There was an oily tint to some of the biggest small cap gainers this week, with Trinidad-based oil and gas firm LGO Energy PLC (LON:LGO) a strong performer on news of a re-launch, with a new chief executive appointment and a name change.
Neil Ritson stepped-down as LGO’s chief executive and chairman on Wednesday, to be replaced by Leo Koot who joined as the firm’s executive chairman with immediate effect.
Shares in LGO – which will be renamed Columbus Energy Resources PLC – jumped 40% higher to 2.5p, fuelled by the ambitions of its new boss.
WATCH: South America 'the new focus' for LGO Energy, says new executive chairman
Koot told Proactive Investors that he still sees LGO’s Goudron field - which has been producing about 500 barrels of oil per day - as the firm’s ‘money maker’ - creating the free cash flow to support new ventures into larger and ‘exciting’ exploration plays.
Meanwhile, Ritson’s move was a boost to another AIM-listed explorer, Solo Oil PLC (LON:SOLO), which rose 6% higher to 0.38p as on Thursday as he stepped up to become that firm’s executive chairman, from non-executive chairman previously.
The move comes at a significant time for Solo which, according to the company, is gaining significant momentum behind its oil and gas assets, notably in Tanzania.
Closer to home, the company also has a stake in the Horse Hill discovery, the so-called ‘Gatwick Gusher, where long term production testing is scheduled to start later this year.
Angus energised by regulatory ease
Another firm involved in onshore UK exploration, Angus Energy Plc (LON:ANGS) also found good support this week, taking on 15% to 10.5p after the group confirmed that it had submitted a required addendum to the development plan for the Brockham oil field in the south of England.
The company noted that, in addition to the standard Health and Safety Executive approval, an OK from the Oil & Gas Authority would be the sole regulatory requirement needed to produce hydrocarbons from the Kimmeridge play at Brockham.
Overall the FTSE AIM All-Share index put in an upbeat performance over the week, gaining almost 1% to 974 points.
That only just underperformed the blue chip FTSE 100 index, which posted a third successive week of gains, up around 1.3% to 7,393.
The week’s best small cap performer was again, MySQUAR Limited (LON:MYSQ) which, after a 50% speculative gain made last week, was boosted by some solid news this one.
READ: Game on for mobile app developer MySQUAR
Shares in the Myanmar-language social media platform surged 190% higher to 5.4p after it told investors it is making “significant progress” in hitting its monetisation targets after seeing revenues soar at the start of this month.
MySQUAR said it generated average daily revenues of US$5,000 during the first week of May, compared to around US$3,900 a day in April – an increase of almost 30%.
The firm said the sharp uptick so far this month has been achieved thanks to both the integration with Telenor Myanmar’s carrier billing services and recent product launches, such as Lucky Wingabar which came out at the end of March.
Concha rebounds but knows of no reason why
Meanwhile, one of last week’s big fallers rebounded higher this week, with Concha PLC (LON:CHA) seeing its shares more than double in value, up 117% to 0.43p even though the firm issued a statement saying it knew of no reason for the price movement.
The AIM-listed investment group lost 17% in value last week after it said it was reviewing new investment opportunities following the demise of its principle investment, Ve Interactive.
Concha paid £4mln for a 0.43% stake in Ve Interactive in March 2016 when it touted the advertising technology company as an “exciting investment opportunity”. Ve was sold for just £2mln.
This week’s biggest small cap faller was Flowgroup PLC (LON:FLOW), which saw its shares drop over 50% to 1.65p after the smart boiler maker confirmed it is considering a "significant capital fundraising" if the planned sale of its Flow Energy business does not take place.
Flowgroup said that although it is still in talks with the preferred bidder, it is also in advanced discussions over a capital injection of more than £20.0mln should the proposed sale not happen.
In reaction, Broker Cantor Fitzgerald cut its rating for Flowgroup to ‘hold’ from ‘under review’ after slashing its price target to 2p from 21p.
Resources stocks also notable fallers
Ncondezi Energy Ltd (LON:NCCL) was also a big faller this week, losing 25% to 2.25p after the Mozambique thermal coal and power plant developer said it is funded through to the end of this month should it secure an extension to a repayment date on a shareholder loan, but will need to raise additional funds after May.
Another resources group, oil and gas exploration and production company Mayan Energy Limited (LON:MYN) also came under pressure, shedding over 20% to 1.05p after it said its LM 13 shallow-well programme on the Shoats Creek operation in the US had suffered delays due to recent weather issues.
However, Mayan added that it is continuing to advance after the site became accessible once again and has made "encouraging progress" with the programme.
And UK Oil & Gas Investments PLC (LON:UKOG) saw its shares also fall by 20% to 0.95p after the group confirmed recent media speculation regarding a proposed £6.5mln fundraise and said it is currently meeting with potential new institutional investors.
The firm said the potential funding would be utilised to carry out the exploration and appraisal drilling plus long flow testing activities, which is expected to begin by the end of the second quarter on the next big well in the Weald basin, Broadford Bridge.
UKOG’s licence area is on the southern flank of the basin and is described as a mirror image of the fault block at Horse Hill, host to one of the most important onshore discoveries of recent times.