Irish engineering group Mincon Group shares bounced up after reporting an increase in first half profit and revenue.
The maker of rock drilling tools saw profit before tax rise 26% to €6.3mln in the six months ended 30 June with revenue up 29% to €46.9mln on higher product sales.
"We said with the financial accounts for 2016 that we had begun to set ourselves aggressive targets for growth in sales and profits,” said chief executive Joe Purcell.
“The growth we referred to at the end of the first quarter has been sustained for the remainder of the first half with 29% growth across all the revenue categories, and 23% in constant currency terms.”
Post period, the company bought the remaining minority interest in Canadian manufacturing firm Rotacan and acquired drilling equipment firm Viqing in July.
The group said it has “three very substantial projects” moving into sales and marketing phases, with the extended range of large hammers and bits, the new hammer range, and the rapid build-up of its Mincon Nordic subsidiary.
Shares gained 19.77% to 103p.
2.40pm: Seeing Machines shares turn lower
Seeing Machines shares fell 4.0% to 3.0p after its house broker suggested it could significantly increase the scale of its prospects with original equipment manufacturers should it receive additional funding.
House broker Finncap said the driver fatigue monitoring technology firm is investigating strategic investment opportunities.
“We expect heavy spending to continue, as the company highlights that it intends to invest A$50mln over the next two years to accelerate platform and product development, but turning EBITDA-positive by the end of FY 2019,” finnCap said.
The broker comments came as the company said it will collaborate with car safety specialist Autoliv in the field of autonomous vehicles.
The partnership will result in Seeing Machines’ driver monitoring systems technology, based on its FOVIO platform and processor, being used to enhance Autoliv’s existing Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS).
1.45pm: Greatland Gold shares shine
Greatland Gold plc (LON:GGP) shares gleamed after saying that regional targeting across its Paterson project area in Western Australia has highlighted the potential for a new iron oxide copper gold ore (ICOG) district.
The AIM-listed firm said about 50 IOCG targets have been identified by the company in the broader region, with around half located in ground held by Greatland.
A review of historical exploration activity indicates that many of the new targets exhibit a similar geophysical signature to the company's Havieron target and have the potential for hosting similar copper and gold mineralisation.
Shares rose 10.37% to 0.568p
EU Supply PLC (LON:EUSP) shares rose 16.42% to 19.50p after the e-procurement software provider said it signed its third contract with an existing customer for additional services to its complete tender management (CTM) platform.
The contract is expected to generate revenues of about €120,000 for the rest of the year.
“Discussions are continuing with the customer on further specific call-off orders for additional services to be delivered in 2017 and 2018,” the group said.
12.00pm: Wolf Minerals rallies on operational turnaround progress
Wolf Minerals Limited (LON:WLFE) shares climbed 14.29% to 4.0p after saying it made progress its operating turnaround plan at its Drakelands open pit mine at the Hemerdon tungsten and tin project in Devon to achieve sustainable production by the end of the year.
The company said it has improved its processing plant reliability in the crushing circuit and the performance of the refinery to enhance production levels.
"We are encouraged by the progress being made on the operating turnaround plan at this early stage, with further improvements planned for the coming months to achieve a sustainable production platform before the end of the year,” said Richard Lucas, interim managing director.
“We are also encouraged by an improving tungsten price which supports the opportunity for Drakelands to be an important part of the global supply chain for such a critical industrial metal.”
Servision Plc (LON:SEV) shares fell 23.53% to 1.62p after saying it has revised the repayment terms for its current loan facility with YA II PN Ltd.
The digital security systems developer will borrow a further US$541,000 under the new terms of the current facility with YA. The loan will be used to increase Servision’s working capital and for new investments.
The repayment date of the loan has been extended to 1 August, 2018.
11.00am: Victoria Oil & Gas shares rise on drilling update
Victoria Oil & Gas (LON:VOG) shares jumped after saying its gas well on the outskirts of Cameroon’s second city of Douala is expected to be a “significant” producer.
In a drilling update, the company also confirmed La-107 had successfully reached its target depth of 3,180 metres, encountering an additional 23 metres of net gas sand since its last statement.
“New gas supply is expected to come online during the third quarter and this should allow [us] to finalise contracts with high usage customers we have been in discussion with over the past months,” said chief executive Ahmet Dik.
Shares increased 16.67% to 54.05p.
Herencia Resources PLC (LON:HER) shares gained 21.26% to 0.0422p after saying a geological review of its core prospects in Chile showed a “significant upside” for the discovery of further copper mineralisation.
“The review’s conclusion that a significant speculative exploration target of undiscovered copper mineralisation exists is pleasing and underlines the company's determination to exploit these projects at a time of rising copper prices,” said chairman Peter Reeve.
9.45am: YOLO gains on launch of music streaming service
YOLO Leisure and Technology PLC (LON:YOLO) shares surged after saying a company it has a stake in has launched a music streaming service to rival Spotify, Amazon Music and Apple Music.
Magic Media Works Ltd, a music entertainment business trading as Electric Jukebox, has launched ROXI in the UK and US markets. YOLO, an investment firm focused in technology and leisure sectors, owns a 41.43% holding Magic Media Works.
“As a family-centric alternative to Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music and Sonos, ROXI offers a unique set of features beyond the scope of traditional music streaming services,” the company said in a statement.
“In addition to Unlimited Music, karaoke-style 'Sing With The Stars', music trivia game 'Name that Tune' and Worldwide Radio, ROXI also offers yoga and meditation melodies with Sound Machine, a Family Protect option to switch off access to explicit lyrics, and can be integrated into Facebook photo albums to turn a TV into a personal picture frame with music.”
Shares jumped 92.60% to 0.963p in morning trading.
88 Energy Ltd (LON:88E) shares also gained after saying it is ready to re-start flow testing its latest well on Alaska’s North Slope as it confirmed it had increased its landholding in the area.
Work on the Icewine-2 well was suspended for six weeks to allow pressure to build and imbibition (soaking) to occur.
88 Energy will recommence testing of the HRZ shale on August 21.
In the same announcement, the company said expanding its gross acreage position increased by 76,996 to 348,116 acres, or 259,114 net to the firm.
Shares rose 14.42% to 2.03p.
Going the other way, Capital Drilling Ltd (LON:CAPD) shares edged lower after warning that recent legislative changes in Tanzania are “concerning and clearly creating uncertainty”.
“While we expect a reduction in delineation drilling at the Geita gold mine in H2 2017, there has been no impact to activity levels on the group's production drilling contracts at the North Mara and Geita gold mines,” the company said.
The warning came as it reported a return to profitability in the first half of the year as revenues rose, driven by the increase in fleet utilisation - how many of its drilling rigs have been hired out.
Other Proactive news headlines:
Victoria Oil & Gas plc (LON:VOG) gas well on the outskirts of Cameroon’s second city of Douala is expected to be a “significant” producer, according to the company’s chief executive Ahmet Dik. His comments accompanied a drilling update in which it was confirmed La-107 had successfully reached its target depth of 3,180 metres.
Greatland Gold plc (LON:GGP) announced that regional targeting across its Paterson project area in Western Australia has highlighted the potential for a new iron oxide copper gold ore (ICOG) district. In a statement, the AIM-listed firm said approximately fifty IOCG targets have been identified by the company in the broader region, with around half located in ground held by Greatland.
Wolf Minerals PLC (LON:WLFE, ASX:WLF) is making progress in its ambition not to be a noisy neighbour down in Devon. In an operational update on its Hemerdon tungsten and tin project, the company said it is making progress on the implementation of a turnaround plan, designed to achieve a sustainable production platform by the final quarter of the year.
Driver fatigue monitoring technology firm Seeing Machines Limited (LON:SEE) is to hook-up with car safety specialist Autoliv in the field of autonomous vehicles.
Medical services and software company Flying Brands Ltd (LON:FBDU) expects to receive the first prototype for its Stone Checker kidney stones medical imaging software next month. Once Flying Brands has successfully evaluated the product, it will make a start on the necessary regulatory work in order to get CE mark and FDA approval for Stone Checker.
Shares in Kromek Group PLC (LON:KMK) opened 3.6% higher after the radiation technology company announced a new five-year contract from an existing customer.
Clinigen Group PLC (LON:CLIN) has confirmed it is in talks with fellow AIM-listed speciality pharma Quantum Pharma PLC (LON:QP.) regarding a potential takeover offer. Like Quantum said yesterday, Clinigen told investors that the ‘indicative proposal’ is non-binding and is subject to “material preconditions” including customary due diligence.
VinaCapital Vietnam Opportunity Fund Limited (LON:VOF) has announced that, following consultations with the major shareholders and advisers, it has decided to amend its dividend policy and, with immediate effect, intends that to pay a dividend twice per year. The AIM-listed group said that normally the dividend payout will be declared in March and October, although exceptionally today it made a separate announcement declaring its first interim dividend of 4.8 US cents per share.
Thor Mining PLC (LON:THR) (ASX:THR) has announced “very positive” preliminary results over 27.4 metres from the first drill hole at the Good Hope deposit at the company's wholly-owned Pilot Mountain tungsten project in Nevada.