based investor around a 6.7% stake in the firm’s enlarged share capital. Obtala is issuing 20 mln new ordinary shares for a total cash subscription price of £4mln, equivalent to 20p per share, a 13.4% premium to yesterday's closing price. It is also issuing WRL with warrants to subscribe for another 20mln Obtala shares also at a price of 20p each, exercisable immediately on September 28 2018.
Tethyan Resources PLC (LON:TETH) has raised £1 mln from the issue of just over 22.2 mln new ordinary shares at a placing price of 4.5p per share.
Bushveld Minerals Limited (LON:BMN) has agreed a deal that will take it another step closer to its acquisition of the Vametco vanadium mine in South Africa.
There’s been a cull of oil reserves at Genel Energy PLC’s (LON:GENL) Taq Taq field in the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq. Genel today revealed a 65% drop in proved and probable reserves at Taq Taq following a review of the competent persons report by McDaniel and Associates.
Metal Tiger PLC (LON:MTR) has signed terms with Canadian investment firm Sprott Private Wealth to act as exclusive agent as part of a £3mln private placement by the natural resources investor.
Tertiary Minerals plc (LON:TYM) is proposing to a subdivision of its existing ordinary shares into 1 New Ordinary Share of 0.01 pence each and 1 Deferred Share of 0.99 pence each. The group said the sub-division will not affect the value of the stock held by shareholders but will allow the firm to issue shares in the future at an issue price which exceeds their nominal value.