Styles&Wood Group PLC (LON:STY) zipped higher this afternoon after the property services specialist’s bosses gave a bullish outlook for the year at today’s AGM.
Chairman Peter Mitchell told investors that trading so far this eyar has been as expected, with the order book for 2017 some 36% ahead of last year’s.
Mitchell also praised its two recent acquisitions – Keysource and GDM Group – which he said have settled in nicely and are performing well.
Shares were up 6% to 371p not long before market close.
Eurasia Mining plc (LON:EUA) shares received a boost after the firm had the reserves report and feasibility study for its Monchetundra palladium and platinum project approved by the Russian State Agency for Subsoil Use (Rosnedra).
Using Russian standard C1 and C2 categories, the reserves amount to 55.9 tonnes (1.9mln ounces) palladium equivalent (palladium and platinum) with major additional gold and base metal credits, at two open pits.
They are the first to be approved on the Monchetundra Licence said Christian Schaffalitzky, managing director, who added it was “an incredibly important development” and had come through much quicker than we had anticipated.
1.45pm...Hardide boosted by order from GE
Surface coating technology specialist Hardide Plc (LON:HDD) has made an appearance in the top risers column for a second week running after news broke of another new order.
The order from General Electric follows on from a previous agreement between the two which expired earlier this year.
Under the terms of the US$770,000 deal, Hardide will apply its special coating to a host of GE’s components.
“The order is incremental to management's existing expectations for the current year and underpins existing projections for the following financial year ending 30 September 2018,” the company said in a statement.
Shares gained 5% to trade at 1.7p and have more than doubled so far this year.
Lamprell PLC (LON:LAM) saw its shares jump higher after the oilfield services group revealed it is part of a major joint venture, led by Saudi Aramco, a subsidiary of the national oil company of Saudi Arabia, to build a shipyard on the kingdom's east coast.
The proposed joint venture relating to the building of the Maritime Yard within the King Salman International Complex for Maritime Industries & Services will also include the National Shipping Co of Saudi Arabia (Bahri), and South Korea's Hyundai Heavy Industries Co.
When fully constructed, the Maritime Yard is expected to be the largest in the Arabian Gulf in terms of production capacity and scale, and is forecast to be partially operational by 2019 and fully operational by 2022.
Investors were clearly impressed, with shares up almost 10% to 110.5p.
Horizonte Minerals Plc (LON:HZM) shined today after explorer reported high grade nickel indications from a small trial drilling programme at its Araguaia project in Brazil.
Jeremy Martin, chief executive, said the aim was to define an area with near surface transition and saprolite mineralisation that would be representative of the first five to eight years life at the nickel mine.
Widths over the 5m x 5m square included 11.1m grading 2.07% nickel and 11.05m at 2.02% Ni at depths up to 20m.
Shares rose 6% to 2.85p.
9.45am...China New Energy soars as it reveals new contracts worth £13mln
Shares in China New Energy Limited (LON:CNEL) soared this morning after the engineering and technology solutions provider revealed it has secured seven new contracts so far this year.
The contracts – which will all be underway by the end of next month and commissioned in 2018 – are worth around £12.8mln; a sizeable amount given CNE’s market cap before today was less than half that.
Under the terms of the agreements, CNE will design, supply and install bigger and better ethanol processing plants for the various companies.
Ethanol production is a growing business again in China after the government recently changed legislation which restricted its use in food products such as corn.
“These confirmed orders, when added to our previously announced contracts comprise a significant order book for 2017 into 2018 and, on the current timetable, we anticipate being able to recognise much of that revenue this year,” said chairman Yu Weijun.
Shares jumped 45% to 1.62p.
OPG Power Ventures Plc. (LON:OPG) drove higher this morning after the developer and operator of power generation plants in India confirmed it traded in line with expectations last year.
In the year to the end of March, the company generated around 4.37bn kilowatt hours (kWh) of energy, up from 3.35bn the year before.
On top of that, operations in the current financial year have being going well, as OPG prepares for the construction of the 62 megawatt (mw) Karnataka solar project, which is set to begin in the third quarter of 2017.
It added that the commissioning of its first solar project should also strengthen and diversify cash flows.
Shares advanced 8% in early deals to 43.5p.
It was a bad start to the morning for oil and marine services provider Nature Group Plc (LON:NGR) as it unveiled a disappointing set of full-years.
The group said 2016 was a “difficult” year, and they weren’t wrong as revenues dropped by 26% to £11.9mln and the underlying loss widened to £1.62mln.
“2016 has been a very difficult year for Nature Group due to several factors such as the prolonged process to sell our Gibraltar operations and the collapse of the oil price early 2016,” the company said.
Even a more upbeat couldn’t stop investors from jumping ship; shares slipped 13% to 8.15p, compounding what has already been a difficult few months for Nature’s share price.
Proactive news headlines…
Futura Medical PLC (LON:FUM) said it is “delighted” by the “constructive feedback” proffered by regulators in both the UK and US reviewing the clinical trial requirements for MED2002, a breakthrough gel for erectile dysfunction (ED).
Crucially, written responses from America’s Food & Drug Administration and the Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) here in Britain support its timeline, which sees marketing approval for the product in the second-quarter of 2019.
Eurasia Mining plc (LON:EUA) has had the reserves report and feasibility study for its Monchetundra palladium and platinum project approved by the Russian State Agency for Subsoil Use (Rosnedra). Using Russian standard C1 and C2 categories, the reserves amount to 55.9 tonnes (1.9mln ounces) palladium equivalent (palladium and platinum) with major additional gold and base metal credits, at two open pits.
Gemfields plc’s (LON:GEM) board has advised shareholders against approving an offer by Pallinghurst Resources Limited to buy all the shares it doesn’t already own in the company. It said a review by an independent committee determined that the deal “significantly undervalues the company, its unique asset base and its leading position in the coloured gemstone sector”.
Bezant Resources plc (LON:BZT) is acquiring a plant that will be able to process alluvial ore from its Choco gold-platinum project in Colombia. Mining operations are expected to begin within the next couple of months
Deltex Medical Group plc (LON:DEMG) has been granted a new patent for its Combined Blood Flow and Blood Pressure Monitor for UK, Germany, France, Spain and Sweden. Coverage in the USA has been 'allowed' at this stage and the Company expects the US patent to be formally granted in the second half of the year.
Philippines-based gold miner Metals Exploration Plc (LON:MTL) has signed a loan agreement to borrow US $2mln from its two major shareholders, Runruno Holdings Limited ("RHL") and MTL (Luxembourg). The shareholders will provide funding on a pro-rata basis to their current shareholding.:
Pre-revenue explorer Landore Resources Limited (LON:LND) posted a loss of £1.72mln for 2016, versus a loss of £1.54mln the year before.
Development work has started on the Imweru gold project in Tanzania that Katoro Gold PLC (LON:KAT) is buying from Kibo Mining PLC (LON:KIBO). Kibo BP was September 2016.
Cadence Minerals PLC (LON:KDNC) boosted NAV from £19.58 mln at the end of 2015 to £35.42 mln at the end of 2016. The company said its two key assets, Sonora and Cinovec, could account for between 7% and 10% of global lithium supply by 2025.
European funding for its MeyGen tidal wave project in the Pentland Firth, offshore Scotland, will be unaffected by the UK’s Brexit decision Atlantis Resources PLC (LON:ARL) confirmed today. The second phase of development of MeyGen, now known at Project Stroma, has received EU backing to the tune of €37.3mln.
Gemfields plc (LON:GEM) said independent directors have advised shareholders against approving an offer by Pallinghurst Resources Limited to buy all the shares it doesn’t already own in the gemstone company. Shares fell 1.63% in morning trading as Germfields said a review by an independent committee determined that the deal “significantly undervalues the company, its unique asset base and its leading position in the coloured gemstone sector”.
Tlou Energy Limited (LON:TLOU) has chosen Aussie company Velseis to acquire seismic data for its Lesedi coal bed methane project and the adjacent Mamba permit in Botswana. The 250 km 2D seismic programme should start in the next quarter with the aim to boost gas reserves at both projects.
Horizonte Minerals Plc (LON:HZM TSX:HZM) has reported high grade nickel indications from a small trial drilling programme at its Araguaia project in Brazil. Jeremy Martin, chief executive, said the aim was to define an area with near surface transition and saprolite mineralisation that would be representative of the first five to eight years life at the nickel mine.
Sareum Holdings Plc (LON:SAR) has noted that its partner Sierra Oncology has been granted patents in the US and Europe that explicitly give greater protect for its anti-cancer Chk1 inhibitor candidate SRA737. Tim Mitchell, Sareum’s chief executive, said: "SRA737 is a valuable asset to Sareum through its licence to Sierra Oncology. We are pleased to see that patents to protect it have been granted in these major territories."
Union Jack Oil PLC (LON:UJO) has received approval from the Oil and Gas Authority for the acquisition of a further 3.33% interest in PEDL180 and PEDL182 from Celtique Energie Petroleum Limited. These licences contain the Wressle-1 discovery. Union Jack now holds a 15% interest in both licences following completion of this transaction.
Chaarat Gold Holdings Ltd’s (LON:CGH) 7.04mln ounce gold deposit was highlighted as a strategic asset for the Kyrgyz Republic at an investment forum co-hosted by the company.