Molins plc (LON:MLIN) shares rose 10.13% to 125.0p after saying it kicked off the 2017 financial year with a stronger order book than the same time a year ago.
In a trading update, the packaging machinery manufacturing company said its order intake was ahead of the previous year in all part of its business.
Order intake was particularly strong in its continuing business, excluding the Instrumentation and Tobacco Machinery division, which is up for sale.
The group also announced that its Canadian subsidiary company, Langen Packaging, has reached a deal to sell its manufacturing facility in Ontario to BuildCorp Limited, for C$11.7mln in cash. The deal is expected to take place by the end of November.
Empyrean Energy climbs on results of gas flow at Mako South well
Empyrean Energy plc (LON:EME) shares crept up 6.12% to 6.50p after saying it was “absolutely delighted” with gas flow rates shown in testing of the Mako South well, offshore Indonesia. The well flowed at a rate of 10.9mln cubic feet of gas per day, and it is currently shut in for build-up.
OneView and Ascent Resources sitting lower
OneView Group plc (LON: dropped 18.75% to 1.62p as the e-commerce company said it has signed a deal with clothing retailer Carhartt Inc. for its cloud-based digital store platform.
Under the deal, Carhartt will use the platform to support its efforts to deliver a cross-channel offering to its customers.
Ascent Resources Plc (LON:AST) dipped 8.82% to 1.55p after saying the final downhole portion of the operations to prepare its Pg-11A well at the Petišovci project in Slovenia took longer than expected.
Chief executive Colin Hutchinson said: "While any slight delay is frustrating, it is not unusual for a project of this type. I am pleased with the progress that has been made and look forward to increasing our gas production through supply to INA and bringing Pg-11A online in the near future.”
12.37pm: Creightons shares soar on solid full year results
Creightons plc (LON:CRL) shares surged 30.93% to 31.75p after the consumer goods manufacturer reported strong full year profits and revenue.
Operating profit was £1.5mln in the year to 31 March, up from £558,000 the previous year, as margins rose to 4.9% from 2.7%.
Revenue jumped to £30.6mln from £21.0mln, supported by a 210% increase in sales from its contract business, a 62% rise in export sales and a 16% gain in sales of its own branded products.
"The management team has achieved a significant improvement in the customer base, both in the UK and overseas, with a broader range of products, expansion in the premium sector, extended production capability and capacity, and continued positive cash generation. The group is poised for further growth,” said managing director, Bernard Johnson.
Corero Network Security shares rise on contract win
Corero Network Security (LON: CNS) rose 10% to 8.25p after announcing a contract win with the US federal government agency. The firm said its SmartWall Threat Defense System had been chosen to protect a high profile US federal government agency.
Crawshaw and PCG Entertainment under the cosh
Crawshaw Group plc (LON:CRAW) shares slipped 12.93% to 25.25p after the fresh meat and food-to-go retailer said like-for-like sales fell 4.5% in the first 20 weeks of the financial year. The company said the trading performance of the business “continues to be stable following the improvement in like-for-like sales from the initiatives introduced throughout the estate”.
PCG Entertainment Plc (LON:PCGE) dipped 11.90% to 0.0925p after the online gaming and media company announced that it would not be able to publish its audited report and accounts for the 15 months to 31 March 2017. “The inability to finalise the annual report prior to 30 June 2017 is primarily due to complexities surrounding the disposal of its former subsidiary, Center Point Development Corp, as announced on 11 January and 21 February 2017,” it said.
09.06am: Landore Resources rallies as it hits wide intervals of gold
Landore Resources Limited (LON:LND) shares rose 12.17% to 3.22p after announcing it had hit more wide intervals of gold after drilling at BAM East in Ontario, Canada.
The company said drilling results showed one hole had a width of 18.79m at 3.65 grams per tonne gold (g/t) while others had 12.25 g/t gold and at 5.08 g/t over narrower intervals.
BAM East’s Central Zone has now been confirmed over 1,000 metres of strike length and remains open down dip, to the east and to the west along strike.
Amphion Innovations shares slide as 2016 NAV falls
Amphion Innovations Plc (LON:AMP) shares fell 23.81% to 2.0p as the technology investor and commercialisation specialist reported a drop in full year net asset value (NAV).
NAV came to US$5.8mln in the year to 31 December 2016, compared to US$10.8mln the previous year, reflecting a decline in the value of the Motif Bio’s share price.
Chief executive Richard Morgan said 2016 was a “difficult year” for Motif with the Brexit vote disrupting the company's funding plans. “The sharp fall in sterling amplified the decline in the share price which in turn hit the value of Amphion's holding,” he said.
The loss before tax widened to US$16.8mln from US$5.9mln a year ago while revenue declined to US$139,633 from US$519,855.
Victoria Oil & Gas edges higher on positive drill results
Victoria Oil & Gas plc (LON:VOG) shares climbed 2.56% to 50.0p after unveiling positive drilling results from two new wells at a site outside Cameroon’s second city, Douala.
La-107 and La-108, next to the existing operation on the Logbaba production site, found a combined 135 metres net gas pay, which exceeded expectations. The original producing well, La-105, found 54 metres of gas-bearing sands while La-107 has so far tapped into a section measured at 35 metres.
Big Sofa dips on wider full year loss
Big Sofa Technologies plc (LON:BST) edged down 9.13% to 26.125p after the video analytics provider reported a wider full year operating loss.
The operating loss for the year to 31 December 2016 was £4.2mln, compared to a loss of £346,000 the prior year on the back of increased operating expenses related to costs of its AIM listing at the end of the year, an increase in headcount and its reverse acquisition. At the end of November investment vehicle HubCo agreed to buy 99.9% of the issued share capital of Big Sofa for £4.146mln as part of a reverse takeover bid.
Proactive news headlines...
Asiamet PLC (LON:ARS) has published a meaty upgrade to the copper resource at its BKM project in Kalimantan, Indonesia. The BKM Copper deposit is now estimated to contain Measured and Indicated Resources of 49.2mln tonnes at 0.70% at a 0.2% cut-off grade.
Victoria Oil & Gas plc (LON:VOG) chief executive Ahmet Dik described as “very positive” the results from two new wells it is drilling at a site outside Cameroon’s second city, Douala. La-107 and La-108, next to the existing operation on the Logbaba production site, found a combined 135 metres net gas pay, which exceeded expectations VOG BP FEB
The day after a wave of cyber-attacks worldwide was a good day for Corero Network Security PLC (LON:CNS) to announces its latest contract win, worth around US$400k with a US federal government agency.
Complexities surrounding the disposal of its former subsidiary, Center Point Development Corp, mean PCG Entertainment Plc (LON:PCGE) is unlikely to publish its accounts for the 15 months to end-March by the end of June.
Kromek Group PLC (LON:KMK), the maker of radiation detection technology used in medical devices and security, said it is seeing a “step change” across the business with revenues expected grow 40% in the current year – in line with previous forecasts. The company, headquartered in Durham, is now reaping the rewards of two years hard work as it is delivering the orders it has generated in that time.
A boost from the fall in the pound's value enabled East European property developer Secure Property Development & Investment PLC (LON:SPDI) to boost net assets. In per share terms, asset value rose to 37p from 35p in 2016 even though in euros the aggregate value fell to €38.9mln (€42.5mln).
Atlantis Resources PLC’s (LON:ARL) five year bond offer has got off to a record breaking start on renewable energy crowd-funding platform Abundance Investment. Atlantis’s offer raised more than £1mln in subscriptions within 24 hours of the formal launch of the bond. It represents a new subscription record for offerings launched via Abundance, a peer-to-peer ‘ green investment’ platform. The offer aims to raise between £2-5mln and closes on 16 August 2017.
Landore Resources Limited (LON:LND) has hit more wide intevals of gold from drilling at BAM East in Ontario, Canada. One hole saw a width of 18.79m at 3.65 grams per tonne gold (g/t) with others showing 12.25 g/t gold and at 5.08 g/t over narrower intervals.