Cleaning up on Friday afternoon was REACT Group plc (LON: REAT) as shares added over 16% in London to 0.525p as the firm unveiled an additional contract with a major London hospital.
Its subsidiary, REACT Specialist Cleaning Ltd (RSCL) inked the deal.
The 18 month deal covers both deep cleaning and RSCL has been appointed as preferred supplier for other ad hoc work and is for a major facilities company for the provision of deep cleaning services for the same major London hospital as the initial contract announced in September last year.
RSCL has been awarded initial purchase orders totalling £206,000 (excluding VAT), for deep cleaning work under the service contract.
"We are very pleased that the company has continued to build more contract work, which reflects on the high standards that our teams continue to deliver. We will continue our strategy of developing the business in our areas of core expertise," said Gill Leates, chairman.
On the losing front, shares in small cap baby and toddler retailer Mothercare plc (LON:MTC) tanked over 14% to 21.18p as it warned that profits would be at the lower end of expectations.
But it did say it expected its net debt to be slightly lower than the £50mln it had forecast.
The retailer also cautioned that it may breach its lending agreements and it was looking for additional sources of funding.
2pm: Big Sofa shares up
Shares in fast-growing video analytics provider Big Sofa Technology Group (LON:BST) bounced up over 13% on Friday to 14.50p as it revealed market research giant Ipsos SA would invest £3mln to help the firm grow.
After completion of the premium subscription for 18.5p, Ipsos will hold a 20% stake in the enlarged Big Sofa.
"The Investment will enable Big Sofa to enhance its sales and marketing functions - particularly within the US - to take advantage of the considerable revenue-generating opportunities that Big Sofa is seeing ahead of it...," said the AIM quoted firm.
Investment of £3 million by Ipsos at 18.5 pence per share, representing 20% of the enlarged issued ordinary share capital of Big Sofa at 45% premium to yesterdays close. As Tops would say BOOM! #BST
— TheLongerGame (@TheLongerGame) 2 March 2018
It says brands and research agencies are increasingly recognizing the value of including video analysis into their consumer research strategies.
The funds will also be put into its video analytics platform and technology infrastructure as the pipeline of prospective work increases, but a longer lead time to operational breakeven.
Big Sofa also appointed Ipsos chief financial and deputy chief executive Laurence Stoclet a non-executive director after completion of the investment, which is expected next Friday.
On the losing front, a heavy faller on the day was engineering group IMI PLC (LON:IMI), which was down 8.46% to 1,125p even though it raised its full-year dividend. Investors were put off by its continued cautious outlook.
Organic revenues will rise a little in the first half of 2018, said the valves and controls specialist, with margins also modestly higher, and helped by cost savings and better market conditions for precision engineering.
But cost-cutting and rationalisation has been the focus in recent years and IMI repeated that this will remain the plan in 2018.
10am: Verona Pharma shares pumped after cystic fibrosis news
In early London deals, Verona Pharma plc (LON:VRP) emerged as an early leader as it unveiled favourable data on its candidate for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), cystic fibrosis (CF), and potentially asthma.
Top-line data from its phase 2a trial with nebulized RPL554 showed the investigational therapy has a favourable effect to help patients with cystic fibrosis (CF).
RPL554 has anti-inflammatory effects, and in pre-clinical studies, has been observed to stimulate the CF transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR), a protein whose mutation results in factors, which lead to csystic fibrosis.
"These top-line findings demonstrate a favorable pharmacokinetic profile of inhaled RPL554 in CF patients, which is consistent with our earlier findings in COPD,” said Jan-Anders Karlsson, chief executive of Verona Pharma.
Shares in Verona pumped up over 23% to 147.50p.
Another riser was resource group Galileo Resources PLC (LON:GLR), which added 3.33% to 1.55p, but had earlier been up 10%, as it released results from three of its first four drill holes at the Star Zinc project in Zambia, which showed very high-value zinc intersections.
Proactive news headlines:
Powerhouse Energy Group Plc (LON:PHE) has updated investors on the successful demonstration plant, at University of Chester’s Thornton Science Park, where it has been processing waste to create a synthetic gas fuel. The company’s DMG (or Distributed Modular Gasification) system was commissioned in the summer of 2017 and it has been operating safely and efficiently for more than six months.
PCF Group Plc (LON:PCF) has said trading in the first five months of the current financial year has been strong, in line with the AIM-listed specialist bank's management expectations. In a trading statement to be delivered at the group's annual general meeting today, PCF's chief executive Scott Maybury said that “new business originations in the five-month period to 28 February 2018 were 93% ahead of the comparative period last year at £54.5mln (2017: £28.2mln).”
Technology recruitment company Harvey Nash Group plc (LON:HVN) shrugged off the impact of Brexit uncertainty on business confidence to deliver growth in UK gross profit last year. In a trading update, the group reported a 6% increase in gross profit in the UK & Ireland in the year to January 31, supported by improving demand in the second half for technology recruitment.
Amphion Innovations Plc (LON:AMP) saw its shares gain 7% on Friday after the developer of medical, life science, and technology businesses announced a year’s extension to the redemption of £6mln worth of convertible promissory notes.
Galileo Resources PLC (LON:GLR) hailed drill results from three of its first four holes at the Star Zinc project in Zambia, which showed very high-value zinc intersections, it said. Notably too, there were also high values found of silver and germanium (Ge), a metal used in microscopes, cameras and as an alloying agent. Big Pic in February.
Pan African Resources plc (LON:PAF) has started to increase production again at its Barberton mine complex in South Africa after reaching a new high-grade gold zone. Barberton, which comprises the Fairview, Sheba and Consort mines, has seen a rise in average grades to 11.5g/t in February from 8.7g/t during July - December.
European Metals Holdings Ltd (LON:EMH) told investors that it remains “entirely focused” on working with all stakeholders related to its assets in the Czech Republic. The company has issued a statement following public statements by the Minister of Industry and Trade, and correspondence sent to the company, which according to the company, purported to terminate a Memorandum of Understanding with the ministry.
Personal Group Holdings plc (LON:PGH) has launched its salary sacrifice offer to the employees of Royal Mail Group PLC (LON:RMG) with immediate effect. This service will be provided by the company’s PG Let’s Connect business. In October 2017, the company announced that the intended launch of the Let's Connect service to Royal Mail had been delayed for internal operational reasons, but it has now launched the plan in accordance with the group’s revised schedule.
Amur Minerals Corporation (LON:AMC) said it has completed construction of the 350km long ice road from the Ulak station, on the Baikal-Amur rail line, to its Kun-Manie project a week earlier than last year. The AIM-listed mineral exploration company, focused on base metal projects in the far east of Russia, said that the ice road was completed on 15 February, and nine vehicle convoys are now transporting the supplies to Kun-Manie, nickel sulphide deposit in Russia.
Savannah Resources Plc (LON:SAV) has received permitting approvals for its assets in Oman. It received eight approvals – one for the Maqail South mining licence application, and seven for the Mahab 4 area. Talks are now ongoing over the final outstanding approval, from the Ministry of Housing.
Bacanora Minerals Ltd (LON:BCN) is confident it will start construction at its Sonora lithium mine in Mexico on schedule even though a share placing and offtake deal with Chinese firm Nextview is in doubt. Nextview is in default of a £31.2mln placing, which would have filled the final part of the US$180mln cost of the first phase of construction at Sonora.
Vast Resources PLC (LON:VAST) told investors Andrew Prelea and Craig Harvey had been appointed as directors of the board as it also updated on the Mercuria Energy Trading offtake offer. Both will continue as chief executive and chief operating officer respectively.
I3 Energy PLC (LON:I3E) announced that on 1 March 2018, in relation to the Loan Note Agreement as announced on 6 February 2018, it received notice of exercise from James Caird Asset Management (JCAM) to convert part of the loan with an aggregate par value of US$500,000, into shares. Following this conversion, the value outstanding on the Loan will be US$2,000,000. The group added that it has therefore today allotted 1,516,876 ordinary shares to JCAM.