A scientific review in to hydraulic fracturing in Australia’s Northern Territory has concluded that the inherent risks of the controversial oil and gas extraction method can be mitigated or reduced to an acceptable level. In some cases the risks could be eliminated entirely, it said. The conclusion, which is intended to inform the region’s politicians, will be taken as good news by Falcon Oil & Gas Ltd (LON:FOG), its partner Origin Energy and their respective investors.
ITM Power plc (LON:ITM) has announced the opening of the first 'under the canopy' hydrogen refuelling station at Beaconsfield Services on the M40 in partnership with Royal Dutch Shell PLC (LON:RDSA).
OptiBiotix Health plc (LON:OPTI) has announced that it is gradually transitioning from a research and development company to a commercial business, and plans to open its online store by the end of April.
Genedrive PLC (LON:GDR) has signed a new distribution agreement for its Genedrive HCV ID Kit and Genedrive platform in India. The AIM-listed diagnostics manufacturer said the agreement made with ARKRAY Healthcare pvt Ltd (ARKRAY), a subsidiary of ARKRAY Inc. Japan, will focus on securing regulatory approvals for the HCV ID Kit in India.
DP Poland Plc (LON:DPP) has seen costs ease and a better performance from its mature stores in recent months. Lower cheese prices and staff being easier to recruit compared to the last quarter had reduced pressure on margins said Peter Shaw, chief executive.
Gfinity Plc (LON:GFIN) has confirmed it is working on a £6.7mln fundraising through the placing of new shares. The e-sports entertainment group said in a statement on Tuesday that it notes recent press speculation regarding a proposed placing of new shares.
Telit Communications (LON:TCM) is being investigated by Britain’s financial watchdog into the company’s timeliness of reporting. The FCA will examine the internet of things company’s announcement of certain matters included in its interim results on 7 August.
Healthy demand for second-hand car finance enabled S&U PLC (LON:SUS) to post another record year. Anthony Coombs, the group's chairman, said that unlike new cars, where sales have tailed off recently, demand for used cars rose by 6% in volume terms and by 12% by value in 2017.
Papua Mining (LON:PML), the gold and copper exploration company announced that on 27 March 2018 it was notified that Paul and Michelle Johnson had a beneficial holding of 24,110,422 ordinary shares in Papua, representing 7.02% of the company's issued share capital.
Alliance Pharma plc (LON:APH) hiked its full year dividend by 10% as strong demand for its key brands boosted earnings. The pharmaceutical company delivered pre-tax profit of £28.4mln in the year through December 2017, up 28% on a reported basis. Underlying pre-tax profit rose 8% to £24mln.
Summit Therapeutics PLC (LON:SUMM) (NASDAQ: SMMT) has raised around £15mln from an accelerated book-build placing of 8,333,333 new ordinary shares, at a price of 180p each, to advance its treatment for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD). The AIM-listed group noted that the placing price represents a discount of 5.3% to its closing mid-market price on 26 March 2018 of 190p.
Frontier IP Group Plc (LON:FIPP) saw the value of its portfolio of its university spin-outs rise by almost 50% in its latest half-year. The AIM-listed intellectual property group’s investments were worth £8mln at end December, which included the additions of water pollution tester Molendotech and The Vaccine Group.
Be Heard Group PLC (LON:BHRD) has appointed the former chief executive (CEO) of GlobalData PLC (LON:DATA), Simon Pyper as its new chief financial officer (CFO). The AIM-listed digital marketing group said Pyper had led GlobalData in its AIM listing in 2010, with the company growing to a market cap of over £500mln. Be Heard has a current market cap of around £21.8mln.
e-therapeutics PLC (LON:ETX) saw its operating loss significantly reduced in the year ended 31 January 2018 having undertaken a systematic review of its operations under new CEO Ray Barlow. The AIM-listed drug discovery company saw its full-year operating loss reduced to £6.8mln, down from a £16.3mln loss a year earlier.
Real Good Food PLC (LON:RGF) told investors that it continues to explore the details of a proposed financing, which would include an issue of new equity. In the meantime, a term sheet has been signed by the group’s three major shareholders - Napier Brown Ingredients, Omnicane International and funds managed by Downing LLP - which will now provide working capital to the company via a loan note facility.
Adamas Finance Asia Limited (LON:ADAM) has increased its indirect shareholding in dolomite miner HKMH to 84.81% from 79.26%. The Asia-focused investment group issued around 4.28mln shares at US$1.20 each to buy out certain minority shareholders in HKMH.
Oracle Power PLC (LON:ORCP) has raised £550,000 for working capital while it concludes the final agreements for a new coal-fired power plant at Thar in Pakistan. Shares will be issued at 1.4p. Brandon Hill Capital will own 20.08% of the shares following the placing.
Sunrise Resources Plc (LON:SRES) has sent 120 composite drill samples from its CS pozzolan-perlite project for laboratory testing. The pozzolan samples will be tested for strength, while the perlite samples will be tested for application-specific qualities. Sunrise is now moving towards bulk sampling and reports interest from several potential customers.
Strategic Minerals Plc (LON:SML) has identified a potential nickel sulphide target at the Hanns Camp project in Australia. The target will now be tested with aircore drilling, subject to permission from the relevant government department.
Mosman Oil And Gas Limited (LON:MSMN) updated investors on the Arkoma project in Oklahoma where operations are presently advancing to increase oil production. The operator is presently progressing a programme to instal high-volume Electrical Submersible Pumps (ESPs) as well as infrastructure upgrades to accommodate the additional volumes of associated water production.
Touchstone Exploration Inc (LON:TXP) (CVE:TXP) has reported on what it described as a “transformational” year for the Caribbean oil firm. In the year, the company produced an average of 1,375 barrels of crude oil per day which marked a 6% increase from the preceding year.
Lekoil Ltd (LON:LEK) told investors that it has decided to apply to Nigeria’s Federal High Court as it seeks to expedite the approval of its agreed acquisition of a stake in OPL 310, previously owned by Afren.
NQ Minerals Plc (AQSE:NQMI) has entered into a US$10mln loan facility with a US private equity firm so that it can advance operations at the Hellyer gold mine. The loan carries a 12% annual interest rate and is due for repayment after three years.
US Oil & Gas PLC (USOP) has issued 2.75mln new shares to private investors to raise gross proceeds of US$1.15mln. The placing shares are priced at 30p per share. The company said that the proceeds will be used for working capital and to fund planned drilling operations in Nevada.
Chariot Oil & Gas Limited (LON:CHAR) announced that it has received valid acceptances from qualifying shareholders in respect of 13,911,954 open offer shares, representing 41% of the maximum available, accordingly, the group has conditionally raised total gross proceeds of approximately US$2.5mln (£1.8mln). The company announced on 27 February 2018 that it had conditionally raised total gross proceeds of approximately US$15mln (£10.7mln) by the conditional placing of 82,582,747 new ordinary shares at an issue price of 13p each.
Wishbone Gold PLC (LON:WSBN) (AQSE:WSBN) announced that it has today appointed Allenby Capital Limited as its broker.
PCG Entertainment Plc (LON:PCGE) (AQSE: PCGE) announced that it has today appointed Allenby Capital Limited as its broker.
Eurasia Mining plc (LON:EUA) has announced that it will be presenting at two events this coming week commencing 26th March 2018. The group said that, in association with fintech company Bankex, it will be co-presenting at the Standard and Poor's Global Platts NORTH AMERICAN DIGITAL COMMODITIES SUMMIT on March 26, 2018 in New York. Subsequently, Eurasia Mining said it is attending the Mining Investment Asia conference in Singapore, 27-28 March 2018 in Singapore.
Metminco Limited (LON:MNC) (ASX:MNC) advises that its latest presentation has been released to the Australian Stock Exchange, with a full pdf version of the presentation available on the company's website.