Vela Technologies PLC surged higher in late afternoon trading, leaping nearly 59% higher to 1.35p after revealing that has netted C$174,500, or around £101,207, from the sale of further shares in Canadian blockchain firm BTL Group Ltd.
The AIM listed investment company said it has sold a further 10,000 common shares in BTL at C$17.45 each, having raised £82,875 through the sale of some shares in the Canada-based firm on December 11.
Vela said the net proceeds from the disposal will provide the company with additional working capital and enable the company to take advantage of further investment opportunities.
Elsewhere, Caribbean Investment Holdings Limited (LON:CIHL) rose by 14% to 15.5p after the investment company swung to a profit in the first half due to the absence of loan losses.
The Belize based firm reported a pre-tax profit of US$11.2mln for the six months, compared with a pre-tax loss of US$2.0mln a year earlier, on a net interest income of US$18.1mln versus US$17.7mln at the same stage last year.
Last year, the company recorded loan losses of £12.6mln.
And Taliesin Property Fund Limited (LON:TPE) added 8.5% at 4,447.5p after the German residential property investor said it has agreed to an all-cash acquisition of the company by US private equity firm Blackstone Group.
Blackstone will pay €51.00 in cash for each Talesin share, a 10% premium to its closing price on Tuesday, valuing the firm in total at approximately €260mln.
12.00pm: Frenkel Topping weak as it warns of rising costs
Frenkel Topping Group PLC (LON:FEN) was a faller in late morning trading, down 7% at 53.5p after the AIM listed firm warned of rising costs as it expands into new markets and new business lines.
The company, which provides financial advice to recipients of clinical negligence and personal injury awards, said it has increased its cost base slightly this year and will continue to do so in 2018 and beyond to permit growth in its existing business and new activities.
Frenkel said it believes its potential market is bigger than what is has historically targeted, having focused on medical negligence or personal injury cases.
Elsewhere, FTSE 250 listed Low & Bonar PLC (LON:LWB) dropped 20% to 54p after issuing a profit warning and news its CEO has jumped ship.
Brett Simpson, group chief executive of the maker of industrial performance materials has resigned to become the CEO of Fenner PLC (LON:FENR),fellow mid cap polymer technology firm.
And travel and leisure company Minoan Group plc (LON:MIN) shed 6% at 5.75p after it said that it has decided not to take up a previously announced broker offer for £1.0mln worth of shares as it "did not meet expectations".
The company had planned to issue roughly 16.7mln shares at the same issue price as a private share subscription of 6p per share in the broker offer.
Minoan had warned at its launch on Monday that it will have to seek alternative methods to raise new funds should the broker offer not go ahead and that it has received a firm and credible takeover approach for its travel and leisure division.
9.30am: Falanx Group jumps as it secures new cyber defence contract
Falanx Group Ltd (LON:FLX) was a strong early gainer, up 19% to 4.62p on news the security and cyber defence provider has won a contract with an unnamed Global 50 financial services company and completed one more phase on the development of its MidGard managed security service.
The AIM-listed firm said it has been named as the preferred supplier for cyber services to the Global 50 firm for a minimum of two years, with the initial phase valued at £250,000.
The group also said Mike Read has been confirmed as its chairman and CEO, with the then non-executive chairman having taken over as interim CEO last month following the departure of Stuart Bladen for "personal reasons".
Elsewhere, Strat Aero PLC (LON:AERO) shares soared 12.5% higher to 0.04p as the unmanned aerial vehicle group announced the appointment of Trevor Brown as an executive director with immediate effect.
Brown, currently an executive director of Flying Brands PLC and CEO of Braveheart Investment Group PLC is joining Strat Aero’s board following his subscription for 58% of the group’s recently announced placing resulting in a shareholding of 971,428,571 ordinary shares, representing 25.5% of its enlarged share capital.
And also on the board front, Carillion PLC (LON:CLLN) shares gained 6% at 17.25p after the struggling construction contractor said its new chief executive will take the helm three months earlier than previously agreed to aid the turnaround of the troubled UK contractor.
Andrew Davies will step down as chief executive of UK construction property services firm Wates Group to join Carillion as its new boss on 22 January, instead of 2 April as announced in October.
Proactive news headlines:
Victoria Oil & Gas PLC (LON:VOG) has reported better-than-expected results after it kicked off flow testing of the La-108 well at the Logbaba gas field in Cameroon.
Cabot Energy PLC (LON:CAB) is to increase its ownership of its Canadian assets, acquiring a 25% stake that it didn’t already own in a deal worth US$8.71mln. At the same time, it is raising US$16.5mln of new funds through a share sale, with new shares priced at 5p each.
Kennedy Ventures PLC (LON:KENV) said investee company, African Tantalum (Aftan), continued to make “significant progress” operationally. Aftan owns the Namibia Tantalite Investment Mine (NTI), which mines and supplies tantalum at high-purity to a single, unnamed customer based in North America.
Aircraft leasing specialist Avation PLC (LON:AVAP) expects to see growth in reported revenues in the second half of the current financial year, it said in an AGM statement.
The first half of the financial year of Mirada PLC (LON:MIRA) saw the company start to reap the benefit of its heavy investment in marketing, with contract wins in the Caribbean and Bolivia.
The US subsidiary of specialty pharma group Midatech Pharma PLC (LON:MTPH) has kicked off a Phase IV clinical trial of its Gelclair oral gel. Gelclair is already used to treat oral mucositis (OM) – which causes sores and inflation of the mouth – in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy.
Amryt Pharmaceuticals PLC (LON:AMYT) has appointed Patrick Jordan as vice-president of global distributor markets. He is an 18-year veteran of the healthcare industry and has held senior roles at Pfizer and MSD (Merck & Co).
The year to the end of September was, by the company's own admission, an extraordinary one for drugs company Redx Pharma PLC (LON:REDX), but it has emerged from administration with a healthy cash balance, a reduced cost base and a strengthened management team.
Sound Energy PLC (LON:SOU) revealed that preliminary results of a volume certification process (being conducted by consultant RPS Energy) regarding the TE-5 Horst well location validate the group’s prior estimate, which put mid-case gross Gas Originally in Place at some 0.63 trillion cubic feet.