Oil exploration and development, as we know, is a “hit or bust” affair, and this week demonstrated the binary nature of the sector.
Nostra Terra Oil and Gas Company plc (LON:NOTG) added almost 50% to its share price after it secured a hedging facility with industry giant BP.
The company – which has a portfolio of assets in the US and Egypt – said it intends to use the hedging facility in conjunction with a senior debt facility to fund the development of its assets.
“This is a significant endorsement of both Nostra Terra's strategy and asset portfolio,” said Matt Lofgran, chief executive of NTOG.
The markets were suitably impressed, with NTOG rising 45% to 1.84p.
It was a different story for US-focused peer Nighthawk Energy PLC (LON:HAWK) though, which is still losing money.
Results for the first half of the year at least indicated the losses are narrowing – to US$2.81mln from US$£3.05mln the year before.
Perhaps of more concerns was this note from the auditors: “The group's cash flow forecasts indicate that its ability to meet its liabilities as they fall due for next 12 months is dependent upon securing alternative funding.
“These conditions indicate the existence of a material uncertainty which may cast significant doubt as to the group's ability to continue as a going concern.”
That uncertainty spooked a few investors, with shares down 22% over the week to 0.4p. They have fallen 69% in the year to date.
On to something a little sweeter and AIM-listed luxury chocolatier Hotel Chocolat Group PLC (LON:HOTC) gave shareholders a taste of the good stuff with its full-year results.
We already knew that sales would smash through the £100mln mark but the group, which floated last May, managed to translate that to the bottom line as well, with pre-tax profits doubling to £11.2mln.
Hotel Chocolat is also taking action to open up its offering to a wider audience after it signed deals with Amazon and Ocado which will now stock its products.
Even a cautionary note about the UK consumer outlook couldn’t dent confidence, with the share price surging 15% to 300p.
Subtitling and TV content specialist, ZOO Digital PLC (LON:ZOO), also lifted shareholders’ spirits with an upbeat statement ahead of its annual general meeting on Monday.
The company said it expects to report first half revenues in excess of US$12mln after sales in its ZOOsubs subtitling division doubled year-on-year.
To put that in perspective, ZOO could only muster US$7.8mln in revenues in the first half of 2016.
Given that the “pipeline remains strong” as well, ZOO now expects full-year revenues to be “well ahead” of its previous forecasts. Shares added a third to 37.3p.
Overall it was a decent week for junior stocks, with the AIM All Share rising 0.85%, or 8.5 points, to leave it just over the 1,003 mark.
That wasn’t enough to beat the blue chips though; the FTSE 100 gained 0.95%, or 69.7 points, across the week to 7,378.5.
Botswana Diamonds PLC (LON:BOD) had a shine about it this week as it bathed in the news of a huge diamond sale in the country.
The world’s second-biggest diamond, the Lesedi La Rona, found two years ago from Botswana’s Karowe mine, was sold for US$53mln to a luxury jeweller on Thursday.
That got investors excited, as did an update from the company on Ontevreden - its new kimberlite discovery and part of the BOD’s Vutomi Joint Venture in South Africa.
John Teeling, Botswana chairman, said: "The exciting new kimberlite discovery at Ontevreden continues to entice. Samples from the surface contain significant quantities of G10 and G9 garnets - high quality diamond indicator minerals frequently found at high-grade kimberlite pipes."
That sent shares soaring 34% to 2p.
What Mobile Streams Plc (LON:MOS) would give for some of that sparkle…The app and content provider saw more than a third of its value disappear down the toilet after a disappointing trading update on Thursday.
As a result of worsening trading conditions in Argentina and India, the firm expects both revenue and earnings for the current financial year to be materially lower than market expectations. Shares lost 39% to 1.95p.