Anglo Pacific Group PLC (LON:APF) shares climbed after reporting a jump in first half earnings, free cash flow and royalty income.
The mining royalty business reported a 300% jump in free cash flow to £18.9mln in the six months ended 30 June, compared to the same period a year earlier, including an impact of the Denison financing arrangement of £3.3bn.
Royalty income shot up 295% to £16.1mln with a record performance at the Maracás Menchen project in Brazil and an increase in mining within the company’s private royalty land at the Kestrel underground coal mine in Australia.
Adjusted earnings for the period came to £12.9mln, up 438% on the previous year.
Shares edged up 1.71% to 122p.
Horizon Discovery Group PLC (LON:HZD) was under the cosh as the gene editing technologies firm said it completed its share placing on AIM to raise £80mln.
The group will use the proceeds of the placing of 9,024,390 shares today to support its acquisition of GE Healthcare Dharmacon Inc.
Shares fell 3.50% to 248.50p.
2.30pm: Entu (UK) under pressure as it warns of urgent need for refinancing
Entu (UK) PLC (LON:ENTU) shares plummeted 37.84% to 2.16p after saying offers it has received from interested investors about a possible refinancing of the company have so far undervalued its equity.
The company, which provides energy efficiency products and services to homeowners and businesses in the UK, said talks with its preferred interested party have failed to reach a conclusion while discussions with one remaining party is continuing.
“The company is undertaking these discussions as a matter of urgency given the need to bring financial stability to the group in the very near future.”
UK healthcare company Concepta PLC (LON:CPT) rallied after saying it has made its first shipment of its myLotus fertility products into China.
The first part of a £225,000 order, which was announced in mid-June, has been shipped and the company expects to make further shipments to fulfil the order over the coming weeks.
"We are pleased to have made our first shipment of test strips to China, and particularly pleased to have done so with such a quick turnaround time, testament to the quality of operations at our UK laboratory,” said chief executive Erik Henau.
Shares rose 5.78% to 11.50p.
12.30pm: Laura Ashley shares decline on first half profit slump
Laura Ashley Holdings plc (LON:ALY) shares are in the red after the homewares retailer reported a drop in first half profit and sales.
In the year to 30 June, statutory profit before tax was £6.3mln, down from £22.8mln the previous year, including a £2.8mln impairment charge relating to the revaluation of a freehold property owned by the group in Singapore.
Group sales fell to £277mln from £400.9mln, as store closures and declines in decorating, furniture and fashion sales offset an increase in its home accessories arm.
The company blamed challenging trading conditions in the UK retail market and the impact of a weaker pound.
Shares fell 5.28% to 8.25p.
Primorus Investments PLC (LON:PRIM) shares edged up 15.22% to 0.265p after saying it made three new investments.
The group invested in TruSpine Technologies Limited, which is planning an initial public offering on London’s junior market AIM, which is expected in the first half of 2018 following the Food and Drug Administration approval of its first product, the Faci—LOK, a spine stabilisation device.
Primorus has also invested in Sport:80 plc, which floats on AIM in 2018, and in Farina Investments, which is “exploring various UK listing opportunities either via an IPO or reverse takeover”.
"Pre-IPO is at the heart of our investment strategy and we look forward to being able to demonstrate real value accretion for our shareholders as we begin to exit existing investments via trade sales and IPOs or other mechanisms to crystallise tangible value,” said executive director Alastair Clayton.
11.00am: Futura Medical shares flop on loss of licensing agreement
Futura Medical PLC (LON:FUM) shares fell after saying that that Church & Dwight Co Inc. plans to terminate its licensing agreement for the company’s erectogenic condom and is to return all commercialisation rights.
Shares dropped 17.89% to 39p.
The agreement, signed in April 2013, covered manufacturing, marketing and distribution rights to CSD500 in North America and certain countries in Europe.
The AIM-listed firm said Church & Dwight is returning the rights “as a result of a change in strategic priorities within its business”.
Global Invacom Group Ltd (LON:GINV), on the other hand, saw its shares rise 8.82% to 9.25p after the satellite communications equipment provider said it has successfully tested breakthrough technology that permits live, high quality and large-scale event video streaming over a Wi-Fi network.
The Bx-WiFi technology, which stands for Broadcast WiFi, was developed through a partnership with the BBC Research & Development, and the University of Hertfordshire under a European Space Agency contract. It was successfully live-tested at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival on 12, 13 and 18 of August 2017.
09.50am: Game Digital rallies on second half trading update
Game Digital PLC (LON:GMD) shares gained after the video games retailer reported second half trading that exceeded its expectations.
In the six months ended 29 July, the company’s gross valuation transaction grew by 6.8%, ahead of the 5-6% increase it estimated in June.
UK GTV was 1.3% lower than the same period in 2016 but this was mitigated by the Spanish division where GTV rose 23.1%.
The release of the Nintendo Switch console in March boosted industrywide sales ahead of the expected launch of the new Xbox later this year.
UK and Spanish video games sales rose 8.8% and 15.7% respectively in the second half.
Shares jumped 31.98% to 32.50p in morning trading.
Highlands Natural Resources was on the front foot as it struck a new third party funding deal to support its new drilling at the East Denver project in the Niobara shale, Colorado.
HNR told investors that the new arrangement was with a “leading oilfield services company, with global operations and listed on the New York Stock Exchange”.
Shares climbed 10.44% to 24.85p.
Robinson PLC (LON:RBN) shares were under pressure after the manufacturer of plastics and paperbox packaging said half-year profits fell as gross margins dipped and operating expenses rose.
In a trading update for the first six months of the year, the company said profit before tax was £0.3m lower than the same period last year.
Revenue rose 6% to £13.5mln, lifted by favourable exchange rates and higher resin prices passed on to customers. But the increased costs, including some resin costs that are yet to be passed on to customers, have reduced gross margins. Operating expenses have been risen, reflecting the decision to strengthen the sales team.
Shares fell 9.77% to 113.24p.
Enquest shares dropped 7.90% to 29.36p as it cut its 2017 production guidance after output was lower than expected in the first half.
The company said the Kraken floating production storage and offloading vessel, designed to manage heavy oil from the Kraken field in the UK North Sea, was taking longer than expected to commission
This led to production volumes being lower-than-forecast in the first half at 37,015 barrels of oil per day. Full year production is now expected to be “as per the first half 2017 production rate, plus or minus 10%”, Enquest said.
Proactive news headlines:
Futura Medical PLC (LON:FUM) has announced that Church & Dwight Co Inc, has given formal notice that it intends to terminate its licensing agreement for the UK firm’s CSD500 erectogenic condom and is to return all commercialisation rights.
Digital wellness provider Kin Group Plc (LON:KIN) has brought in administrators to help it find a buyer after it failed to secure additional funding. The AIM-quoted company had requested the suspension of its shares last month after its key lender, Belastock Capital, said it will not proceed with the release of three further tranches.
Concepta PLC (LON:CPT) told investors that it has now made its first shipment of its myLotus fertility products into China The company, in a stock market statement, said that the first part of a £225,000 order (announced in mid-June) has now been shipped and it expects to make further shipments to fulfil the order over the coming weeks.
Highlands Natural Resources Plc (LON:HNR) has struck a new third party funding deal to support its new drilling at the East Denver project in the Niobara shale, Colorado. A number of the precise details were not disclosed, nonetheless HNR told investors that the new arrangement was with a “leading oilfield services company, with global operations and listed on the New York Stock Exchange”.
Anglo Pacific Group plc (LON:APF) said it made a “very strong” start to the year after free cash flow and royalty income surged in the first half. The mining royalty business reported a 300% jump in free cash flow to £18.9mln in the six months ended 30 June, compared to the same period a year earlier, including an impact of the Denison financing arrangement of £3.3bn.
Savannah Resources Plc (LON:SAV) said phase one of the pre-feasibility study (PFS) of the Mutamba Mineral Sands Project in Mozambique is now underway. The company has appointed mineral sands expert TZMI to carry out the work, which will include a gap analysis, options review, project planning and budget finalisation for stage-two.
Premier African Minerals Limited (LON:PREM) has increased its holding in a company developing an Ethiopian potash project worth US$2.8bn. Premier’s deal may on the face of it look modest – it is has acquired a 1% stake in Circum Minerals for US$1.36mln. But it says it now has a “meaningful” 5.2% interest in the company.
Horizon Discovery Group PLC (LON:HZD) said that its recent placing raised gross proceeds of £80mln for the company and, following this, it expects completion of the acquisition of GE Healthcare Dharmacon, Inc. to occur on 31 August 2017.
Greatland Gold plc (LON:GGP) has said its chief executive Gervaise Heddle has again increased his holding in the company, acquiring a further 500,000 ordinary shares today at a price of 0.55p each. Following the acquisition, Heddle is now beneficially interested in 4,250,000 ordinary shares in Greatland Gold, representing 0.21% of the issued share capital. Yesterday Greatland said Heddle had acquired a further 750,000ordinary shares at a price of 0.545p each.
Ed Stacey, support services analyst at Capital Network, talks investors through the latest developments at Empresaria Group (LON:EMR) in a video today.