Alumasc Group PLC (LON:ALU) shares edged higher on Tuesday despite posting a drop in first half profits as the building products company said it was well placed to outperform the UK construction market.
Pre-tax profit fell to £5.4mln in the year to the end of June from £8.1mln a year ago and revenue declined to £98.4mln from £104.8mln but this was due to external circumstances beyond its control, including bad weather and Brexit uncertainty.
But the group raised its dividend by 2.8% to 7.35p and said it remains “well positioned to outperform the UK construction market given its robust business model, strong market positions and focus on key strategic growth drivers”.
In afternoon trading, shares rose 10.3% to 138.50p.
GCM Resources PLC (LON:GCM) shares received a boost after saying engineering construction firm Sinohydro Corp Ltd will undertake a prefeasibility study on mine-mouth coal fired power plants at the Phulbari coal & power project in Bangladesh.
The power plants are expected to generate up to 4,000 megawatts in addition to the existing 2,000 megawatts power plant proposal.
Sinohydro is the flagship company of state-owned Power Construction Corp of China Ltd, which provides one-stop services covering planning, survey, design, construction, investment and operation in energy and power sectors.
GCM is awaiting approval from the government of Bangladesh to develop the Phulbari project.
Shares were up 10% to 19.4p.
K3 Capital on the front foot as it hikes dividend
K3 Capital Group PLC (LON:K3C) hiked its dividend by 56% after reporting a sharp rise in full-year profits, sending its shares higher on Tuesday.
The business sales and brokerage firm posted a 103% jump in pre-tax profit to £7.3mln for the year to May 31 as revenues increased 53% to £16.5mln.
The group said it has had a strong start to the new financial year with trading ahead of market expectations on the back of a robust deal pipeline.
The dividend was lifted to 11.25p from 7.19p last year.
In afternoon trading, shares were up 13.7% to 372p.
CyanConnode Holdings PLC (LON:CYAN) shares edged lower after saying it may require additional funding in coming months and warned that it was “conscious of its current balance sheet constraints”.
The company, which provides wireless communication technology for smart metering, lighting and the Internet of Things, sought to lower its cost base in the first half of 2018 and plans further action in the second half and in 2019.
The group also posted a 40% increase in first-half revenue to £1.6mln and narrowed its loss to £3.3mln from £4.7mln.
Shares declined 13.8% to 7.75p.
RedT Energy shares gain after becoming preferred energy storage supplier for NHS
RedT Energy PLC (LON:RED) said on Wednesday it has been selected as a preferred supplier for energy storage solutions for the NHS and other public sector sites across the UK.
Shares in the energy storage company gained 17.5% to 9.4p in mid-morning trading.
RedT was awarded a place on Essentia's Battery Storage Framework to supply energy storage solutions to the UK public sector. Essentia is a unit of Guy's & St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust.
ECSC Group PLC (LON:ECSC) shares dropped 17% to 97.5p as the cybersecurity firm reappointed Ian Mann as chief executive just months after he resigned from the role.
Mann, the founder of ECSC, stepped down in April after the company posted large losses in 2017 but re-joined the board as an executive director later that month. Interim CEO Lucy Sharp will now return to her previous role of COO following Mann’s return to the top job.
IXICO rallies on £9.1mln contract
IXICO PLC (LON:IXI) shares surged more than 45% on Tuesday after signing a £9.1mln contract with a top 10 pharmaceutical company.
Under the terms of the four-year contract, the data sciences firm will provide imaging services to the unnamed company for a Pivotal Phase III clinical trial into Huntington’s disease.
IXICO will collect magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data from specialist imaging centres across North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia and Australasia. It will then use artificial intelligence (AI) software to provide insight into the microstructure of brain cells and nerve connections to support the evaluation of a drug currently being developed for safety and efficacy.
In morning trading, shares were changing hands at 40p each.
Produce Investments PLC (LON:PIL) shares jumped after the UK potato producer said it has agreed to a takeover offer of about £52.95mln.
April 1983 Bidco Limited, a Jersey company ultimately owned and controlled by funds managed by Promethean Investments LLP, is offering 193p in cash for each Produce Investments share. The deal represents a premium of about 35% to the stock’s 142.50 closing price on Monday.
Shares in Produce Investments rose 31.5% to 187.5p.
Oneview slumps as it plans to cancel AIM listing
Oneview Group PLC (LON:ONEV) shares plunged over 81% to 1.50p after proposing the cancellation of its AIM listing.
The company, which develops cloud-based software products, said a review of the benefits and costs of being a quoted company has concluded that the cancellation is in the best interests of the business and its shareholders.
It expects its shares on AIM to cease trading at the close of business on October 10, subject to shareholder approval.
Oilex Ltd (LON:OEX) shares were also under pressure after announcing a debt and capital raising to secure £630,000 to support working capital requirements.
An equity capital raising of £493,652 has been carried out and the group has entered into a loan agreement with Republic Investment Management for A$250,000.
Shares dropped 14% to 0.21p.
Other Proactive news headlines:
Mkango Resources Ltd (LON:MKA)(CVE:MKA) has completed a major drilling programme at the Songwe Hill rare earths project in Malawi. The drilling programme totalled 10,891 metres and comprised 91 drill holes to a maximum depth of 220 metres.
Diversified Gas & Oil PLC (LON:DGOC) has reported on what is described as “a period of transformative growth” following its Alliance and CNX acquisitions. July’s deal to acquire US$575mln of assets from EQT Corporation came after the reporting period ended.
Silence Therapeutics PLC (LON:SLN) expects to kick off its first in-human clinical trial in the second half of next year.
Sareum Holdings PLC (LON:SAR) has highlighted the progress made by its in-house and out-licensed drug programmes over the past year.
Seeing Machines Limited (LON:SEE) shares rose in early trading Tuesday after it unveiled a retrofit backup-driver monitoring system (BdMS) for autonomous vehicles in response to what it said was “clear demand” from the sector.
Belvoir Lettings PLC (LON:BLV) posted strong first-half profits growth as its franchise network continued to expand. The group now has 61,000 properties under its management, making it the second in the lettings market behind struggling Countrywide.
Haydale Graphene Industries PLC (LON:HAYD) had mixed contract news. On the plus side, the group’s silicon carbide division has signed an enhanced four-year contract for industrial tools coatings worth US$3.3mln. Overshadowing this though was a disappointing trial with glass fibre pipe maker Amiblu, better known as Flowtite, though discussions will resume next quarter about how to move forward.
Argo Blockchain PLC (LON:ARB), a UK-based provider of cryptocurrency mining services, has announced the introduction of two new coins to its platform, increasing the total number of alt-currencies available for mining by subscribers to six.
Eco Atlantic Oil & Gas Ltd (LON:ECO, CVE: EOG) has revealed the findings of a new resource estimate which underlines the potential for a big possible future at the Orinduik license, offshore Guyana. Orinduik has been estimated to contain potentially 2.9bn barrels of crude across ten exploration leads. It would mean that Eco’s 40% stake in Orinduik would equate to some 1.16bn barrels.
Arc Minerals Ltd (LON:ARC) has intersected extensive copper and cobalt mineralisation in drilling at the Kalaba prospect in Zambia, part of the larger Zamsort project. All four of the reverse circulation holes drilled intersected copper and cobalt mineralisation.
Metal Tiger PLC (LON:MTR) has been granted approval from the Department of Environmental Affairs in Botswana for its environmental management plan relating to drilling part of the T20 Dome Complex, which is highly prospective for copper. Metal Tiger holds its interest in T20 in joint venture with MOD Resources Ltd (ASX:MOD).
Thor Mining PLC (LON:THR) (ASX:THR) has noted the announcement of 7 September 2018 by Hawkstone Mining Limited (ASX:HWK) that the restructured, conditional agreement for the acquisition of 100% of the shares of USA Lithium has been completed. Thor said it expects to be issued 7,812,500 shares in Hawkstone representing its portion of the initial consideration shares. It added that under its original acquisition agreement to acquire the interest in USA Lithium from Pembridge Resources PLC (LON:PERE), Thor is required to return 5% of disposal proceeds to Pembridge.
Flying Brands Limited (LON:FBDU), the state of the art medical software and services-focused firm, has said it was notified on 10 September 2018 that Nick Stevens, CEO to Stone Checker Software Ltd, acquired 1,200,000 ordinary shares in the company, representing 1% of its issued share capital, at a price of 2.5p per share. Previous to this notification, the group added, Stevens held 2,000,000 ordinary shares in the company, and therefore his total shareholding now represents 2.66% of the company's issued share capital.
Block Energy PLC (LON:BLOE), the exploration and production company focused on the Republic of Georgia, has announced the appointment of BDO UK LLP as the company's auditor with immediate effect. The group said BDO will perform the audit of the company's Report and Accounts for the financial year ended 30 June 2018.
88 Energy Limited (LON:88E) (ASX:88E) has confirmed that the company's latest corporate presentation is now available on the 88 Energy's website.