A look at the biggest risers and fallers among London-listed small cap stocks
It is unlikely MySQUAR Limited (LON:MYSQ) was expecting a negative reaction when it revealed it had reached break-even at its current run rate.
It seemed to be a cue for profit taking, with the shares down 1.25p at 5.175p, what with the shares having risen to 2.288p at the start of the year.
The Myanmar-language social media, entertainment and payments platform operator said that during the last few days of June 2017, the average daily revenue reached about US$8,500, an increase of 21.4% from an average of US$ 7,000 in early June 2017 and an increase of 54.5% from an average of around US$ 5,500 for the whole of May 2017.
The majority of current daily revenue continues to be generated from gaming and mobile payment application development services, the company said.
The growth in average daily revenue exhibited between May and June was principally as a result of growth in gaming revenue and in app premium content.
The slide in the share price of Graphene NanoChem plc (LON:GRPH) was easier to explain.
The company said loan notes had been converted into 11.69mln shares at 2.77965p a pop, prompting the share price to fall 23% to 1.90p.
Magnolia is the new black, as US-focused onshore operator receives boost from Western Energy Development
Investors piled into Magnolia Petroleum PLC (LON:MAGP) this morning as it revealed it had landed a major new shareholder.
Privately owned Western Energy Development LLC is taking a 29% stake in Magnolia in return for putting a pile of business Magnolia’s way.
The two companies have a capital management agreement, whereby Magnolia will be responsible for acquiring oil and gas assets across 27 Oklahoma counties in return for certain fees and interests.
Magnolia Petroleum gains major new shareholder as part of deal to invest & manage up to US$18.5m under US Immigrant Investor Program #MAGP
— St Brides Partners (@StBridesP) July 4, 2017
“For Western Energy to entrust us with the management of up to US$18.5 million of their clients’ funds, together with their agreement to receive shares in lieu of a cash fee for the deal, represents a major endorsement of the current board and management team,” said Rita Whittington, Magnolia’s chief executive officer.
The shares were up 31% in mid-morning trade.
Sector peer Rose Petroleum PLC (LON:ROSE) was also blooming, rising almost 10% to 0.12p on an update on the permitting process at its Paradox Basin asset in Utah.
Rose highlighted that it has received ‘positive assurances’ from the BLM – it sounds like a nineties electronica band, but is in fact the Bureau of Land Management - and is on-track to get a permit and complete the seismic shoot during the second half of this year.
Hung, drawn and Quartoed
Things were not so bonny for Quarto Group Inc (LON:QRT), which lost almost a quarter of its value after issuing a profit warning.
As profit warnings go, it was a bit esoteric with the company saying the guidance currently in the market uses a publishing-only baseline for 2016 that does not reflect the benefit of $2.1mln relating to the reduction in the amortisation of capitalised pre-publication costs.
All of this was explained in the 2016 results announcement on 31 March 2017 if you are interested – and I suspect you are not.
The upshot is the baseline guidance for 2017 and beyond has been set too high.
To make matters worse, Quarto said its interim results will reflect the soft retail environment in its domestic markets, resulting in a lower-than-expected trading performance.
Nothing esoteric about that; just a bog standard “not trading as well as we expected” accompanied by the standard “we are confident things will get better in the second half” reassurance.
Proactive news headlines
Futura Medical PLC (LON:FUM) is stepping up roadshows to highlight its technology with a presentation to institutional investors today on its topical gel for erectile dysfunction, MED2002. Part of a capital markets event, the presentation is similar to the one used for potential licensing partners and comprises a detailed insight into key aspects of the clinical development and commercial potential of the product.
88 Energy Ltd (LON:88E) has provided the latest update on the Icewine-2 well in Alaska where the flow-back of fracking fluid is ongoing. The company told investors that a total of 15.3% of stimulation fluid has now been recovered to date.
Myanmar-focused social media group MySQUAR PLC (LON:MYSQ) has reached break-even on a day-to-day basis after another strong pick up in revenues over the past month. Eric Schaer, MySQUAR’s chief executive, said it had been a remarkable finish to the 2017 fiscal year.
Corero Network Security PLC (LON:CNS) has won another contract in the US for its cyber security product, the SmartWall Defence System, in the wake of a global malware attack. The company said it has received a US$0.3mln order for the technology, which protects customers from distributed denial of service (DDos) attacks and cyber threats, from a leading US regional services provider.
AIM-listed med-tech firm ANGLE plc (LON:AGL, OTCQX:ANPCY) said its ground-breaking liquid biopsy outperformed the current tests used to tell whether a pelvic mass is malignant or benign.
Its Parsortix system was able to detect cancer in 95% of the cases, achieving a lower false positive rate than current method of detection.
WideCells Group plc (LON:WDC) has signed a definitive agreement with Brazilian cord blood storage facility, Hemocord Clinica Medica Ltd, to supply its stem cell services.
CellPlan Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Widecells, will offer new and existing clients of Hemocord its stem cell healthcare insurance plan and medical concierge service.
Hummingbird Resources PLC (LON:HUM) has now drawn down fully on its US$60 mln senior debt facility as construction at the Yanfolila gold mine in Mali continues. First production is slated for later this year.
Africa-focused agricultural and forestry company, Obtala Limited (LON:OBT), has announced two separate agreements that will increase its profit share in the Magole Farms and Wami Farms operations in Tanzania.
The company’s 75%-owned subsidiary, Montara Continental Limited, has purchased 195 hectares of agricultural land at Magole Farms for a total cash consideration of TZS1.1bn (£380,000). Obtala has also reached a deal to raise Montara's equity and profit share in the joint venture that operates the 1,200ha Wami Farms from 70% to 90% for a nominal cash consideration.
Thor Mining PLC (LON:THR) has picked up 68 square kilometres of new ground contiguous to its Molyhil tungsten project in Northern Territory, Australia. Chief executive Mick Billing said that even moderate exploration success on this ground is likely to have a "dramatic" effect on the mine life and economics for Molyhil.
Savannah Resources Plc (LON:SAV) has completed geological mapping on its Portuguese lithium properties. Drilling will now commence later this month.
Secure Property Development and Investment PLC (LON:SPDI) has agreed the conditional sale of its Kiyanovski land asset in central Kiev, Ukraine to a large developer for a price likely to be excess of US$3mln. The developer, Riverside, will pay SPDI a non-refundable deposit of US$100,000 in exchange for four months grace to obtain a construction permit to develop Kiyanovski.
Victoria Oil & Gas plc (LON:VOG) has formally signed the Cameroon government into the Logbaba gas and power project which services the city of Douala.